Editor’s note: Sharon Seidler is senior vice president of C&R Research, Chicago.

In conducting qualitative research, asking the right people is often as important as asking the right questions.

For example, custom advisory panels have been all the rage in the research industry over the past five years - and with good reason. They provide companies with relatively easy access to inexpensive advice and opinions from key consumers and customers. However, almost all of the focus has been on online panels that are relatively large, with a scale that can support a variety of online research endeavors, including quantitative surveys.

But for some companies, the same efficiencies of custom online panels can be achieved with the use of qualitative research panels. By establishing more focused panels, researchers are able to provide some worthwhile payoffs and efficiencies to these companies.

The basic principal behind a qualitative research panel is to establish a group of about eight to 12 qualified respondents who agree to participate in a series of interviews on a given product, service or topic. Once recruited, the same group of respondents would then agree to meet about once a month for what could turn out to be a six-month period. The approach is simple and efficient: invest in a single recruitment and leverage the same respondents for a number of qualitative research projects.

This model is quite different from the traditional focus group method used by most qualitative researchers in that respondents who’ve participated in research groups within a given six-month time frame are not rejected out of hand. Some research firms are breaking away from this long-standing tradition and developing proprietary respondent validation tools to help keep qualitative respondents honest. Working under this new paradigm might make some researchers a little uneasy, but it’s important for the researchers - and their clients - to understand the benefits that an established qualitative research panel can provide.

One primary benefit is that the menu of topics can be varied and broad and can occasionally be revisited in a kind of longitudinal investigation. As an example, let’s propose that a consumer packaged goods company is seeking to launch a new line of salad dressings. Its qualitative panel starts out first with the seeds of new ideas for a line of salad dressings. The next session, in the following month with the same participants, refines those ideas to the point where packaging, graphics and samples begin to take form and come to life. And even before the subsequent session, advertising stimuli boards can be created, names generated and the product line begins getting its legs. This, ultimately, can save time and money for a CPG company in the long run.

Many companies are embracing the panel approach because they recognize the multiple benefits:

  • Consumer panels can be significantly less expensive versus recruiting the same number of separate groups over the same time period. Because the same people are used each month, there are no additional recruiting costs - only simple reminder calls are required. This more streamlined design can result in a 25 percent to 30 percent reduction in cost to clients.
  • Because quick feedback is critical, and the entire process is so fluid, the company doesn’t require a full report. A topline summary works well and can be delivered just a few days after the panel convenes.
  • Companies also appreciate the discipline that consumer panels can impose in the process. They know that each month they need to meet with marketing, packaging and R&D to determine what issues still exist. Meanwhile, the various internal departments welcome the concept of having a voice in the panel content each month.
  • Respondents are better able to build ideas as they become more invested in the process and the topics. In some cases, the participants bond with one another nicely, and the time often needed to warm them up at the beginning of the session is significantly reduced.
  • Participants tend to remain fresh, motivated and more inclined to evaluate. They are still wearing their consumer hats, and usually haven’t devolved into thinking of themselves as budding marketing professionals.

Provide benefits

Breaking the long-established rules of qualitative recruiting can provide benefits for both the research team as well as the companies seeking input on a wide variety of issues. The process has proven successful in forming bonds with consumers, making them allies and sharing ideas in a new and more intimate way. Additionally, the findings have been solid, and there has been little compromise as a result of interviewing the same people again and again. And, given the potential cost savings in this current economic climate, more companies will continue to see great value in qualitative research panels, which can put qualitative research on a whole new track.