Reason #1: More open and honest
From behind their computer in their own secure environment, people are more daring. They tell truths they would never share with us otherwise; they do not feel watched or observed through a one-way mirror nor by other respondents or moderators. Anonymity enhances validity and minimizes socially desirable answers. By consequence, taboo subjects are tackled more easily online than offline.
Online qualitative research has the power to quickly get to an emotional level and get personal responses to stimuli, which typically takes more time and effort in offline settings.
Reason #2: Context potential
Participants are not invited to come into the world of the researchers, in online market research. Instead, researchers enter the homes and lives of participants.
Mobile accessibility only increases this context potential, making it possible to gain feedback on real-life moments instead of staged experiences. Rich multimedia can be gathered in situ, such as photos captured in-store and videos filmed in-home.
Reason #3: No regional constraints
Where offline research often has significant regional constraints (participants, researchers and clients have to come to a central location, often leading to a geographical bias), online research can easily bring people from very different locations together (both nationally and internationally).
Besides the advantage of not having a location bias, people are also just more inclined to join a research project from the comfort of their own home rather than having to travel to a specific location.