US MR Confidence Edges Up

The last quarter saw a marginal improvement in US researcher confidence, according to the Marketing Research Association's Research Industry Index (RII).

The overal index score rose one point to 87 between the second and third quarters, giving a total rise of three points in the last six months. The index had previously dropped for five consecutive quarters.

MRA Treasurer and report author Ken Roberts says there are other encouraging signs in the latest wave of research, including a continued increase in the number of reported RFPs and proposals.

The RII is a composite score based on reported changes in key business metrics (RFPs, projects and staffing levels), as well as changes in business owners' perceptions of the health of their business, and uses the fourth quarter of 2007 as its base (score 100).

The latest wave consisted of responses from 175 senior executives client and provider side. The online survey was hosted by Authentic Response and reporting was completed by Cooper Roberts Research.

More details are at www.mra-net.org/resources/rii.cfm .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.