Cint Unveils Instant Sample Option

Cint has launched Sample Direct, a service promising those doing their own online research 'access to quality panels of consumers at the click of a button' and offering fully automated sampling and send-out procedures.

Cint Direct Sample is a plug-in that can be installed on any third party software and accessed online. Already installed on online survey tools Survey Pirate (www.surveypirate.com ), and Relationwise (www.relationwise.com ), it will also be available on Netigate (www.netigate.se ) soon. Buyers specify the target group they wish to survey and the price is quoted instantly. The service removes the need for researchers to provide their own email list of people to interview, entailing a deal with an online research agency or a long manual process, argues Cint.

Sample is drawn from multiple panels simultaneously and quarantine periods are deployed to ensure respondents are not over-surveyed or answering just for incentives. Sample is purchased by specifying a country or target group - an instant quote is provided and can be accepted at the click of a button. Initially using English language only, the service will soon add Spanish, French, German and Scandinavian language versions, and will also offer selections by car ownership, mothers of babies and business decision makers, says Cint. An omnibus survey product is currently in development.

CEO Bo Mattsson says the launch constitutes 'a major new development in the migration of market research to the Internet', adding: 'With Cint Direct Sample we are putting access to over 2.5 million people straight into the hands of the online researcher... Now control of the whole project - from questionnaire through to fieldwork and analysis - is in the user's hands.'

The panels are built by major brands such as Habbo, Bounty, MSN, Metro, and consist of members who have agreed to participate in online research projects and submitted their demographic, occupational, geographic, lifestyle and other data under a double opt-in procedure.

An online demo is available at www.cint.com/cds . Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Cint has offices across Europe and the USA.