Research Tips (2): Trade Associations

After finding out about market research reports that have been published on a topic (see Research Tip), an industry's trade associations (TA) are a first port of call. These associations, sometimes called federations, bring together companies rather than individual professional members (usually, societies or institutes). Lobbying government on legislation or taxation is a primary aim, but many TA also gather and disseminate product information and statistics from their members - a reliable and useful source for leisure research.

TA websites should include important industry news, publications, events and lists of members, in better cases including market reviews derived either from government statistics or, better still, from surveys of members. (Detailed stats. are often confidential to members, although reasonably priced yearbooks may be published). Some good examples in the leisure sphere are:

• British Hospitality Association, covering mainly hotels and restaurants. Publishes Trends & Statistics yearly, free on the website.

• British Beer & Pub Association, whose comprehensive Statistical Handbook can be ordered for £47.50 (2006 edition). Also some free brewing and pubs data on the website.

• Cinema Advertising Association represents the two cinema advertising contractors, Carlton Screen and Pearl & Dean, whose websites both publish CAA data.

• British Video Association and British Phonographic Industry both publish market data in considerable depth on the recorded media industries

• The sports and play sectors reorganised in 2005/2006 into a Federation of Sports and Play Associations, bringing together individual associations (eg for golf, angling) under a new umbrella body. FSPA has a separate sportsdata.co.uk website for ordering reports, although reports on the more esoteric topics are research and published only sporadically. (As a general rule, it is worth checking that the smaller TA websites are being kept up to date.)

For the researcher, TA provide "insider" insight into the workings of an industry and, with any luck, free or reasonably priced data on the market. They are often run by enthusiasts for their industries whose PR role means they are usually willing to interview. It is always wise, however, to ask a few questions of the association:

- how representative is it of the whole industry (large and smaller companies)?
- has the website, and its information, been kept up to date?
- given the protective PR function of the TA, is the information skewed in any way?

A major portal to finding a TA is the Trade Association Forum, administered by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and partly government-funded. The TAF Directory is a comprehensive online database of TA contacts (www.taforum.org/searchgroup.pl?n=500&directory)