Good Marketing
You own a business.
You PAY someone to do a study in a few cities.
The study shows you are No 1!
You announce it to the world.
Reality
You PAID someone, they tell you you're the best...what would they do? tell you that you suck?
The research company studies only the cities that you sell to, and only your distributors... of course, in the interest of your business, you don't tell the general public that all distributors are prevented from dealing with competing products—this is to ensure that no underhanded business takes place, and is standard procedure.
It's sort of like approaching all Hero Honda distributors, and asking them how many Bajaj Pulsar's they sold! Obviously, they have sold more Splendors (ONLY Splendors even!).
If your business just happens to be a magazine, by conducting a survey on Newstands alone, you can easily eliminate the competitions advantage — subscribers. Even if your competition might have more subscribers than what you sell on newstands in total, the results will always be in your favour....
It's like answering an exam, after YOU wrote the question paper — if you don't score 100%, you're the biggest idiot around!
Surveys have become a joke these days. Personally, I'm just waiting for the data from the NRS/IRS (National / Indian Readership Survey)! These are more trusted, and unbiased, sources of information, because its the readers themselves that are polled.
Let the people (readers) have their say, instead of taking a survey of people who make money through the business: distributors/vendors.
If you guys want, you can contribute and create your own survey right here. The next time you visit a Magazine stall, ask your questions, I'm sure the aswers you get will tell you the truth. Personally, I'm especially intrigued to hear what people from smaller towns find out!
Raaabo