The value of Crowd Sourcing as a supporting research tool

3rd November 2014

Crowd Sourcing is an interesting and collaborative tool that we’ve found valuable as a supporting research tool. We’ve used a bespoke photo-sharing site for participants to upload photos to – in the past this has included anything from photos of food they’re consuming, to examples of advertising they find compelling.

In particular, we’ve found it to be an invaluable tool in providing consumer-generated content for use in research groups, and is often so much richer than client / researcher-determined stimulus.  Furthermore, it’s really effective at creating some healthy debate as consumers defend and challenge each-others contributions!

An extension to this has been using the interactions, posts, photos and links shared by participants on social media, by following them (with their permission of course!), and using this as research stimulus and topics of conversation within an online forum.  A great way of ensuring your stimulus is topical and resonates with your participants!