In healthcare and public health, two qualitative approaches to gleaning insight are often tossed around interchangeably: market research and community engagement research. At first glance, they seem similar—after all, both involve gathering information from groups of people to inform decision-making.
Understanding each approach's unique characteristics and applications is crucial for making informed decisions about which approach to use. Aligning with clients and stakeholders on the differences is critical during initial conversations to avoid misaligned expectations, inappropriate methodologies, and potentially ineffective results that can alienate those with whom you work to improve outcomes.
While the two approaches share many similarities, we’ve found five primary differences that are foundational components of each. It’s best to start by defining both approaches.
What are Market Research and Community Engagement?
Market Research
Market research is a systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a market, including customers, competitors, and the overall market environment. Its primary goal is to help businesses make informed decisions about their products, services, and marketing strategies.
Given its commercial nature, market research often refers to the people being researched as "customers" or "consumers." The environment in which the research takes place is typically called "the market." In healthcare, this may change to “patient” or “member” depending on the organization type.
Example: A health system is considering entering a new market. It might conduct market research to understand the competitive landscape and areas of opportunity for adding a facility in that area. It might use surveys, focus groups, and secondary data analysis to inform its product development and marketing strategies.
Community Engagement
On the other hand, community engagement is a collaborative approach that involves working directly with a community to identify issues, gather information, and develop solutions. It's often used in public policy, urban planning, and non-profit sectors to ensure that decisions and interventions are informed by and responsive to community needs and perspectives.
In community engagement work, participants are often referred to as "stakeholders" as the topic will usually impact the participant’s life. The research environment is referred to as "the community."
Example: A maternal health non-profit is looking to optimize how it allocates grant funding to a specific community. In this instance, community engagement would be used to understand the community's greatest needs and their perspective on solutions. They might organize town hall meetings, conduct interviews with residents, and set up online forums to gather input on what services would most impact the community and how they can reach the largest number of people in need.
The Five Main Differences
While both market research and community engagement involve gathering information from groups of people, they differ significantly in their methodology, objectives, and outcomes. Let's explore the five main differences:
1. Transactional vs. Relational Approach
Market research is primarily transactional. It often gathers specific information to inform a discrete initiative, such as product development, digital design, or a marketing campaign. The relationship between the researcher and the participants is typically short-term and limited to the duration of the research project.
Community engagement research, in contrast, is relational. While it aims to gather information, it also seeks to build ongoing relationships with community members. The goal is not just to collect data but to foster a sense of ownership and involvement in the community. This approach ensures that when findings are implemented, and often implemented collaboratively between the client and stakeholder participants, they are both community-informed and community-supported.
2. Recruitment and Participation
Market research might employ:
- Large-scale surveys
- Focus groups in controlled environments
- In-depth interviews with carefully selected participants
- Analysis of sales data or consumer behavior metrics
Community engagement might use:
- Town hall meetings or community forums
- Participatory mapping exercises
- Storytelling circles
- Photovoice projects where community members document their experiences through photography
3. Incentives and Compensation
Market research typically offers straightforward monetary incentives. The amount is based on the project budget, market rates for participation, and any relevant state or federal policy regulations. This transactional approach to compensation aligns with the overall transactional nature of market research.
Community engagement often uses non-traditional, customized incentives. These might include meals, stipends for travel or internet fees, gift certificates, or other forms of compensation that are meaningful to the participants. This approach recognizes that different communities value different things and that participation should be made as accessible.
4. Relationship with the Client
In market research, there's usually minimal direct interaction between the research participants and the client (the company commissioning the research). The research agency acts as an intermediary, conducting the research and presenting findings to the client. In fact, in some cases, it is considered a best practice to conduct the research “blind.” This means that the participants have no idea who the end client is. For example, they may not know if they are answering a survey for McDonald’s or Burger King. After the research, the participants and the client typically have no continued relationship. Marketing directly to the participant is considered unethical.
Community engagement involves direct interaction between the community and the client (often a government agency, non-profit, or community organization). The study is typically conducted to learn about unique community needs or to glean community perspective on larger public support, implement, or identify programming that can help and support the community. For the program to be successful, there must be trust between the community and the program sponsor. The endeavor is an opportunity for the client or sponsor to welcome participants, introduce the study's objective, and familiarize them with the process. This direct involvement helps establish credibility and underscore the collaborative nature of the process. Even after the formal research is complete, there's often an ongoing relationship as findings are implemented and further feedback is sought.
5. Reporting and Follow-up
In market research, a report is typically produced and delivered to the client once the data is collected and analyzed. Projects have a defined start and end point, and the participants' involvement ends with the research phase. They are not consulted afterward and won’t see the research results or reports. The results are proprietary to the client.
Community engagement often has a more open-ended timeline. While specific research activities might have end dates, the engagement with the community frequently continues. Final presentations might be made to community audiences, allowing for additional feedback and another opportunity for engagement. This approach ensures transparency and allows community members to see how their input is used. It also provides an opportunity for further engagement as implications from the research are implemented, and an iterative feedback loop ensures that interventions remain relevant and effective over time.
Engaging the Right Approach
Given these differences and the goals of your project, consider how you and your consulting partner can best execute to garner critical qualitative insights and keep your end users–consumers or community–at the center of your work. Remember that these approaches aren't mutually exclusive – in some cases, a hybrid approach combining elements of both might be the most effective strategy to achieve your objectives. Often, your market research strategy has already been budgeted and dictated, or your public funder has required community engagement as part of your programming or program evaluation. Both approaches are distinct, valuable, and crucial in understanding human experience.
