Digital Research

Marketing research 2.0

Market research services are undergoing turbulent changes caused by the emergence of new data collection techniques on the one hand, and increasingly limited research budgets on the other.
These trends resulted in advancement of quantitative and qualitative methods using tools for more efficient and cost effective data collection, overcoming geographical barriers and facilitating recruitment of target groups which are difficult to reach.

 

Into more detail

Relying on the main principles of the focus group as a research technique, using the model of Internet communications and social networks, market research company MASMI has developed a platform for qualitative on-line research, entitled MASMI Web Forum.

This qualitative methodology is based on a platform which is rather similar to the omnipresent form of social networks – respondents in a research are members of a closed Internet community, engaged to discuss on a given topic. Similarly to standard focus groups, the moderator informs the respondents about the topic for discussion, asks questions, and stimulates exchange of opinions among the participants. Unlike traditional focus groups, in which respondents are gathered in one room, participants in MASMI Web Forum join the discussion at different times, whenever it suits them, from their home, office, or any other place by their telephones. The number of participants in discussions held at MASMI Web Forum, which lasts between 3 and 10 days, mostly amounts to 10 – 25. In case a continual, multi-stage research is needed, such Internet communities may last up to several months.