Advantages of online market research

With the improvements of the internet technologies most of the traditional research methods can be implemented into the online environment, which reduces the cost and time requirements of the data collection and the evaluation of the results.

What are the main advantages of the online data collection vs. the traditional offline methodologies?

The respondents are easier to target only those who fit the target group are invited to take part in the survey
Time effective data collection is done around the clock. The answers get directly into the database which saves even more time.
Better data quality due to programmed questionnaires there is no chance to make logical mistakes
Certain groups of respondents are easier to find with the help of the internet we can find respondents who would not be reachable though other data collection methods (ie. Students, AB status)
Cost effective no need to print the questionnaires or pay the interviewers, no travelling or data entry costs.

Researches done by an international FMCG company prove that in target groups where the internet penetration is higher than 50% the results of the online surveys are not significantly different from those data collected by conventional offline methods.
(Source: Financial Times, 04/2007)