Customer Opinion Becoming More and More Valuable
With companies spending more and more on advertising and product development, market research testing is becoming more and more important. Operating consumer opinion surveys allows companies to understand consumer opinions and helps them understand where they should be focusing their efforts in the future.
In previous times, trade of products was largely a localised affair with one or maybe two merchants competing in a particular market in each region. Starting up as a new merchant was particularly difficult and the community would generally turn its back on new, foreign competitors who would attempt to establish themselves. Given the virtual domination of those key merchants, there was little need to worry about consumer opinion and no need to innovate beyond the products and services which the community had a need for at that time.
The Industrial Revolution and the growth of free market economy principles in the late 18th and early 19th Century radically changed how people did business. For the first time, consumers had a wider variety of choice and the tables turned for the consumer. Now it was a buyers market and merchants had to improve their efforts to meet the needs of their customers if they were to be able to compete effectively with a growing marketplace for new products and services. The need for ‘marketing’ had been borne.
Early practitioners of marketing, educated as economists, felt that demand was relevant to purchasing power. However, it became apparent that demand was much more complex than financial ability to buy alone and that desire to buy was an increasing factor as well.
New concepts in advertising proved that purchasing desires could be magnified and shaped by elements beyond mere availability of products.
In today’s globally competitive market place, companies have a greater demand than ever to measure consumer needs. The dawn of the Internet has facilitated this process by providing an easy access route to reach a global audience of consumers who are potential customers.
Over the years, market research companies have fine tuned their methods and have managed to harness the opportunities provided by the internet to make contact with their consumers and get a good understanding of consumer demand. It is estimated that over $1 billion is spent annually on market research, a large portion of which is delivered in the form of online surveys, focus groups and other internet based formats.
However the need for good quality information comes at a price. In an increasingly busy 21st century lifestyle, time has become a precious commodity and, therefore, market research companies understand that to meet the ever increasing demand for consumer research information, they need to offer incentives in exchange for peoples time.
Consumer survey incentives range from entry into prize draws, points that are redeemable for cash, vouchers or products as well as straight forward cash payments.
