Research agency opens for business in Second Life

New Zealand-based Market Truths is believed to be the first market research agency to open an office in Second Life, the 3D online world.

The agency joins a host of brand names making forays into the virtual reality playground, whose ‘residents' number upwards of 1.5m.

Market Truths is inviting residents to visit its Second Life office, where they can sign-up for its research panel.

Registration and incentives are paid in Linden Dollars (L$), the local currency, which can be used to buy products – from fashion to furniture and vehicles – created by other Second Life users.

Linden Dollars can also be converted into real-world currency, and in the last 24 hours, US$651,953 has been spent within Second Life by residents.

Market Truths says it can provide services “to both organisations within Second Life and organisations interested in Second Life”.

According to its website: “Those who join the panel are asked to complete a preference form indicating what topics they are willing to be surveyed or interviewed about, and the maximum frequency with which they want to be invited to participate in research. We select residents from this list from time to time and ask them to participate in research projects on particular topics.”

Second Life residents can visit Market Truths here.

Recently Mario Menti, a solutions architect at MR software and services firm GMI, developed a method of surveying residents using Second Life's in-built chat interface. Click here for our report on this.

Author: Brian Tarran