Approximately 430 members of MarketResearchAgencies.eu received an invitation by
e-mail to participate in an online survey, and 114 of them responded with completed
questionnaires.
In May, 60% of the agencies studied reported that they were losing money, or experiencing
a decrease in turnover. Recent trends suggest that the situation has been improving.
One indicator of this improvement is the fact that only 45% of the agencies studied
experienced a turnover decrease for the months between May and November of 2009.
While this is a good sign, it must be taken with a note of caution. 23% of the market
research agencies still experienced substantial turnover decreases in November.
Optimism was in the air in May as only 22% of the participants expected slight or
substantial turnover decreases within the next six months. In actuality, 45% of
of the agencies reported a turnover decrease of some kind by the month of November.
Having said this, the optimism has yet to fade. The majority of market research
agencies anticipate turnover improvement for the next half year. 13% of these agencies
believe this increase will be substantial.
The number and volume of research projects taken on by the agencies studied has
changed in a way that mirrors the turnover data for the previous six months. In
the above section, 45% of the agencies reported a decrease in turnover. Here, 46%
of the agencies describe their situation as one in which they have been receiving
less projects while 32% percent claim they have been receiving more projects. 22%
percent of the agencies studied report no change in workload.
The labor market in the market research sector also seems to be moving towards more
stability. According to the data we have collected, more people are likely to be
hired than will be fired in the future.
When we polled the agencies again to determine how long they think the economic
crisis is likely to affect their business, their responses did not differ substantially
from the responses we received in May of 2009. Just as in May, about 2/3 of the
agencies studied still expect the crisis to be over within on year.
The population used in this study is the list of market research agencies registered
at MarketResearchAgencies.eu - Global Directory of Market Research Agencies.
Method: CAWI
Fieldwork: 20th October to 5th November 2009.
Population size: 435, includes exactly one person from each agency.
Starts: 121
Completed: 114, only completed interviews were used in the analysis
Response rate: 26%
