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The Pros and Cons of Research Panels

Updated: Sep 14, 2023

What are panels in market research?

In order to accomplish your goals during an experiment, you need to decide on a research methodology. Gathering consumer insights through a focus group, observation, survey, interview or any other method will alter your overall strategy and solution.

Research survey panels are powerful experimental groups that provide more affordable ways for analysts to determine the value of a brand’s product or service.

A market research panel is a group of specific participants who agree to take on surveys and other quantitative research experiments in order to collect the required data. The researchers have demographic, household, and behavioral data on the pre-recruited panel members before they participate in the studies.


The research questions that they are asked in the online panels or online surveys provide researchers with the data collection they need for future efforts as well. This information is used as secondary market research and quantitative data in future consumer panels.

Kasi Insight is always finding newer, quicker, better ways of collecting market research and we’re here to address the specifics of consumer market research panels.


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Market Research Panels & Market Research Sample


A research company refers to a panel as the recruited set of individuals chosen for the study, however, ‘panel’ can indicate large, general studies or small, specific studies. For example, the panel can be the workforce of a small business or a major subset of a general population.


A company may use a research panel because they want to know how their customer service was affected by a new marketing campaign, or how their employee experience was affected by their business merger. The panel could even have specific location requirements or interests – like a North American panel or a panel of farmers, truckers, or singers.

Each individual on the panel provides researchers with their demographics and background information. Panel participants also agree to be contacted by the organization if they are elected to participate in future research projects.


These participants are selected for specific projects in the future based on their demographic information. Once they are chosen for a specific study, they are considered a market research sample.

A market research sample represents a sample of your target audience based on age, gender, education, background, and so on. Panel data is gathered from market research samples through participants who have similarities in their daily lives and backgrounds.

An example of this could be an organization that wants to provide aid to people living in New Jersey with inadequate access to food, water, or shelter. The organization creates a research panel and tracks their success at getting food into the lower-income households in New Jersey. The respondents on this panel would have to be recruited based on their low-income and living conditions in New Jersey.


Research Methodology: Market Research Panels


There are pros and cons of every sampling method and each is going to require different demographic information to alter the results that you need for success.


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Market research panels provide organizations with the adequate information that they need for their target market through these pros and cons:

Pros

Lower Overall Costs


  • Market research panels typically keep costs and turnaround times lower than other experimental research studies.


Cheaper Recruitment Costs & Efficiency


  • Researchers don’t have to rescreen to collect the required criteria and data from the same sample over and over.

  • Completed surveys are used for the appropriate studies at the appropriate times.


Convenience & High Response Rates


  • Respondents opt to participate before the studies begin.

  • Researchers have a prearranged group of people who are willing to help.


Quick Collection of Data


  • Combining digital research with preapproved leads makes for speedier data.


Targeted Audience


  • Panels are built around the specific interests of a product or service, so they will provide the best insight for the given product or service of the company.


Insight for the Future


  • A larger panel gives clients the opportunity to track behavioral changes over time. This helps the company make better, informed decisions on any changes that need to be made to their products and services.


Cons

Fatigued Respondents


  • Based on how complex and difficult each question in the survey is, the participants can get frustrated and lazy with their answers.

  • Research panels need to be updated and switched out every so often to keep the answers refreshed. People who don’t wish to be in the panel anymore should be replaced by consumers who do.


Irregular Costs


  • There is no general sample price for each experiment because each sample that a company needs comes with different requirements.

  • Obtaining certain information for one research panel could be more expensive than obtaining information for another one.


Bias


  • If the same group of people in the panel are surveyed, again and again, they are more likely to recognize your research patterns. This can lead to consumers responding in a trained manner, rather than naturally.


Data Quality & Panel Management


  • Sometimes, respondents are only there to respond with a random answer and make some extra money.

  • Regularly update the participants in your panel to get accurate information.


Appropriate Mix


  • Make sure that your respondents match the specific demographics before you survey the group.

  • If some participants don't apply to the study after it has already begun, you lose out on all the data in the study because it is not entirely accurate.


At Kasi Insight, we appreciate the experimental advantages of using consumer research panels and online research panels. Kasi Insight strives to stay innovative in all of our research design methodologies so that we supply our clients with the most accurate data possible.

Kasi Insight’s intelligence solutions can discover the efforts that your company needs to make in order to enhance its marketing strategy.

Get the consumer intelligence insight that your business needs to prosper with Kasi Insight.



 

Contact our team today to explore how our consumer intelligence , brand intelligence, retail intelligence, and economic intelligence can empower your decision-making process. Win with confidence with Kasi insights https://www.kasiinsight.com/thehub


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