Market Research Online Communities

The Evolution of Market Research

Web 2.0

Now 2000 1990s 1970 1950

Communities

Panels

Online

Telephone

Face-to-face

Market Research Communities

Private online communities where a targeted group of participants gather to discuss research-related topics on a weekly basis. The topics are facilitated, with periodic reports and recommendations provided to the sponsoring company.

Social Networking & Community Tools

Research communities draw on the latest social networking and community tools, including forums, blogs, photo sharing, prole pages, friends/connections, etc..., combining them in a way that allows research participants to connect and share their thoughts.

Online Qualitative Capabilities

Market Research Online Communities

These Web 2.0 tools are combined with focus group capabilities that researchers need, including member management and database ltering, points and incentive management capabilities, transcript downloads, etc...

The combination of these tools creates an environment where participants can connect and collaborate, while sharing their feedback through ongoing discussions and surveys.

Market research online communities (MROCs) will shock the qualitative market research world. They provide cheaper, faster and newer types of insights that todays traditional qualitative research modes, such as focus groups, dont currently provide.

Forrester Research
April, 2008

Faster...
Communities can cut the research cycle time from 3-4 weeks to 1 week (or less), helping companies make timely decisions and speed the product development cycle.

Cheaper...
By tapping into a targeted group of participants on an ongoing basis, companies can save thousands in recruiting, incentives, facility rental and travel costs.

Better...
Communities help researchers get a unique perspective into the lives of participants, truly understand their needs, and collaborate with them in ways that are not possible through other point-in-time methodologies.

Applications for Research Communities

Identify and track trends among a targeted audience over an extended period of time Qualitative tracking of brand express themselves (via blogs perceptions alongside and photos, user generated competitive brands

Venue for members to conversations)

Generate ideas for new products and services alongside prospective customers

Place to launch exploratory Formative and to additional interactive/collaborative research around new markets, options (e.g. invoke, iMarkit) audiences or topics

Evaluate customer experiences through product diaries, blogs, discussions and surveys

Rene product concepts and continually collaborate on iterations of concepts

(Among many other applications... Communities are a very exible research methodology.)

Community Variations

Project Communities
Communities can be very effective when used on a smallscale and short-term basis. For example, a community of 50-100 participants over 3 months can be effective as a replacement for multi-city focus group studies. These project-based communities can be valuable for deep-dives on a targeted set of objectives.

Shared Communities
Research and consulting rms that have an expertise in specic segments or industries may nd a multi-client shared community to be an effective way of using communities. For example, a company may setup a single ongoing community and run smaller ad-hoc or syndicated studies inside of the community for multiple clients.

Ongoing Communities
Ongoing communities that last for many months or years can be useful in an advisory capacity, where companies are tapping into the community for their feedback on a wide range of topics. These communities tend to be larger (200+ members) and designed around a particular brand, product or service.

Methodology Comparisons
Traditional Focus Groups While point-in-time in-person methodologies like focus groups and in-depth interviews allow you to see participants facial reactions as they discuss a topic in realtime, they lack the ability to continually collaborate with and learn about participants after the session is over. The extended approach of an online community allows for a much deeper understanding of an audience and their needs over time.

Online Focus Groups

Online bulletin board and chat-style focus groups are a quick and efcient way of conducting qualitative market research. However, they too are a point-in-time methodology, and lack the ability to explore a research topic from multiple angles, while really getting to collaborate with and learn about participants. Communities are primarily a qualitative methodology and should not be considered as a replacement for online survey research. However, they can serve as a venue to launch online surveys to a targeted group. They are also effective in understanding the why behind the what of an online survey.

Surveys

Community Details & Recommendations

Size Duration Mode Focus Output
Research community sizes vary, although most are between 50-300 people. We typically recommend around 150 participants to keep the feedback manageable while encouraging connection among members. The duration also varies by the objectives. Communities are typically at least one month, although they can last years. Weve found great results with research communities that last between 3-6 months. Market research communities are primarily a qualitative methodology, although it is possible to obtain hybrid qualitative and quantitative feedback through a larger community size. Communities can be built around a targeted set of objectives (e.g., new product development, ad testing, website redesign, etc...), or address a wider set of objectives (e.g., general audience understanding). The output is similar to other online qualitative studies. Transcripts from all research activities are available immediately, with ongoing reports delivered in presentation or newsletter-style formats.