Research communities are the most popular insight collection method

Chart of the day: In the latest market research industry GRIT report, 6 in 10 are using online research communities, and over 8 in 10 have an interest in them. All hail the true superhero of market research.

6 in 10 (60%) are using online communities, with over 8 in 10 (82%) showing interest in them and over 2 in 10 (22%) also considering using them. Online research panels are a fast, affordable way of collecting insights from customers and audiences.

The GRIT report produced by Greenbook, is a leading market research industry report. The survey also found that mobile first surveys are increasing in popularity and the shocker, text analytics are pretty popular too!

It's great to see mobile first surveys are becoming a major source of data collection, with so many people using mobile phones and tablets, survey experience has in previous years been quite poor. It's great to see that mobile surveys are being optimized so much. Mobile qualitative methods, such as apps asking people to record videos of themselves and do interviews through their phone are also popular methods. Crowdsourcing has taken a hit, with fewer businesses reaching out to participants using crowdsouricng platforms, this is probably because more than ever researchers are trying to accurately target specific audiences.

What are research communities?

They are databases of customers who have opted in to take surveys, they are pretty easy to set up, though management does take strategy and time and recruitment is no mean feat sometimes. But long-term benefits include fast and affordable research.

Over the coming weeks I will also cover some more charts from the GRIT report, so you can benchmark against the industry, and compare what methods you might be using or thinking of using.

• Source: GRIT report 
• Sample: 1533 interviews
• Recommended resource: Persona Research Guide