Case Study: Mobile Market Research Firm Recruits Power Tool Users for Ethnographic Study

When marketing or design businesses are tasked by their clients to include research into their project, a qualitative recruiting market research company is often contacted to help connect them with the right participants for the study. It is not uncommon for the study to be fully executed but simply lack access to the targeted audience.

Once partnered with a qualitative recruiting company, the marketing or design company can lean on them to find high-quality participants to complete research tasks and attend in-person sessions, as needed. This allows the marketing or design company to spend more time on the important client-facing aspects of the study.

If a business is looking for additional research help, qualitative recruiting companies like our own also offer full-service market research offerings such as interview guide drafting, facility rental, moderating, incentive processing, interview transcribing, and reporting.

A quick snapshot of the qualitative recruitment project consisted of a project proposal, project kickoff with the client, programming a screener, recruiting power tool users, and conducting fieldwork.

power tool users participate in an ethnographic study

Need participants for an upcoming qualitative research project? Read about how our recruitment company helped find power tool users for a recent study.


Mobile Ethnography and Interview Project Overview

A local product and packaging design company partnered with Drive Research, an qualitative research company for a recruitment study in the Central New York region. A total of 12 participants were required to complete a 2-component qualitative study with missions via the mobile ethnography app, dscout, and an in-person interview at the client's local facility.

Drive Research recruited and qualified 17 participants to ensure 12 of those recruited would participate. Our qualitative recruitment firm recommends recruiting more participants than necessary to compensate for last-minute cancellations.

In order to participate in the study, participants were required to download the dscout app and register for an account. The dscout platform allows participants to record and share thoughts and behaviors via audio, video, photo, and text responses on a user-friendly app.

There is tremendous value in this approach for market researchers to obtain feedback in participants' own words and how it compares to their actions.

Qualified participants of the mobile ethnography project received a $200 stipend upon completion of the dscout missions and in-person interview. The high stipend helped with earning full participation. People are more likely to participate in research if they are rewarded for their time and feedback.


Criteria for the Mobile Ethnography and Interview Study

The qualitative recruitment focused on the following criteria for the mobile ethnography and interview research project:

  • Adults aged 18+ who live in Central New York
  • Must share some responsibility in shopping for outdoor power equipment
  • Must have experience taking care of lawn
  • Must own a chainsaw and/or leaf blower
  • Must have purchased outdoor power equipment from Lowe's or Home Depot
  • Must have bought new outdoor power equipment within the last 5 years
  • Must have household income of at least $50k

Recruitment Process for the Mobile Ethnography and Interview Study

After the local product and packaging design company agreed to the proposal sent by Drive Research, our qualitative recruitment firm held a quick project kickoff meeting with the client. After the kickoff meeting, Drive Research designed and programmed a survey screener that addressed the criteria referenced above.

The process of recruiting power tool users to participate in the qualitative study was two-fold. Drive Research used paid randomized social media ads to those who lived in the target market and met the screening criteria. Our qualitative recruitment firm also has built an in-house panel, which allows us to send email invites to those who matched the target criteria as well.

Both the paid social media advertisements and the email invitations sent recipients to the screener survey. The online survey removes any respondent who does not meet the criteria standards set by the product and packaging design company.

Those who did qualify from the pre-screen survey are screened again by phone to verify they meet the correct credentials with additional questions about the mobile ethnography study.

All qualified respondents were sent a confirmation email, a signup email for the dscout mobile app, follow-up reminder phone calls, and a text message the day of their in-person interview at the client's facility. Participants were reminded as needed to sign-up and complete their assigned missions through the dscout app before their scheduled interview.


Contact Drive Research

Drive Research is a market research company located in Syracuse, NY. Our team has the know-how and capabilities to recruit even the toughest target audiences for qualitative studies across a broad range of industries.

Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.

Message us on our website
Email us at [email protected]
Call us at 888-725-DATA
Text us at 315-303-2040

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