Disadvantages/Limitations Of Consumer Panels

Disadvantages/Limitations Of Consumer Panels:

(1)   Biased outlook of panel members: Panel members show biased outlook after they become members over a long period. This defeats the very purpose of research work as the data supplied may not be accurate, reliable and factual.

(2)   Limited co-operation from panel members: Panel members are co­operative and take interest in the initial period of survey. Thereafter, their interest goes on reducing and they supply data indifferently. This is because they do not want to be bothered again and again. As a result the degree of co-operation between the panel membersreduces.

(3)   Absence of representative character: A small panel is always unrepresentative in character. The conclusions drawn with the help of such panel may not be applicable to the whole class of consumers. Thus, the panel as a sample may not represent the true picture of the whole population.

(4)   Panel members drop gradually: Panel membersdrop out from time-to-time. Every panel is subject to a certain amount of mortality. However, selecting new members with the same characteristics is not easy. The new members selected may be different and this affects the quality and accuracy of the whole project.

(5)   Panel members behave like experts: The members of the panel becomesophisticated and also consider themselves as experts or professional testers. This harms the quality of research work.

(6)   Costly/expensive: Consumer panel research israther expensive. It requires continuous efforts to build up and maintain the panel. Giving product for testing or a small gift to large number of panel members is costly. In India, only large companies like Hindustan Lever Limited do have consumer panels.