In brief
When it comes to lean market research, ethics is the ultimate component. Indeed, lean market research is all about collecting and conveying insightful and actionable insights. In this framework, conveying the truth through a transparent and correct procedure is a non-negotiable fact for any researcher. This post is about The Ultimate Guide to Ethics for Lean Market Research.
Ethics for lean market research is not only a mandatory request, but also a golden asset for any researcher. Indeed, putting high standards for any researcher will allow him to gain precious credibility in the field. And credibility is the holy grail for any lean market researcher.
What are ethics in lean market research
Ethics in market research stands for moral principles as well as official and unofficial rules that a market researcher should respect and honor.
The essence of market research is to deal with data, behaviors and attitudes about people and organizations hence the researcher / analyst should treat these aspects with the highest standards of respect and professionalism.
The main goal of market research is also to guide, recommend and advice. Hence the researcher should always respect transparency, objectivity and truth and should consider them as golden rules.
Examples of ethics in lean market research
Let’s take some concrete example about some ethics in lean market research:
- Researchers should ensure that respondents taking part in mr surveys are in no way harmed or adversely affected by their participation
- Researchers should be honest and transparent in all their dealings both with clients and respondents
A redundant question when it comes to ethics in lean market research is what about “incentivizing respondents for research” ?
Some answers to that are:
- It’s commonplace and entirely legal
- The researcher should take care to not bring a bias to the study when incentivizing respondents for their efforts
Finally, For going further regarding ethics in lean market research, it’s highly recommended to consult the Useful summary of code of conduct for market researchers ie the “Market Research Society (MRS) Code of Conduct”.
Pros tips – The Ultimate Guide to Ethics for Lean Market Research
- Make the “Market Research Society (MRS) Code of Conduct” your common law that should be always respected and honored
- Never compromise the ethics of market research when conducting a study, it can hurt your self esteem & reputation forever
- Ask yourself whether you would be comfortable if you were on the respondents shoes, if yes, then probably what you are doing is ethical
- A researcher with high standards of ethics gains inevitably high level of credibility and trust in the eyes of all the stakeholders including himself
- Data privacy is not only a nice to have feature but a clearly established red line that is overprotected by highly serious laws and legislations worldwide eg GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
