Clients tend to ask us about all the different things they can do with online research communities. Though research communities can provide insights for a lot of different areas, below are 10 common applications that we have seen over the years.

1. Exploring new segments, specifically people’s existing and changing attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs
2. Creatively looking at unmet needs and specific product/brand usage
3. Evaluating new product concepts and ideas
4. Investigating communication themes and ideas
5. Running early ideation and trend spotting, continually tapping into new ideas
6. Keeping track of competitive brands and the competitive landscape
7. Exploring the dimensions of customer loyalty and evaluating rewards programs and concepts
8. Completing product usage diaries and journals
9. Coordinating in-store shopping activities and testing retail concepts
10. Investigating specific web redesign concepts, widgets, and online stimuli

This list is just a snapshot of all the things you can do in a research community. What else could be added?