We write for Greenbook about the market research sample supply chain

In our latest article for Greenbook, Rep Data CEO Patrick Stokes writes about “What does ‘The Office’ have in common with the market research sample supply chain?” Fragmentation among video streaming services is accelerating, as evidenced, in one case, by The Office moving from Netflix to Peacock. People now must secure another streaming service to watch “the internet’s favorite show.” Patrick says that we “are seeing a similar phenomenon in the market research sample space.”

How so? Single sample or panel providers simply can’t offer all the respondents needed for a study, quickly, efficiently and feasibly. Instead, a net must be cast among multiple “services” to find desired audiences. This need has been spurred by a number of forces affecting the market research sample space, including a shortage of respondents, attributed in part to a recruitment lull during the beginning of the pandemic, plus a huge increase in demand for sample.

Patrick writes, “We have fewer survey takers, and a heightened need for survey data. Couple this with the demand for more and more niche audiences that fit a select number of profiling criteria (and are thus harder to find), and it's easy to see how a single “streaming service” (panel provider) can no longer deliver in a comprehensive, efficient way.”

There is a way to overcome these challenges, and it includes a blend of industry expertise, technical savvy and multi-sourcing. Sample partners that understand the landscape and know exactly where to go for the right respondents - without any biased limitations - can not only access the right audiences the first time, but also “speed up the process of finding the right individuals for any given survey...not to mention achieving greater representativity and even diversity among respondent bases.” 

He also touches on quality, which can be achieved by sourcing from reputable panels and partners, along with a hefty layer of fraud detection through a blend of technology and expert people that “rigorously check for anomalies” throughout the project workflow. Our recent research-on-research found that layering fraud mitigation techniques such as digital fingerprinting, fraud identification, text analytics and respondent-level tracking, plus expert project management helps ensure better data quality. 

He concludes with: “The new market research landscape is calling for new methods to find sample supply. Just as you might need multiple streaming services to watch the best shows, so a blend of approaches, techniques and panel providers is the quickest, most effective way to find the best respondents.” 

We can help you find the respondents you need for your primary research project. Contact our team of experts today!