Marketing research trends: online panels and online communities

The aim of the article is to identify and to study trends of application and forming of sampling selection of participants, control of survey quality and methods of conducting online panels and online communities. The results of the analysis. The article provides the analysis of the modern tendencies of marketing researches on the Internet. The development of Internet technologies and the spread of the Internet to all spheres of human life lead to the relocation of marketing research of consumer behavior to the Internet. The structure of the Ukrainian population in accordance with the structure of the Internet audience leads to the representativeness of samples of marketing research on the Internet. We analyzed the types of respondents' recruiting for online panels and online communities, their advantages and disadvantages. We revealed areas of application of online panels and online communities. Online panels are applicable in two cases: the target group that consists exclusively of Internet users and the target group amounting not less than 50% of Internet users. Exceptionally in these cases, we can extrapolated the results of panel studies to the entire population. Online communities are used for qualitative research and there are no strict requirements for the population and sample for them. Online communities are classified into three groups: project, syndicated and permanent. Each group is characterized by the goals of its creation, the volumes of samples being generated and the methods of operation. We analyzed and systematized methods of quality control online survey. Quality control of the survey consists of three stages: monitoring during the interview, data quality control, and panel management. At each stage, a system of indicators is formed, which confirms the quality of the survey. We considered further perspectives of Internet research, which don't need Internet surveys. An increase in information about consumers (geolocation, activity on the Internet, profiles in social networks) can contribute to this. Conclusions and direction of further researches. The study we identified the main trends of surveys on the Internet, both quantitatively by online panels, and in qualitative by online communities. We analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of surveys on the Internet. We determined areas of application of online panels and online communities. We presented the methods of sampling for online panel research. We systematized the factors by which a decision about the possibility of using online panels is made. Further research should be focus on the psychological aspects of online community members, as this direction of research is only developing in Ukraine.