Newsletter

Issue 6: Status Check 2005: An Examination of the Trends and Influential Factors Contributing to Subscription Renewal and Cancellation

An Insider Look Into Library and End User Markets

Susan Dearborn Vice President, Sales and Marketing

Since 1997, PCG has offered a service to provide publishers with a different look at their market, through Library Advisory Boards (LABs) and focus groups. These are two very different approaches to market research, executed with different objectives in mind. In a concentrated and intense period, both approaches provide insight into the needs and perceptions of decision makers, influencers and end users in the information market.

Library Advisory Boards (LABs)

Library Advisory Boards are intended to be groups that meet on a regular basis, at a minimum of once a year. While the thrust of the agenda may vary from year to year, certain topics are to be revisited each year to detect trends, anomalies and shifts in the library marketplace worth noting. Membership on these Boards is typically stable, so that once the original group of members is recruited, the same members are invited to return every year. Exceptions occur when a member changes jobs or does not participate at a satisfactory level. Members may be asked to respond to questions from the publisher by e-mail in between LAB meetings, and are considered "on call" advisors on issues related to the library market.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are typically ad hoc advisory boards brought together for a specific purpose. They are not designed to meet more than once, although the publisher may ask permission of the participants to query them by e-mail following the conclusion of the meeting. Focus groups have been assembled to review a new pricing structure for online access to a journal, or to provide their reactions to a publisher’s ideas for new titles and/or new formats. Focus groups can cover topics specific to the library market and include librarians as participants. They can also be comprised of end-users (students or faculty), designed to address concerns specific to that market segment.

Benefits of these Activities

  • Publishers can test ideas for products, services, pricing, license terms, etc. to avoid making expensive mistakes in making offers that do not appeal to the market
  • Groups can provide insights from both librarians and end users (in separate groups) to give a broader spectrum of opinions
  • Participants provide more honest opinions and reactions to a third party
  • PCG can bring its varied and substantial experience to bear when designing and implementing one of these programs, allowing publishers to benefit from what we have learned from past projects
  • Librarian groups are led by a librarian who can knowledgeably probe the members using their own terminology and an understanding of their procedures and challenges
  • PCG can draw on its wide network of librarians and end users to develop the most appropriate panel of participants based on the agenda and the objectives for the group

PCG has conducted LABs and focus groups for a variety of commercial and society publishers, including Nature, the British Medical Journal, the Grove Dictionary of Art and the Modern Language Association.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the benefits of this approach for you, please feel free to contact me today.