Articles


When to Use a National Household
vs. Specialty Consumer Survey


There are two general ways to survey people who do a particular activity such as gardening, knitting, model railroads, astronomy, or beading. You can survey them using either a national household list (via national market research companies such as MRI, TNS Global, etc.), or a specialty list (from a publisher, club or guild, industry group, retailer, or event that supports that activity). Each survey method is useful in different situations, depending on your market focus, research dollars, and the purpose of the research.

National Household Surveys Establish National Data,
Describe All Participants

The strength of national household surveys is that they provide a national profile of all participants in an activity, from those who do it once a year to those who do it daily. For example, Quilting in America, a 2003 survey sponsored by Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, includes data from a 40,00-household survey conducted by NFO Research Inc. Based on that household data, the report includes an estimate of the size and growth of the national quilting market.


Use a national household survey if you ...

  •   Have a wide market focus that includes anyone who does that activity, high end and low end.
  •   Want definitively to establish size of the national market for that activity.
  •   Have a large research budget. For example, MRI charged Outside magazine $70,000 for a recent study, according to a Folio: magazine article from March 1, 2005.
  •   Would like large national retail chains or suppliers to use the report.

Specialty Surveys Provide Cost-effective In-depth
Data on Dedicated Participants

The strength of specialty consumer surveys is that they provide an in-depth profile of dedicated participants, which is the higher-spending and usually more desirable segment of the market. For example, The State of Beading in the USA, published by Interweave Press and produced by Hart Business Research, includes data from a survey of Beadwork magazine subscribers. Survey data includes details of active beader demographics, activities, project details, inspirations, attitudes, shopping habits, and non-beading activities and interests.


Use a specialty consumer survey if you ...

  •   Have a narrower market focus that includes only the most active participants, the high-spending end of the market.
  •   Would like to go in-depth and understand needs, preferences, and motivations of the most active participants.
  •   Have a limited research budget. Specialty surveys cost less, as you can usually obtain a list without cost, the response rate is higher, and you can use online surveys more easily.
  •   Have relationships with those who could supply a specialty list, such as magazine publishers, clubs or guilds, industry group, retailers, or events.
  •   Would like specialty retailers and suppliers to read the report.

Ideally, a company or organization will do both types of surveys, gathering the benefits of each. Examples of reports using both types of surveys are Quilting in America 2003 and Scrapbooking in America 2004, both published by Primedia.

A company on a limited budget, however, can reliably estimate national market size using a less costly method than a national household survey. The company can survey retailers and/or wholesalers and use their numbers to create a national estimate, reality-checking it with consumer survey data, past reports, SEC corporate annual reports, and Department of Commerce data.



© 2008 Hart Business Research LLC