3 Ways to Ensure the Best Research Respondents in Every Study

Securing valuable insights depends on more than just collecting data. It's about finding participants who can offer profound insights into consumer behavior and help businesses navigate the complexities of their market. At Athena, we pride ourselves on our unique approach to market research, which involves identifying the cognitive and cultural levers that drive consumer behavior, ultimately broadening and deepening customer equity for our clients. Part of how we identify these levers is by employing specific recruiting methods that provide the best participants for each study.  So, how do we ensure that we have participants who will deliver the best results? 

The Role of Demographics in Market Research Recruiting
Traditionally, market research has heavily relied on demographics to recruit research respondents. Demographic factors such as age, gender, income, and education have been used to build participant profiles, aiming to ensure a representative sample of the target audience. While demographics provide a foundation for understanding consumers, they often fall short of capturing the psychological drivers that inform consumer behavior.

Recruiting research participants based on demographics can be limiting. Two individuals of the same age, gender, and income may have vastly different motivations for their purchasing decisions. We frequently use behavioral characteristics, psychographics, and personality theory to ensure our participants can truly contribute to the conversation and deliver the highest quality respondent for market research

The Use of Behavioral Data
Recruiting based on behavior, such as being a user or a non-user of a product, frequency of use, etc., has been around for quite some time. What is newer is the leveraging of advanced analytics techniques to help identify potential respondents based on their online behavior, social media activity, and other digital footprints. This approach provides deeper insights into consumer behavior beyond traditional demographic factors, allowing firms to recruit participants who are genuinely representative of the target audience and more likely to contribute meaningfully to the research process. 

The Use of Psychographics
Also, a well-established approach, psychographic segmentation, involves dividing a market into different segments based on the lifestyle, values, attitudes, interests, preferences or subconscious narratives of consumers. This approach allows us to understand the psychological aspects of consumer behavior, preferences, and motivations. By focusing on psychographics, we can identify respondents who not only fit the demographic criteria but also possess the specific characteristics, interests, and attitudes that align with the research objectives. This deeper understanding enables firms to recruit respondents who are more likely to provide valuable insights and feedback, leading to more accurate and actionable research outcomes.

For example, an outdoor apparel company seeking feedback about its products and services may want to narrow the people who participate in its research to those who value environmental conservation and prioritize sustainability, as well as those who are active outdoors. The company could also consider segmenting a group of respondents based on their love of adrenaline-pumping activities. Another great use of psychographic segmentation could be recruiting people based on their desire to use hiking and physical activity as a form of mindfulness or stress relief. 

The Use of Personality Theory
A newer approach to recruiting is the use of personality theory to identify participants who would be particularly good at helping create discussions that are lively, positive and thoughtful.   Personality theories are psychological frameworks that classify individuals into distinct personality types based on common personality traits. The most widely accepted personality theory is the 5-Factor Model of Personality, which identifies 5 distinct traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism)  that define different personality types.  If we recruit participants who are open, agreeable and extraverted, we are more likely to have conversations that are creative, supportive and dynamic.  This, in turn, leads to more insights because such participants tend to be more perceptive, more likely to share their thoughts and more likely to be non-judgmental.  

The power of the right market research respondent cannot be overstated. At Athena, we recognize that demographics alone cannot guide the screening and ultimate choosing of research participants. We incorporate behavioral data, psychographics, and personality theory as needed into the recruitment process to enhance the entire research journey. Screeners can incorporate these different approaches to give companies the best chance at getting genuinely deep insights from the right participants for better brand impact.