Views From The Hills of Kentucky :: There is a New Web Site that Should be of Interest -- POPSG (Point-of-Purchase Study Group)

Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com

There is a New Web Site that Should be of Interest -- POPSG (Point-of-Purchase Study Group)

There is a new web site that should be of interest to all marketers and market researchers involved in purchase motivation, package design (especially copy and graphics), promotional effectiveness and market segmentation. The name of the web site is POPSG and can be found at: http://www.popsg.org

The general purpose of the POPSG is to serve as an educational information exchange among a network of researchers interested in conducting consumer research at the point-of-purchase. The group will focus on:

Establishing a roster of POP researchers and interested parties.
Developing a bibliography of published and unpublished material that has a direct bearing on the utility and limitations of POP research. (Proprietary or confidential information will be excluded from consideration.)
Disseminating literature on request of members of the Study Group.
Sponsoring study and consultation sessions for the group.

Who is involved in the group? The Point-of-Purchase Study Group is a coalition of academic, industrial and other researchers who maintain an active interest in and promotion of, this type of research. Check the web site for member identification and background.

Why have the researchers joined the group? Actually there are probably as many reasons as there are members. some, myself included, believe that simulation in our conventional research protocols has needlessly introduced much of the testing bias into our research. Point-of-Purchase research, which has been called such things as "In-Store Research," "Assessment in Context," "In Situ Research," and "Natural Research" eliminates much of the simulation encountered in the more conventional research environments. It is our contention that Point-of-Purchase will deliver much more reliable data to the researcher.

The web site has been organized by Sorensen Associates Inc, one of only a few research companies that recognizes the utility of this type of research. Sorensen Associates Inc has specialized in this type of research for over twenty five years but mostly in the area of food research. It has been my experience that few manufacturers are aware of the potential of Point-of-Purchase research. Procter & Gamble is an exception. In my career at P&G, we were utilizing this type of research as early as the 1970's. maybe this was one of the competitive advantages we had over our competition.