What the public relates to: The use of consumer research in PR

In the wake of the wide availability of broadband in the UK, smartphones and other gadgets, the way we consume news has changed. But regardless of how you read and what your paper of choice is, you will often find stories leading with, or using, consumer research.
Open the Daily Mail, The Times or the Daily Telegraph and most days you’ll find at least a few stories dedicated to the outcome of a survey alongside expert quotes and potentially a case study. Whether they take up two whole pages or are just short stories in the main news section or the money pages, you can rarely open a paper these days without seeing one.
Surveys are a valuable PR tool but what constitutes a PR survey is not universal. For some, anything that collects data which is then used for PR is a survey. This could be an insight into home insurance claims relating to incidents in the garden or popular pet names. For most people, however, a PR survey is a poll (Source: http://prinyourpajamas.com/pr-survey/).
Many research-led stories have a light-hearted and amusing touch to them. However, while not doubting the value of these stories, it is important to remember that survey-led stories can also look into some of the most fundamental issues that affect people’s day-to-day lives.
Scottish Friendly, a savings and ISA provider, for example commissions a study on a quarterly basis: the Disposable Income Index (DII). The report reveals how much money people have left at the end of the month once essentials and bills are paid for.
An additional angle that changes with every wave taps into a current theme on the news agenda such as pensions or people on zero-hours contracts. The overall topic ties in with Scottish Friendly’s product and core message by highlighting an issue important to most of us – how much do we have left to spend and save each month?
In its first year, the DII achieved over 200 pieces of coverage – 15 per cent of which appeared in national print, broadcast and online news outlets. In addition to this, findings were used for blogs on scottishfriendly.co.uk and on social media channels.
The reason why readers – and as a result journalists – usually like such stories is that they allow comparisons to be made. How often do I check my savings account? Am I aware of how big my pension pot needs to be? Do I use all the food I buy or do I have to throw lots away?
These stories raise questions relating to our day-to-day life and make us, as consumers, feel understood and heard. For financial services firms, surveys form a way of listening to customers, generate coverage in the media and stir discussion on social media channels.