Media Researchers Concerned Over Falling Response Rates
Media professionals are seriously concerned about a significant decline in the number of consumers taking part in reader and audience surveys, according to the latest poll from the MRG.
An online study of the Media Research Group’s 150 core members shows that almost 40% of respondents believe that falling response rates will be an area of serious concern over the coming months.
The main worry amongst media researchers is that audience surveys based on increasingly small sample groups will produce inaccurate results and could have serious repercussions for advertisers.
MRG chairman, Christina Hartley, said: “This is a crucial area that needs to be addressed by all those involved in media research. The critical stage may be many years off, but we need to be ready to bolster all sample sizes now. I hope we can have a fruitful debate on how to improve response rates at the MRG Conference this November in Madrid.”
Research studies such as the National Readership Survey have seen response rates decline steadily over the last decade, from upward of 60% ten years ago to just over 50% today. This figure drops as low as 35% in London and other metropolitan areas.
RAJAR recently took steps to address the issue and launched a major incentivised campaign to increase the base sample of traditionally hard to reach 15 to 34 year-old males that currently take part in the survey (see RAJAR Moves Into 2004 With Range Of New Developments).
Commenting on the problem, Steve Millington, NRS client services manager, said: “Falling response rates are largely attributable to rising employment and the fact that spend longer outside the home. So any research that depends on contacting people in their homes will suffer as a result.”
The NRS has set up an official working group to look at the issue of falling response rates. It is currently assessing a number of initiatives including mixed methods of data collection, the introduction of self-completion questionnaires and online surveys.
Speaking at the recent MRG One day Conference, Jennie Beck, head of NOF Research, claimed that media research is excluding significant sections of the consuming public because the tools used by agencies don’t reach them or encourage their participation (see Media Research Excludes Certain Types Of Consumer).
She identified a number of self-excluding groups, which go out of their way to avoid taking part in media research. These include up-market professionals, the young urban cool, time-poor multitasking working women and those concerned about their civil liberties.
MRG: www.mrg.org.uk
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