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Reflections on ESOMAR

Budapest is a great city. Such a shame that we were so enthralled with what was happening inside the windowless Intercontinental conference hall that we couldn't see more of it. But then, how often do top panel researchers from 35 different countries get together to discuss best practices and key learnings about online panel research? If you answered never, you're mostly right. The last panel conference was in 1997 and had little to do with online panels.

It was compelling to witness the worldwide charge into online panels at the conference and get a glimpse into the unique issues each country is facing. But what was even more compelling was how far the knowledge, technology and expertise of those immersed in this field has come. Online panels, rented or owned, are changing the way progressive companies are doing research. It is a question of when, not if, for any company looking to extend their research dollars, get real-time results and benefit from innovative ways to present and process information from your market.ESOMAR (the world association of market researchers) held the Worldwide Panel Research conference last month in Budapest, Hungary. We had the opportunity to engage with, and learn from, experts around the world: from New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, Israel, even the US. We learned a few things, taught a few others, and mostly came away from the conference feeling certain that Vision Critical is helping to define one of the most important trends to hit the market research industry in years: online panel research.

As with all trends, it is important to separate the good stuff from the hype. There is plenty of hype, from those saying we should do all of our market research through online panels to those claiming they have the biggest, baddest panel full of low incidence groups eagerly waiting at their desktops for the arrival of their next survey invite. But to cut to the chase: online panels have their place in the market research mix. Without one, you are missing out on tremendous cost, speed, and interactivity benefits that your competitors are already tapping into.

The bigger question is whether you should rent or own. The advantages of renting people to take surveys are undeniable. But far too often, the disadvantages or alternatives are overlooked. With rented respondents, you trust that you are getting what you asked for, you hope they're not overburdened, that they aren't professional survey takers, or worse, that they aren't part of a low incidence group that you need to speak with relatively frequently but are forced to pay through the nose for every time you need them.

Flipside: build your own panel. It was far too expensive and unwieldy a proposition not so many years ago. But things have changed. With the proliferation of CRM databases, customer lists and access to email addresses, recruitment costs that were once prohibitive are now easily digested. Proprietary panel software has made it easy to manage the process. A number of these tools, yes ours included, make it easy enough for you to do it yourself. Our clients see this benefit, even if they don?t write the surveys or analyze the results themselves. Perhaps it is the ability to slice and dice the reports as they see fit, or maybe it is the convenience of being able to launch a short 3-4 question survey on a moments notice, or it could be as simple as having control over who and how one engages with the panel.

Posted on May 17, 2005
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