The director of research and statistics for one of Hawaii's half-dozen major marketing research companies, told BYU-Hawaii School of Business students in the March 30 Entrepreneurship Lecture Series that the industry faces serious challenges.
Jeff Smith, Ph.D., who has worked in the service industry for the past 30 years, explained "marketing research is mainly survey work. It always has been and always will be. But the growth of cell phone and Internet usage has made surveying more difficult."
"Mobile phones cause us some problems as they become primary phones. It's not the phone at your address," he said, pointing out that at least one-out-of-seven people now exclusively use cell phones.
He added 50% of U.S. residents currently own a cell phone, and "another 16% will buy one within a year."
"Right now, your cell number is not part of a random sample of numbers. Second, it's illegal to get to; and third, soon we won't be able to tell if it's a cell number or not as more and more people get 'personal phones' as opposed to a land line," Smith said.
He also said while the Internet can be a valuable research tool, "we still have a problem using it for general surveys.
"Half of all U.S. households now have Internet access, and Hawaii's always been ahead of the curve," Smith said, "but the problem is with the other half who don't have Internet. We really have to set up a system where people agree to participate."
Such agreement is also a growing challenge, as "the refusal rate for telephone surveys has tripled since 1982. Telephone answering machines are also being used to screen calls, so we can't always get through."
Despite such hurdles, the need to respond to the quickly changing, technological environment, and an overcrowded competitive Hawaii market, Smith still feels marketing research can be a promising field with good potential.
He said one of the principals now in the business started as a secretary. "She saw what they did and said, I could do that." Another person has developed the niche of surveying former Hawaii residents who live on the mainland.
Typical services include executive-level interviewing, focus groups, in-person interviewing (one-on-one with the use of a computer), intercept interviewing (face-to-face), mail surveys, mystery or secret shops "which are used to keep companies on their toes," telephone surveys (with the use of a computer), and Internet surveys.
"The Hawaii marketing research industry has also been outstanding in its opportunities for women and non-white minorities," Smith added. "Some of the women weren't college graduates, but they clearly had skills and the ability to communicate with clients. There was nothing to stop them."
"But you can't get away without education in the advanced methodologies such as sampling designs and fee driver analyses. Those things require multi-method statistics."
"I keep telling my son you need to know two languages in marketing research: English and mathematics, particularly in the area of statistics. Of course, you have to make sure any information you give to a client is understandable, absorbable and usable by them," Smith said.
Asked what makes a marketing research firm successful, Smith replied "the most important ingredient to success is the ability to market yourself."