Complete demographic analyses for respondents to this survey include the distribution of users by type of organization, geographic distribution, electrophoretic techniques in use, and areas of scientific expertise. Electrophoretic users were focused predominantly in molecular biology, but also were found in higher concentrations among biochemists, cell biologists, and microbiologists, as well as to a lesser extent among neuroscientists and immunologists. Significant differences in market share for hand-cast gel media are measured in various geographic regions around Europe. Customer satisfaction ratings are measured for leading vendors of ready made gels and hand-cast gel media. The suppliers of ready-made gels obtained excellent scores.
Scientists seem very satisfied in general with hand-cast gel media.
Respondents rated leading suppliers of ready-made gels specifically in the areas of value for money, consistent quality, highest resolution, fastest delivery, best application support, and widest product range. One company achieved top positions in all six categories by a wide margin, although the scores were significantly lower in many instances than were achieved in our earlier 1994 European gel report. Another major supplier improved in terms of perceived quality and application support, but then lost ground in terms of value for money and rapid delivery. Reading these comments is equivalent to spending weeks of time in the field with end-users and provides essential insight for suppliers to this lucrative market. Based upon a newly revised survey questionnaire, this gel media report is the largest and most comprehensive issued to date.