Marketing Research Online Communities

Face-to-face research

Phone interviews

Online Research

Online Panel

Online Research Communities

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MROC = A private online community where a targeted group discusses research related topics on a weekly basis.

Interactions between participants are moderated and nurtured with engagement exercises.

The client receives information through a periodically reporting process.

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Social Network + Community tools

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

Online QualitativeCapabilities

These Web 2.0 are combined with online qualitative research techniques (but also with quantitative research methods), submissive research and question research.

MROC

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

[How can be built a MROC?]

“While online is a clumsy observational medium, it is a tremendous engagement and confessional

medium” (Forrester Research)

[Advantages of MROCs]

Deep and relevant insights

Communities helpresearchers get a uniqueperspective into thelives of participants,truly understand theirneeds, and collaboratewith them in ways thatare not possible throughother point-in-timemethodologies.

Listen to your consumers

A MROC is a “virtual station” where you can listen to your customers, give them a voice to express their opinions and talk about your brand.

Communities can cut theresearch cycle time helping companiesmake timely decisionsand speed the productdevelopment cycle.

Get fast feedback

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

[Advantages of MROCs (2)]

Knowing better your consumers will help you to understand their lifestyle and the way they interact with brands. In this way you’ll have the big picture of the links between lifestyle and purchase decision process.

This collaborative approach makes possible to build a strong relationship between brands and consumers based on loyalty.

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Generate ideas for new products and services alongside prospective customers

Identify and track trends among a targeted audience over an extended period of time

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

Qualitative tracking of brand perceptions alongside competitive brands

Formative and exploratory research around new markets, audiences and or topics

Refine product concepts

[Applications for Research Communities]

[Community variations]

Project community

Communities can be veryeffective when used on a small scale and short-term basis. For example, a community of 50-100participants over 3 months can be effective as a replacement formulti-city focus group studies.These project-based communitiescan be valuable for “deep-dives”on a targeted set of objectives.

Shared communities

Research and consulting firms that have an expertise in specific segments or industries may find amulti-client “shared” community to be an effective way of using communities. For example, a company may setup a single ongoing community and runsmaller 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 intothe community for their feedback on a wide range of topics. Thesecommunities tend to be larger (200+ members) and designed around a particular brand, product or service.

[Detalii despre comunitate si recomandari]

SizeResearch community sizes vary, although most are between 50-300 people. Wetypically recommend around 150-200 participants to keep the feedback manageable while encouraging connection among members.

DurationThe duration also varies by the objectives. Communities are typically at least onemonth, although they can last years. We’ve found great results with researchcommunities that last between 3-6 months.

MethodologyMarket research communities are primarily a qualitative methodology, although itis possible to obtain hybrid qualitative and quantitative feedback through a largercommunity size

FocusCommunities can be built around a targeted set of objectives (e.g., new productdevelopment, ad testing, website redesign, etc...), or address a wider set of objectives (e.g., general audience understanding).

OutputThe 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.

Thank You!