Low incidence projects, a company blessing or a company woo?

With Samplenomics and previously working for a global sampling company in my early career, I had my fair share of low-incidence jobs in both European markets and Asian markets. And oh Boy! What a learning curve experience with client communications and, more importantly, delivery expectations. From my early career, I can still vividly remember that Japanese brands loved to invest in low incidence projects and trying to assess every data point into potential business opportunities. Most often, the research project was crunched to the most granular detail in terms of consumer profiling.

But first things first: What are the definitions of a low-incidence research project? It’s all about hard-to-find profiles in pre-defined sample sizes ranging from n=10 to n=100.

• In Medical research: searching for patients with particular or rare ailments.

• In B2B research, decision makers of a very specific machinery tooling.

• In regular FMCG/Packaging research, you can make it as complex as possible, but think of high-end single malt whisky drinkers, owners of luxurious super cars, or even exploring new niches in the tobacco industry: electronic smoking and the latest smart technology trends: early adopters of AI-enabled sunglasses. This all can fall into the definitions of low-incidence projects, most likely in the realm of 1% to 2% among any general population.

Simply said, low incidence projects are necessary, arguably important, to validate business concepts or find new business opportunities but challenging to conduct for a research agency, especially if one chooses the online methodology and working with an online access panel to prevent high-cost investment. Because that’s the implication of low -incidence research projects, the operational cost, with whatever methodology one chooses, it can cost a small fortune. Second implication, the intake and execution of the field operations carries many “ifs” and “but” to make things work as best as possible for delivery.  The research agency heavily relies on the trust, patience, commitment, and flexibility mindset of the client, otherwise it’s a fast lane to fail the project and mistrust the research data.

While cost-effective, conducting low- incidence projects with the online methodology often falls short in these scenarios. The reach is limited to the maximum size of the online panels, and panel fatigue can skew results. Phone interviews offer more control but are constrained by available phone databases, regional privacy regulations and manpower. Door-to-Door fieldwork, though effective, is rarely feasible due to budget, time constraints and manpower. And in economic terms, the more limitations of the resources, the more costly a hard-to-find profile is.

The key to success? Clear communication, realistic expectations, and a collaborative mindset between client and agency. When clients understand the limitations and are willing to invest in quality recruitment and flexible timelines, low-incidence projects can yield powerful, actionable insights.

So, are these projects a blessing or a curse? Perhaps both. But for research agencies willing to embrace the challenge, they offer a chance to push boundaries, innovate methodologies, and deliver insights that truly matter. 

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