WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -

To better capture the “voice of the customer," J.D. Power and Associates plans to establish what it’s calling the J.D. PowerPanel.

Executives said the J.D. PowerPanel is scheduled to launch during the fourth quarter. They contend this group will enhance the company’s existing survey-based customer satisfaction and product quality research by expanding the demographic and geographic range of its online survey respondents.

J.D. Power also indicated consumers will be invited to join the panel through outreach involving a multitude of popular websites and portals.

“The J.D. PowerPanel will augment our existing sources of online panel engagement to provide more robust sample volumes and enhanced diagnostics for our research,” stated Kevin Keegan, senior vice president of global research operations at J.D. Power.

“Integrating our traditional voice-of-the-customer research with other qualitative and quantitative sources drawn from social media, mobile devices and mystery shopping will enhance our capabilities as a premier source of actionable insights for businesses across a number of industries,” Keegan added.

To create this panel, J.D. Power is collaborating with uSamp, and advanced technology and panel-management tool provider based in Encino, Calif. J.D. Power believes uSamp can help create high-quality online panels that can meet rigorous specifications.

Officials noted uSamp operates an existing panel that includes more than 3.1 million consumers throughout the globe.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with J.D. Power and Associates to power their online panel,” said Matt Dusig, co-founder and chief executive officer of uSamp.

“It’s hard to think of a better brand to showcase the capabilities of our next-generation platform,” Dusig continued. “Our software-as-a-service technology provides companies like J.D. Power a platform to enhance their research efforts and promote their brand online.”