What are young graduates looking for in an industry and what is

their perception of Market Research?

IS MARKET

RESEARCH

REALLY A

CAREER?

What is the image of the Market Research (MR) industry

amongst young graduates (grads)? What makes them tick? Is

our industry considered a successful career path?

To compete for the best young talent, the Market

Research industry has to increase its attractiveness

as an industry.

To understand the perception young graduates have

of our industry, Fringe Factory has set up a quantitative

study with the support of InSites Consulting, SSI and

ESOMAR Next. Together, we surveyed over 1,800

graduates across 9 countries to understand and assess

how attractive Market Research is as a profession.

This report highlights 5 eye-catching insights and

recommendations to make a change as an industry.

The time is now!

Thomas Troch & Lizet van de Kamp,

Board members of Fringe Factory

ON A QUEST

FOR TALENT

Screenshot of the visual survey: the industry awards

Countries: US, Brazil, UK, Belgium, the Netherlands,

Germany, Russia, India, China

Fringe Factory was set up in 2011 by a small group of

young researchers who work passionately within the

Market Research industry across the world. And no, we

are not a subsidiary, research agency, political party or

recruitment agency, but we are working closely together

with ESOMAR.

We work in partnerships with universities where we

regularly speak at career events, we arrange

competitions to attend ESOMAR for graduates, and

casual and fun events where graduates can meet

industry experts (yearly during ESOMAR Congress).

FRINGE WHO?

Chris WallbridgeMESH, UK

Sarah CunliffeSKIM, UK

Will GoodhandTNS, UK

David GaileyBrainJuicer, US

Lizet van de KampKAO, Germany

Thomas TrochInSites Consulting, Belgium

Kyle NelLowe’s Home Improvement, US

Tanmay DhallTNS, South-Africa

Get in touch with Fringe Factory! We appreciate your interest and would like to

get in touch with you!

http://www.wearefringefactory.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Are-Fringe-Factory/172254402827939

http://twitter.com/fringe_factory

Young graduates are inseparable

from their smartphones and cannot

imagine a life without social media.

They are digital natives. But how

are these skills relevant to Market

Research?

1

Young graduates, aged between 20 and 30 years old are

part of Generation Y, a generation with a distinct identity.

But what makes them different from previous

generations?

Pew Research Center researched the reasons

spontaneously given for what makes individuals from

different generations feel distinctive. Notice the evolution

from stating work ethic as a prominent identity claim to the

technology use, confirmed by the social media thunder

on the right.

TECHNOLOGY

THUNDER

Generation Y Generation X Boomer Silent

Technology use

(24%)

Technology use

(12%)

Work ethic

(17%)

WWII/Depression

(14%)

Music culture

(11%)

Work ethic

(11%)

Respectful

(14%)

Smarter

(13%)

Liberal/tolerant

(7%)

Conservative

(7%)

Values/moral

(8%)

Honest

(12%)

Smarter

(6%)

Smarter

(6%)

‘Baby boom’

(6%)

Work ethic

(10%)

Clothes

(5%)

Respectful

(5%)

Smarter

(5%)

Values/Morals

(10%)

1

2

3

4

5

Pew Research Center, Jan 2010.

Sources: Jeffbullas.com & SocialMediavieo 2013

million

Facebook users are ‘mobile only’

189

1 in 5

2couples meet online

new members

join LinkedIn

eve

ry s

ec

on

d

every minute

Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web

72hours of video is uploaded to YouTube

Market Research isn’t even featured in the

top ten of industries to be considered! Marketing,

Management Consultancy and Advertising are

leaving market research behind: only 13% of

graduates with higher education would consider it.

Speaking to personal interests, Travel and

Entertainment & Media, Publishing and

Broadcasting are popular industries. As digital

natives, it’s no surprise graduates are attracted

to Computer & ICT. But they are however also

very interested in the security provided by

governmental jobs. The attractiveness of the

Government does vary from country to country.

The industries that speak most to the imagination

of grads are very different. But what is driving

their ambitions? What is guiding their choice?

FROM THUNDER

TO BLUNDER

27%

26%

26%

21%

20%

19%

17%

17%

16%

30% travel & entertainment

the government

fashion

marketing

Q: Imagine the sky being the limit and anything being

possible. Which industries would you consider working in?

n = 1877 | f= None

media, publishing & broadcasting

computer & ICT (soft-hardware)

financial services, banks & insurances

food & beverages

management consultancy

advertising

Ask young graduates what’s important for them in

an industry and ‘income’ is mentioned the most

when asked unprompted. But is it really that

important? What if they had to select the most

defining criteria? It is striking to see how

demanding they are! As a Market Research

industry we know consumers are more demanding

than ever, we notice the same evolution in the job

expectations of graduates.

More intrinsic motivators like personal interests,

career path and work–life balance outperform

the importance of money. Although salary remains

an important decision factor, the real needs of

grads go beyond the transactional. It is crucial to

anticipate the changing needs of graduates.

Understanding the ‘pull’ factors will help us to

understand what they are looking for.

IS TECHNOLOGY

THE DRIVER?

79%

79%

77%

76%

73%

71%

69%

68%

67%

57%

57%

56%

50%

80% match with your personal interests

career opportunities

work-life balance

salary

job security

lifelong learning

match with your field of study

fun culture

social responsibility

innovation level

Important to very important criteria influencing the

preference of an industry to work in.

n = min 1798 | f = Excluded ‘Not applicable’

travel opportunities

contemporary image

external visibility & client contact

opportunity to work and live abroad

Overall the Government and ICT sectors are

considered to be the best places to work, both

awarded 12% of the votes. This can be interpreted

from a generational perspective, we can actually

talk about Generation PC. Short for Personal

Computer and Perpetual Crisis.

Personal Computer because they grew up with

technology and recognize the technological

advancements and opportunities in this field. The

computer & ICT (soft-hardware) scores

consistently highly (top 3) on important criteria

like ‘match your personal interests’, ‘career

opportunities’ and ‘work-life balance’.

Perpetual Crisis because young graduates are

concerned about finding a job in a period of on-

going recession. This atmosphere can lead to

rather conservative choices, like the ambition to

work for the government.

GENERATION

PC

“Two words. Job security. In a struggling

economy, government jobs can offer their

employees a bit more stability. Oh sure, you'll

never get rich, you'll be comfortable.”

“Computers and technology is something that's

constantly changing and evolving. If you start

in that field and are computer savvy, there's no

limit to what you can do in the field of

technology.”

“In China, working in the government is

fantastic as it provides you job security,

facilities, authority, social respect, work

satisfaction as you can be able to serve many

people.”

How to convince graduates who are

considering a career in Market

Research? It’s in the mix! They

expect a healthy work-life balance,

competitive salary and bright career

opportunities.

2

Let’s now focus on potential MR talent. We know

what drives the general population of young

graduates, but how are grads who consider a

career in Market Research different? They are

ambitious, but don’t live to work.

This is an important characteristic of Generation Y,

and is confirmed by the ‘Ten Commandments of

Youth’, featured in How Cool Brands Stay Hot

(Van den Bergh & Behrer, 2011);

1. Have faith in yourself

2. Respect your parents

3. Be honest

4. Take responsibility for your own life

5. Live life to the full and be passionate

6. Keep your promises

7. Work hard to succeed but not to the detriment of others

8. Be tolerant of others’ differences

9. Be happy and optimistic, even in adversity

10.Create, don’t destroy (yourself, others, the earth, values)

TO MIX OR

NOT TO MIX?

85%

83%

81%

75%

74%

73%

72%

71%

64%

64%

60%

58%

54%

85% work-life balance

salary

career opportunities

match with your personal interests

match with your field of study

job security

lifelong learning

innovation level

fun culture

Important to very important criteria influencing the

preference of an industry to work in.

n = 123 | f = Considers working in, or likes to work in

Market Research; excluded ‘Not applicable’

contemporary image

social responsibility

travel opportunities

external visibility & client contact

opportunity to work and live abroad

A healthy work-life balance is a key job

selection criterion to decide which industry to work

in. The Government is seen as the best industry to

provide this and even industries matching personal

interest like Travel & Entertainment and

Computer & ICT score highly.

Market Research has a bad image in terms of a

healthy balance. Graduates seem mostly to

articulate the daily challenges of researchers

instead of the benefits.

WORKING

NINE TO FIVE

20% the government

Q: The Industry Award for ‘Best Work-life balance’ goes to…

n = 213 | f = Evaluated at least one criterion as (very)

important, and judged ‘Best Work-life balance’ as third most

important criterion

travel & entertainment

fashion

retail

telecommunications

management consultancy

financial services, banks and insurances

marketing

media, publishing & broadcasting

cosmetics

food & beverages

pharmaceutical / healthcare

catering

market research

automotive

advertising

chemical

13%

11%

6%

6%

6%

6%

5%

4%

4%

3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

0%

computer & ICT (software-hardware)

“A good analysis can help us make the right decision and often promises

a brighter future of a company while a bad one can even lead to

bankruptcy, such work also means a lot of stress and too much stress

will make people feel tired out.”

“I wouldn't say it was the most stable industry to work in - lots of

research companies fighting over the market.”

The Market Research industry

consistently underperforms on key

decision criteria. If we make the

comparison with Advertising,

Management Consultancy and

Accountancy, the true positives and

negatives surface.

3

When comparing the perception of Market

Research to Advertising, Management

Consultancy and Accountancy by asking

graduates to connect a set of statements to these

industries, the negative perception of Market

Research is nuanced, as you can see on the

next page. But profound issues also surface…

As an industry we are not visible enough, unlike

Advertising, the outcome of a research project is

not always tangible and the impact on a new

product, service or campaign is not necessarily

clear. In addition, there is a barrier between the

industry and education. New techniques like

social media analysis are rarely part of market

research courses and little attention is paid to the

rise of (online) qualitative research. Graduates

simply don’t think of MR as a career.

THE HEAT IS

ON

Management Consultancy

THE HEAT IS

ON Q: Please read the following statements and indicate which of these

industries they most apply to.

n = min 1439 | f = filtered out ‘Not applicable to any of these industries’

Market Research

Accountancy

Advertising

Shaping the world of tomorrow

Working behind the scenes

Most people at university or collegewouldn‘t think about this Industry as a

career

An Industry with plenty of young anddynamic people

Only thinking about commercial needsand not about the needs of users

Only validating and not collaborating

Too academic and not aboutunderstanding real people

An Industry for nerdsThis is boring

All about numbers and not aboutcreativity

Dimension 1 (78,5% variance explained)

Dim

ensio

n 2

(17,6

% v

ari

ance e

xpla

ined)

If we can overcome these issues, there is a bright

future ahead! Compared to competing industries,

Market Research is highly associated with

shaping the world of tomorrow.

Graduates give surprisingly accurate and

positive descriptions of Market Research,

highlighting what the industry doesn’t emphasize

enough; it’s all about people! It’s about

understanding their needs, gaining insight into

their expectations and inspiring innovation.

KEEP YOUR

HEAD COOL

17%

12%

10%

4%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

Q: Imagine we’re introducing every industry in a short

presentation during the Award Ceremony. You have 5

minutes to talk about the Market Research sector. What

would you say? What do you see as the pros and the

cons of working in this industry?

n = 1877 | f = None

Determine people’s need / Connect w people

Huge impact / Crucial for a company

Gaining insights

Innovative / creative

Access to new information and trends

Product knowledge

Observing

Communication

First hand information on products

Quick-changing sector

Young / modern

Newest technologies

Detail oriented

“I feel that Market Researchers must have a lot of fun designing

surveys in new and interesting ways. They also get the chance to learn

a lot about our culture and what various sections of the population think.”

“You would be constantly learning as you are researching new things

and thus you would not get bored as your mind would be constantly

active.”

Does validation and number

crunching sound like fun? Let’s

open the box and show graduates

what Market Research is really

about!

4

WHAT’S IN A

NAME?

Graduates have a clear vision of

what Market Research is all

about. Although this image looks

very positive, it is not making the

industry attractive enough for

them to consider it.

What’s wrong with it? The need

for research is recognised, but

the descriptions give limited

insight into what the job of a

market researcher is all about.

Q: You have 5 minutes to introduce the Market Research sector. What would you say?

n = 1877 | f= None

understand people’s needs

crucial for companies

gaining insights

innovative / creative

access to new information and new trends

product knowledge

observing

communicationquick-changing sector

young / modern

newest technologies

detail oriented

first hand information on products

While Market Research is all about opening up to

the voice of the customer, it is not transparent as

an industry. In comparison to other industries like

advertising, the output of Market Research is

unclear to young graduates and the process is

still a 'black box'.

The experience of young graduates with an

industry drives their perception. While they are

confronted daily with, for example, advertising

campaigns, Market Research is not visible in

their world. The first encounter is often from the

participant perspective, and not all surveys or

interviews are doing justice to the industry.

A job as a researcher equals being stuck behind

a computer for most graduates. There is little

knowledge on any of the techniques apart from

the traditional ones like street/telephone interviews

and surveys.

OPEN THE

BLACK BOX

“I think its very boring. No human contact etc.

Others might think bad about this because of a

lot of bad telephone research.”

“Market research is pure sell of "wind" as

there is no product, nothing tangible, only the

price you pay the research and the cost of the

failure that double characteristics tend to make.”

“There are a lot of absurd or not working

surveys and dumb questions. Sometimes

there are wrong conclusions or the person,

who wants to answer, can/’t say her pure

meaning, because the answer options are not

logical or adequate.”

THE NEXT

GENERATION

Surveys and street/telephone interviews, is that all

Market Research is about? Of course not! The

GreenBook Research Industry Trends Report

(2013) sheds light on the adoption of new

research methods among research providers and

clients. What if graduates knew about online

communities, mobile surveys and social media

analytics?

Q: What use of these techniques and approaches do you see ahead in your future?

Are you up for team work? Would

you like to collaborate with smart

people? Then why not consider

Market Research?!

5

Only 13% of young graduates would consider

working in Market Research. What is the gap

between what they’re looking for and what they

associate with this industry? The most appealing

topic in the list on the right is ‘Innovation’ (69%

appealing to very appealing) and fortunately

innovation is also associated with MR.

So where does it go wrong? Next up in the most

appealing topics is ‘Team spirit’ (65% appealing

to very appealing) and ‘Smart people’ (64%

appealing to very appealing). Collaboration with

inspirational people is clearly something young

graduates are looking for and don't think they'll

find in Market Research.

MIND THE GAP

34%

32%

30%

27%

26%

25%

24%

23%

22%

18%

14%

14%

13%

46% Marketing

Innovation

Consulting

Social media

Numbers

Big data

Big brands

Team spirit

Smart people

Awards

Q: Hit the space bar as quickly as possible when you see

a word related to Market Research.

n = 1877 | f = None

Stories

Co-creation

7%

Cool people

Parties

ESOMAR

While 13% of young graduates would consider a

job in Market Research, only 3% list it as the best

overall sector. The market research industry is

mainly losing talent to the Marketing sector.

Those considering a job in MR mostly give the

award for the best industry to Marketing; 15% in

comparison to 6% of the total sample.

To convince both graduates who are already

considering Market Research and those who are

not, it will be important to emphasize the driving

force of Market Research in the world of

Marketing.

PUT THE MR IN

MARKETING

12% Computer & ICT (soft-hardware)

Q: And the Industry Award for Best Overall Sector goes to…

n = 1877 | f = None

The government

Pharmaceutical / healtcare

Marketing

12%

7%

7%

6%

6%

6%

6%

4%

4%

4%

4%

3%

3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

5%

Financial services, banks and insurances

Media, publishing & broadcasting

Travel & entertainment

Fashion

Telecommunications

Food & beverages

Management consultancy

Chemical

Automotive

Cosmetics

Market research

Retail

Advertising

Catering

Other

And now what? What can you do to

help revamp the perception of the

Market Research industry and attract

young talent?

!

Open the ‘black box’ and prove the

impact of research on MarketingTo increase the visibility of the industry and the awareness of

careers in Market Research, we have to open up. Connect with

marketing and share successful research stories behind

successful products, services and campaigns. Emphasize

emotions of fun, dynamism, creativity and adventure to attract

grads. Move away from boring reports and make the outcome of

research something that’s shareable, creative and sexy, like an

infographic.

Demonstrate the use of digital and

social media toolsThere’s a direct connection between the technological evolution

and hot topics like social media, the internet of things and the

quantified self. The Market Research industry can find the match

with the personal interests of young graduates by increasing the

awareness of areas like community research and big data.

Communicate about the variety of

jobs and career opportunitiesThere are not a lot study fields that directly lead to a career in

Market Research. This can be negative, as there is a lack of

awareness, but it can also be positive, as there is inflow from

different study fields. Increase internship and training

opportunities and share how teams are composed; highlighting

multidisciplinarity and career opportunities. Highlight different

functions - like qualitative research, quantitative research,

analytics, interviewing and data processing to attract grads with

unique backgrounds and distinct skills.

Cross the bridge between the industry

and educationThere is a gap between a Market Research course and the

reality; new techniques and the rise of (online) qualitative are

rarely part of such courses. These can attract a new audience to

the industry, looking for a people centric approach, innovation

and creativity. Increase the presence of Market Research at

career events and bring MR professionals into the classroom

to paint a realistic picture of the industry.

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Get in touch with us!