With a global internet penetration rate of 59.9%, it’s no surprise that consumer behaviour is increasingly taking place online. With a click or a swipe, we can order products from the other side of the world, book a restaurant or medical appointment, and of course connect with friends, family and colleagues. According to GWI, participation in online forums and blogs is also on the rise, as people are looking for a space to connect and belong.
For a long time now, the market research industry has known the need to be where consumers are, in the digital space. For years, online methods were growing slowly and steadily, while ‘in person’ was the leading choice of qualitative methodologies; but the pandemic changed that abruptly, with online focus groups, in-depth interviews and communities now taking the lead. In fact, according to the GreenBook GRIT Report, online communities are the third most used method for qualitative data collection.
In markets like South Africa, we’re somewhat behind the times in the adoption of online qualitative research. There are many ‘reasons to believe’ in online qual, but here is my top three…
From behind their computer in their own secure environment, people are more daring. They tell truths they would never share with us otherwise; they do not feel watched or observed through a one-way mirror nor by other respondents or moderators. Anonymity enhances validity and minimizes socially desirable answers. By consequence, taboo subjects are tackled more easily online than offline.
Online qualitative research has the power to quickly get to an emotional level and get personal responses to stimuli, which typically takes more time and effort in offline settings.
Participants are not invited to come into the world of the researchers, in online market research. Instead, researchers enter the homes and lives of participants.
Mobile accessibility only increases this context potential, making it possible to gain feedback on real-life moments instead of staged experiences. Rich multimedia can be gathered in situ, such as photos captured in-store and videos filmed in-home.
Where offline research often has significant regional constraints (participants, researchers and clients have to come to a central location, often leading to a geographical bias), online research can easily bring people from very different locations together (both nationally and internationally).
Besides the advantage of not having a location bias, people are also just more inclined to join a research project from the comfort of their own home rather than having to travel to a specific location.
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