Choosing a Market Research Firm for a National Consumer Survey

Two research firms can quote you for a survey of 1,000 people across the U.S. and come back with answers to very different questions.

Say you work for a travel brand and want to know whether rising prices are changing how Americans vacation. Your PR team wants to know how many U.S. adults expect to cut back. Your marketing team wants to know what people with a trip already planned would give up first. One team needs a broad read. The other needs enough travelers to compare the tradeoffs they're making.

If I were choosing a firm, I'd give each one both questions and see what they put in the proposal.

See who gets counted in each answer

For the PR question, I'd start with U.S. adults. People who decide against traveling altogether are part of the story. For the marketing question, I'd ask people with a trip already planned whether they'd shorten it, change destinations, or pick a cheaper hotel.

Ask the firm to show you who gets each question and whose answers go into each percentage. If the proposal says "national," it should also spell out which population the firm plans to represent and how it will build the sample. When the results come back, your team should be able to tell at a glance whether a finding is about U.S. adults or a group within that sample.

Put the comparison you care about in the proposal

Suppose marketing wants to compare travelers with and without children. A survey of 1,000 U.S. adults might leave you with a much smaller group of parents who have a trip planned. Ask each firm how many completed responses it expects from both groups and what it would cost to recruit additional travelers if you need a more useful comparison.

You can recruit extra parents for that comparison and still report an overall estimate if the sample and weighting plan support it. Ask the firm to explain how it would keep that extra recruiting from giving parents too much influence in the overall results.

Compare what each quote actually buys

If PR needs a few answers from U.S. adults for a timely pitch, I'd price an omnibus first. You share the cost of fieldwork and get results for your own questions. If marketing also needs to test travel offers or compare several groups of travelers, a custom survey gives you more room to do that in the same study. Explore CITE's omnibus surveys.

I'd also ask to see a sample results table. Can your team find the exact question, who answered it, and how many people are behind each percentage? Ask what's included in the quote, from questionnaire design and fieldwork through the final tables, data file, and methodology. Those details make it easier to compare two prices on the same terms.

For Hotwire, CITE surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults about travel costs, luxury hotels, and holiday stress. One finding gave the campaign a specific angle. Sixty-seven percent said cost kept them from staying at five-star hotels more often. The campaign received coverage from Forbes and USA Today. Read the Hotwire case study.

If you're weighing proposals, we can help you scope the audience, the comparisons, and the results your team needs to use. Explore CITE's consumer market research services or tell us what you're trying to learn.