The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | DECEMBER 2015 31 BUSINESS OPERATIONS The 'why and how' of the consumer survey How best to spend money allocated for the pro- motion and defense of fuel oil? That is a question state associations wrestle with annually, and Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, wanted more data to help answer that question. He suggested a survey of customers, and a project was born, resulting in "The 2015 Consumer Research Study," covered in the accompanying article, "Talking Points." Though the initiative for the study started with the Connecticut association issuing a request for proposals, conducting interviews with marketing firms and choosing Warm Thoughts Communications to conduct the consumer sur- vey, Richard Goldberg, president of the firm, took it upon himself to approach other state associa- tions to see if they wanted in. Many did. They included: Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey, Maine Energy Marketers Association, Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, Oil Heat Institute of Long Island, and the Oil Heat Institute of Rhode Island. The National Oilheat Research Alliance funded the project. Fuel oil dealers and customers in each association's turf were surveyed, Goldberg said. Ken Reese, direc- tor of research for Warm Thoughts, conducted the online survey in May and July. Some findings could be anticipated, others were enlightening, industry veterans said. Herb said the advent of Bioheat "is clearly a game- changer," and its potential—and the need to get the word out—is reflected in the survey findings. "It's an important step forward for the industry to have this knowledge," John Huber, president of NORA, said. "The survey validated that [Bioheat] is our best opportunity to open up a conversation with our customers. We have to do that." Noteworthy, too, Huber said, "is that we need to skew much younger—the 25 to 30 range, the first entrants in the house" in market- ing and communicating heating oil's strengths. Herb said that many of the findings were similar from area to area, with a few telling differences. He said that the survey shows Connecticut customers, for example, think of one fuel when they think of converting: natural gas. In contrast, Maine consumers might con- sider as alternatives heat pumps, wood pellets and propane, Herb noted. Customers' expecta- tions of the benefits of converting to a different fuel struck him as overly sunny, Herb said. Customers "significantly miscalculate" the savings and return on investment of converting, Herb said. Expecting payback in three years shows customers don't know the true costs of conversion, Herb contended. He and others involved in the research project said that enlight- ening fuel oil customers about the true costs of conversion should be part of the industry's effort to retain customers. NORA "will be using the survey to help steer our messaging" to state associations and to consumers, Huber said, and "to communicate things that matter to the consumer." l F O N