INSTITUTE ANALYSIS: Keeping in mind that we haven't asked the question in the exact way each year (e.g., for 2015 we asked how "path-to-purchase budgets" have changed), we've seen similar results in each of the last five years for how shopper marketing budgets have changed. Consistently, only 10-15% have indicated their budgets are decreasing. Take into account that in answering the budget questions, participants likely don't have the actual numbers on hand and are answering in general terms. Where funding is concerned, it's apparent that smaller companies are less inclined to have dedicated shopper budgets, but rather have shopper funded by sales or marketing. Our results indicate that a shift has occurred with shopper marketers now reporting into marketing more than sales. By comparison, GfK's 2013 Futurescope study showed that 37% of shopper marketers reported into sales and 20% into marketing. JANUARY 2016 SHOPPER MARKETING y 47