The Survey Geek

Predictions for 2007

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by

RegBaker
in

Not mine, but those of about 50 "esteemed industry players" reported in Research Business Report, a trade rag that follows the MR industry.  Once I was able to put aside my disappointment from not being an "esteemed industry player" I found the reading interesting. As you might expect, the predictions are all over the board but there are some themes:

  1. Several people see text mining of online content (e.g., blogs and bulletin boards) as major new avenues for understanding the mind of the consumer, especially for groups that spend lots of time online (like teens).
  2. The notion of "a flight to quality" is raised by several people, most notably in the context of expected client concerns about respondent cooperation and panel quality.
  3. As in years past, there is discussion of "the Wal-Martization of MR."  Some see it getting better; others see it getting worse.
  4. Lots of people see more offshoring.
  5. And lots of people see ethnography as increasingly important, especially with the application of new technologies–video, webcams, etc.
  6. There are a fair share of mentions about Web 2.0 but it’s not clear that anyone has a fix on how it will impact our business beyond extending the online communities that some people see as the logical successors to panels.

But my favorites are always the people who go out on limbs to predict the emergence of new, almost magical technologies.  A few favorites from this year:

  • "In less than seven years, a data collection medium that has not yet been widely adopted or perhaps even tried, will surpass phone and face-to-face methodologies."  (Dean Wiltse, Perseus/WebSurveyor)
  • "By the end of March 2007, one company will have at least 200,000 homes sending second-by-second individual commercial engagement data directly to advertisers . . ." Lee Weinblatt, The Pretesting Company)
  • "In the next decade, a never-before-seen MR phenomenon will serve as a historic marker for this industry: an online survey so stunning in its power to engage (that it) will be shared by millions of surfers the same way powerful ads are shared today. (Angus Reid, Angus Reid Strategies)

I can only assume that these guys have something specific in mind and it probably is under development in their respective companies as I type.  But before you invest, perhaps see my earlier Jan 2 post on Innovation: Hits and Misses.