Do-Not-Call Registry and Market Research
On March 11, 2003, President Bush signed legislation creating
a national telemarketing "Do-Not-Call" Registry.
Consumers began signing on last summer, with
full implementation scheduled for the end of
2003. More than three-dozen states have also implemented
their own Do-Not-Call (DNC) legislation.
The DNC Registry applies to anyone who sells goods or
services through interstate phone calls. It includes telemarketers
who solicit consumers on behalf of third-party sellers,
and sellers who provide goods or services to consumers
in exchange for payment.
There are exceptions, even if the consumer has signed
on to the DNC Registry:
- Sales calls are allowed if a business relationship
of 18 months has already been established with
the consumer.
- Contact is allowed for up to three months after
the consumer has made an inquiry or submitted an
application to a company.
- The consumer may be called if he or she has given
written permission that contact may be made.
For now, political organizations, business-to-business
companies, charities and telephone surveyors are exempt
from the DNC legislation. However, this exemption is being
challenged in court.
Judge Nottingham, 10th Circuit Federal Court - Denver,
found the DNC Registry to be unconstitutional because of
these very exemptions. The government filed an appeal and
blocked the judge's stay, but the challenge continues.
How does the DNC Registry effect market research?
If telephone surveyors are eventually blocked
from making telephone calls, analysts believe that the
legislation will have created significant, undesirable
change in obtainable market research results.
Analysts suggest that people signing on to the DNC Registry
are demographically - and perhaps attitudinally - different.
In addition, they are likely to be older, well-educated,
non-minority, and of higher income. Removing this segment
of the population from the pool of available respondents
would skew results dramatically.
The debate over the constitutionality of the DNC Registry
is likely to continue for some time. SRA hopes
that in the final analysis, the success of those who depend
on the opinions of their customers will not be compromised. ‡
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