By Amy Singer, Ph.D. and Diana Greninger
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish I had a bigger budget?” In today’s world, money is power. As business owners, litigators and political consultants, we must constantly consider the cost benefits of spending a little more in research, social media efforts, among other things.
Traditional focus group research has been conducted since the 1950’s. Businesses, litigators, political consultants and the like are all too familiar with the benefits of research. Today’s technology enables us to do more with research than we ever could in the past. Using a program like Wizpor® a researcher can simulcast a focus group, presentation, witness preparation or meeting to preselected panelists anywhere in the world. Research can be conducted from the comfort of your home or office. In addition, you can add panelists to an online focus group simulcast at a fraction of the cost of adding live panelists.
Hiring a live panelist requires a researcher to pay a significant amount of compensation, as they are typically paid an hourly wage (often well above minimum wage) or a per-session allowance. In addition, the researcher must provide a comfortable location for live panelists to participate in the study, and it is often customary to provide beverages and snacks. This can become very expensive and time consuming.
In contrast to live panelists, online panelists can be compensated in a variety of methods. For example, participants can be awarded “points” per study, of which they can trade for gift cards. These gift cards can be purchased by the researcher at a fraction of their value when obtained in bulk. By compensating panelists with gift cards, the researcher will be paying participants less, yet the participants will still be satisfied.
There are many additional benefits in using simulcast tools, such as Wizpor®. For example, these tools allow for a large, if not unlimited, number of participants, which makes it easier for the researcher to obtain a larger sample. In addition, the researcher can convert qualitative research into quantitative research without the high cost of accommodations. The researcher can also choose to run multiple sessions, with a small or large number of participants, and even have private conversations with each participant or encourage them to participate in a group discussion. This method of data collection requires only one moderator to manage all of these groups, so long as they are conducted at different times. Another major benefit of using simulcast tools is the quality of participant’s responses, in that anonymous online panelists tend to give more straightforward feedback than live panelists. [see Wizpor®: The Benefits of Having an Anonymous Live Simulcast Audience at www.wizpor.com]
Talk about bang for your buck?! Can you think of situations where simulcasting a meeting or focus group would be beneficial to your business?
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