Client Disclosure: Advantages and
Disadvantages
Disclosing the
research sponsor to a list of potential respondents can reduce
recruiting and incentives costs. Respondents are usually more
receptive to a market research invitation when they know who's
conducting the study. (The exception, of course, is when the
sponsor is experiencing negative media attention, or is not a
highly-regarded company.)
This same advantage can also be a
disadvantage-respondents know who the sponsor is! And on those
occasions when a respondent feels they've been wronged during
the recruiting process, the next call they'll make will be to
the sponsor of the research.
Consider this recent incident:
A respondent who didn't pass the
security screen was adamant that he be allowed to participate in
the focus group. Attempts to explain that his occupation made
him too much of an "expert" only made him furious. When he
called his local office of the research sponsor, they knew
nothing about the research study. Believing that the research
was a sham, they launched an investigation. And the cascade of
events began. Although there wasn't any significant backlash, if
the client would have addressed this respondent's grievance
directly, this hubbub would likely have been avoided.
Remember this. When the research
sponsor's identity is revealed, be prepared to field calls from
skeptical or unhappy respondents.
And when you can't disclose the sponsor,
expect your costs to be higher and your recruiting to take
longer. Cold-calling a list is time-consuming. The interest
level among people who are not familiar with market research can
be pathetically low. What does that mean? The more time it takes
to recruit respondents, the higher your recruiting price and the
bigger the incentive needed to get them to participate.
Protect the Customers
Customer lists are usually pulled by
Information Technology or database management departments. Since
database administrators don't always know what personal
information is needed for recruiting (or they're unable to
cherry pick the data) they tend to include everything they have.
And everything they have can include extremely personal customer
information...social security numbers, birthdates, bank account
numbers and the like. For that reason it's best practice to
remove all fields that recruiters don't need before a customer
list leaves your office.
To further protect customers' privacy
and personal information, make it crystal clear to field
services that your sample is not a source for new database
additions. And that the list should only be used for that
particular project and no others. That includes the respondents
who participate in the research.
Manage Expectations
Customer lists don't always generate the
results you want-even when the research sponsor is disclosed. As
one "disclosing" client recently learned:
An opt-in list was provided that was
compiled from participants of a recent online panel. During the
online panel, respondents were asked if they would be interested
in participating in future in-person research projects.
Respondents who agreed were added to the opt-in list. However,
when the date, time and location were given for the follow up
focus groups, to the disappointment of the client, only 25% of
their opt-in respondents agreed to participate. Ouch.
And when customer lists aren't
well-maintained, expect a high number of disconnected and wrong
numbers. When you have a limited list, this can spell disaster.
If directory assistance lookup is needed for missing or
incorrect phone numbers, your costs can skyrocket.
Remember this. You don't know what
you're going to get from a client-supplied list until you start
making the calls.
Mark Goodin is President of Aaron-Abrams Field Support
Services, the respondent recruitment and fieldwork management
specialists for qualitative market researchers. Subscribe to
"Field Smarts," the monthly e-newsletter that helps you improve
your qualitative fieldwork. Receive a free report when you sign
up at
http://www.aaronabrams.com
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