Interpret Survey Results as a Retailer

Often, advice to retailers is given on the basis of survey results. For example, a few days ago, the National Retail Federation announced that in a recent survey, more than two-thirds of the retailers said customer database mining will be a priority for 2010. The implication from NRF was that retailers should seriously consider ramping up their targeted marketing and advertising.
     This might be excellent advice. But always interpret survey results with care.

• How objective is the survey sponsor? If they’re trying to sell you something, they may have had an interest in the results coming out a certain way. In my example, NRF is interested in selling you the full report, so that might possibly tempt them to announce the more extreme findings or to overemphasize the implications.
• Who carried out the survey and analyzed the results? Wise survey sponsors recognize that conducting a valid survey project requires professional talents. Little things mean a lot. Researchers from London Business School and Duke University found that people tend to answer the same survey question differently when the survey is conducted over a computer than when it’s conducted in an interview. The Advertising Research Foundation concluded that giving cash incentives to survey respondents for their participation decreased the care exercised in answering. If a sponsor with a stake in the outcome contracts with a reputable organization to carry out the project, that adds trustworthiness.
• Through your eyes as a professional retailer, how much sense do the recommendations from the survey make? If the recommendations seem strange or surprising, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re flawed. Busy retailers risk being trapped by old habits, superstitions, and hand-me-downs. But your experience does count for a lot in deciding if and in what ways you’ll adapt the recommendations to fit your business.