Deadline: October 24, 2014
Growth from Knowledge (GfK) is now accepting entries for the fourth annual Next Generation (“NextGen”) Competition in market research. This Market Research Student Paper Competition is designed to give undergraduate student researchers a chance to test their marketing and research knowledge, using innovative techniques and perspectives to address a critical issue for today’s marketers. In the ever-changing, fast-paced corporate world, market researchers must be able to think on their feet and bring innovative ideas to take on emerging business issues.
The 2015 competition asks students to explore what constitutes brand success in today’s world of digital, targeted marketing. Entrants will use at least one of the following lenses to look at whether brands are indeed connecting with consumers:
- Digital: Define whether digital ad campaigns are achieving traditional brand goals such as awareness and purchase intent.
- Mobile: Use consumers’ mobile phones and tablets to capture their interactions with and feelings about brands “in the moment”
- Purchase behavior: Record consumers’ actual purchases in select categories and use surveys to understand what might have led to those buying decisions
- User experience: Observe consumers’ actual experiences in using key brands in one or more categories, learning what matters most to people and which brands deliver.
Prizes and Benefits
The winning team will:
- Receive a cash award of $1,000
- Travel to to GfK’s North American headquarters in New York City to present to and work firsthand with GfK thought leaders. GfK will cover travel, hotel accommodations, and meal expenses for two student researchers and one faculty adviser.
- Be featured in GfK press materials, including a release, video, and outreach to trade media.
Eligibility
- The competition is open to full and part time undergraduate students currently matriculating at a North American college or university.
- Students may submit an entry independently or with a team (up to 4 students per team).
- One faculty advisor is allowed per team. GfK employees, including interns, are not eligible.
To qualify, final papers must:
- Be based on the student(s) own original primary qualitative and/or quantitative research
- Be authored by undergraduate students at an accredited 4-year college or university in the US (support from faculty is permitted, but the paper must be the work of the student or students)
- Include a literature review, methodology section, results and discussion including a reflection of the relevance of the research for the selected topic(s)
Each team member must have primary responsibility for and materially support the conduct of the research presented in the paper.
NOTE:
- GfK takes plagiarism seriously. Contestants must be diligent about acknowledging all sources.
- GfK does not provide funds for student research projects; any expenses must be covered by the contestants.
- Only two student members of the winning team (plus one faculty advisor) will be sponsored by GfK for a trip to NYC. Others can attend but will not be sponsored.
For more information, visit GFK Next Generation Competition.
