As part of the research for my new book I am looking to explore whether people are still using this approach and what their experiences are.
In the early days of the online surveys, particularly in the late 1990s I used this route quite a bit as online access panels did not exist. Sometimes it worked really well, sometimes it produced odd results. For example I can remember studies where we had to screen out a large number of people because they a significant number came from the 'compers' community, people who spend a large amount of time entering competitions.
I am also aware, from talking to the database people, than many (perhaps most) of the online access panels have used these databases as one of their sources in the past.
More recently I have seen marketing databases used to populate community panels, particularly where the client's business model means that it does not have a good customer database of its own (i.e. many FMCG (also known as CPG in some markets) products where the direct customer relationship is typically with the retailer not the brand).
So, what have your experiences been?
I am interested in both information and quotes I could use in the book.
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