To say that consumer’s online behaviour has transformed dramatically over the last ten years would be an understatement. From the simple and innocent ICQ chat rooms and MSN messenger, to the rise of Facebook, Twitter and youtube.com, the online community’s interaction with online content has shifted from basic information search and communications to one where you could run your entire life, complete tasks and pay bills without having to leave the comfort of your bed.

Unfortunately, this transformation has gone relatively unnoticed by the wider global market research industry (de Jong, 2010).

Despite the creation of artificial communities, dredging through consumer blogs and monitoring “tweets”, the industry is still trying to engage respondents with methods and techniques that have remained unchanged for the past ten years. The industry has an opportunity to innovate to win respondent attention. Read on…