Certification of Marketing Researchers: Survey Results and a Case Example

There is substantial controversy concerning the need for marketing researchers to be certified or credentialed. Although the debate on this topic has been going on for at least ten years, there is little empirical evidence regarding views in the profession. This article reports the results of a nationwide study of researchers' opinions on certification, on who should be certified and on how certification (if required) should be done. In addition to these results, a case study of certification and a suggested process are presented. Many issues regarding certification remain unresolved, but these results support the conclusions that certification may be desirable, feasible and necessary. Ethical concerns, the current practice of research and the results (53 percent had a positive attitude toward certification) all tend to support these conclusions. Because many practitioners expressed reservations about both the desirability and feasibility of implementing certification, more research is needed on their attitudes, client attitudes, and consumer attitudes toward certification.