The Threats to Marketing Research

Several recent articles and comments 9, 22, 23 in this journal have drawn attention to the ethical problems confronting marketing researchers. There is mounting evidence that these ethical problems, while significant, are being overshadowed by a variety of environmental trends and questionable practices whose extent is only imperfectly understood 11, 15, 16. However, their unwelcome presence is being increasingly felt through higher costs (via reduced response rates, more difficult interviewer recruiting, higher wages, and greater interviewer turnover rates) and problems with data quality, sample representativeness, declining public acceptance of surveys, and new demands for government restrictions. The seriousness of these problems is reflected in the recent establishment of the Committee on Public Attitudes Toward Survey Research by the American Marketing Association and the organization of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations 24. The American Association of Public Opinion Research's Standards Committee is undertaking a study to document the experience of its members, particularly with respect to completion rates. The American Statistical Association has recommended the establishment of a small, full-time staff dedicated to studying the problems 16. The purpose of this article is to complement these activities by first putting the various uncontrollable and controllable threats into perspective, and then proposing a specific program of on research designed to clarify the changing environment of marketing and provide a basis for industry-wide corrective action.