What is a Market Research Online Community (MROC)?
An MROC is a private, small online social network consisting of members who share a common interest in a given topic or theme. Just like any other social network, members engage in conversations with each other via a community portal. The members are recruited and invited to join the community based on screening criteria. Members participate in qualitative and quantitative research activities in addition to their general discussions within the community.
Our research experts specialize in building custom Market Research Online Communities for clients. Each MROC is composed of the client’s target audience, providing an invaluable research resource that offers on-demand communication with the members. Community members are selected according to the targeting criteria defined by the client, allowing us to build online research communities that accurately represent almost any B2C or B2B audience—even niche audiences that can be difficult to reach.
Our target audience is highly specific and expensive to reach. Can an MROC help us overcome these obstacles?
To recruit affluent or other difficult to reach consumers/B2B audiences, our team works with proven sample partners, and we employ innovative and creative methods to overcome barriers to recruitment. We have built several online research communities composed of audiences with very low incidence rates to help clients unlock research opportunities that were previously inaccessible.
These communities can be ideal for conducting a high volume of activities in a short period of time, but they can also allow for longer commitments consisting of 1-2 activities per month for a year or more.
A custom MROC is an excellent way to connect with elusive audiences because it only requires one recruitment to build the community, which can then be accessed repeatedly. By contrast, conducting multiple ad hoc studies with hard-to-reach consumers compounds the challenge of recruitment.
What is the difference between research panels and MROCs?
Research panels are primarily useful for one-way communication, meaning that panel members only share their opinions directly with the researchers. Typically, the panelist would receive an email invite to take part in a survey.
An MROC offers advantages over a research panel by enabling two-way communication and organic discussion between members, allowing researchers to gather insights from those discussions and authentic interactions. Discussions are monitored and moderated to ensure quality and a positive experience but are otherwise a member-to-member conversation.
By facilitating and “listening” to open-ended conversations between members with common interests, researchers and client teams can uncover insights. Market Research Online Communities provide market researchers an agile, on-demand resource to conduct qualitative and quantitative studies whenever the need arises.
Want to learn more about how our experts can revolutionize your market research program with a custom MROC? Contact one of our experts.