GenAI is reshaping the market research landscape, transforming how insights are generated, delivered, and made accessible. This is the second article in our GenAI series, where we explore the core disruptions GenAI is bringing to our industry. Read part 1 of the series here.
In part 2, we’re looking at virtual panels: what they are, the benefits and challenges they bring, and how Toluna has been innovating in this space.
What is a virtual panel?
In a nutshell, a virtual panel leverages AI to generate insights. As GenAI advances, virtual panels are transforming the way data is generated in market research. They can replace or complement human panels in answering questions and participating in surveys and studies.
It should be noted that a virtual panel is not the same as synthetic data. Synthetic data simply means data that isn’t generated by humans, typically using predictive models designed to fill gaps or augment datasets. These approaches are often based on traditional machine learning methods that have been used in market research for years.
On the other hand, virtual panels use GenAI-powered ‘panelists’ that are designed to behave like real respondents. Instead of predicting or completing answers, virtual panelists can engage with surveys just like real people.
Benefits & limitations of virtual panels
Instead of recruiting, screening, and incentivizing a large group of human respondents, researchers can generate equally valuable insights with virtual panels. Sophisticated LLMs trained on vast human datasets (e.g. OpenAI, Gemini) are capable of generating realistic and diverse answers to questions, participating in simulated discussions, and providing nuanced qualitative insights.
Access to a truthful, authentic human panel has always been a limiting factor in large-scale market research studies. Virtual panels have the potential to eradicate this challenge, enabling researchers to obtain responses from niche panels in record time.
But while this approach offers several compelling advantages – like speed, scale, cost, and availability – it also brings multiple challenges. One such challenge is the representativeness and trust of the market. At the moment, the use of GenAI as a virtual panelist is not intended to completely replace humans, but rather to enhance traditional market research methods. It can serve as a powerful tool for rapid prototyping, concept testing, initial hypothesis generation, and exploring a range of scenarios before engaging human respondents.
Virtual panel innovation at Toluna
Toluna has been at the forefront of virtual panel innovation for many years now, which has contributed greatly to our suite of advanced offerings. We have developed a sophisticated AI agentic system, underpinned by extensive human data, that can emulate a real person taking a survey. This system is built on intelligent capabilities like scrolling, navigating complex matrix questions, interpreting image and video stimuli, and providing responses that align with distinct persona backgrounds, previous answers, and the latest real-world events.
Our innovation has enabled us to create over 12 million unique virtual personas, each with their own diverse demographic, profiling, and psychological profiles. Apart from being able to participate in surveys, these personas are also fully capable of mirroring genuine consumer behavior with over 80% correlation to human responses. In developing these personas, we have prioritized variability and representativeness, ensuring they can effectively supplement, or even replace, human participants. Learn more about our personas here.
Toluna’s virtual panel stands out for more reasons than one. Panelists can work as individual or cohort predictors, for both qualitative and quantitative research. It’s a living, growing community: every day, we generate new panelists, tailoring each to the evolving needs of our clients. Our goal is clear: leverage this powerful predictive tool to reshape the future of market research.
