Market research technologies are constantly improving and evolving to provide better information to research consumers. Here at Luminosity Marketing, we love using the latest technologies to find the best research solutions for our clients. Below is a brief on a research technology that is being used by organizations to gain faster and more insightful qualitative data from their customers.
Market Research Online Communities (MROC) are private online communities that target a particular group of consumers to participate in a larger breadth of research activities. MROCs can include many elements of Custom Online Consumer Panels but have the added feature of member to member communication and qualitative research options. MROCs are still in their infancy but have been used with various amounts of success. They are generally focused around a particular objective (e.g. new product development, ad testing, general customer understanding, etc).
MROC benefits:
- Specific recruiting of targeted consumers
- Group can be active for any amount of time — from 1 week to a year or more
- Usually cheaper and faster than normal qualitative research methods
- Deeper understanding of community member’s opinions and profiles
- Only needs to be big enough to support the project type – from 25 to 250+ members
- Can internally manage or source a vendor to manage
- Can provide members with extra features – forums, photo sharing, games, etc.
MROC drawbacks:
- Initial planning and set-up stage before community can be launched could be more complicated than general qualitative studies
- Must have constant oversight of members interactions
- Complexity of development and management
MROCs work best for companies that have a need for more in-depth knowledge about a particular topic. Good topic choices usually require that a specific group of customers need to be engaged in an on-going basis to gain a full understanding of the customer response to the topic. MROCs can be of particular usefulness to companies that have a qualitative and quantitative need on a particular topic and have customers who are willing to engage on an on-going basis.
For more information on how Market Research Online Communities could help your company focus your research strategy, contact us at info@luminositymarketing.com.
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nice blog… i liked it…Market research online communities are private online communities that target a particular group of consumers to participate in a large breadth of research activities..thanks for this post.
This is a great post laying out the details of the MROC. A focused research strategy is the way to go.