J.D. Power and Associates

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J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm founded in 1968 by James David Power III. The company provides consumer ratings on goods from cars to restaurants. The firm is best known for its customer satisfaction research—the Initial Quality Study (IQS) and Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS)—on new-car quality and long-term dependability. Its service offerings include public and proprietary research, consulting, training, and automotive forecasting.^[1] It was ISO 9001 certified in 2002.^[2] The company is a business unit of the Information and Media Services Group of McGraw-Hill, who purchased it from James David Power III in 2005.

1 Marketing research
- 1.1 Automotive surveys
2 Criticism
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Marketing research

J.D. Power and Associates' marketing research consists primarily of consumer surveys. The company bears the cost of developing and administering specific surveys with sample sizes of between several hundred and over 100,000.^[3] J.D. Power ratings are based on the survey responses of randomly selected and/or specifically targeted consumers. This methodology differs from the reviews by non-profit Consumer Reports, its similarly well-known rival, which produces ratings based on the testing of products against in-house standards as well as the opinions of surveyed readers. J.D. Power relies on consumer reporting and does not conduct its own in-house product testing.

Although publicly known for the endorsement value of its product awards, J.D. Power obtains the majority of its revenue from corporations that seek the data collected from J.D. Power surveys for internal use.^[1] Companies which have used J.D. Power surveys range from cellphone and computer manufacturers to real estate firms. To be able to use the J.D. Power logo and to quote the survey results in advertising, companies must pay a licensing fee to J.D. Power. These advertisement licensing fees, however, form a small part of J.D. Power's revenues.^[1] In the 1990s, J.D. Power tightened its rules on awards advertising to prevent excessive use of the J.D. Power logo.^[3]

[edit] Automotive surveys

In the United Kingdom, the J.D. Power UK Car Customer Satisfaction Index reviews all cars that have reached two years of age at the time of publication. Surveys are conducted in partnership with UK automotive publication What Car?, which publishes the survey results.^[4] The UK car survey consists of comments and ratings entirely from the members of the public who bought the cars new two years previously, and are thus in a more meaningful position to comment on the car than anyone testing it for a few days. Satisfaction is based on a number of different criteria, and when the many thousands of marks in each area for each car are added up, an overall score is available.^[5] The list usually comprises about 130 cars and is published every year in the UK.

[edit] Criticism

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Some critics claim that J.D. Power uses a "pay for play" business model where the highest bidder gets the award.^[6] This is not only untrue -- as even a cursory search will reveal -- it is libelous in the legal and moral sense of the word. J.D. Power research of consumer opinions is self-financed and widely recognized as unbiased. Companies in their syndicated studies are under no obligation to purchase either the right to advertise the results (if they are the highest ranking company) or the research itself. In fact, many "winners" purchase neither.^{[original research?]}