• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 11, 2008

Scarborough is launching a new research service focusing on children and teenagers called the Scarborough Kids Internet Panel, producing the acronym SKIP. Based on an Internet panel of 75,000 young people ages 5-17--as well as their parents--Scarborough says the new custom research service will allow its clients to gather a variety of data about the preferences, habits, and attitudes of the next generation of consumers.

Clients can target the entire Skip panel or just specific segments. The members have already been profiled by Scarborough based on demographic and other characteristics. They can also target regions. Typical queries might include product usage, brand awareness, shopping patterns and advertising effectiveness, but the custom research service aims to give marketers wide latitude.

Skip panelists are invited to participate via email, with their parents copied on the email when the recipient is under 13. The email addresses are obtained by recruiting ads on Web sites popular with kids and teens. The panelists are given incentives to complete surveys in the form of "points" that can be redeemed for merchandise online. The merchandise also requires parental approval before it is shipped.

According to Scarborough, the service is fully compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection.

Skip is one of a series of new initiatives from Scarborough. Two weeks ago, the company said it is canvassing marketers and other clients to assess demand for expanding its research operation into more "mid-tier" markets.

Using its existing research efforts in mid-tier markets as a model, the expansion would study local media in smaller markets, including TV, radio, online, and out-of-home opportunities, as well as consumer behavior such as driving patterns for work, recreation and shopping.