Who are these people?

9Sep09

How do market research online community providers populate their clients’ communities?

(When I say “market research” communities, that’s exactly what I mean; a community used as a market research tool. I’m not talking about online communities that are used in a marketing/customer relations exercise.

I’m not quite sure that the difference is apparent to all, but they’re not the same; not by a long shot.

In one, you’re giving the community members love because you want to make them happy. In the other, the relationship is somewhat more pragmatic; you want to learn from them. Notably, if you’re giving them love to make them happy, you’re not necessarily going to learn much, because they’ll be all nice and lovely back).

Anyway, focusing specifically on market research communities; what checks are in place to ensure that the people who end up in the community represent the people the client actually wants to hear from (ie the population of interest)?

To borrow from the delightful John Lacey, I’m filing this one under #stuffiwonder.