Opening ArgumentThis House believes that it does matter a lot that the public has lost trust in Market Research There is no doubt we are living in a low trust world. The 2018 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER reveals a world of stagnant distrust. Our own research backs this up… not only is trust in government low, but it’s also low in media, and especially social media companies. And trust matters hugely to democratic societies. I’m a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. Do we have any other Bruce Springsteen fans in the room? Here are the opening lyrics from a Bruce Springsteen song, Magic, released in 2007. ‘I got a coin in your palm, I can make it disappear. I got a card up my sleeve, name it and I’ll pull it out your ear.’ Bruce explains ‘the song is not about magic, but about illusion, about living in a time when anything that is true can be made to seem a lie, and anything that is lie can be made to seem true’. To me this is the end of the argument… if the Boss says trust matters, it matters! But not all of you might be Bruce Tramps so, let me elaborate. We have now lived for at least 10 years in this world full of illusions… no wonder we have lost trust in institutions, in experts…
The fact is that market research is being dragged down into this world of distrust whether we like it or not.To the general public Cambridge Analytica is no doubt a market research company. Our latest research shows that only one in five people trust market research companies, less in some countries. Better than social media companies, but not by much. So, the fact is that the public’s trust in us is low whether we like it or not. The key question is does it matter? I want you to close your eyes and imagine the future… ‘Imagine a world where there is no public trust in market research companies. Low response rates, fake respondents… kids in Bangladesh, criminals in Venezuela, bots… respondents only motivated by the promise of a two dollar an hour financial reward for their time… a world of low quality data, poor insights, wrong decisions, loss of trust amongst decision-makers, extinction of client side Insights functions, proliferating use of DIY tools by amateurs, more poor insights, more wrong decisions, even less trust..’ Now open your eyes. Look the person sitting next to you in the eye and one of you say”
‘I don’t give a damn about trust in market research’.How did that make you feel? How did it make you feel saying those words? Hearing those words? OK, but to fully understand whether trust matters or not, we need to understand the drivers of trust. Sure, as we mentioned earlier, there are external factors influencing the amount of trust people have in market research companies, but I would argue that we are also shooting ourselves in the foot. Our data shows three keys reasons for a lack of trust: 1) People don’t perceive the value of spending their time participating in research 2) We collect a lot of data on people, including sensitive personal data. People don’t understand why we need this data and what we do with it, and therefore don’t find the collection and use of their personal data by market research companies as appropriate. 3) We too often give people a bad experience when they do participate. And this is a critical mistake. Think about your own personal relationships… do you trust people who treat you badly when you engage with them? Over the past couple of years, we have done a lot of research on research into the research participant user experience. Here is how the research experience can feel to them: Again, close your eyes and listen: ‘Hello, would you like to earn a dollar? That’s great! It’s going to take you 20 minutes of your time. OK? Great, Well, it might take a bit longer, as we are looking for a needle in a haystack you might not qualify for a survey straightaway. In fact, it might well take you another 40 minutes to finally pass through a screener, so you’ll get your dollar after an hour. That’s OK? Great! Oh, by the way, when trying to qualify for a survey, we’ll ask you your age, sex and lots of other personal information multiple times, but don’t worry, your data’s safe with us. We won’t waste your time telling you why we want you to participate, what value your participation will have for consumers and citizens just like you. That’s OK isn’t, you don’t care about that, right? Oh, by the way, the survey probably won’t work on your smartphone, but if it does, it will be a horrible experience, but hey you’re going to get your dollar, so I’m sure your OK with that? Right? Good, but I have to warn you, that you still might not get your dollar. We’ve inserted some trick questions at the end of survey to catch you out. Also, if you get bored or frustrated with the horrible experience you’re getting and decide to speed through the survey, we’ll also kick you out. Oh, and if you go too slow, your quota might be full, so we won’t need your data after all and we’ll kick you out then too. But hey, you want that dollar, right? And if you think you can game our system before we game you, then welcome… it’s game on.’ Now open your eyes. Look at the person sitting next to you and one of you say:
‘I don’t give a damn about trust in market research’.How did that make you feel? How did it make you feel saying those words? Hearing those words? Not good I imagine.
Closing argumentI’m going to share with you two horror stories and one fairy tale, which I hope, if you still have any doubts at all, will convince you that trust in market research matters. Horror story number one: I was told a story where a company was making a large investment decision involving a number of different business functions. The company had a very decentralized approach to Insights, so both the innovation director and marketing director had both done their own research and come to the planning meeting with conflicting survey data. The CEO asked angrily how can we trust surveys to inform our decision? Horror story number 2: The CX VP in another large company got hold of the questionnaire the CI department was using for their tracking study. She was shocked and said she that this is not the way we talk to our customers. The CI head tried to argue that the survey was blind and that the sponsor not disclosed. The CX VP repeated that this is not the way we talk to our customers full stop, and she threatened to shut down the work the CI was doing if they did not implement the company’s agreed way of talking to customers.
Finally, the fairy taleMay I ask you to close your eyes one last time? Imagine a world where there is a high level of trust in market research… people perceive the value of participating to them as consumers and citizens and want to participate at least now and again. When they do they are given a great experience… they know who the survey is for and the value their participation will have to consumers like them… the survey they take on their smart phone is short and engaging. They are thanked at the end of the survey in a video by the client, and interesting and useful information is shared back with them, in addition to receiving a fair incentive. The agency gets quality data quickly… the client gets great insights, the decision-makers makes the best decision they can and are satisfied with the ROI on the investment in Insights. Their trust in market research continues to grow and grow… Now open your eyes. Look at the person sitting next to you and one of you say:
‘I give a HUGE damn about trust in market research’and that my esteemed colleagues is why this house believes that it matters that we rebuild the trust the general public has in market research.
Did I convince you that trust matters? If so, please get in touch to find out how me can best work together to improve the level of trust people have in what we do.
Andrew Cannon
GRBN
