Audience research
Part of How to research customer data platform buyers in England without manufacturing a persona
Customer data platform interviews: what to say on consent and at close
Customer data platform interviews in England: the consent statement, accessible participation, UK GDPR note handling and a close with no marketing permission.
These steps cover the session of an interview about a defined customer-data workflow. They come from desk research, not from interviews, and they are not research findings.
Method: desk selection of steps tied to official or professional research guidance. Research date: 6 September 2026. Scope: participant research by organisations operating in England; cited privacy and marketing guidance is UK-wide. Exclusions: product demonstrations, sales qualification and covert observation. Conflicts: none; no supplier funded the work.
What to take away
- Say who is asking, why, and how the participant was chosen before asking for consent.
- State recording, incentive, recipients, retention and the withdrawal route in plain words.
- Offer alternative channels and materials without inferring disability or demanding disclosure.
- Plan pauses, support and withdrawal for sensitive or distressing material.
- Close by confirming note handling, and that research agreement does not create marketing permission.
Open with a participation statement
Consent is only informed if the participant hears the terms first. State the researcher, commissioner, purpose, selection, format, recording, incentive, recipients, retention and withdrawal route before the first question. Group them, read the group aloud and give the participant a written copy.
Say this / Covers
- Who is asking and why
- The researcher, the commissioner and the purpose
- How you were chosen
- The selection
- What happens in the session
- The format and any recording
- What you receive
- The incentive
- Where the notes go
- Recipients and retention
- How to leave
- The withdrawal route
Example opening: I am researching for the named commissioner, and we are asking how consent and identity records are reconciled in the customer data platform before a campaign. You were chosen because you described that work. The session is recorded for note-taking, shared only with the named recipients and kept for the stated period. You may stop at any time and ask for your notes to be withdrawn.
Recruitment and the sampling frame are set out in the audience research plan, so the opening only has to explain how the participant was chosen. Name the commissioner honestly: a disclosure policy settles what participants are told about who funds the work.
Keep consent open during the session
A plain consent line can read: You may stop at any time and ask for your notes to be withdrawn. Say it at the start, and again before any recording begins or any record is shown, so the offer is live when it matters.
The Government Social Research ethical assurance guidance sets six ethical principles for anyone commissioning or conducting social research for government, among them specific and informed consent, enabling participation and minimising personal and social harm. It is not legal clearance for commercial fieldwork.
The MRS Code of Conduct is a professional standard for covered members and Company Partners. It is not proof that any particular interview met it, so record what was actually said and agreed.
Plan accessible and safe participation
Provide alternative channels and materials where needed, without inferring disability or demanding unnecessary disclosure. Plan pauses, support and withdrawal for sensitive or distressing material before the session, not during it. Ask what would help rather than guessing, and offer the same options to every participant.
Check whether the Equality Act 2010 duties on reasonable adjustments apply to your sessions. For online sessions and shared documents, WCAG 2.2, the W3C accessibility standard, is a sensible test for the materials. A qualified safeguarding and accessibility reviewer must adapt the approach to the real participants.
Version the guide and log departures
Store each guide version in a dated file with a version number, a change summary and the approval date. Keep the master copy in the shared research folder, not in personal email, so every interviewer works from the same wording.
Use neutral wording and a stable order, and log each departure from that order with the reason. Note any change to what was explained as well as what was asked. Keep the questions on a defined customer data platform workflow, not on the product in general.
Close the research boundary
Confirm what will happen to notes, recordings and transcripts, how corrections or withdrawal requests are handled and whether recontact is optional. Say it in plain words before the participant leaves, and give them one route to ask for changes.
Notes and recordings that identify a participant are personal data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and the ICO regulates them. The retention period and the incentive are set by the commissioner. No standard figure exists, so write the real ones into the statement.
Example closing line: Your notes go to the research folder and are kept for the stated period. You can ask to correct them or withdraw them. We will contact you again only if you have said yes to that.
Research agreement does not create marketing permission. The ICO says that contacting people to conduct genuine market research is not direct marketing, but research carried out so that direct marketing can be sent to the people involved is direct marketing.
Keep the research record apart from marketing records, so a participant never appears as consent in a customer data platform's consent trail. Any later offer falls under the advertising rules.
Pre-fieldwork checklist
- Write the participation statement and the consent line into the guide.
- Set the incentive amount and payment route in the recruitment brief.
- Book the accessibility reviewer and agree pause and withdrawal steps.
- Check the retention schedule for recordings and transcripts.
- Record who approved the guide version and when.
- Decide whether recontact is offered, and keep that answer apart from marketing records.
Common questions
What must I tell participants before they consent to an interview?
Give the researcher, commissioner, purpose, selection, format, recording, incentive, recipients, retention and withdrawal route before consent. Repeat the offer to stop before recording starts.
Is the Government Social Research guidance legal clearance for commercial fieldwork?
No. It sets six ethical principles for research done for government. Use it as a reference, and have a qualified reviewer adapt the approach to your participants.
Does agreeing to an interview give permission to market to the participant?
No. Research agreement does not create marketing permission. Keep the research record apart from marketing records, and ask separately if a later contact is wanted.
Can a few interviews support a persona?
Stop analysis when the material cannot answer the declared decision, rather than turning a few accounts into an England-wide persona. The article on customer data platform buyer personas sets out what evidence a persona needs.
