Positive Noises from US MR Industry

The US market research industry continued its recovery in the third quarter of 2010, according to the MRA's Research Industry Index (RII), based on reports of business levels from more than two hundred senior execs in the sector.

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

The index rose throughout the first half of 2010 and the latest results - for the third quarter - show it climbing further, back above the base reading for the first time to a score of 101. The low point was a score of 84 during the first quarter of 2009.

For this wave, online interviews hosted by Authentic Response were conducted among 229 senior executives from both corporate researchers and MR firms, with reporting by Cooper Roberts Research.

Ken Roberts, President Elect of MRA and co-author of the report, said the healthy result was 'fueled by the performance of medium to large size firms' - with many smaller companies still struggling - and by client side researchers outsourcing more work to vendors, 'including tasks that typically have been considered internal responsibilities'.

The association is online at 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.