MRA Charts Rise of Online Research

More than US$1.2 billion was spent on online research in 2005, according to last month's issue of 'Alert!' magazine, published by the Marketing Research Association (MRA) in the USA.

The issue, produced in conjunction with the Interactive Marketing Research Organization (IMRO), MRA's online division, was dedicated to online research, and features articles on its evolution, its various platforms and an update on legislative issues in the online arena.

The spend figure will continue to rise into the decade, says Alert!, particularly as the US population online approaches 70%. This tremendous, and rapidly growing, shift to the use of online methodologies in marketing and opinion research has made it an innovative and crucial part of this profession. However as technologies advance, research professionals need to consider issues such as selection, data integrity, and communication with multilingual audiences, as well as the effectiveness of new, innovative tools such as instant messaging.

According to Larry Brownell, executive director of the MRA, 'Online research has opened up some exciting new doors in terms of speed and accessibility, and will essentially play an influential role in most marketing research fieldwork. This makes it more important than ever to involve a bona fide marketing research professional to assure that studies are conducted properly. It often takes a mix of different research techniques to get the information needed to make truly smart business decisions.'

Articles in the issue include:

• 'The Evolution of Online Research and Online Panels,' by IMRO President Kevin Lonnie, discusses the state of online research as being both 'the best of times' and 'the worst of times' and provides opinions of online researchers on where this changing methodology is heading.
• 'Instant Message and Research: A Natural Fit,' by Carl Rossow who states that the platform that will be the catalyst for transforming online research is the IM. 'The beauty of instant messaging for research derives right from its name: it is instantaneous and it sends messages. What more could a researcher want?' Rossow also points out that IM is discreet, casual, and has the ability to easily pass various forms of media.
• 'The Holy Grail of Online Research: Data Integrity: How to Get the Most from Your Online Marketing Research,' by Matt Blumberg and Jeff Mattes of New York's Authentic Response. Online may be faster, cheaper, and, at times, more effective than traditional methodologies, but it presents unique challenges, and the vendors who provide online marketing research services, from sample to fulfillment, need to adjust their tools and techniques accordingly.
• 'Avoiding the Traps of Multilingual Online Research,' By Beth Podrovitz and Jiri Stejskal, PhD, of Philadelphia-based translation service CETRA. Although English still dominates the Internet, Internet use among non-native English speakers is growing at a much faster rate. Understandably, Internet users tend to spend more time on sites in their native language, and respond to questions better.

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