'Good Things to Come' in 2011, Says MRA

In the US, client-side researchers have reported a 13% increase in the number of suppliers they worked with in the last quarter of 2010, according to the MRA's Research Industry Index (RII). This, says the MRA, is perhaps an indication of 'good things to come' for suppliers in 2011.

The Index is a composite score based on reported changes in Requests For Proposals (RFPs), projects and staffing levels, plus the perceived health of businesses. It relates the overall picture to an initial base score of 100 from the fourth quarter of 2007.

Most recent results show that this is the fourth quarter in a row in which the Index was at or near 100 - with scores for 2010 being 98, 98, 101 and 100 respectively. The RII's low point to date was a score of 84 during the first quarter of 2009.

The latest wave was based on online interviews conducted among 199 senior executives from both client companies and marketing research firms via a survey hosted by Authentic Response, reported and completed by Cooper Roberts Research.

Ken Roberts (pictured), MRA's President Elect and co-author of the RII report, said that just 6% of corporate researchers had reported a decrease in projects during the last quarter of 2010 - the lowest number seen for a long time.

Web sites: www.mra-net.org , www.authenticresponse.com and www.cooper-roberts.com .