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MORES: A Story of True Grit, 1976 to 1992
By: Ms. Fidela Zaballa
The achievements go beyond mere numbers. MORES has delivered on its promises, and more.
The year saw MORES lend its technical expertise to PBA IN THE Royal Tru-Orange – Miranda Ad controversy. Then it actively participated in the 5th Philippine Advertising Congress plenary session in 1978, and in the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas (KBP) conference in 1979.
It has sponsored numerous seminars and technical symposia on various aspects of market research work to promote professional growth among its members. Distinguished guest speakers, not all of them from the research field, graced its meetings, among them then ordinary street parliamentarians, now Senator Rene Saguisag, CRC’s Bernie Villegas, noted anthropologist F. Landa Jocano, management expert Emmanuel Soriano, psycholinguist Bro. Andrew Gonxalez, London-based expert John Goodyear, para-psycologist Father Bulatao, artist Manny Duldulao, and ace film director Lino Brocka. Studies and surveys have been conducted towards the end of the standardizing base data. Linkages have been forged with other organizations like NSCB, PMA, AME, and Advertising Board. MORES has even assumed the role of arbiter in controversies related to research matters, for example, the amicable resolution of the disparity in GMA TV ownership data of different agencies.
More important, the Society has fostered close relations among rival agencies, among research suppliers and users, and among practitioners and academicians. MORES has played a moderating influence on the inevitable controversies that heated competition in the business world engenders. It has been working hard at standardizing industry practices, policing its own ranks, serving as a forum where grievances can be aired and resolved, and in general, dampening the destructive passions of the moment. MORES can rightfully claim credits for the relative harmony and calm of the research industry and its clientele.
MORES is justifiably proud of its subsidized seminars for teachers of research. The program aims to acquaint academicians with the realities of market research and the latest advances in the field, so that they can in turn impart to their students a balanced mix of theory and practice. MORES hopes to continue this worthy project on an annual basis.
Of the various seminars and technical symposia sponsored by the Society, easily a stand-out is the seminar on “State of the Art of Designing and Applying Marketing Research; Research Doers vs. Research Users.” The innovative format had a doer discussing the topic, then a user expounding on the same topic. Approaching the seminar topics (ranging from product research to advertising research to dealer research) from two perspectives enabled participants to understand the problems faced by the two partners in the research process, and in most cases, resulted in a reconciliation of demands and expectations with what is actually realizable.
Another standout, this time among the studies and surveys initiated by MORES, is the ongoing study on socioeconomic classifications of Filipino households. This has been a perennial pesky problem in the industry, as the universal feeling is that the current criteria used to classify households are already outmoded, arbitrary and subjective. The study aims to formulate updated and more objective standards of the socioeconomic classifications of Filipino homes.
Another achievement that MORES can be proud of is its comprehensive Code of Ethics – the first step towards institutionalizing the tenets of objectivity and integrity among all research practitioners. Among its salient points is the following provision:
Sec. 1.3. All market research work shall be undertaken in spirit of complete impartiality and the research company shall not allow itself to be influenced in the conduct of its own surveys by any other considerations other than the adoption of procedures which will redound to the interests of the client. For this purpose, marketing research companies should be responsible for the development of necessary techniques and also for [the] maintenance of high standards of operation.
This Code of Ethics has evolved over the years into the more refined, realistic (because adapted to the changing needs and perceptions of the industry) and disciplinary tool that it is today.