Amárach Research Blog

Work 2.0

2008-05-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

If it's good enough for IBM ...

Welcome to Eirvana

2008-05-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

UCD's Cormac Ó Gráda has done us a big favour by reminding us how much better off we are in Ireland today. A healthy antidote to the accumulating doom and gloom in the news headlines.

HT to the Geary Behaviour Centre (again ;-)

If MySpace were a country it would be the 8th largest country in the world

2008-05-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

We thought that was a 'wow-stat' ... Bottom line: in such a world marketers should forget experiences and focus on 'micro-interactions'. Read on:

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The Health of the Nation

2008-04-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

The ESRI have published the latest issue of the SLAN health survey. It is a superb resource for anyone interested in health, food and lifestyle trends - and not just dietary issues.

And for those of you wondering where things are going next, the CSO's latest population forecasts provides detailed spreadsheet forecasts for population numbers by age and sex. That's two essential resources for marketers planning for future growth.

Moral Marketing

2008-04-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Marketing does get a bad press from time-to-time. Which is why we like this blog: it faces the issues of responsible marketing head on.

Lots of food for thought, even for designers as this salutary lesson on 'when design goes wrong' illustrates.

Enough Already

2008-04-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

Researchers in behavioural economics have known for some time that giving consumers more choice may actually reduce their willingness to buy. Recent research confirms this insight, and suggests that for some marketers 'less is more' may well be the key to sales success.

Furthermore, research in Sweden has shown that women take much longer than men about making their mind up when searching for bargains, but often to the detriment of getting the best deal (no comment!) So less choice and less time to choose might be the surprise new marketing strategy when targeting hassled consumers ...

A Pint of Pain

2008-04-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

The latest CSO retail sales index shows that Irish publicans are facing into a(nother) tough year. Not only were bar sales volumes down in February (by -5.3% on the previous year) but so also were bar sales values (by -1.8%).

One saving factor: the proposed new legislation restricting access to alcohol in off-licences may well boost pub sales as falling prices in the former have reduced sales in the latter in the past. Assuming the legislation pushes off-licence prices up, of course.

Wars have been started over less ...

2008-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

We've all had that moment: the satisfaction of sending the smart/nasty/ascerbic email that vents your feelings, followed by the dawning realistion that maybe that wasn't such a good idea ...

Which is why we like the idea of a Civility Check from those smart folk over at Nudge. It uses content analysis to 'score' your email in terms of its anger level - and even holds back sending it for a period of a few hours or day for you to reflect on it.

Now if they could install one of those in everyone's mouth sure the world would soon be a better place ;-)

Brain Candy

2008-04-23T23:40:00.001-07:00

We're always on the look out for the next new thing at Amárach, and we think we've found it: sweets that are good for you - or for your brain to be precise. The idea (from Japan, why are we not surprised?) is to include neurotransmitters such as GABA (no, we're not sure what that is either) to stimulate mental alertness etc.

Maybe Woody Allen wasn't so far off after all when he imagined a future in which all the things currently thought bad for you have been re-designated as good for you? HT to Mind Hacks for that one.

Green'ish Consumers

2008-04-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

One of the things you learn fast in the market research business is that it's relatively easy to change what people say; harder to change what they think; and really difficult to change what they do. This is especially true in relation to surveys about attitudes to the environment and green consumerism. Consumers - and we hope you're sitting down - often say one thing and do another.

Joel Makower has a good post on his blog reviewing US research about attitudes to green marketing and Earth Day. There's a lot that's relevant to Irish consumers. See also the latest issue of the David Report, taking the debate about green consumerism to a whole new level. It might even change what you do, not just what you think.

Olympic Struggle

2008-04-20T22:43:00.001-07:00

A lot of brands (including a few in Ireland) are struggling with their involvement as sponsors of this year's Olympic Games. Certainly the games are turning out to be the most politically contentious since the Moscow Games.

Marketers have a narrow path to follow: they want the benefits of association with the spirit of the games - but not the politics of the host. An excellent article over at the Knowledge @ Wharton web site provides some guidelines for the perplexed. Marketers and consumers will be grateful for a successful solution.

What's The Point?

2008-04-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here's yet another cool demonstration of the power of web 2.0 to change the interface between businesses and customers - it's called The Point. We think you'll be seeing a lot more of this and similar initiatives over the next few years.

The idea is a social networking application for individuals to form 'platforms for group action'. Check out their animated introductions to 'The Frustrated Consumer' and 'The Smart Shopper' to get a sense of how web 2.0 is going to transform marketing 1.0.

The Ads Do Work

2008-04-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

We've blogged before about neuro-marketing and its potential for Irish marketers.

Two recent newspaper items focus specifically on the market research practice of neuro-marketing and their use in ad testing. The first, from The Guardian, raises inevitable concerns about the potential for manipulation of people against their will. The second, from New York Times, deals more with the validity of neuro-science as a guide to testing marketing effectiveness.

Both are well worth reading: in uncertain times marketers are going to turn increasingly to methods that guarantee certain results.

Service with a Shrug

2008-04-15T02:58:00.000-07:00

It may not be statistically robust, but the Daily Telegraph's segmentation of bad service providers does ring rather true - even in Ireland.

And for those of you ever caught in 'dial 6 for anger' hell, this is for you.

Social Networking, So Yesterday ...

2008-04-13T02:04:00.000-07:00

Just before you go invest your online marketing budget in (yet another) app, it seems the social networking worm may have turned (warning: some robust language) ...

HT to Media Influencer for that one.

Money on the Brain

2008-04-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Psyblog has just finished an excellent series of posts on the subject of money psychology, a subject close to our hearts (and purses and wallets).

There's even a clue as to why Irish house prices won't fall as far as some predict: home owners value their asset far higher than buyers and so will simply wait out any downturn until prices come back to what they consider 'acceptable'.

It would seem that price isn't so much negotiable as emotional.

Save the World - Virtually

2008-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

You have probably already heard about Second Life - the web site where you create a 'virtual you' or avatar.

Inevitably perhaps, someone has come up with the idea of virtual education. This time it is a Second Life-type application that shows you how the decisions you make will impact on the environment and on future generations. It is called SOS 21 - read more about it here at the always excellent Future Lab site.

Unfortunately you won't get any virtual carbon credits for playing.

SEM Conference Presentation

2008-04-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

In case you want to just see the presentation rather than download it:

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Silver Searchers

2008-04-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our latest research on search engine usage by Irish internet users points to a new demographic divide. It seems that older users are more likely to use search engines (and sponsored links on search results pages) than younger users. Read more here.

Other research on older users - the silver surfers as they are sometimes known - shows that older consumers take longer to process content on a web page than younger users. In fact, for every year of age increase between 25 and 60 the average user spends 0.8% longer processing a web page. So a 40 year old takes 8% longer than a 30 year old. And a 50 year old 8% longer than a 40 year old.

Perhaps one more reason why 'silver searchers' will become a more important target group for search marketers.

Treading Water

2008-03-31T05:31:00.000-07:00

Consumer confidence in March is a case of 'no news is good news'. The indicator has remained broadly unchanged since the start of the year - gloomy but not depressed. Most of the gloom relates to the wider economy rather than to personal circumstances - which will minimise the (potentially negative) impact on consumer spending.

Not so construction confidence: which has seen employment expectations and price expectations plunge to unprecedented levels (-55 and a staggering -70 respectively); by far the gloomiest of all EU 27 countries. It looks like the fall in Irish house prices has some way to go yet (which might cheer some consumers up who happen to be buying rather than selling).

Make People's Lives Better

2008-03-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

That's the key advice to marketers in this brilliant presentation by Paul Isakson:

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And fortunately he sees market research (version 2.0) as the key to finding out what will make a difference (phew!)

RateMyHospital

2008-03-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

One possible solution to the Health Service Executive's problems: let the patients decide.

We're not sure if it is Web 1.0 or Web 2.0, but ratemyhospital.ie certainly seems to capture the zeitgeist in terms of consumer feedback. Over 11,000 surveys completed and growing ...

HT to the always excellent Geary Institute blog for that one.

Uncertain Economists

2008-03-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

Not one but two sets of economic forecasts this past week: with two quite different takes on the outlook for consumer spending. The first is from Davy Stockbrokers: they're forecasting real consumer spending growth of 2.5% this year, with inflation on top of 3.5%. On the other hand, Bank of Ireland are forecasting real growth of 4.0% for consumer spending, with inflation at 3.6% for 2008.

That's a growth forecast of 6% for the value of consumer spending versus one of 7.6%. It may not seem like a lot, but considering that consumers spent €90.27 billion last year, according to the CSO, then spending this year will top either €95.7 billion (if we go with the Davy forecast) or €97.1 billion if we go with the Bank of Ireland forecast. That's a difference of €1.4 billion this year - small change to the banks perhaps, but quite a lot to the rest of us!

Golf's Biggest Handicap

2008-03-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just over one in ten adults (12%) plays golf, according to a recent ESRI paper. But news from the United States suggests that golf may have reached its nineteenth hole with participation starting to decline for social and economic reasons.

Could it happen here? Some of the same reasons certainly apply - but arguably Ireland's golf industry is at an earlier stage of development and still has growth ahead of it. Arguably.

The Consumers are Revolting

2008-03-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Our latest research report for the National Consumer Agency points to a growing culture of complaint in Irish society. And not before time some of you might think.

Clothing and footwear retailers get the most complaints (20% of all shoppers at their stores), followed by Supermarkets (17%) and Restaurants/Hotels (13%). Check out the rest of the 'Top 10' for yourself.

The bottom line: with money getting tighter, consumers are going to get surlier. You have been warned.