Maintaining Research Integrity in a Social Media Universe
With the rise of "Influencers," four distinct generational groups, social media, and lifestyle habits that change almost daily, how does one get a true handle on what consumers' tastes are, or what trends are going to impact entertainment, media and brands in the near future? Better yet, how do you stay ahead of the curve while demanding reliable approaches to capture attitudinal trends that represent your target audience, and where you should place your bets?
After 20 years of leading with innovation and quality, we still believe that in order to understand the attitudes that motivate consumers and predict consumer behavior, it is important to directly survey a representative sample, but with evolved methods to capture the nuances of each shift in technology that comes our way.
New Methodologies?
There are many newer research methodologies that have emerged to attempt to solve this puzzle. While many of these approaches give you a slice off the top of the social trend, they may miss the underlying target audience you need to reach as well. Social media research is one methodology that can give you instant trends, but can also be misleading. Due to a lack of representation of the total market and by focusing only on the loudest voices in the room, it is often difficult to derive meaningful conclusions from social media.
Passive data collection and aggregation (or sometimes "Big Data") also provides insight into consumer behaviors but doesn't give marketers the reasons behind people's decision-making process. The sheer numbers may tell you which new streaming programs are successful, for example, but not what it is about them that is driving that popularity. Nor does it give you perceived attitudes or other key drivers.
Traditional online quantitative research has the ability to tap into a demographically representative group of consumers to get at the attitudes that shape consumers' choices. When properly managed, you can also track respondents over time, recontact them, and recruit them to an online focus group for a more qualitative read.
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A Researcher's Foundation - Respondents
When you choose a research partner, you are also choosing a sample source that can give you the cutting edge young consumer up to the family who that just brought home their third child. Even among research firms using panel-based sampling, significant differences exist. Do you know where your respondents come from? Many researchers today use panelists from multiple services which may not have the deep profiling of E-Poll's proprietary panel, nor can they offer recontacting or reliable tracking.
E-Poll's proven methodology has stood the test of time for delivering verified quality data.
What You Get From E-Poll
With E-Poll's proprietary panel you get:
The ability to target narrow sub groups - the E-Poll panel is deeply profiled to allow instant access to targeted demographic and behavioral groups.
Ability to re-contact panelists - Because E-Poll maintains its own panel, it is possible to re-contact specific panelists to track any changes in attitude and behavior.
End-to-end control - With full control of our panel, making changes for our clients is a fast and easy process.
Access to all socio-economic, geographic, and cultural groups - E-Poll recruits panelists from hundreds of unique sources to enlist the highest quality and diversity of members.
Maintaining Quality
E-Poll has stood the test of time by adhering to strict quality control practices that provide reliable results. To learn more about E-Poll's panel management and validation practices, please click here.
