The Royal Aeronautical Society

Transcription

1 The Royal Aeronautical Society 2010 Membership Survey Summary of Findings based on Research Paper Part One: Joining, renewing and commitment Response A 23% response rate to the survey was achieved, with approximately 74% responding fully and answering all of the questions. Of the 3723 that responded, 3471 were males and only 248 were females. An excellent number of responses were received from all age categories, the highest being from those members aged over 65. Overall members gave a very positive 90% response (average score 3.59 out of a possible 4) on whether they intended to renew their membership. Interestingly, for those members who completed both intention to renew questions - one at the beginning and the one at the end - the average response at the beginning of the survey was 88% compared with 91% at the end. This showed that actually completing the questionnaire increased the members intentions to renew membership. Comment This finding highlights the importance of regularly engaging members in research and asking them how they feel about the Society Interestingly, the age group had a relatively high intention to renew, even though responses to the survey indicated that they do the least in terms of promoting the Society (see below). How members discovered the Society The Society s younger members (aged 22-24) are the age group which most often promote the Society to others, closely followed by those aged Comment The younger population should be targeted to help run branch activities to make use of their enthusiasm for promoting the Society Why members join From the various reasons indicated as to why people join the Society, the clear top three were opportunities for professional registration, professional development opportunities and professional networking. Page 1 of 8

2 Why members don t join When asked apart from cost, what might discourage other people from joining the Society? the most popular response was that they don t think it will be relevant to their job profession. Comment Need to ensure that membership and professional registration becomes integral to a member s relevant career progression Commitment and engagement On their commitment and engagement to the Society, members gave a rating of 2.51 out of 4 (63%) and 2.44 out of 4 (61%) respectively. The responses also indicated that both ratings increased with age. When asked whether their commitment had changed since joining and, if so, how it had changed, only 31% of members believed they had developed a stronger commitment. The remaining members either considered that no change to commitment had taken place (43%) or that their commitment levels had decreased (26%). Comment Perhaps these statistics should provide the justification for the Society to actively do more to maintain commitment and engagement with the Society. Currently, are there any Key Performance Indicators related to membership engagement activities? How does the Society currently monitor and co-ordinate the Branch activities? Reasons for members commitment weakening Members reported that, apart from a change in personal circumstances, events being difficult to get to and member benefits losing their necessity were the top reasons for any commitment to the Society weakening. Comment If the events are difficult to get to, and the benefits are not seen as useful is there not a way to provide exclusive access to more web-based events, webinars that are only for members and not open access to all? Reason for members commitment strengthening Responses indicate that achieving professional recognition strengthens commitment to the Society the most. Comment Important again that this opportunity is linked to continuing career progression Page 2 of 8

3 Part Two: Satisfaction, value and membership benefits / features Satisfaction Members reported an average satisfaction score of 78% for their membership benefits/features. Although the response did not differ much between the age groups, members aged were the least satisfied (although this age group expressed a relatively high intention to renew membership). Perceived value for money Members reported an average value for money rating of 67%. This is lower than the satisfaction score, the weak correlation between the two demonstrating that members can be highly satisfied without needing to feel that the value for money is high. This in turn indicates that value for money and creating a feeling of monetary benefit is not critical to satisfaction. Members in the age category have a far lower perception of the value for money. Your members overall ratings of membership benefits Overall, members gave an average rating of 63% (2.50 out of 4) for the membership benefits. Again this is lower than the satisfaction score (3.11) and the value for money scores (2.67). As before, the membership benefits ratings varied for each age category Awareness, importance and quality ratings of membership benefits/ features Members were asked to rate each individual benefit or feature in terms of members awareness of it; how important they think it is and how good quality they think it is. On their awareness of membership benefits/features, members indicated a good awareness of the publications (Aerospace International and The Aerospace Professional), although their awareness of the Centennial Scholarship Fund and telephone access to the NAL was poor. Regarding importance, members rated professional registration opportunities, gaining professional peer recognition/status and feeling part of an influential society as benefits of high importance. However, members rated the discounted subscription to The Aeronautical Journal, discounted Annual Banquet tickets, discounted social events, Medals & Awards opportunities, access to the Young Members Board, ability to book meeting rooms at No. 4 Hamilton Place and access to the Centennial Scholarship fund as having low importance. Regarding quality, it was pleasing to note that none of the features on average received lower than 2.5 out of 4 (63%). For some membership features, members ratings of quality were higher than their rated importance (e.g., The Aeronautical Journal, Annual Conference, Annual Banquet, social events, Young Members Board and meeting rooms at No. 4), suggesting that any investment in these features is perhaps going unnoticed by members. Page 3 of 8

4 Comment This shows a clear need to raise both awareness of, and invest in the quality of, electronic access to the library as well as professional networking opportunities. Features that need improvements Members were asked to choose what they considered to be the feature that was rated as having highest priority in needing improvement. In general, for those members aged between 30 to 59, networking activities were voted as a top priority with career support & development being considered as the areas in need of improvement for those members aged Those members aged 60+ wanted to be involved more in local Branches. Comment The fact that branch activities weren t given top priority for improving by those aged suggests that branch activities aren t seen to be the same as networking opportunities. Perhaps branch activities need to become more known to members for the networking opportunities they provide? Part Three: The Brand Brand identification Three different aspects of how the brand is perceived were measured; the prestige of the brand, the similarity of the brand (to the member) and the distinctiveness of the brand. On analysis, only brand prestige and brand similarity were significantly predictive of satisfaction with the membership i.e. it s not important to members that they consider the brand to be distinctive, but it is important for members to feel that the brand represents them and that it feels prestigious. Comment This suggests that the Society need not try to be different to other institutions; instead perhaps the Society needs to exploit its prestigious status to position itself above other institutions rather than alongside them. Engagement with the profession Members were asked in general why they chose to have membership with an aerospace institution. They were asked to indicate whether they had membership because they were expected to have it, because they d feel guilty otherwise, because of the benefits membership gave, because they felt it was part of them or purely because it gave them pleasure and satisfaction. Encouragingly, the responses indicated that most members have professional membership purely for the pleasure and satisfaction it gives them. However, the results show that younger members in particular have membership because of the benefits it brings (18-39). Comment This suggests a need for different marketing approaches- there is a risk of older members feeling patronised by being approached at a benefits level whereas younger members might find it too soft to be approached at a pleasure and satisfaction level. Page 4 of 8

5 Comparisons with other institutions When comparing the Society with other institutions, most of the members (75% of responses) did not know which institution was the best under the various criteria (e.g. international, influential, independent, visible to the general public, learned, authoritative, connected with real-world issues, connected with environment issues, and connected with industry). However, members responses did indicate that the Society is perceived as being best at being multidisciplinary and respected. Personality and values When asked to select words which they felt best represented the Society s personality, members chose professional, academic, informed, prestigious and conservative. Although these were chosen consistently across all age categories, the word successful only appears as a top five word in the age category Comment Perhaps any successes within the Society need to be promoted more? When asked to select words which they felt represented the Society s current values, members chose professionalism, tradition, credibility, respectability and excellence which were again consistently picked across all age categories. Interestingly, the word authority only appears as a top five word in the age category 65+. Comment Perhaps the Society s authority needs to be actively promoted more strongly to younger members, instead of it becoming learnt throughout membership? Comment With the two sets of results, it seems that the value proposition should be built around tradition, credibility, and excellence. Part Four: Future Developments Opportunities and threats Of the three options from which members were asked to choose which they considered to present the Society with the best opportunity for progression, all three options were considered as highly important with advances in aircraft design receiving the most votes. Comment Perhaps a special interest group could be set up to help the Society make the most of this opportunity. The members were also asked to choose the option which they consider to present the Society with the biggest threat to its progression. All the six options presented were considered as highly important by members, with a decline in the UK technological base considered by members to be the biggest threat to the Society. Page 5 of 8

6 Comment Perhaps the Society needs to find a way to actively help the institutions in the technological base and make the most of those relationships. Gaining influence and visibility When members were asked to indicate what the Society should be seeking to gain influence over, development of professional standards and the development of educational curriculum / courses received the most votes. Comment Perhaps the Society does have influence in these areas which the membership doesn t know anything about? When asked to indicate where the Society should be seeking to improve its visibility and raise its profile to, members believed that raising its profile to industry and to students/ graduates was crucial. Comment What marketing activities carried out by the Society currently try to achieve this? Focusing attention The attraction of students and graduates to aeronautics into the industry received the most votes (by a considerable margin) by members when asked where the Society should be focusing attention. This was followed by collaboration with other aerospace bodies and effective selection and recruitment into aeronautics Part Five: Visual imagery, publications and events Website The responses indicated that members rarely (less than monthly) use the website. Those aged on average use the website monthly whereas all other age categories of members on average use the website rarely. Comment Given that this report is based on members who completed the questionnaire online, and who therefore have access to the internet, their rare usage of the Society website perhaps should be of concern. It seems that the older the member, the least usage they will make of the website. Perhaps improving the website and digital communication presents an opportunity to increase engagement of the membership? When asked to choose words which best described the website, members considered the website to be busy/crowded/confusing. Some considered it be professional, although it is also followed by being described as boring/dull/uninspiring. Overall, the website received fair/good ratings with usability and look-and-feel receiving the lowest ratings. Logo Most members across all age categories supported the idea of the logo evolving to reflect current needs, yet retain the Society s heritage. In general though, it seems that members don t have a strong association with the logo, or strong feelings towards it. Page 6 of 8

7 Strategic Review 34% of recipients had never heard of the Strategic Review, with 46% having never read it. For those who were able to rate it, it seems that those aged were the least favourable readers of the Strategic Review, with it appearing to be most relevant to those aged and Annual Conference The Annual Conference received close to a 75% rating on all aspects (i.e. good ). However, responses indicated that younger members rated the access to Annual Conference papers as being poorer than older members did. Comment Perhaps the Society needs to consider how it can make the Annual Conference attractive to non-members in order to increase membership? Branch activities Members were asked to rate their attendance at Branch activities, a clear trend here being that the younger the member, the more likely they were to have never attended Branch activities. When asked to rate the Branch activities on various aspects, again the younger the member the poorer the rating. Comment It seems like branch activities are where younger members are the least favourable about the Society. Perhaps branch activities present the best opportunities, not currently exploited, for engaging younger members? Library Overall, and perhaps most shockingly, the survey reported that members rarely use the library, if at all. Over 80% of those who responded aged never use the library, with younger members using it the most. Comment Perhaps the library could be used to promote branch activities/ Society events to younger members? When asked to rate the library on various aspects (e.g. books, journals, reports, facilities, etc), generally members gave more or less good ratings throughout. The provision of electronic access was the aspect which received the poorest ratings. Not only did electronic access receive the lowest ratings compared to other aspects of the library (content etc.) but it was also one of the membership features in general which received the worst ratings, but was regarded as highly important. Publications For both publications, most members indicated their preference for them to remain being distributed by post. Page 7 of 8

8 When asked to indicate areas in which they considered Aerospace International could be improved, having a stronger engineering focus and more up-to-date news were cited as areas for possible improvement. When asked the same question about The Aerospace Professional, members considered that the inclusion of job advertisements and more technical articles were areas for improvement. Page 8 of 8