the burtch works study - data science & analytics ... · demographic data on marketing research...

The Burtch Works Study

Salaries of Marketing Research Professionals October 2019

Linda Burtch

Managing Director

Karla Ahern & Kit Nordmark

Executive Recruiters

© 2019 Burtch Works LLC THE BURTCH WORKS STUDY 2

Section 1: Introduction 3

Marketing Research in 2019: Key Trends & Industry Outlook 4

This Year’s Compensation Insights 6

About Burtch Works 7

Section 2: Compensation Changes 8

The Sample 9

How Changes in Compensation Were Measured 9

Changes in Base Salaries 10

Section 3: Demographic Profile & Current Compensation 13

Job Category 14

Education 16

Region 18

Industry 20

Gender 21

Years of Experience 22

Section 4: Appendix A/Study Objective & Design 23

Study Objective 24

Why The Burtch Works Studies Are Unique 24

The Sample 24

How Changes in Compensation Were Measured 25

Identifying Marketing Research Professionals 25

Completeness & Age of Data 25

Segmentations of Marketing Research Professionals 26

Section 5: Appendix B/Glossary 28

Glossary of Terms 29

Burtch Works Executive Recruiting 1560 Sherman Avenue, Suite 1005, Evanston, IL 60201

847-440-8555 | www.burtchworks.com | [email protected]

© 2019, Burtch Works LLC. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. No part of this

publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form without the prior written

permission of the publisher. For requests for quotation, write to the email address listed

above. Opinions reflect judgment at time of publication and are subject to change.

Table of

Contents

http://www.burtchworks.com/

mailto:[email protected]

© 2019 Burtch Works LLC THE BURTCH WORKS STUDY | MARKETING RESEARCH 3

SECTION 1

Introduction


Marketing Research in 2019: Key Trends & Industry Outlook

This year, we’re releasing our seventh-annual Burtch Works Study examining salary and

demographic data on marketing research and consumer insights professionals. Following the

momentum seen in last year’s study, salaries have continued to increase across most job levels

and the hiring market remains active.

Here’s a quick snapshot of a few of the hiring market trends we’ve noticed over the past year,

and our take on what’s in store for the marketing research and insights industry for the upcoming

year.

Key Marketing Research Hiring Market Trends

1. Research & Insights Salaries Continue to Increase

While research salaries held fairly steady for a few years, last year’s report showed a noticeable

year-over-year increase for almost all job levels. The upward trend continues as our 2019 data

confirmed salaries are still on the rise for many, especially on the client side.

Even with increasing salaries, when considering a new position we always advise research and

insights professionals to examine an opportunity holistically (beyond just salary), including both

short- and long-term growth opportunities. Strategic transitions throughout your career will likely

be more beneficial than moving around for money alone.

On the employer side, this may be the right time to re-examine salary bands and compensation

packages if they’ve remained mostly unchanged in recent years. You’ll want to be as competitive

as possible to attract top talent in an active hiring market.

2. Activity at the Junior End Remains Strong

As one might expect, the early-career market is generally more active, with junior professionals

changing jobs more often than those with more experience. Our most recent job change research

found that 27% of professionals with 10 or less years’ experience changed jobs in 2018, compared

to just under 18% of researchers with 11+ years’ experience making a move.

3. Leaner Client-Side Teams Increase Competition for Roles

In our 2017 report, we noted a trend that some client-side teams had been operating leaner than

in years past, and we’ve seen this continue. With smaller in-house insights teams, we’ve noticed

increased competition among researchers for many of these client-side roles. We’re also seeing

more companies leverage screening tools and assessments to thoroughly vet potential team

members in advance, since each individual on the team has a major impact within a smaller

group.

4. Healthcare & Tech Salaries Catching Up to CPG

Our previous reports have long shown Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) as the highest paid

industry for research and insights professionals. However, in recent years, we’ve noticed the gulf

closing as salaries for researchers in the Healthcare/Pharma and Technology fields are now

catching up to those in CPG.


Marketing Research Beyond 2019: Industry Outlook

With new and emerging technologies making an impact on how researchers gather insights, and

the increased attention on growing fields such as data science and analytics, many have

naturally been wondering: what’s next for Marketing Research?

Thinking about our conversations with research and insights professionals over the years, we’ve

recently been fielding more questions from researchers wondering if they should try to transition

into analytics positions or whether research roles will start to require more technical tools such as

SQL, R, or Python.

While it’s true that the research and insights industry has been changing, and marketing research

as we know it today will continue to evolve, it’s unlikely that the practice will cede exclusively to

analytics and data science approaches. If anything, the unique skills that professionals in all of

these fields bring to the table will continue to complement each other as teams work closely

together to decipher data and develop 360˚ insights for their organizations. There are many

research approaches that offer unique advantages, and when used in conjunction with analytics

and data science, these can yield a wealth of information to guide strategy across an

organization.

Our advice to researchers is to always make sure you’re picking up new experiences and that

your research skillset is adequately diversified. While specializing in one area can open certain

doors, you want to be careful to not get so narrow in your focus or skillset that you potentially limit

your advancement or access to future opportunities. We continue to see employers looking for

research professionals that have experience with a myriad of techniques and methodologies, so

expanding your research toolkit is one of the best ways to stay marketable as new technologies

continue to emerge.


This Year’s Compensation Insights

Compensation and demographic data for 840 marketing researchers is shared in this 7th edition

report, an update to our December 2018 release of The Burtch Works Study: Salaries of Marketing

Research Professionals. This data was collected during the months ending August 2019.

Our salary studies report:

Base salary variations of marketing researchers, working for both supplier- and client-side

organizations.

The proportions eligible for a bonus, and the median and mean bonus targets.

How base salaries have changed since last year’s study.

How salaries of marketing researchers vary based on several characteristics including job

level, industry, region, and education.

Supplier-side: The median base salary of supplier-side researchers at level 1 is $67,500 and

increases, based on job level, up to $180,000 for those at level 4. Most professionals on the supplier

side are bonus eligible, and the median bonus target varies from $7,500 to $34,000 depending on

specific job level.

Client-side: Marketing researchers on the client-side typically earn higher base salaries, are more

likely to be bonus eligible, and have larger bonus targets than those on the supplier-side. Client-

side researchers at level 1 earn a median base salary of $83,500, which increases to $146,000 for

those at level 3, and $215,000 at level 5. More than 80% of all client side researchers are eligible to

receive bonus pay. Those at level 1 have a median bonus target of $8,443 increasing to $53,750

for those at level 5.

A year of growth: When compared to 2018 data, median base salaries at most job levels showed

some increase. For supplier-side researchers at levels 1 and 2, median salaries showed clear

increases. Supplier-side level 3 did show a small decrease. However, this year, professionals at the

most senior levels on the supplier side were categorized as level 4. This level was not included in

previous studies and, therefore, affected comparison.

For client-side researchers, salaries increased at all levels, with level 5 showing the most significant

growth. The general trend toward increasing salaries is likely due to an active market with many

companies competing for the best talent.

For additional details about how salaries vary compared to last year, see Section 2 starting on page 8.

For complete information about how salaries vary by demographic characteristics, see Section 3 starting on

page 13.


About Burtch Works

Founded by Linda Burtch, who has 30+ years’ experience in quantitative recruiting, Burtch Works

is the leading resource for difficult-to-find, highly qualified marketing research and analytics talent.

Burtch Works has built a strong and diverse network of thousands of professionals in these areas,

and our specific focus and deep industry knowledge allow us to understand the nuanced aspects

of the specialties we serve, and to continually evaluate the ever-changing talent marketplace.

Because of our strong relationships with both professionals and companies, we have the

opportunity to examine hiring and compensation trends from a unique vantage point, and so

Burtch Works publishes several landmark studies each year that investigate demographic and

compensation data for marketing research, predictive analytics, and data science professionals.

The Burtch Works Studies provide a comprehensive view of compensation and demographic data

for these professionals, and contain critical information for individuals mapping their career

strategy as well as for hiring managers hoping to recruit and retain qualified additions to their

teams.

Burtch Works has established itself as an industry expert through features in The New York Times,

The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC, Mashable, the American Marketing Association’s Marketing

News magazine, and more, as well as joint industry surveys with Forrester Research,

DataScience.com, and a collaboration with the International Institute for Analytics (IIA). This year

Burtch Works is proud to have been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Recruiting

Firms.

Karla Ahern and Kit Nordmark lead the marketing research recruiting team at Burtch Works and

both started their careers within marketing research. Ms. Ahern first worked on-site at PepsiCo for

IRI, before moving to Knowledge Networks where she focused on custom research initiatives in

media, CPG, and pharmaceuticals. Before joining Burtch Works, she led business development

and digital media effectiveness programs for Dimestore Media now a part of GfK/Ipsos.

Ms. Nordmark worked in the marketing research field with a focus in qualitative research, most

recently at The Futures Company (now operating as Kantar). Prior to that, she was a research

director at TRU, a boutique insights firm specializing in the youth demographic.


SECTION 2

Marketing Research

Professionals:

Compensation Changes


The Sample

This sample contains 840 of the approximately 14,000 marketing researchers with whom Burtch

Works maintains contact. Burtch Works collected the data for this study during interviews

conducted over the months ending August 2019, which is the period immediately following the

period of interviews for the 2018 study. Professionals were included in the sample only if (1) they

satisfied Burtch Works’ criteria for marketing researchers, and (2) Burtch Works obtained complete

information about that individual’s compensation, demographic, and job characteristics.

How Changes in Compensation Were Measured

While some of the 840 researchers in this sample were also in the samples for our previous studies

(published annually starting in 2013), others were not. Therefore, changes in compensation were

not measured by differencing current compensation and compensation reported for the previous

study and then taking medians (and other percentiles) of the differences. Instead, changes were

measured by comparing medians (and other percentiles) of current compensation to those

reported in last year’s study.


Changes in Base Salaries

Median base salaries rose compared to last year for all levels on both the supplier side

and client side (with the exception of Supplier Level 3 due to changes in

categorization).

For supplier-side researchers, the most significant increases in median base salary were

at level 2 (7% increase compared to 2018).

For client-side researchers, salaries increased at all levels with the largest increases at

the most junior level (level 1: 7% increase) and the most senior level (level 5: 9%

increase).

This year, the previous categorization for Supplier Level 3 was split into two levels:

Supplier Level 3 and Supplier Level 4. This affects any comparison to Supplier Level 3

data in previous years.


$0 $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000

C-5

C-4

C-3

C-2

C-1

S-4

S-3

S-2

S-1Supplier

Level 1

Client

Level 2

Client

Level 3

Client

Level 4

Supplier

Level 2

Client

Level 1

Figure 1 Comparison of Marketing Research Professionals’ Median Base Salaries by Job Category

2019

2018

+4%

+7%

+5%

+4%

+9%

*See page 26 for job category definitions.

**Supplier Level 3 split into Level 3 and Level 4 in this year’s study, so there is no direct comparison to last year’s data.

Supplier

Level 3

Client

Level 5

**N/A

+7%

+1%

Supplier

Level 4


Job Level Year 25% Median 75%

Supplier

Level 1

2019 $58,000 $67,500 $79,500

2018 $57,500 $65,000 $76,000

Change +1% +4% +5%

Supplier

Level 2

2019 $80,000 $90,000 $105,000

2018 $75,000 $84,500 $100,000

Change +7% +7% +5%

**Supplier

Level 3

2019 $105,000 $122,500 $150,000

2018 $100,000 $125,500 $165,000

Change N/A N/A N/A

Supplier

Level 4 2019 $150,000 $180,000 $203,000

Job Level Year 25% Median 75%

Client Side

Level 1

2019 $75,000 $83,500 $100,000

2018 $70,000 $78,240 $90,000

Change +7% +7% +11%

Client Side

Level 2

2019 $104,250 $115,000 $128,750

2018 $100,000 $110,000 $123,000

Change +4% +5% +5%

Client Side

Level 3

2019 $132,000 $146,000 $157,000

2018 $130,000 $140,000 $154,000

Change +2% +4% +2%

Client Side

Level 4

2019 $155,000 $172,000 $188,000

2018 $158,000 $170,000 $182,000

Change -2% +1% +3%

Client Side

Level 5

2019 $200,000 $215,000 $235,000

2018 $173,875 $197,500 $223,750

Change +15% +9% +5%

Figure 2 Change in Base Salaries of Supplier-Side Research Professionals by Job Level

Figure 3 Change in Base Salaries of Client-Side Research Professionals by Job Level


**Supplier Level 3 split into Level 3 and Level 4 in this year’s study, so there is no direct comparison to last year’s data.


SECTION 3

Marketing Research

Professionals:

Demographic Profile &

Current Compensation


Compensation | Job Category

As the level within each job category increases, the median base salaries of marketing

researchers increases along with their experience. Supplier-side researchers at level 1

earn a median base salary of $67,500, which increases to $90,000, $122,500, and

$180,000 at levels 2, 3, and 4, respectively. On the client-side, level 1 professionals have

a median base salary of $83,500, $115,000 for those at level 2, $146,000 at level 3, and

$172,000 and $215,000 at levels 4 and 5 respectively.

Well over half of all marketing researchers are eligible to receive bonuses. Among

client-side researchers, more than 80% are bonus eligible and median bonus targets

range from $8,443 at level 1 to $53,750 at level 5. Median bonus targets among

supplier-side researchers vary from $7,500 at level 1 up to $34,000 at level 4.

Supplier Side

Job Level Base Salary Bonus Target

N 25% Median Mean 75% Eligible Median Mean

Level 1 82 $58,000 $67,500 $72,361 $79,500 53.8% $7,500 $10,273

Level 2 107 $80,000 $90,000 $93,070 $105,000 65.9% $8,750 $11,016

Level 3 160 $105,000 $122,500 $132,008 $150,000 78.6% $15,750 $25,496

Level 4 49 $150,000 $180,500 $181,249 $203,000 87.2% $34,000 $40,072

Client Side

Job Level Base Salary Bonus Target

N 25% Median Mean 75% Eligible Median Mean

Level 1 93 $75,000 $83,500 $85,241 $100,000 83.5% $8,443 $9,423

Level 2 122 $104,250 $115,000 $114,950 $128,750 94.4% $8,500 $15,794

Level 3 112 $132,000 $146,000 $146,723 $157,000 95.9% $28,000 $28,637

Level 4 61 $155,000 $172,000 $174,770 $188,000 94.8% $34,400 $36,095

Level 5 54 $200,000 $215,000 $221,923 $235,000 98.1% $53,750 $66,309

Figure 4 Compensation of Supplier-Side Research Professionals by Job Level

Figure 5 Compensation of Client-Side Research Professionals by Job Level


$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

$160,000

$180,000

$200,000

$220,000

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

$80K

$120K

$160K

$200K

Figure 6 Median and Mean Base Salaries of Marketing Researchers by Job Category

Supplier Side

Client Side

Median Mean


$40K


Demographics & Compensation | Education

All marketing researchers in this year’s sample hold a college degree, and 58% hold

an advanced degree; 26% hold a Master’s degree as their highest degree, 27% hold

an M.B.A, and another 5% hold a Ph.D.

At nearly every job level, marketing researchers with an advanced degree (Master’s,

MBA, or PhD) earn higher base salaries.

Bachelor's

42%

Master's

26%

MBA

27%

Ph.D.

5%

Figure 7 Distribution of Marketing Research Professionals by Education


Job Level Education Base Salary

25% Median Mean 75%

Supplier Side

Level 1

Bachelor’s $55,000 $65,000 $72,032 $79,250

Master’s $60,000 $70,000 $69,750 $75,000

MBA - - - -

Supplier Side

Level 2

Bachelor’s $79,500 $90,000 $92,104 $105,000

Master's $79,000 $86,250 $90,563 $95,000

MBA $85,000 $93,750 $97,833 $110,000

Supplier Side

Level 3

Bachelor’s $100,000 $120,000 $131,188 $150,000

Master’s $109,250 $125,400 $129,520 $141,250

MBA $110,000 $135,000 $138,585 $160,000

Supplier Side

Level 4

Bachelor’s $149,250 $175,000 $177,761 $200,750

Master's $150,000 $182,500 $178,500 $210,750

MBA $173,750 $186,000 $190,063 $209,500

Job Level Education Base Salary

25% Median Mean 75%

Client Side

Level 1

Bachelor’s $70,000 $80,000 $82,289 $95,750

Master's $75,000 $81,500 $83,568 $86,770

MBA $88,250 $100,000 $97,167 $107,000

Client Side

Level 2

Bachelor’s $104,000 $115,000 $112,130 $120,500

Master’s $99,000 $112,000 $111,517 $120,000

MBA $110,000 $120,000 $119,843 $132,000

Client Side

Level 3

Bachelor’s $138,500 $145,000 $146,424 $150,000

Master's $122,000 $137,500 $140,792 $153,647

MBA $136,250 $150,000 $149,355 $157,000

Client Side

Level 4

Bachelor’s $145,875 $168,000 $165,028 $180,000

Master's $160,000 $173,500 $177,125 $187,500

MBA $155,000 $174,000 $173,020 $190,000

Client Side

Level 5

Bachelor’s $200,000 $215,000 $231,538 $250,000

Master’s $191,250 $227,000 $220,500 $230,000

MBA $200,000 $205,000 $215,106 $232,500

Figure 8 Distribution of Base Salaries of Supplier-Side Researchers by Job Level & Education

Figure 9 Distribution of Base Salaries of Client-Side Researchers by Job Level & Education


Demographics & Compensation | Region

Salaries vary by geographic region. On the client side, marketing researchers

employed in the West Coast region are paid higher median base salaries when

compared to other regions in the U.S.

On the supplier side, median base salaries on the coasts (East and West) remain

higher than those seen in the middle regions of the U.S.

Job Level Region Base Salary

25% Median Mean 75%

Supplier Side

Level 1

Northeast $60,000 $67,000 $78,680 $75,000

Middle U.S. $58,000 $66,000 $68,079 $78,000

West Coast $58,750 $69,000 $71,667 $83,375

Supplier Side

Level 2

Northeast $81,000 $95,000 $93,314 $105,000

Middle U.S. $80,000 $85,500 $92,777 $103,500

West Coast $85,000 $90,000 $93,280 $105,000

Supplier Side

Level 3

Northeast $112,500 $127,500 $137,458 $155,250

Middle U.S. $105,000 $120,000 $125,393 $140,000

West Coast $110,000 $120,000 $137,339 $180,000

Supplier Side

Level 4

Northeast $155,250 $186,000 $183,818 $202,250

Middle U.S. $150,000 $173,000 $173,354 $188,250

West Coast - - - -

Figure 10 Distribution of Base Salaries of Supplier-Side Researchers by Job Level & Region


Job Level Region Base Salary

25% Median Mean 75%

Client Side

Level 1

Northeast $75,000 $85,000 $83,813 $91,250

Middle U.S. $74,500 $82,000 $84,261 $98,500

West Coast $76,250 $97,500 $89,722 $100,750

Client Side

Level 2

Northeast $103,000 $117,500 $113,563 $130,000

Middle U.S. $100,500 $112,200 $112,767 $124,125

West Coast $115,000 $121,500 $123,333 $135,000

Client Side

Level 3

Northeast $138,500 $150,000 $148,626 $160,000

Middle U.S. $130,000 $142,500 $144,253 $154,250

West Coast $145,000 $150,000 $154,611 $160,000

Client Side

Level 4

Northeast $161,250 $178,000 $177,929 $193,750

Middle U.S. $150,000 $165,000 $164,597 $183,000

West Coast $171,750 $180,000 $191,716 $202,088

Client Side

Level 5

Northeast $200,000 $210,000 $225,484 $260,000

Middle U.S. $190,000 $215,000 $209,829 $227,875

West Coast $200,000 $234,500 $236,000 $250,000

Figure 11 Distribution of Base Salaries of Client-side Researchers by Job Level & Region


Demographics & Compensation | Industry

On the client-side, compensation continues to vary among different industries. While

in previous years, median salaries in CPG have been the highest, this year’s data

shows that the Healthcare and Tech/Telecom industry segments now equal or

surpass CPG salaries at all levels.

Job Level Industry Base Salary

25% Median Mean 75%

Client Side

Level 1

CPG $75,029 $78,800 $84,262 $93,750

Financial Services $73,000 $85,000 $83,750 $98,500

Healthcare/Pharmaceutical - - - -

Retail/Hospitality/Restaurant $68,375 $77,350 $78,233 $85,375

Tech/Telecom $80,000 $99,000 $90,024 $100,000

Other Corporate $82,000 $91,000 $90,433 $104,000

Client Side

Level 2

CPG $105,000 $114,000 $114,367 $120,000

Financial Services - - - -

Healthcare/Pharmaceutical $114,250 $121,000 $122,125 $131,750


Tech/Telecom $113,875 $122,500 $123,393 $130,750

Other Corporate $90,000 $100,000 $105,509 $117,000

Client Side

Level 3

CPG $142,500 $150,000 $149,917 $156,000

Financial Services $138,000 $145,000 $144,427 $152,500



Tech/Telecom $122,000 $152,588 $151,524 $170,000

Other Corporate $134,000 $140,000 $142,333 $150,000

Client Side

Level 4

CPG $155,750 $164,500 $167,111 $178,750

Financial Services - - - -



Tech/Telecom $171,750 $180,000 $195,600 $205,000

Other Corporate - - - -

Figure 12 Distribution of Base Salaries of Client-Side Researchers by Job Level & Industry

*Level 5 professionals are not reported due to small sample size.


Demographics | Gender

Women account for slightly more than half of marketing researchers (55%), while men

account for a little less than half (45%).

Male

45%

Female

55%

Figure 13 Distribution of Marketing Research Professionals by Gender


Demographics | Years of Experience

43% of marketing researchers have 10 or fewer years of experience.

The median years of experience this year is 12.0, and the mean is 13.2 years in the

industry.

Note: The recruiters at Burtch Works do not ask the age of the professionals with whom they work.

However, they do ask them for their years of work experience, which is highly correlated with age, and

shown above is the distribution of marketing researchers by years of experience. Salary information is not

shown here, however, because salaries are indirectly related to years of experience through job category.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35

Nu

mb

er

of P

rofe

ssio

na

ls

Years of Experience

Figure 14 Distribution of Marketing Research Professionals by Years of Experience

Median: 12.0 years

Mean: 13.2 years


SECTION 4

Appendix A:

Study Objective & Design


Study Objective

This study is a follow-up to our prior reports, The Burtch Works Study: Salaries of Marketing

Research Professionals, published each year since 2013. The purpose is to show (1) current

compensation of marketing researchers and how it varies by demographic variables, and (2)

how their compensation has changed since last year’s report. By continuing to interview and

gather information from marketing researchers annually, Burtch Works can show short- and long-

term compensation trends for the marketing research industry.

Why The Burtch Works Studies Are Unique

As experts in recruiting marketing researchers, and as a result of our long-term relationships with

both companies hiring research professionals and the professionals themselves, we have unique

access to salary and bonus information within the industry. Our research is distinct in several

ways:

It focuses exclusively on marketing research professionals and is not confounded

with or derived from compensation data of other industries.

It comes from direct conversations with marketing research professionals about their

current and former jobs. Traditional salary surveys often obtain their data from human

resources departments, which is typically based on structural salary bands and does

not reflect the variation and granularity that our first-hand data represents.

The Burtch Works Studies show compensation trends by a number of variables. While

traditional salary surveys may also show salary data by years of experience and job

level, Burtch Works goes further to show compensation variations by region, industry,

and education for individual job levels on the client and supplier side.

Marketing researchers are assigned to well-defined and segmented categories. We

carefully separate the sample into well-defined categories that allow our data to be

thoroughly analyzed. For instance, understanding that a research manager on the

client-side often will have different responsibilities than a research professional with

the same title on the supplier-side allows us to group researchers into appropriate

categories and analyze them accordingly. Our knowledge of the nuances of the

industry allows us to create these well-defined and mutually exclusive categories.

The Sample

This sample contains demographic and compensation information for 840 marketing research

professionals. Burtch Works collected the data for this study in interviews conducted over the

months ending August 2019, immediately following the period of interviews for the 2018 study.

Professionals were included in the sample only if (1) they satisfied Burtch Works’ criteria for

marketing research professionals, and (2) Burtch Works obtained complete information about that

individual’s compensation, demographic, and job characteristics.


How Changes in Compensation Were Measured

Some of the 840 marketing researchers in this sample were also included in the samples for our

previous studies (published each year starting in 2013), but, since others were not, changes in

compensation were not measured by differencing current compensation and compensation

reported for the previous study and taking medians (and other percentiles) of the differences.

Instead, changes were measured by comparing medians (and other percentiles) of current

compensation to those reported in the previous study.

Identifying Marketing Research Professionals

Burtch Works held direct conversations with professionals to explore these individuals’

backgrounds, job responsibilities, education, and areas of expertise to determine those who can

be categorized as marketing research professionals. To be included in the study, an individual

must have experience engaging in primary or secondary consumer or market research. Primary

research includes consumer- and/or shopper-centric studies to understand consumer behaviors

and needs – ranging from exploratory work or segmentations, concept testing or communication

development, innovation or white space analysis, and more. Alternatively, secondary research

entails leveraging existing or syndicated data sources to glean insights.

Marketing researchers typically have an educational background that affords them the skills

needed to be successful conducting research, such as quantitative skills to understand data,

qualitative skills to interpret and present results, and business skills to effectively work in

interdisciplinary teams. As a result, the bulk of marketing research professionals hold at least a

Bachelor’s degree. Additionally, many also hold an advanced degree such as an M.B.A., M.A.,

M.M.R. (Master of Marketing Research), or, less frequently, a Ph.D. (oftentimes in the social

sciences).

Burtch Works’ analysis covers a mix of various specialties within marketing research including

quantitative and qualitative disciplines: consumer insights, shopper insights, Voice of the

Consumer (VoC), category management, syndicated/secondary research, competitive/market

intelligence, and media/audience research.

This study does not cover individuals with specific expertise within predictive analytics, analytics

management, data science, or business intelligence; professionals with predictive analytics and

data science skillsets are covered in a separate Burtch Works Study.

Completeness & Age of Data

For this study, Burtch Works included a marketing research professional in the sample only if we

had complete compensation data (salary and bonus eligibility) and up-to-date information of an

individual’s years of experience, geographic region, industry, education, and gender. Each of the

840 individuals in the sample spoke with a Burtch Works recruiter during the period following the

2018 study and ending August 2019.


Segmentations of Marketing Research Professionals

Burtch Works segmented marketing research professionals by demographic and job

characteristics to more fully analyze compensation trends. Marketing researchers are first classified

into two categories depending on whether they are currently employed at a research supplier or

at a client side organization. Within those categories, marketing researchers are then divided into

job levels depending on their years of experience and job title. Additional breakdowns by

geographic region, gender, industry, and education are shown as well.

Supplier-Side Marketing Researchers

Level Typical Job Title* Typical Years

of Experience

Level 1 Research Analyst

Research or Project Manager

Project Director

0-4 years

Level 2 Senior Research Manager

Senior Research or Project Director

Account Manager or Executive

5-9 years

Level 3 Senior Director

Associate Vice President

10-20 years

Level 4 Vice President

Group Director

Over 20 years

Client-Side Marketing Researchers

Level Typical Job Title Typical Years

of Experience

Level 1 Analyst

Senior Analyst

0-4 years

Level 2 Associate Manager

Manager

Consultant

5-8 years

Level 3 Senior Manager

Senior Consultant

9-14 years

Level 4 Associate Director

Director

15-24 years

Level 5 Senior Director

Vice President

25+ years

*Job titles are examples of common titles and can vary greatly by organization.


Burtch Works divided the U.S. into these five regions:

Northeast

Southeast

Midwest

Mountain

West Coast *In Figures 10 and 11 on pages 18 & 19, the “Middle U.S.” region refers to a combined area of the

Mountain, Midwest, and Southeast regions shown below.

On the client side, firms for which marketing researchers work were separated into these industries:

Client Side

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Financial Services

Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals

Hospitality/Restaurant

Retail

Technology/Telecommunications

Other Corporate (e.g. airline, industrial)

Supplier-side marketing researchers were not further segmented by industry.

Finally, each marketing researcher was assigned to one of these education categories:

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

M.B.A.

PhD

WEST COAST

MOUNTAIN

MIDWEST

SOUTHEAST

NORTHEAST

Figure 15 U.S. Geographic Regions


SECTION 5

Appendix B:

Glossary


Glossary of Terms

This section provides definitions of terms used in this report.

Average. See Mean.

Base Salary. An individual’s gross annual wages, excluding variable or one-time compensation such as

relocation assistance, sign-on bonuses, bonuses, and long-term incentive plan compensation.

Bonus. Short-term variable compensation, usually awarded annually, such as individual or company

performance-based bonuses. This does not include long-term incentive plan compensation or awards of

stock or stock options.

Client-Side. Designation for a professional who works for a firm in the consumer packaged goods, financial

services, healthcare/pharmaceutical, retail, hospitality/restaurant, technology/telecom, or “other” industries

(see glossary entry for “industry”). Client-side marketing research professionals in the Burtch Works sample

have all been assigned to one of five levels:

Level 1: Typically 0-4 years of relevant experience.




Level 5: Typically 25 or more years of relevant experience.

*See page 26 for common job titles for each client-side job level.

Geographic Region. One of five groups of states that together comprise the entire United States. These five

groups of states – Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Mountain, and West Coast – are shown in Figure 15 on page

27.

Industry. One of eight groups of firms employing marketing research professionals. These ten industries are:

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Financial Services, Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals, Hospitality/Restaurant,

Marketing Research Supplier, Retail, Tech/Telecom, and Other.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG): Companies whose products are used up and replaced

frequently, such as food and beverages, cleaning products, and toiletries.

Financial Services: Banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, credit card issuers, securities

brokerages, investment advisors, and insurance companies.

Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals: Hospitals, clinics, physicians groups, and other healthcare providers,

and medical device, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Hospitality/Restaurant: Organizations that provide food or hospitality services to customers such as

hotels, cruise lines, quick serve restaurants, dining chains, etc. For our industry salary analysis, this

group was included with Retail.

Supplier-side firm: Firms executing survey research (“primary” marketing research) for other firms,

collecting and syndicating data (“secondary” marketing research), firms specializing in advertising

and marketing services, and firms providing consulting services.

Retail: Organizations that purchase goods from manufacturers for resale to consumers. For our

industry salary analysis, this group was included with Hospitality/Restaurant

Tech/Telecom: Telecommunications providers, such as phone companies, and firms providing

technology products and services, such as manufacturers of computers, tablets, phones, and game

players, and also software publishers.

Other: Companies not in the seven industries defined above, such as airline companies and

distribution firms.


Marketing Research Professionals. Individuals who conduct either primary or secondary research to better

understand consumer and/or business needs.

Master’s. A Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Marketing Research or other Master’s degree other

than a Master of Business Administration degree.

M.B.A. Master of Business Administration degree.

Mean. Also known as the average, it is the sum of a set of values divided by the number of values. For

example, the mean of N salaries is the sum of the salaries divided by N.

Median. The value obtained by ordering a set of values from smallest to largest and then taking the value in

the middle, or, if there are an even number of values, by taking the mean of the two values in the middle.

For example, the median of N salaries is the salary for which there are as many salaries that are smaller as

there are salaries that are larger.

M.M.R. Master of Marketing Research degree.

N. The number of observations in a sample, sub-sample, or table cell.

Salary Study. A study conducted to measure the distributions by salary of those in specific occupations.

Traditionally, these studies have been executed by obtaining salary data from the human resources

departments of firms employing professionals in those occupations rather than by interviewing those

employees themselves. However, as noted on page 24, The Burtch Works Studies are conducted through

interviews.

Supplier-Side. Designation for a professional who works for an organization in the advertising/ marketing

services, consulting, or marketing research supplier industries (see glossary entry for “industry”). Supplier-side

marketing research professionals in the Burtch Works sample have all been assigned to one of four levels:




Level 4: Typically over 20 years of relevant experience.

*See page 26 for common job titles for each supplier-side job level.


Your source for marketing research and insights

opportunities, talent, and industry trends.

[email protected] | 847-440-8555 | www.burtchworks.com/study

the burtch works study - data science & analytics ... · demographic data on marketing research...

Documents