A lot of clients ask us why we first became interested in market research communities. I guess the story begins back in early 2002 when Matt and I were working at Harris Interactive. We were predominantly working in qualitative research and roaming around the country doing face to face focus groups, telephone interviews, usability studies , ethno… you name it. We also had a ton of experience with early online qualitative research like bulletin boards and chat groups.

New Direction in Qualitative Research

We always felt that market research (and qualitative especially) was a bit behind the times in terms of technology. While bulletin boards and chat groups were growing in popularity, they were still modeled after traditional point-in-time qualitative methods and relied heavily on the ability of the researcher to ask the right questions. We saw a lot of potential in online communities because they allowed us to develop a more continuous connection with respondents and run faster research, but they also signaled a different direction in the researcher/respondent relationship.

The Dynamic of Research Communities

Research communities give respondents a greater voice, different ways to express themselves, and more control of the conversation.  Research communities also give researchers a continuous venue to experiment, ask questions, develop long term understanding, and a way to listen to conversations they didn’t necessarily start.

So that is why we started PluggedIN and ventured into the market research community space.  I like to say it was a leap of faith, but the writing was more clearly on the wall… plus it doesn’t matter how great the “Heavenly Bed” is on the road, there is nothing better than my Sealy (even if my wife dominates 75% of it) : )