ACR Presidential Address Consumer Research: Telling It Like It Is by Jacob Jacoby

It was just last week that Cincinnati won the World Series. Among other things, this reminded me of the story about the three umpires who were standing around discussing how they determined whether the pitcher's throw was a ball or a strike. The first umpire said: "Some is balls and some is strikes, and I calls 'em the way they is." The second, perhaps a bit wiser for having had an introductory psychology course, said: "Some is balls and some is strikes, and I calls 'em the way I sees them." The third umpire, possibly an unemployed philosophy Professor, countered with: "Some is balls and some is strikes -but they ain't nothin' till I calls 'em." A little bit afraid to tread in the area of philosophy, recognizing that this is primarily "the way I sees it," but knowing that there are others here who also see what I see, I've taken the liberty of entitling this talk: "Consumer research: Telling it like it is.'' [There have been five previous occasions for outgoing ACR officers to deliver a farewell address. In the days before we had an elected president, Jim Engel and Bob Pertoff, the first and second Chairmen of the Advisory Council {then, the governing body of ACR), both spoke about the developing organization and its future. Joel Cohen (1973), our first President, focused on the potential of ACR to serve as a facilitator of research and, in an all-too-brief section, commented on the trivial nature and poor quality of consumer research, circa 1972. Bob Pratt (1974), our second President, presented a thorough accounting of where this organization had been, what progress had been made, and what progress remained to be made. My immediate predecessor, Bill Wells, chose not to give any address at all. This author confesses that the full wisdom of Wells' decision did not sink in until he started to prepare this address two weeks before it had to be delivered.]