Survey of Research Project Pricing

Prices charged by UK research agencies will be investigated over the next few weeks by UK Consultancy RHMR - this is the 6th year in succession that the price check has been carried out. Between 1998 and 2002 the average quotation received from participating agencies has risen by only around 10-15%, reflecting very competitive conditions in the industry.

The research gets quotations for a number of standard projects - this year 9 types in the UK and 4 international - and compares prices between participating agencies and with mean figures from previous years. The table below shows the prices in the 2002 survey (2nd column) and the variation in prices (expressed as highest quote divided by lowest) in the third column. It is worth bearing in mind that the participating agencies are not the same every year - but also that agencies who are among the lower priced for one project are not necessarily at the lower end for others.

Project Type	Price Index (1998 = 100)	Highest divided by Lowest 2002
Hall test	117	1.53
Home placement	115	1.57
In street	113	2.52
Phone	104	2.75
Postal	97	2.22
B2B	na	1.74
Email	na	7.03
Focus groups	115	1.86
Depth interviews	115	3.04

The extraordinary difference in quotes for the email survey is no doubt explained partly by the newness of the subject area, but also reflects the low fixed cost element in such a quote and the high proportion of exec and setup time.

Note that the above are for UK projects - quotes for international work are also included in the research.

Aside from the mean scores, distribution and individual figures are available to researchers in subscribing agencies and are likely to be of great interest. For example in quotations for the hall test, the cheapest agency was £3k below the nearest price, and in street interviews, the most expensive was more than £3k above the next highest price. Cost items are also broken down to show that, for example, fieldwork on telephone projects typically accounted for just under half of the total cost quoted.

More information about the 2003 survey is available from Richard Horswell, RHMR richard@rhmr.co.uk . Agencies that express an interest will be sent an 'information pack' comprising a letter explaining how the survey works, the survey specifications (new ones this year) and an excel spreadsheet on which the prices are entered by agencies and returned to RHMR.

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

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