Online Bulletin Boards

Another very useful and insightful online technique Clarion utilizes for our clients is Online Bulletin Boards. Similar to an organized blog or social networking site, participants in an Online BB session login to a Bulletin Board platform (at their convenience and on their own time) at least once per day to respond to pre-determined questions posted by a moderator.  These questions can be closed-ended, but most often are open-ended – allowing for rich insights into the topic under examination.

Being a very interactive forum, in addition to responding to our structured questions, participants also have the ability to respond to comments posted by others or to additional questions added by the moderator during the course of the study. All posts are visible to the moderator, as well as client observers in a virtual "back room".    

  • Typically, each session requires about 30 minutes of a respondent’s time.
  • It is possible to show stimuli such as concepts in a “white board” area.
  • One moderator can run multiple boards at a time because the moderator monitors the boards but does not stay “in session” for the entire day.
Online Bulletin Boards are ideal for geographically dispersed targets, potential competitors (everyone is given a
“handle” so their identities are not known), or targets who are adept at expressing their thoughts in writing
(academics, B2B, etc). 

For more information about any of Clarion’s qualitative research services, please contact Steve Crane at 212-664-1100 or steve.crane@clarionresearch.com.