Megan Loughlin Nerz

Megan Loughlin Nerz is a cofounder of MLN Research, which opened its qualitative doors in 1987. She started her career as the Director of Children’s Research at the Gene Reilly Group in 1979, but her involvement with kids and research goes back to the 1978 Federal Trade Commission hearings on the effects of TV Advertising on Children.

While her background is in survey research, Megan discovered early on that more than anything else she loved talking to face to face with consumers, especially kids. More than once she’s been overheard saying “…there’s something interesting to learn from every person you talk to—while it’s more challenging among some—it’s there if you listen hard enough.”

She has an academic background in child development and extensive experience in working with kids and teens and in all types of qualitative research settings. Megan worked collaboratively with Kraft Foods and Millward Brown on the questionnaire development of the kid’s version of Link ad pre-test. Megan’s approach to qualitative research with children was profiled in an article appearing in the textbook, Business Research Methods, by Donald R. Cooper and Pamela S. Schindler (McGraw Hill, Eight edition, 2003). Her research work with kids was featured in the 2013 book, Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry, (David C. Robertson and Bill Breen). Megan has authored and co-authored papers published in the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Broadcasting. She has delivered speeches to the American Psychology Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Toy Manufacturers Association of America, Advertising Research Foundation, the Professional Marketing Research Society of Canada and the American Marketing Association.

Megan has advanced training in Synectics, a creative problem solving, innovative teamwork, and meeting management founded by George M. Prince. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a concentration in child psychology; and a Masters of Arts degree in Applied Communications Research from the University of Hartford.