Business to Business Market Research: Understanding and Measuring Business Markets (Market Research in Practice)

321 Pages·2005·2.16 MB·English

B2B FB 31/8/05 10:30 am Page 1
BUSINESS
TO
BUSINESS
MARKET
RESEARCH
UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING
BUSINESS MARKETS
RUTH McNEIL
MARKET RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
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The Market
Research Society
With over 8,000 members in more than 50 countries, The Market
Research Society (MRS) is the world’s largest international member-
ship organization for professional researchers and others engaged in
(or interested in) marketing, social or opinion research.
It has a diverse membership of individual researchers within agen-
cies, independent consultancies, client-side organizations, and the aca-
demic community, and from all levels of seniority and job functions.
All MRS members agree to comply with the MRS Code of Conduct
(see Appendix 9), which is supported by the Codeline advisory service
and a range of specialist guidelines on best practice.
MRS offers various qualifications and membership grades, as well
as training and professional development resources to support these. It
is the official awarding body in the UK for vocational qualifications in
market research.
MRS is a major supplier of publications and information services,
conferences and seminars and many other meeting and networking
opportunities for researchers.
MRS is ‘the voice of the profession’ in its media relations and public
affairs activities on behalf of professional research practitioners, and
aims to achieve the most favourable climate of opinions and legislative
environment for research.
The Market Research Society (Limited by Guarantee) Company Number
518685
Company Information: Registered office and business address:
15 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0JR
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.mrs.org.uk
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MARKET RESEARCH IN PRACTICE SERIES
Published in association with The Market Research Society
Consultant Editors: David Barr and Robin J Birn
Kogan Page has joined forces with The Market Research Society (MRS)
to publish this unique series of books designed to cover the latest
developments in market research thinking and practice.
The series provides up-to-date knowledge on the techniques of market
research and customer insight and best practice in implementing
them. It also shows the contribution market research and customer
information management techniques can make to helping organisa-
tions of all kinds in shaping their strategy, structure, customer focus
and value creation.
The series consists of several essential guides that focus on the core
skills developed in the MRS training and qualifications programmes
(www.mrs.org.uk). It provides practical advice and case studies on
how to plan, use, act on, and follow-up, research, and on how to com-
bine it with other sources of information to develop deep insights into
customers.
Fully international in scope of content, its readership is also from all
over the world. The series is designed not only for specialist market
researchers, but also for all those involved in developing and using
deeper insights into their customers — marketers in all disciplines,
including planning, communications, brand management, and inter-
active marketers.
Other titles in the series:
Consumer Insight, Merlin Stone
The Effective Use of Market Research, Robin J Birn
Market Intelligence: How and why organizations use market research,
Martin Callingham
Market Research in Practice: A guide to the basics, Paul Hague, Nick
Hague & Carol-Ann Morgan
Questionnaire Design, Ian Brace
Kogan Page Ltd
120 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JN
Tel: [phone]
www.kogan-page.co.uk
B2B TP 31/8/05 10:29 am Page 1
MARKET RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
BUSINESS
TO
BUSINESS
MARKET
RESEARCH
UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING
BUSINESS MARKETS
RUTH McNEIL
London & Sterling, VA
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This book is dedicated to Tim Sanders (1975–2004) who would have been a
great businessman had he lived.
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained
in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and
authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however
caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting,
or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of the authors.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2005 by Kogan Page
Limited
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and
licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these
terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 22883 Quicksilver Drive
London N1 9JN Sterling VA20166-2012
United Kingdom USA
www.kogan-page.co.uk
© Ruth McNeil, 2005
The right of Ruth McNeil to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
ISBN 0 7494 4364 2
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
ACIPrecord for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset by Datamatics Technologies Ltd, Mumbai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale
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Contents
The editorial board vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1. The business to business market research industry 3
What is business to business market research? Some definitions 3;
The history of B2B market research 5; The size of the B2B market
research sector 5; The people researched in B2B work 7;
Differences between B2B and consumer research 10; How B2B
research complements other research 13; The types of business
problems B2B research addresses 15; The users of B2B market
research 16; Summary 19
2. Sampling for B2B research 20
Sampling characteristics of business markets 20; Putting the study
into action 23; Research practices related to sampling 35; Summary 39
3. Trends in B2B research 40
Drivers 40; Specific trends and issues 44; Challenges faced by B2B
research 48; Implications of current trends 49; Summary 53
4. What works and does not work in B2B research 54
Possible research approaches or methodologies 54; Relative use of
these approaches in B2B research 58; Deciding on the approach 60;
Summary 68
5. The B2B research process: I Desk research 69
The desk research process 70; Resources for desk research 71;
Another type of desk research: data mining 74; Validating data
from desk research 76; Summary 76
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Contents
6. The B2B research process: II Qualitative research 77
Main types of qualitative research 77; The qualitative process 81;
B2B interviewing and moderating 86; Qualitative analysis and
reporting 96; Summary 106
7. The B2B research process: III Quantitative research 107
The quantitative process 107; Questionnaire design 110; Design
issues and project management relevant to particular B2B
methods 124; Administering questionnaires: fieldwork issues 133;
Reporting 151; Summary 159
8. Costing: guidelines on the cost of projects 160
First considerations 160; Costing basics – factors influencing
costs 161; Containing project costs 165; Summary 165
9. Overviews of the business respondent, sectors and research
applications 166
The business respondent 166; Overview of sectors 169; Applications
of market research 177; Summary 210
10. Regional differences and comparisons in B2B research 211
Regional review 211; Summary 219
11. What it is like being a B2B client and B2B researcher 221
What it is like being a B2B client 221; What it is like being a B2B
researcher 228; Summary 235
12. Training, organizations and ethics in B2B research 236
Training 236; Organizations 237; Ethics in B2B research 242;
Summary 245
Appendix 1: Sources for B2B market researchers 247
Appendix 2: Sample screener questionnaire for in-depth interview 254
Appendix 3: Sample focus group recruitment questionnaire 257
Appendix 4: Research snapshot as a reporting technique 260
Appendix 5: Sample self-completion questionnaire (Business Link) 262
Appendix 6: Sample customer satisfaction research quantitative
questions 267
Appendix 7: Sample communication research quantitative
questionnaire 270
Appendix 8: Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 272
Appendix 9: The Market Research Society Code of Conduct 273
Glossary 294
References and further reading 299
Index 302
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The editorial board
SERIES EDITORS
David Barrhas been Director General of The Market Research Society
since July 1997. He previously spent over 25 years in business infor-
mation services and publishing. He has held management positions
with Xerox Publishing Group, the British Tourist Authority and Reed
International plc. His experience of market research is therefore all on
the client side, having commissioned many projects for NPD and M&A
purposes. A graduate of Glasgow and Sheffield Universities, David
Barr is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow
of The Royal Society of Arts.
Robin J Birnhas been a marketing and market research practitioner for
over 25 years. In 1985 Robin set up Strategy, Research and Action Ltd,
a market research company for the map, atlas and travel guide sector,
and the book industry. In 2004 he was appointed Head of Consultation
and Research at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and
Wales. He is a Fellow of The Market Research Society and a Fellow of
the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and is also the editor of The
International Handbook of Market Research Techniques.
ADVISORY MEMBERS
Martin Callingham was formerly Group Market Research Director at
Whitbread, where he ran the Market Research department for 20 years
and was a non-executive director of the company’s German restaurant
chain for more than 10 years. Martin has also played his part in the
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The Editorial Board
market research world. Apart from being on many committees of the
MRS, of which he is a Fellow, he was Chairman of the Association of
Users of Research (AURA), has been a council member of ESOMAR,
and has presented widely, winning the David Winter Award in 2001 at
the MRS Conference.
Nigel Culkinis a Fellow of The Market Research Society and member
of its Professional Advisory Board. He has been a full member since
1982. He has been in academia since 1991 and is currently Deputy
Director, Commercial Development at the University of Hertfordshire,
where he is responsible for activities that develop a culture of
entrepreneurism and innovation among staff and students. He is Chair
of the University’s, Film Industry Research Group (FiRG), supervisor
to a number of research students and regular contributor to the media
on the creative industries.
Professor Merlin Stone is Business Research Leader with IBM’s
Business Consulting Services, where he works on business research,
consulting and marketing with IBM’s clients, partners and universities.
He runs the IBM Marketing Transformation Group, a network of
clients, marketing agencies, consultancies and business partners, focus-
ing on changing marketing. He is a director of QCi Ltd, an Ogilvy One
company. Merlin is IBM Professor of Relationship Marketing at Bristol
Business School. He has written many articles and 25 books on mar-
keting and customer service, including Up Close and Personal: CRM @
Work, Customer Relationship Marketing, Successful Customer Relationship
Marketing, CRM in Financial Services and The Customer Management
Scorecard, all published by Kogan Page, and The Definitive Guide to
Direct and Interactive Marketing, published by Financial Times-Pitman.
He is a Founder Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and a
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Paul Szwarcbegan his career as a market researcher at the Co-operative
Wholesale Society (CWS) Ltd in Manchester in 1975. Since then he has
worked at Burke Market Research (Canada), American Express Europe,
IPSOS RSL, International Masters Publishers Ltd and PSI Global prior
to joining the Network Research board as a director in October 2000.
Over the past few years Paul has specialized on the consumer financial
sector, directing multi-country projects on customer loyalty and reten-
tion, new product/service development, and employee satisfaction in
the UK, European and North American markets. Paul is a full member
of The Market Research Society. He has presented papers at a number
of MRS and ESOMAR seminars and training courses.
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Acknowledgements
First on the list must be my two collaborators in the United States, Dr
Kerrie Pinkerton (O’Gallagher) in New York and Jo Ingledew in San
Francisco. Kerrie worked effectively as a co-author with me much of
the time, working ceaselessly to provide a broader view and bring her
experience of working in Australia, Europe and North America to bear.
This combination of broad view allied with her attention to detail made
Kerrie an ideal workmate. No one could have been more devoted to
helping an old colleague. Many thanks to both Kerrie and Jo – living
proof that writing a book ‘virtually’ and across multiple time zones can
be effective. Eternal gratitude to e-mail!
My particular thanks also to all those who contributed to this book
and provided case studies, in particular the many agencies that pro-
vided topical information and to those clients who gave permission for
data to be reproduced.
There were those who provided insight on regional perspectives,
including and in particular Julia Spink (Asia), Warwick Hoare
(Australia and Asia) and Mark Dignam (Australia). There were also
those who read through my first draft on sector issues and provided
useful additional commentary: my thanks here to Keith Bailey (Nokia)
concerning the IT/telecoms sector and to Richard Gilmore (Insight) on
the pharmaceutical sector.
Others, too numerous to mention, provided help on particular
issues, such as Rebecca Candy of Kudos concerning directories and
lists, Neil McPhee, Nuance, on market size information, and Mike
Brown, Cobalt Sky for help in converting some data.
One of the most depressing things about writing a book like this is
that it becomes out of date as soon as it is written; my thanks to my
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