Jeff Savitz, Professor and CEO of SavitzConsulting Reveals New Methods for Reducing U.S. Survey Research Costs As Much As $300,000,000 Annually

PHILADELPHIA--()--Jeff Savitz, Professor of Statistical Science at Temple University and CEO of SavitzConsulting, LLC has uncovered new methods for reducing sample sizes in survey research 33% leading to a potential saving of over $300,000,000.

The Central Limit Theorem in Statistics dictates the margins of error in predicting population characteristics. For example, with a random sample of 400, with 95% confidence, all percentage estimates of the U.S. population will be within 4.9% of their true values while with a sample of 1,000 the margin of error is only 3.1%.

Professor Savitz has developed new methods for identifying “Inliers” within the sample that have predicting error rates only two thirds that of a random sample. According to Savitz, “these Inliers are uniformly present in most all demographic and psychographic groups making them useful for estimating population parameters for virtually any consumer target.”

Savitz interviewed over seven hundred randomly selected consumers from the Toluna national online panel and asked them to rate 30 different popular brands. Differences between averages given for the entire random sample and the Savitz “Inliers” averaged only 2.4% with a maximum of 4.1% for McDonalds.

                                       

Coke soft
drinks

 

Minute Maid
orange juice

 

Jimmy Dean
Sausage

 

Birdseye
Frozen Foods

  Wrigley's Gum  

Jiffy Peanut
Butter

  7 up Soda  

Campbell's
Soup

  Tide detergent  

Lysol
disinfectant

Avg. Inlier 4.22   4.30   4.13   4.22   4.03   4.23   4.05   4.34   4.39   4.37
Avg. Random 4.07 4.21 4.02 4.12 3.89 4.14 3.94 4.27 4.29 4.34
Difference 0.15 0.08 0.11 0.10 0.14 0.09 0.12 0.08 0.09 0.03
% Difference 3.59 1.99 2.73 2.36 3.53 2.14 3.01 1.76 2.17 0.63
                                     

Levi's Jeans

 

Timex
watches

 

Ford cars

  Dial Soap  

Crest
Toothpaste

  Bayer aspirin  

Viagra
Medicine

 

Verizon
mobile phone
service

  Apple iPhone   Sony TV
Avg. Inlier 4.34 4.03 3.93 4.19 4.48 4.11 3.24 3.80 3.99 4.13
Avg. Random 4.27 3.95 3.81 4.09 4.36 4.05 3.15 3.74 3.90 4.08
Difference 0.08 0.07 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.06 0.09 0.06 0.09 0.05
% Difference 1.81 1.85 3.16 2.63 2.56 1.52 2.87 1.48 2.25 1.13
                                     

Microsoft
Software

 

7-Eleven
convenience
stores

 

JCPenney
Department
Stores

  Walmart   McDonalds   TGI Friday's   MasterCard  

Bank of
America

 

American
Airlines

 

New York
Yankees

Avg. Inlier 4.33 3.64 3.89 4.09 3.94 3.85 4.14 3.57 3.69 3.64
Avg. Random 4.26 3.59 3.79 3.93 3.79 3.77 4.06 3.41 3.64 3.54
Difference 0.06 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.16 0.09 0.08 0.16 0.05 0.10
% Difference 1.47 1.26 2.58 3.90 4.09 2.31 1.95 4.61 1.28 2.72
 

“This is exactly the kind of fresh thinking that marketers need as brands manage more fragmented buyers and look for more laser-focused intelligence on how to be relevant to the most valuable consumer segments,” said Adam Gargani, Planning Director at Ogilvy, and Foote, Cone and Belding.

The Council of American Survey Research Organizations estimates that U.S. researchers spend one billion dollars annually on sample for research. Since only two thirds as many of the Savitz Inliers are necessary to achieve the same margins of error, this could translate to a cost savings of upwards of $300,000,000 annually in the U.S. alone.

“The savings on sample acquisition is only the tip of the iceberg. Inlier samples mean fewer interviews, fewer incentives, and efficiencies in data processing, potentially freeing up millions of additional research hundreds of millions of dollars every year!” said Dr. Mike Morgan, former professor at Cornell University and Senior Marketing Research Consultant in the technology and telecommunications categories.

Professor Savitz will be presenting his paper at the University of Manchester and at the 28th European Conference on Operational Research in Europe in early July. He can be contacted at jsavitz@savitzresearch.com.

Contacts

Savitz Research Companies
Kayla Reed, 214-957-7167

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Contacts

Savitz Research Companies
Kayla Reed, 214-957-7167