Facebook Marketplace is a platform for selling and buying in the local community that was launched in 2016. In order to understand the needs of their current and prospective users and the ecosystem in which they are making choices, Facebook was looking for a partner to set up a robust international research program with accurate measures for key market metrics.
What can consumers reliably recall in terms of their purchases? C2C, B2C, C2B - what to include in the research and how to differentiate those from a respondent perspective?
A closed loop process employing extensive internal and external validation research helped us to constantly get closer to the truth of measuring key market metrics. We conducted a cognitive test to uncover the best way to ask respondents about their shopping behavior. A scale validation test helped us drastically improving reliability of answers. We compared different panels to optimize sampling for the program.
The research program enabled Facebook to estimate market potential and get an understanding of buyer and seller segments and their needs. By providing monthly updates on key metrics, the research helps building economic opportunity and better user experiences.
Beyond this, insights gained from the validation studies were shared as best practice across the client’s research teams to optimize sampling and measuring approaches and define guidelines for future research.