Launch of MOA Panel Institute

State-of-the-art panel management and structural improvement of the quality of online panels: these are the primary aims of the MOA Panel Institute (MPI) that was launched on March 10 in the Netherlands. The direct reason for the institution of the MPI was the Industry-wide Online Panel Comparison study (NOPVO). This announced in 2006 that many online panel members participate in several panels at the same time. As this might bias research outcomes, research agencies, clients and the Dutch Market Research Association (MOA) decided that there was an urgent need for a quality monitoring tool. That led to a world first: the launch of the MPI.

Panel pressure and overlap
The MPI focuses specifically on two quality aspects of online panels. Firstly, it is designed to reduce panel pressure: the number of invitations to participate in research that panel members receive. Secondly, the aim is to define the extent of panel overlap: the number of panels that members are registered for. The ultimate goal is to eliminate ‘professional panel members’.

Database
The MPI is a database to which research agencies can upload their panel members. Every contact with individual panel members will be registered, explains MPI Project Manager Bertjan Schouten. ‘When, how often and for which subjects has a member been invited? And did he or she then actually participate in the research? Research agencies will be able to download both agency and benchmark reports for a historical period that they choose for themselves. The agency report gives an insight into the research history of all of their own panel members, listed in 18 product categories (e.g. automotive, banking, insurance, telecom, household appliances, etc.). The benchmark report makes clear how often those panel members have also been invited for other panels, which subjects they were invited for, and whether they actually agreed to participate or not’, Schouten says.

Encoded transmission ensures completely secure uploading of the e-mail addresses of the panel members. A Dutch software and database specialist developed the software that analyses the uploaded data, performs the queries and compiles the reports.

The system was tested from December 2007 onwards by uploading the panel records of five research agencies to the database and running queries on the software.

Quality benchmark
With the MPI, research agencies can compare their own quality standards with those of the sector. They will know exactly how much overlap and pressure their own panel members are exposed to, in comparison with the average for the sector.

Providing this insight is the first step for the MPI. Ultimately, it expects that research agencies will actively adjust their quality standards or set limits for the level of panel overlap and pressure. This will avoid overburdening respondents and above all, will enable agencies to account to clients for their quality of service. Furthermore, there is a strong chance that clients will demand an insight into these ratios.

The MPI will not make any value judgments or formulate quality standards. The online panel quality than an agency aims to achieve is entirely its own responsibility and must therefore be decided by the agency itself. The MPI will provide only the facts regarding panel overlap and pressure.

Participation
According to MOA Director Wim van Slooten, the MPI is a world first. ‘They are working on something similar in the US, but that is still in its infancy’, he says. ‘The Netherlands is further advanced with this than anywhere else in the world. The efforts in the US confirm there is a need for an instrument which can monitor and control the quality of online panels. It also shows that the Dutch research industry is keen to innovate and to continually improve.’

Van Slooten therefore has every confidence that most, if not all agencies will join the MPI. This is extremely important, because only then can the MPI prove its worth to best effect. ‘Through participation in the MPI, an agency shows that it wants to provide a quality service. Clients are very likely to require registration of agencies that are not yet taking part. The same thing happened with the Golden Standard. At a certain point, clients actively began to ask for this.'

Note for Editors:
For more information, please call:
- Wim van Slooten, MOA: +31 (0)6 537 38 308
- Bertjan Schouten, Intomart GfK: +31 35 6258411