Qualitative Research – Recruiting the Digitally Excluded

Case study: The Future of TV Viewing

Delivering the most difficult segment of the study: Non-streamers. The recruitment criteria were intentionally designed to find "resistors" who would be most impacted by a digital switch-over.

Image to illustrate case study of recruiting digitally excluded respondents for TV research

The Challenge: Non-Streamers

While many recruiters struggle with high-specification rural samples, we were tasked exclusively with delivering the most difficult segment of the study: Non-streamers. The recruitment criteria were intentionally designed to find "resistors" who would be most impacted by a digital switch-over:

 

  • Demographics: Aged 40–70, socio-economic grades BC1C2D.

  • Location: Rural areas with documented "patchy" broadband availability, such as West Devon.

  • Technology Profile: Primary TV viewing via Freeview, Freesat, or traditional satellite only (specifically excluding Sky Q users).

  • Connectivity Barriers: Participants could not have access to superfast broadband (over 30Mbps), with a strict requirement that at least four participants had no home broadband access at all.

Psychographic Barriers: Low digital literacy and a lack of motivation or financial means to go online.

Our Approach

Finding respondents who are, by definition, "offline" and "unmotivated" to use digital services requires moving beyond standard database recruitment.

  • Proactive Agency: We utilised a boots-on-the-ground approach, leveraging personal contacts and direct community engagement in rural areas.
  • Direct Outreach: By moving away from digital screening tools, we reached individuals in their own environments, ensuring we captured the authentic voices of those currently excluded from the high-speed broadband economy.
  • Overcoming Resistance: We used high-touch communication to build trust with older, tech-skeptical respondents, ensuring they felt comfortable participating in a 2-hour deliberative workshop.

Results

We delivered the group in full and to the exact specification, providing 12 participants with a perfect 50:50 gender split.

This enabled the researchers to conduct their deliberative workshops with the very segment of the population that faces the highest hurdles to the "Future of TV," ensuring future policy informs the needs of all viewers, not just the digitally savvy.