When thinking about research on construction toys, you might think to test them with children. This brief was slightly different, as one of our long-term clients wished to aim this project at recruiting both adult fans of a popular construction toy and parents who shop the brand for their children for ethnographies taking place in Berlin, Germany. The research was to be held in two phases, a 60-minute in-home ethnography and a 60-minute in-store or online shop-along. We were pleased to support, as we have extensive experience arranging ethnographies, especially those with a shop-along element.
The aim was to recruit adults who own at least 10 licensed products across different brands and product categories. Those who exclusively purchase the client’s building bricks were to be excluded, as the purpose was to focus on licensed products and where adult buyers expect to find these products either online or in-store. We were also asked to recruit a mix of ages, gender identities, verifying affinity for our client’s products, and household income. For the parents, we aimed for a mix of child’s ages, gender and affinity with the client’s products.
The recruitment process was incredibly through and the FieldworkHub team made sure a mix of popular licensed brands and shoppers from different stores were represented in our recruits. Each participant’s profile was approved by our client. Only participants who answered the screener criteria thoughtfully and with enthusiasm for the topic were considered for the research, no matter what brands were their favourite. We facilitated for these sessions to run over the weekend to accommodate those with busy schedules, as this research was a huge time commitment for those taking part.
We arranged for a trained moderator and in-person research expert to meet each participant at their home for a one-hour interview exploring licensed items such as clothing, accessories, home decor, kitchenware and sporting goods they may own and use around their home. Following the ethnographies, we organised for moderators to attend stores close to the participant and explore the shopping process together. Both sessions were video recorded throughout, allowing our client to understand the categories where shoppers want to see licensed products and the behaviours they display while purchasing them.
All sessions went to plan, with a 100% show rate from the participants we recruited. The client was especially pleased with the range of different participants we managed to find. With FieldworkHub’s assistance, they were able to immerse themselves in their target audiences’ space, and deeply understand the role of licensed products in their lives.
We reached out to FieldworkHub after another firm told us they were not able to keep their commitment. Not only did Caroline respond to my email almost immediately, she picked up the phone and talked to me about my needs. Her team was super responsive and flexible, getting our work completed on time and budget. I highly recommend working with them and will absolutely be reaching out the next time I am conducting work in Europe.
We recently embarked on a new longitudinal research project and were looking for a reliable, long-term recruitment partner. FieldworkHub were recommended to us, and they were outstanding. The team didn’t let anything drop and kept us fully informed during the entire project, which instilled a huge amount of confidence in the team at AMV. I have no hesitation recommending them.
