In a short essay describe the characteristics of a consumer panel and discuss the uses of this type of panel. Next, list and discuss the two classifications of panels

What will be an ideal response?

a. A panel is made up of a group of individuals, households, or organizations that record their purchases and behavior in a diary over time. Households are continually being recruited and added to the panel as respondents drop out of the study or are removed in order to rotate the panel. The makeup of the panel is designed to be representative of the U.S. population in terms of demographics. These panels are used to provide information useful for forecasting sales, estimating market shares, assessing brand loyalty and brand switching behavior, establishing profiles of specific user groups, measuring promotional effectiveness, and conducting controlled store tests. Based on the content of information recorded, panels can be classified as purchase panels or media panels.
b. A purchase panel is a data-gathering technique in which respondents record their purchases in a diary. A media panel is composed of samples of respondents whose television viewing behavior is automatically recorded by electronic devices, supplementing the purchase information recorded in a diary.