Efamro boss calls for debate on MR opt-outs
Should the MR industry give consumers the right to opt out of receiving survey calls? It’s a controversial question, but one that Efamro director general Lex Olivier is keen to see back on the agenda.
Olivier- who heads up the European federation of MR associations – supports the introduction of national opt-out list, and believe they are essential if research is to remain a self- regulating industry in most countries.
However, his position puts him at odds with large swathes of the industry – including some of Efamro`s own members, who object to such lists on the grounds that they reduce the pool of available respondents.
But Olivier’s view is: “You can’t lose what you didn’t have in the first place.” In the Netherlands, where he is based, the research and direct marketing industries have been running their own opt-out list, called Infofilter since May 2004.
Three years on, the number of MR opt-outs is 5% of all Dutch households. By 2010 this is expected to rise to 10%. It sounds like a big proportion but Olivier argues that the households signing up would have refused to take part in surveys anyway, and that survey non-response rates are typically much higher than 10%.
But are opt-outs list really necessary? Researchers in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada have faced the kind of regulatory threats Olivier warns about. Privacy concerns have forced legislators to take action against unsolicited call by setting up ‘ do not call ‘ registers, but in each instance survey research has been exempted from the rules.
“There is no legal requirement to opt out “ says Debrah Harding, deputy director general of the UK`s Market Research Society. A national opt-out list is not “on the radar,” she said.
“Our view is there is no need”.
But although politicians may have been convinced that surveys should be allowed to continue unhindered, the public are not always able to distinguish between research and sales calls, and see both as a similar nuisance.
MR agencies understand this, which is why many operate their own internal ‘do not call‘ lists. Meanwhile, the ever-increasing use of access panels shows the industry to be more comfortable with the idea of consumers ‘ opting in ‘ to research.
So who not allow them to opt out at a national level?
It’s a question Olivier’s wants to put the heads of the UK, German, French, Italian and Spanish MR industries. “ My goal”, he says, “is to get the big shots together… to get al European vision on the table”.
