Innovation in Internet Research

At this week's ESOMAR Annual Congress, two papers focused on ways to overhaul or reinvent Internet-based consumer research. A joint paper by agencies Ciao and Fat Planet called for increased innovation in online surveys, while Dutch agency Blauw discussed its use of an online qual panel to aid new product development.

Ciao and Fat Planet - Online Fights Back! Combating Communication Fatigue with Innovation

Ciao - the European subsidiary of Greenfield Online - challenged the MR industry to make online surveys more motivating and engaging for respondents. The paper, authored jointly with MR agency Fat Planet, said researchers were still inexperienced in online research methodology, and that the industry should invest in expanding skills in this area and develop standards for online research practice.

'Researchers need to get out of the mindset that they can take a survey designed to be sent out as a postal mailing or for CATI and just migrate it online', said Richard Thornton, UK Client Development Director at Ciao. 'The Internet is a dynamic and interactive medium, and researchers are not yet fully exploiting its potential. Attention spans are short and researchers must focus on piquing respondents' interest, not simply relying on incentives.'

Tony Hufflett, Director of Fat Planet, said that, unless researchers make surveys more appealing, respondents will tire of taking them: 'If they are presented with too many overly-long, static, laborious surveys, we believe that response rates for online overall will start to fall. Engaging people in a way that makes them want to give their opinion is the objective, not boring them senseless.'

Hufflett said that just as researchers monitor clients' customer satisfaction, 'it is important for the industry to do the same for respondents. A compulsory respondent satisfaction rating at the end of each online survey would provide valuable feedback that could create an improved experience for respondents'. Fat Planet's guidelines for successful online research can be summed up with the acronym 'RESPECT':

R Only Research what you need
E Engage respondents, don't take them for granted
S Take a Satisfaction measure to see how you did
P Peronalise and humanise it - think about your language
E Excite respondents - make it fun and interesting
C Don't Cheat - eg telling the criteria required in the email
T Keep up with the Technology.


Electrolux and Blauw Research - Inspiring Creativity Through Online Stakeholder Involvement

In another paper, Blauw Research from the Netherlands together with Electrolux outlined their approach to getting the most from online research. Ine Dinklo from Blauw explained the development of the User Forum Online (UFO) to inform new product development at Electrolux. The forum was designed to provide fast, in-depth qualitative input from customers across Europe, 'speeding up the innovation process and increasing the involvement of the New Product Development team in research'. Previously, the company had found it hard to engage technical staff in research - particularly as research often took the form of hall tests in various locations across Europe.

The UFO is an online bulletin board, moderated by qualitative researchers who encourage comments and give feedback. Members, who are identified as having a specific problem - for example with their washing machine soap dispensers - are invited to join by email. The forum runs for around a week, with inputs translated and summarised at the end of every day - allowing technical staff to keep in touch and come back with further questions.

'At first, it seems contradictory to conduct qualitative research online,' says Dinklo. 'But many of the inputs were as in-depth as we would get in an interview, and provided valuable anecdotes. The forum was able to show Electrolux product developers that what happens in the real world is quite different from what happens in the lab'.

The companies' web sites are at www.fat-planet.com , www.ciao-group.com and www.blauw.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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