Overview
The purpose of this information sheet is to introduce the Asia Pacific Research Committee (APRC) federation of 10 National Associations in 10 Asian Pacific countries. The APRC is a not-for-profit network with the aim of supporting 11 national associations in Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. These National Associations support over 3,000 market research practitioners and 900 market research companies in the Asia Pacific region.
The APRC has also joined with its equivalent federations in Europe (EFAMRO) and the Americas (ARIA) to form the Global Research Business Network (GRBN) which is a free network that links over 40 national associations globally, representing over 3,500 research businesses on 5 continents, which generates US $25 billion in annual research revenues.
Background
The Asia Pacific Research Committee (APRC) was established in April 2009 as a result of common interests among the national marketing research associations in Australia, China, Japan and Korea. It has since grown to a committee of ten marketing research associations with the addition of Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, New Zealand and Mongolia.
The APRC is now positioned as the prime network for exchanging information and knowledge on marketing research and related industries between the associations and societies in the Asia Pacific region.
APRC Associations
| Association Name | Country |
| The Research Society (TRS) | Australia |
| China Marketing Research Association (CMRA) | China |
| Chunghwa Market Research Society (CMRS) | Chinese Taipei |
| Japan Marketing Research Association (JMRA) | Japan |
| Korea Research Association (KORA) | Korea |
| Marketing Research Society Malaysia (MRSM) | Malaysia |
| Mongolian Market Research Association (MMRA) | Mongolia |
| Research Association New Zealand (RANZ) | New Zealand |
| Thailand Marketing Research Society (TMRS) | Thailand |
In 2009 the APRC joined with its equivalent federations in Europe (EFAMRO) and the Americas (ARIA) to form the Global Research Business Network (GRBN) which links 38 national associations globally, representing over 3,500 research businesses on 5 continents, which generate US $25 billion in annual research revenues.
The Global Research Business Network (GRBN) is a free network committed to enabling National Associations to support each other in promoting and advancing the business of research. The GRBN is not another research association. It is a collaborative network of existing regional alliances (APRC, EFAMRO and ARIA) formed to facilitate and encourage adherence to worldwide ethical research practices.
The profession and practice of social, opinion and marketing research has become increasing borderless. The formation of regional alliances such as AMRA, APRC, EFAMRO and ARIA was in response to the need for research business leaders to collaborate on common issues regardless of country of origin. GRBN was developed in recognition that many of those issues are not limited to regional concerns, but have global impact, as well.
Objectives of APRC
Most of the National Associations in the APRC federation are very young, with the majority of them established only in the last 20 years. The objective of the APRC is to support these National Associations and their members through training and education; providing cross-border networking opportunities and promoting the development of Asia-focused marketing research technologies and insights. A key strategic objective of the APRC is the education and training of market research practitioners and their companies, with a particular focus on the promotion of quality and professional standards, guidelines and best practice market research.
To enable the above aim, the APRC has created an annual Asia Pacific Research Conference that leverages the regional conference held by each of the National Associations in the region. Each representative country of the APRC takes a turn to host the Asia Pacific Research Conference. As well as presenting papers on Asian insights and developments; we conduct research on various topics amongst our National Association members and present the research findings at the annual APRC conference. At these conferences we also aim to workshops on professional and/or quality standards. Our APRC webinars also cover general professional development topics such as methodological advances and technical skills.
The Asia Pacific Research Conference
This is a great opportunity to network and exchange information and knowledge among researchers and marketers in the region, as well as finding out about the latest research technologies and methods, as well as hot topics in the research world. The conference is hosted by member countries during their national associations’ conference. AMSRS (now T/A The Research Society) hosted the inaugural conference in Sydney in 2009; JMRA hosted the 2nd APRC conference in Tokyo in 2010; CMRA hosted the 3rd annual conference in Xi’an in 2011; KORA hosted the 4th annual conference in Seoul in 2012 and the TMRS hosted the 5th annual conference in November 2013 in Bangkok. The MRSM hosted the 6th annual APRC conference in October 2014 in Kuala Lumpur. The 7th annual conference as hosted by RANZ in Auckland New Zealand in 2015. JMRA hosted the 8th APRC conference in Tokyo in 2016. MMRA hosted the 9th conference in Ulaanbaatar in 2017; CMRS hosted the 10th conference in Taipei in 2018; AMSRS (now T/A The Research Society) hosted the conference again in 2019 and CMRA hosted an online conference in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The TMRS are scheduled to host the 2021 conference.
During these conferences 500+ researchers and marketers join 100+ international delegates to learn advanced research technologies and new trends.
Asia Pacific Research Committee
The Asia Pacific Research Committee (APRC) was setup in April 2009 as a result of common interests among the national marketing research associations in Australia, China, Japan and Korea. It has since grown to a committee of twelve marketing research associations with the addition of Thailand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei , Malaysia, New Zealand and Mongolia. The APRC is now positioned as the prime network for exchanging information and knowledge on marketing research and related industries between the associations and societies in the Asia Pacific region.
The APRC Committee is made up of 2 representatives from each of the research, insights and data national associations in the Asia Pacific region.
The APRC is run by the committee chair and the secretariat. Mr. Norio Taori, Chairman of the JMRA, was elected as the first committee President of the APRC April 2009. He stepped down in September 2012 and it was decided that the chairman position would be changed annually and would be held by a representative from the country hosting the APRC conference. In 2014 the APRC changed its governance structure and voted in a new executive Board made up of the following representatives:
| President: | Mr. Andy Zhao, CMRA, China |
| Vice Presidents: | Mr. Peter Harris from The Research Society (TRS) in Australia |
| Ms. Winifred Henderson, RA in New Zealand | |
| Mr. Shunichi Uchida , JMRA, Japan | |
| Secretary-General: | Ms. Elissa Molloy |
The secretariat is run by The Research Society and functions as the main body in the day-to-day management of the committee, with support from members from other countries. The JMRA held the secretariat role from 2009-2012 and as of September 2012, the Research Society in Australia now manages the secretariat functions with Elissa Molloy, the CEO The Research Society operating as the Secretary-General.
The APRC Secretariat
APRC Administration (managed by ISO Audit Solutions)
Contact: Elissa Molloy – Director, ISO Audit Solutions
E-mail: elissa@isoauditsolutions.com.au
Address: ISO Audit Solutions
30 Dunmore Street, Croydon Park NSW 2133
Phone: +61 417 155 325