Mintel International Group Ltd is an independent market analysis company that prides itself on supplying objective information on a whole range of markets and marketing issues.
There are three main sources of information and research stages used in the compilation of Mintel reports:
consumer research, where exclusive research – both quantitative and qualitative – is conducted for individual reports as well as drawing upon non-exclusive large scale surveys
interviews (usually conducted by telephone), both formal and informal, with relevant members of the trade
Mintel Information Consultancy and market size and economic database.
Reports are written and managed by analysts with experience in the relevant markets.
Exclusive and original quantitative consumer research is commissioned for almost all Mintel reports. In addition, qualitative research is also undertaken for a large proportion of reports in the form of online focus groups. Mintel invests a considerable sum each year in consumer research, and the purchaser of a Mintel report benefits, as the price of an individual report is less than the cost of the original research alone. The research brings an up-to-date and unique insight into topical issues of importance.
Consumer research is conducted among a nationally representative sample of either adults or internet users and is generally carried out by BMRB (including BMRB Online), Ipsos Mori, GMI or Toluna. Other suppliers are used on an ad hoc basis as required. The results are only available in Mintel reports.
Sampling and weighting
BMRB OMNIBUS
Face to Face Surveys
BMRB Face to Face Omnibus samples 2,000 adults weekly using a random location sampling technique. This is a single-stage sample design, taking as its universe Sample Units, a bespoke amalgamation of Output Areas (OAs - the basic building block used for output from the 2001 Census) in Great Britain. Sample units have an average size of 300 households. OAs are grouped into Sample Units by CACI within ward and taking account of their ACORN characteristics. This sampling system is as current as it could be in terms of the characteristics of the areas selected and the people within them. There are additional quota controls on age - 15-34, 35-54, 55+ - on men - working full-time, not working full time – on women - working full or part time, not working full or part time. Interviewing is in home, face-to-face using CAPI (laptop computers).
Data are weighted to the correct population proportions to match both the TGI survey and the National Readership Survey. A rim weighting technique is used in which target profiles are set for eight separate demographic variables.
Online Surveys
The sample is drawn from the Lightspeed Research (a sister company of BMRB) online access panel that has over 180 000 members in Great Britain. The online panels are recruited and maintained according to rigorous standards to ensure quality and representative sampling thus allows for 1000 nationally representative online adults aged 16-64 to answer weekly online questionnaires.
A section of the Lightspeed panel can be drawn and invited by email to complete the weekly survey. Quota controls are placed on the survey to ensure that there is no demographic skew in the sample. Quotas are set to achieve a sample that represents the population of GB. Smaller sub-samples within the overall sample can be achieved.
A variety of recruitment methods are used to build the Lightspeed panel. Panel recruitment is achieved through multiple sources, although online is the main vehicle for acquiring panellists. Lightspeed Research uses a variety of web portals and sites to ensure a balanced panel.
The panellists are incentivised by receiving Lightspeed Points every time they participate in surveys. Once a panellist has earned 500 Lightspeed Points they can redeem them for £5 gift certificates. Panellists can also allow their Lightspeed Points to build up and redeem them for bigger prizes.
Careful panel management is undertaken to ensure a responsive panel with 30-50% completion rates being achieved through removal functions for panellists, proactively removing no longer valid e-mail addresses; panel categorisation to identify 'loyal' and 'inactive' panellists so that panel attrition can be reduced. In addition to this, panellists are not invited to complete surveys more than once a month and not more than one topic per quarter.
IPSOS MORI
Ipsos MORI Capibus uses a two-stage random location sample design which generates a very high quality sample representative of the Great Britain adult population. Interviews are sampled from 145 Output Areas, randomly selected every week, and MOSAIC is employed to set interlocking quota controls specific to each interviewer location. This ensures consistent accurate representation of the locations interviewed every week. By using this proven sample design, all sub-sectors of the population are represented – at a national and regional level.
All information collected on Capibus are then weighted to reflect the known profile of the adult population in Great Britain. Capibus uses a rim weighting system which weights to mid 2007 census and NRS defined profiles for age, social grade, region and working status - within gender. Additional profiles used include tenure and car in household, for example.
Because the sampling process is repeated every week, the Capibus sample is matched wave on wave, making it ideal for taking successive measurements on the same issue.
GMI
GMI's global online panels represent a community of high-quality, highly profiled, double opted-in consumers and specialty panelists who are actively managed to specifically serve the sample needs of the market research industry. GMI has its own proprietary panel, which, combined with the panel of its approved network of vendors, provides reach to 10 million households around the world.
For general population research studies, GMI draws a sample from its global consumer panelist base that is in proportion with the general population. Then, GMI sends an invitation to request panelist participation in the survey. For clients with specific criteria, GMI pulls the sample based on the filters set, and then distributes invitations on a random basis.
Panelists are typically invited to take part in a survey via an email invitation. At the client's request, panel members can also be directed to a client portal to complete a study, and then be passed back into the GMI database to ensure Marketpoints™ are awarded directly to the panel member's individual account. This transfer is always encrypted to protect the respondent's personal information.
Toluna
Toluna has embraced the social media concept and has developed 'panel communities', in order to maximise member engagement and overcome the common industry problem of declining survey response rates and multi-panel membership.
Today, Toluna's unique online community consists of over 3.7 million consumer and business-to-business panelists covering 33 countries. All of Toluna's 33 proprietary panel communities around the world are actively managed panels. Members are recruited from a broad array of online and offline approaches that best represent the online community as a whole in each country.
With stringent panel quality policies, Toluna ensures that all its panelists are recruited via a double opt-in email process; daily checks are carried out for hard bounce emails and duplicates; and panelists who provide inconsistent responses are removed from the database.
Confidence levels
Statistical confidence levels of + or - 2% or 3% can be applied to the data, depending on sample size and percentage of respondents. For example, if 20% of a total sample of 1,000 adults say that they do something, you can be 95% certain that the figure for the population lies between 17% and 23%. For a sample of 2,000 adults, you can be 95% certain that the figure lies between 18% and 22%.
Consumer research is stored in a database supervised by Mintel's statisticians. Additional analysis of information too abundant to be included in published reports may be available for an additional charge.
Additional quantitative data are taken from BMRB's Target Group Index surveys. The main TGI survey used is a continuous self-completion survey among a representative sample of around 25,000 adults throughout Great Britain.
Unless otherwise stated, consumer research data are presented as penetration, ie as a percentage of demographic sub-groups (usually in rows) such as age, eg 71% of 15-24-year-olds are moisturiser users. Profiles are represented as proportions of the population, eg 8% of moisturiser users are aged 15-24 and, therefore, total 100%.
Population profile
GB population profile, by demographic group, 2009
Base: adults aged 15+
%
Total
100
Men
49
Women
51
Age group:
15-19
8
20-24
8
25-34
16
35-44
18
45-54
16
55-64
14
65+
20
Socio-economic group:
AB
27
C1
29
C2
21
D
15
E
8
Television regions:
London
24
South
11
Anglia/Midlands
27
South West/Wales
12
Yorkshire/North East
17
North West
13
Scotland
8
Working status:
Working
52
Not working
23
Retired
25
Marital status:
Married
61
Not married
39
Presence of children:
Children 0-15
33
No children
67
Source: TGI/Mintel
Some reports contain qualitative research, either focus groups or in-depth interviews. Qualitative research normally takes the form of an online focus group. Participants are mainly recruited via Toluna's online panel, although sometimes other sources are used.
Definitions of the main consumer classification systems used in the report are shown at the end of this appendix.
Informal trade research is undertaken for all reports. This involves contacting relevant players in the trade, not only to gain information concerning their own operations, but also to obtain explanations and views of the strategic issues pertinent to the market being researched. Such is Mintel's concern with accuracy that draft copies of reports are sent to industry representatives, to get their feedback and avoid any misrepresentation of the market. These comments are incorporated into reports prior to final publication.
Formal trade research is conducted in two ways, and are not necessarily mutually exclusive:
Internally, the Trade Insights Team undertakes extensive trade interviews with selected key experts in the field for the majority of reports. The purpose of these interviews is to assess key issues in the market place in order to ensure that any research undertaken takes these into account.
In addition, using experienced external researchers, trade research is undertaken for some reports. This takes the form of full trade interview questionnaires and direct quotes are included in the report and analysed by experts in the field. This gives a valuable insight into a range of trade views of topical issues.
The Mintel Information Consultancy, which contains virtually all the raw material for desk research work, comprises: government statistics, consumer and trade association statistics, manufacturer sponsored reports, annual company reports and accounts, directories, press articles from around the world and online databases. The latter are extracted from over 280 publications, both British and overseas. All information is cross-referenced for immediate access.
Data from other published sources are the latest available at the time of writing the report.
This information is supplemented by an extensive library of Mintel's reports produced since 1972 and added to each year by the 400+ reports which are produced annually.
In addition to in-house sources, researchers also occasionally use outside libraries such as the British Library or the Department of Trade and Industry. Other information is also gathered from store and exhibition visits across Europe, as well as using other databases within the Mintel Group, such as the Global New Product Database (GNPD), which monitor new FMCG launches around the globe.
All analysts have access to Mintel's Market Size and Economic Database – a database containing all areas of consumer spend and retail sales as well as macroeconomic and demographic factors which impinge on consumer spending patterns, going back some 20 years.
The database is used in conjunction with an SPSS forecasting program which uses weighted historical correlations of market dynamics, with independent variables, to produce future spending scenarios.
Sources
Where data are provided by a particular source then this is accredited at the foot of a figure. Often figures are sourced "Mintel". This means that information is derived from a variety of points, such as desk research and trade interviews, with the experience and expertise of a writer filling in any information gaps or interpreting data, so that it gives an accurate representation of the market and ensuring the data are consistent, both with other data in the report and between the whole array of Mintel's data.
With over 400+ reports produced annually, the resources and knowledge at the writers' disposal allow for informed estimations of some market parameters, which are then checked for their validity with the trade.
Data which are estimated have this reference because the original source data are only at the estimated stage and are not finalised or, as is often the case, where they refer to updates of government data, "est" denotes that they were not available from the original source at the time of publishing.
Socio-economic groups are based on the head of household or chief income earner and are defined as follows:
Socio-economic group
Occupation of chief income earner
A
Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B
Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1
Supervisory or clerical, and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2
Skilled manual workers
D
Semi and unskilled manual workers
E
All those entirely dependent on the state long term, through sickness, unemployment, old age or other reasons
Retired persons who have a company pension or private pension, or who have private means are graded on their previous occupation.
Students in higher education living at home are graded on the occupation of the head of the household. Students living away from home are graded C1 (no account is taken of casual or vacation jobs).
Lifestage and Special Groups
In addition to the standard breaks, Mintel also analyses the consumer research in the following manner.
Lifestages are derived from analysis of the exclusive consumer research and are split into four main groups, as follows. The following percentages are nationally representative. Internet representative would differ slightly.
% of population
Pre-family/no family
aged under 45 who are not parents
26
Family
any age with at least one child aged under 16 still at home
29
Third Age
aged 45-64 with no children aged under 16
26
Retired
aged over 65 with no children aged under 16
20
As part of an ongoing policy to find new ways of analysing data, Mintel has created Special Groups of consumers to typify consumer habits in the early years of the 21st Century. Unlike the lifestage groups, these groups represent only sections of the population and do not account for all adults.
% of population
ABC1 Pre/no family
ABC1 Socio-economic group and in the pre/no family lifestage
15
ABC1 Families
ABC1 Socio-economic group and in the family lifestage
17
ABC1 Third Age
ABC1 Socio-economic group and in the third age lifestage
14
ABC1 Retired
ABC1 Socio-economic group and in the retired (65+) lifestage
10
Two full-time earners
couples where both partners work full-time
16
One person households under 65
aged under 65 and living alone
10
Internet users
all Internet users at home, work or elsewhere
73
Broadsheet readers
read Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent or the Times
15
Mid-market tabloid readers
read Daily Express or Daily Mail
16
Popular tabloid readers
read Mirror, Daily Sport, Daily Star or Sun
24
Satellite/digital TV viewers
have satellite/cable/digital TV
82
Mobile phone users
have a mobile phone
82
ACORN
Some reports also use consumer research analysed by ACORN category. ACORN is a geo-demographic segmentation method, using census data to classify consumers according to the type of residential area in which they live. Each postcode in the country can, therefore, be allocated an ACORN category.
The classification is a more powerful differentiator of consumer behaviour than traditional socio-economic and demographic indicators. The categories, and their components, are as follows:
