Another Flat Quarter for US MR Firms

Booked projects and RFPs for US research firms were flat or down slightly overall in the third quarter of 2008, according to feedback from the MRA's Research Industry Index (RII).

The MRA (Marketing Research Association) says the study suggests that research buyers are distributing their RFPs to more firms, which is putting pressure on margins.

Last May, findings from the RII suggested that the US industry was already suffering as a result of the country's economic slump. In the latest study, agreement with such statements as 'our new business prospects look good', 'the year is shaping up to be a better year for our business', and 'we have more new clients this year' continued to drop for the third quarter in a row.

Data on both qual and quant research is gathered for the RII quarterly from a study conducted among owners or senior level management of marketing research companies and end users.

The MRA has an international membership made up of companies and professionals engaged in all segments of marketing and opinion research.

Web site: www.mra-net.org .

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