Media Research Excludes Certain Types Of Consumer
Media Research is excluding significant sections of the consuming public because the tools used by agencies don’t reach them or encourage their participation, according to Jennie Beck, head of NFO Research.
Speaking at the Media Research Group Conference yesterday, Beck claimed that most existing media research surveys use just one method to reach all consumer demographics, which leads to large sections of the population becoming excluded from the process.
Beck 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 multi-tasking working women and those concerned about their civil liberties.
She claims that mixed methodologies should be used to target these consumers, with a range of techniques such as self-completion questionnaires, tailored face-to-face interviews and SMS prompts combined to make the media research process more compelling.
Beck, who has spend 25 years as a media researcher, argued: “Mixing methodologies should not be the exception, but should be the rule. If we can have multi-format media – than we can certainly have multi-format research projects.”
The call for media researchers to evolve their techniques comes after Adele Gritten, research manager at PHD, urged the industry to “keep re-inventing the wheel” with the introduction innovative research tools, methods and models (see MRG Conference: Media Research In A Changing World).
MRG: www.mrg.org.uk
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