MRS Award for Financial Services Research
This new Award is for the submission that best demonstrates the value of research to financial
sector clients.
Joint Winners:
 On the Money: Understanding Young People’s Financial Information Needs in Order to Create an Engaging online Resource
Nancy Macdonald, 2CV & Krishan Lathigra, COI
The Future of Financial Distribution and Advice: Research for AEGON UK
Opinion Leader
 What the judges said:
Both of these entries were viewed by the judges as signposting an important direction for future research in consumer financial services. Recent events have underlined the need for financial institutions to align their offerings as closely as possible with the varied needs and resources of their customers. These case studies show the importance of foundational research in developing new models for communicating with and serving the financial services consumer.
Macdonald and Lathigra have shown real insight into this age group and into the financial sector. Perhaps the strongest aspect of their entry is that it pinpoints the actions taken as a result of the research. This is a vital subject and has been tackled with innovation and across a range of disciplines.
The judges were impressed by the extensive nature of Opinion Leader's research and the range of leading-edge qualitative techniques employed. The bold and original recommendations for future delivery of financial services confirm the value of the study for financial services policy makers and highlight the potential of research to transform the relationship between providers and consumers in this sector. An innovative, foundational study informing an important public policy debate.
Finalists:
Improving Service Delivery Through Longitudinal Customer Panels
Mark Long, BDRC & Stephanie Dungate, Barclays
What the judges said:
This submission impressed in large part because of the demonstration of commitment by the client to a longitudinal approach which brought a degree of customised innovation to the measurement of service quality. This yielded a more responsive stance towards customers and potential customers and highlighted the benefits that can accrue from developing a rapport between interviewers and interviewees.
The Use of Online Data-Collection in Financial Services Market Measurement Research: The FRS Experience
Nick Watkins, Corrine Moy, Ben Steer & Mike Cooke, GfK NOP
What the judges said:
The makes an important methodological contribution to an area of high importance to researchers, that is the complexities of developing multi on and offline interviewing strategies. It was refreshing to read an authoritative account of the way GfK NOP who has been running the Financial Research Survey – the FRS - for over 30 years, considered the issue of possibly switching the survey from face-to-face to an online methodology. In the knowledge that the online population covers only 2/3 of the UK, with penetration lowest among the older age groups, who are of particular importance in financial research, GfK NOP embarked on a major two year research and development programme to review the options. The work identified a number of intriguing insights that better help us understand the complexities of making the decision about the appropriate research design. This resulted in the GfK NOP team developing an innovative multimodal approach based on the intensity of online use, which lead to producing market estimates that are close to clients’ internal data and provides an economical and sustainable research design.
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