INSIGHTS IN ACTION: THE FGI BLOG
Online Communities Unlock New Insights
Wikipedia, an online community itself, defines online communities this way: “A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as…email, internet social network service or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes.” For our market research purposes, online communities are private online areas designed for customers and other invited participants, which are used to explore specific ideas or questions on behalf of the client.
Customers are comfortable meeting in online communities to share their thoughts and ideas. Unlike quantitative studies, participants are free to share ideas and insights that go beyond the highly structured questionnaires used in online surveys. Unlike traditional focus groups (in person or online), participants have more freedom to express their opinions without being dominated by groupthink or strong personalities.
Used correctly, and smartly integrated with other methods, private online communities can unlock needs, ideas and insights that simply are not possible via traditional means (quant or qual) and even newer methods such as social media mining. As a result, online communities deserve to have a prominent seat at the market research table.
David Wilson
CEO
FGI Research
November 18th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I like the way FGI Research is approaching this marketing research solution. Online communities are really making a difference in our marketing research, especially for concept tests. While it’s just one piece of the puzzle…and a qualitative piece at that…it can really bring new insights to the table.