GIM Online / GIM Connect™

Online research “both ways”

Topic
On the one hand, we use it as creative research medium to generate content, but on the other hand, as a data source for user-generated content (e.g. based on social media research). We focus on the increasing diversity of technological possibilities while, at the same time, taking the respective target group’s online competence into account. Just like our “analogue research”, our online research also comprises a broad range of tailor-made methods and tools.

Areas of application 
We do not only offer large-scale options in the area of online market research: the spectrum of applications ranges from small add-ons like, for example, online journals to focus groups and full-blown “Home Use Tests”. When it comes to collaborative study designs, the portfolio ranges from agile “Concept Weekends” to multi-week “Insight Communities”. All options can be designed as single-country or multi-country studies.

The basis of our qualitative online research is our modular platform GIM Online/GIM Connect™, which allows for a variety of research designs.

Independent of your research questions, or the online research methods that are chosen, GIM always handles all research projects flexibly. Apart from that, all of our online research is based on our profound market research expertise gained in 30 years of research. From our experience with online research, we know that:

• Regarding the research design: not every cutting-edge technology available on the market is automatically suitable for every research question!
• Regarding the implementation: a chat cannot be moderated like a focus group!
• Regarding the analysis: participants present themselves differently online than in “real life”!

“Looking both ways” also means to choose and combine offline and/or online methods depending on the research question for tailor-made research that includes the “best of both worlds”.

This is also the strategy GIM has applied in a study for Barnes & Noble on the topic of E-Reading. For the presentation of “Read between the lines”, GIM has won the Best Practice Award at the German Online Research Congress (GOR) in 2013.

Toolbox 
Our toolbox contains a broad spectrum of well-tried methods that range from online focus groups, online blogs and online communities to online diaries, and even representative online studies (GIM Numeric).

References

• Luke Skywalker and Master Yoda: How online methodologies may benefit from a partnership with offline methodologies. You can read more here.
• Product sheet GIM Connect