Rapid technological progress has stimulated the development of new marketing technologies, characterised by process speed and data quality. In this context, the master’s thesis discusses the so-called internal research panels (IRPs), which represent a group of individuals who have given their consent to a specific company to continuously participate in various online research activities for the company’s internal purposes. A review of the sources shows a distinct lack of materials addressing IRPs, both in terms of their establishment and in terms of comparisons with alternative approaches. Therefore, the terminological ambiguity regarding the definition and naming of IRPs comes as no surprise. In the master’s thesis, we first review the existing sources, particularly the broader context of the marketing environment in which IRPs are contextualised and the field of online surveys, which constitutes the basic methodological framework. In the empirical part, we conducted in-depth interviews with selected companies that have set up or are in the process of setting up IRPs, marketing experts and software solution providers. Knowledge and understanding of the concept were also tested through a brief survey or qualitative inquiry among the companies. The main perceived advantage of IRPs is their role in building relationships with customers or customer groups, as well as the advantage of quick and cost-effective research validation, while the main disadvantage is the additional burden on the company’s staff and the methodological problem of representativeness.
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