MarketTools Blog

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts on Mobile Market Research technologies from the MarketTools Market Research team.

Back in September I blogged about 5 things that every researcher must know about QR (Quick-Response) codes – those digital barcodes that allow users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application to scan the code and launch a web page, a survey, or otherwise connect to information. Since then, the hype around the technology has continued, countered by a lot of nay-sayers pointing out the limitations of QR codes.

Let’s look at some of these arguments against the technology and reevaluate if QR codes can still be an effective market research tool.

1.    QR code adoption in the US continues to lag Europe and Asia.  Some even say that the QR code “fad” has already come and gone.  Maybe it’s true that the technology will never catch on in the US as much as it has in other markets. There is plenty of evidence out there that Americans are less likely to adopt technology that doesn’t benefit us immediately (see: metric system). However, that’s not to say QR codes can’t still be a useful tool. Thankfully, the cost to implement QR codes as a facet of your research plan can be done with absolutely minimal cost. And the key word is facet. Obviously you wouldn’t make it the focus of your research plan. We’re not going to dissolve online survey panels or eliminate phone or mail research and only use QR codes. Printing a QR code on a product or displaying one in a captive area where you’re looking for specific feedback is a low cost way to collect on-demand, in the moment customer data. At the very least, for many of us, it certainly trumps typing in a long url on a mobile device.

2.    College students (a group that by all accounts should embrace QR codes) are still confounded by them. A recent study reported that the majority of college students with smartphones have no idea how to scan a QR code. This is a troubling statistic, but has been completely corroborated by MarketTools’ experience with this demographic. The key is to leverage QR technology in the right way so you can use the numbers to your advantage. Let’s assume that QR code access rate is only 3% among college students. If you’re trying to use QR codes to survey a particular college classroom, this obviously spells disaster! But what if you’re using a QR code to launch a survey of the readership of a nationwide publication targeting college students, or for a CPG product targeted toward college students – with an attractive incentive? All of a sudden, that 3% access rate yields you more completes than you know what to do with.

3.    Newer technologies will surpass QR code technology. In fact, Google has recently started phasing out QR codes to focus on a developing technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC works much like a QR code, but is activated by proximity to a touch point rather than by scanning. In other words, you only have to hold your phone up to something rather than sift through your apps to open up a reader, hold your hand steady, and scan a code. What’s not to love?

First and foremost, it will be several years before NFC technology is included in US phones. Second, as I rub my research crystal ball, I predict NFC will suffer from at least several of these issues as adoption builds:

• Some mobile device manufacturers will drag their feet on including the technology while initial consumer demand is low
• Many consumers with the technology will struggle to understand how to use it, such as how to toggle it on/off
• The technology will come under heavy scrutiny by Congress as consumer privacy continues to come to the fore
• Some industry experts (like QR code “traditionalists”) will mock NFC for its low adoption rate and argue the technology will never work as a research tool

Did you notice that some of these barriers are the same faced by QR code technology? The point is that no new research medium is perfect – it’s a matter of carefully selecting the right mix of media that best meets your needs.

As fun as it is to make blanket statements about how a new technology is either the best thing since sliced bread or completely useless, the best approach is to acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses and think carefully about how to benefit from them. QR codes are not going to completely revolutionize the market research industry, but they will be around for a while.  They will be used successfully by those who understand how to take best advantage of the strengths of the technology, and make it worthwhile for the consumer to engage with them.
 

Every year ends with dozens of prediction pieces looking back on the past year or ahead to the next.  Heading into 2012, some of the “Top 10” lists are expanding to 12 to celebrate, with topics ranging from beer to mobile infrastructure.  While there are many year-end lists for the market research world, I’ll offer a single theme instead – Convergence.

Mathematically, convergence may signal the arrival of computational limits or even the irrelevance of sequence order.  However, in market research  “convergence” is more like what happened in the convergence of the telecommunications industry – where several services are available from the “same pipe”.  Here are some examples of areas in market research where we might see convergence in the year ahead:

• Mobile and Shopper research will collide.  A National Retail Federation poll recently found 41% of members were increasing investment in mobile retail and marketing.  It’s crucial to continue to develop and test new mobile research programs to help us continue to progress.
• Mobile is no longer the “3rd Screen”.  Many households are moving to digital entertainment and away from traditional TV, and the use of mobile streaming apps is on the rise.  For brands, the ability to track advertising, image and sentiment will get more complex and the sheer volume of data will require creative new models to make sense of it.  This is an area where research analysts can bring expertise to the conversation.
• Gamification of research will be extended to mobile devices.  While there is still much investigation into the best implementations for game-based research, the movement to mobile devices will create pressure on game-like and game-based research.  This will affect the validation of both gamification and mobile research.
• Economic issues in Europe will force brands to more closely manage pricing.  The interconnected economies of North America and Europe create the need to have a global aspect for domestic price plans.
• Pricing and Packaging will converge into a single study architecture.  The tradeoffs between changing or holding price points will drive new studies that collect attitudes on simultaneous changes to price, package size and quantities that are all variables for pricing strategy.
• Social Media drives statistical research, and vice versa.  Social media monitoring is being used to inform sentiment analysis across brands – however the elements needed to make predictive assessments are still missing.  Research analysts will increasingly experiment with adding social media metrics into time-tested models.
• Brands will begin using traditional methods to test and quantify social media trends.  As the flexibility and speed of traditional studies increases, it’s harder to ignore the value of social media data in helping us better understand consumers.  But what we need is the discipline of traditional MR methods to deliver predictive data necessary for business change.  This will be especially useful in proving ROI for event sponsorships as well as understanding “cause marketing” endeavors.
• The definition of “actionable” data will change to include visualization for the non-research stakeholders.  Insights teams will partner with other organizations to deliver results to a wider audience.  The need for storytelling calls for us to leverage research, business intelligence and analytics to create directive results that can be interpreted by a wide variety of audiences.
• Research analysts will increasingly utilize data from non-traditional sources to answer market problems, including customer databases, POS data and web analytics.  This may or may not be part of the “Big Data” evolution, but multiple data sources will increasingly be found in study research.
• Traditional research methods will not die.  Tried and true methods like surveys, ethnographies and the like will be combined in new ways, with yet-to-be-discovered methods to deliver actionable insights for business.  There is no end to the opportunity for change.

I guess we ended up with a “Top 10” list after all! 

2012 will be a transformative year for Market Research.  We at MarketTools are excited about some of the new technologies and methods we are working on, and look forward to finding new tools and partnerships in the months ahead.  Happy New Year!
 

There have been many calls of late for Marketing Research to become more progressive (for example, see the recent blog post from Jeffrey Henning taking off on Coca-Cola’s Stan Sthanunathan’s view that “the industry must change”).  Technology adoption and creating meaningful analysis of social media were hot topics at The Market Research Event (TMRE) held last month, and both the client and supplier sides are experimenting with new trends. 

But while it’s true that the industry needs to move quickly to adopt technologies, blend methodologies, and broaden the reach of research, there is precious little information on how to make these changes.  As a supplier, we at MarketTools have seen that there are a couple of key ingredients in the partnership with clients that make innovative projects worthwhile:

1)    Don’t be afraid to fail.  In one early mobile research experiment, a client was looking for a way to prove the ROI of an event sponsorship.  At the event, a mobile survey was promoted to attendees requesting them to access it via the much-vaunted QR (quick response) code; we also offered a customized short URL.  While the overall project yielded valuable data that could not have been collected without a mobile survey, the tactic of using the QR code to launch the survey was an abysmal failure.  We learned that it’s still very early in the evolution of code reader technology, and almost none of the event attendees had a reader of any kind.  Without the customized short URL to access the survey, we would have had only limited means to collect data.  The flexibility and willingness of the client to experiment with multiple modes of engagement turned a false start into a useful project.

2)    Cast a wide net for executive sponsorship.  When confronted with a large research project, we see many clients getting other departments involved in the project, to spread the resource requirements.  You and your team may need additional backing if you are trying something new, like gamification or visually enhanced respondent engagement surveys.  One client from the research department of a major CPG company was interested in the technical aspects of the visually-driven shopper research experiences we demonstrated.  Because the research department didn’t have a current project that could make use of the technology, we were asked to demonstrate it to the brand team, as a way to answer a question about refrigerated goods promotion – getting the brand executives to back the project instead.  It was an entirely new project type for our research client, and the final study produced evidence the brand team needed to move forward with the promotion.  And our research client gained experience working with new technologies that will benefit future studies.

3)    Understand the statistical requirements.  When the analytics for a project require large sample sizes, multiple choice matrixed questions, or have other complex parameters, then these projects are not good candidates for experimental methods.  There are plenty of cases where clients say, "We want innovative methods, but they need to be validated.”  In these instances, it may not be appropriate to use newer techniques, like mobile and text analytics, that are not set up to have precise parity with pre-existing forms of research.  We find that deeper conversations with our clients to delve into the many different ways that the research results will be used provide guidance on how much experimentation the project can withstand.  For every project whose results must be input into a pre-existing model, there’s a study that’s looking for new input, deeper detail, or variations on a theme to drive a decision or a shift in direction.  These are the ideal projects for experimentation – where the quality and depth of the results are important, yet the business outcomes are not dependent on compliance with entrenched models.

Both suppliers and clients have a role to play in moving the market research industry into its next phase, and this is an unparalleled chance to partner together to discover meaningful directions.  I am looking forward to showcasing more examples in the near future.
 

The Market Research Event (TMRE 2011) is always one of the most exciting market research industry events of the year – and from our experience in the MarketTools booth, as well as talking to attendees in the sessions, the three days were incredibly yet enthusiastically busy.

The Keynotes, especially Anne Mulcahy’s kickoff “Leading Through Transformation” and Sheena Iyengar’s “The Art of Choosing”, provided a terrific opportunity to re-think our roles as researchers.

Anne’s “Transformation” theme was embodied by several sessions that focused on ways to communicate research results more deeply into the organization.  Overall, the role of the market researcher is changing:  from proving that data is statistically relevant, non-biased and methodologically sound to converting the data into a story, with insights and recommendations suitable for the boardroom.  This trend is gaining speed, yet is far from complete.  The circle of end users for market research continues to move beyond R&D to creative agencies, brand managers, and line-of-business managers. 

Two sessions made the point that data visualization is a key component to communicating research results at the boardroom level.  Both Jason Anderson from Blizzard Entertainment and Ruben Alcaraz from Meijer illustrated ways the industry can transform a sea of data into highly visual insights.  Walking back to the exhibit space after these sessions, I took part in a lively discussion about the construction of research deliverables, and why the 15-page executive summary needs to be extinct.  As the only supplier in the conversation, I heard that as an industry, we must start delivering recommendations and advice backed by data, de-emphasizing data as the major component of the deliverable.  This is a tremendous opportunity for researchers on both the client and vendor sides to expand their talents and make research results more relevant for all.

While developing deep insights and converting data into stories are some of the most interesting and rewarding parts of MR, today’s research teams have to deliver these additional findings with fewer resources.  Christine Stasiw-Lazarchuk of Ford shared that, as the automaker recast itself, the company’s marketing research group had to reduce headcount by 70% while budget was reduced 40%.  This makes it more difficult, yet more imperative to make market research results relevant to and consumable by a broader audience. 

Reflecting on “The Art of Choosing”, keynoter Sheena Iyengar offered an example showing that when shoppers were presented with a reduced set of selections for jam, the result was a higher purchase rate.  That brought to mind some of the research we have completed with customers.  We often need to balance our customers’ desire to present respondents with matrix questions that have 20+ prompts for 10+ attributes with a real need to scale back the choice set so that the respondent can give thoughtful responses.  The complexity of the social media landscape also suggests that social media research results could be impacted by too many choices as well.

The idea that a smaller selection results in a greater response rate could easily be a supporting argument for the value of mobile activities.  Mobile marketing tends to be very direct and immediate, with limited choices.  Mobile research tends to be the same –targeted and punchy.  Perhaps the streamlined choices we see in mobile research can offer a model that would provide the entire MR industry with increased – or better – responses. 

TMRE delivered so many excellent sessions, and everyone who visited us at the MarketTools booth was energized by the topics and the discussions about how to implement new ideas.  Some of the most enthusiastic conversations blended our new mobile research and online communities offerings with research tactics gleaned from the sessions.  The market research community is filled with creative individuals, and I can’t wait to see these changes implemented in our future projects.

Years before I worked in market research, I was a member of an online survey panel.  I took enough surveys to get a $20 check in the mail and once got a bag of potato chips as part of an in-home usage test. Perhaps my early days as a panelist have left me particularly attentive to the panelist’s point of view. 

Panelists have a lot to tell us about online market research and they find ways to make their opinions known.  Whether it’s through our panel support team, our ZoomPanel Facebook page, or the dropout rates in a survey, panelists make themselves heard. I’d argue that our industry is better for it. 

Here are four things our panelists tell us that make us better researchers.

1.  Be Consistent
We’ve found that even small changes in the survey-taking experience provoke lots of comments from our panelists. Whether it’s an addition to our panel info webpage or a tweak in our incentives, panelists are quick to let us know what they think. This makes us thoughtful in the way we approach change and the way we communicate our practices to our panelists and clients. When we roll out a new feature in our panel program or in the survey process, we’re careful to keep as much of our old system in place as possible.  We find it is important to set clear expectations for our panelists and to meet those expectations.

This stability is good for our research too. It assures that our customers get consistent results across months and years of work with MarketTools. And the promise of reliable insight is what’s built our reputation in the research industry.

2.  Be Efficient
More than anything else, online survey takers complain about screening out. From a panelist’s point of view, a screen out is a failed survey experience.  The panelist was ready to take a survey, but three questions in they are told they didn’t fit our target. In their mind, we sent them the wrong survey! We find the same expectations from our clients.  They look to us to identify niche audiences accurately and bring them exactly the respondents they need.

As a result, we’ve deeply profiled our panel on hundreds of different traits. It’s the kind of precision that our customers have come to rely on from ZoomPanel.

3.  Create an Engaging Survey Experience
Panelists have limited patience for long, tedious and boring surveys. When a particularly lengthy and painful survey goes out the door, panelists drop out in droves. These patterns remind us that part of what surveys provide is entertainment. If we want our panelists’ help, we have to provide them with an engaging survey experience.

That basic truth has driven us to create better surveys, utilizing innovative formats like card sorts, shelf simulators, image highlighters and other visually attractive, game-like exercises. Not only does this keep our panelists happy, but it also gives our clients access to data that they never would have been able to capture before.

4.  Focus!
It’s the invisible hand of the panel that makes every researcher ask, “Do I really need that last question?”  The pressure to keep surveys short and focused makes us more thoughtful as researchers. It helps us to zero in on the essential questions of a research project before we hit launch. 

At MarketTools, we’ve taken that one step further and turned panelist feedback and signs of disengagement into TrueSample Survey Score. This tool gives researchers a means to adjust and improve survey design, and increase the likelihood that survey respondents will complete your survey.  Consider it the voice of the masses providing feedback on your questionnaire before it’s launched.  When you keep your survey focused, you’ll provide panelists with a better survey experience – and they’ll be more likely to give your questions the considered response you’re looking for.  In the end, you’ll get higher-quality survey results.
 

This is a follow-up to the recent blog post on mobile market research titled "Getting Started On Your Mobile Market Research Journey".  Here we focus on the third cornerstone of the mobile research framework: Research Applications.

One of the great things about having kids is I get to go to amusement parks much more frequently. But one of the downsides is having to wait in line for the rides, usually for about 20 minutes or more. While standing in line on a recent trip, I was impressed by a sign inviting me to give my feedback about my experience in the park. This was a welcome distraction from the monotony of waiting, so I texted the number and within a few moments the first question arrived on my mobile phone.

My initial good impressions were quickly dispelled. After just one question, I was invited to give fuller feedback at a kiosk near the park's exit. Did they seriously expect me to remember to find this kiosk and spend 10 minutes at the end of the day, when the kids are inevitably tired and hungry, and we all just want to get home?

I had a similar experience with a coffee chain at a train station asking for feedback on their customer service. Once again, the ingredients were right: free wi-fi at the station, consumer downtime waiting for a train, a web-based survey, etc.  However, when I tried to access the survey via my smartphone, the page failed to load. Was it because the coffee chain didn’t design the survey for a smartphone – thinking that consumers would be willing to unpack their laptops?  Or maybe they considered it sufficient that their mobile survey only worked on certain models of phones. (I only tested the link on one of the more common Android handsets!)

If you are considering using mobile market research tools to get in-the-moment feedback on the customer experience, here are five pointers to maximize response rates to hear a representative voice of the consumer:

• Give people the opportunity to provide real-time feedback by making your mobile survey accessible instantly, thereby avoiding drop-out or putting obstacles in their way
• Leverage downtime when customers are more likely to see a survey as a welcome distraction rather than a task that competes with other things they’d prefer to be doing
• Choose an appropriate mobile survey platform, whether text or mobile browser-based, that gets the right balance between efficiencies of data collection and analysis, and ensuring a representative spread of responses
• Keep it simple, avoiding graphics or enhanced functionality unless absolutely necessary, to ensure the survey script works on all mainstream devices likely to be used by your customer base
• Make it easy for respondents to access the survey – for example, via a free messaging service for text based responses, or using short URLs and QR codes for browser based surveys.

By following these five tips, it's more likely that respondents will act on your mobile survey invitation, complete the survey, and provide high-quality data that you might not have been able to capture through more traditional research methodologies.  With results that reflect real, in-the-moment actions and perceptions, your mobile survey instrument can deliver richer insights that will help you make better decisions.

Although it’s hard to imagine now, an article in Wired Magazine reports that “there was a time when casinos only grudgingly tolerated slot machines”.  Now slot machines represent two-thirds of all gaming revenue and three-quarters of the gaming floor acreage in Vegas. Market Researchers could learn a lot from the evolution of slot machines from novelty to casino gaming staple. 

Here are three slot machine innovations that have some interesting parallels in the market research industry:

1)  Going digital
The first big leap in slot machines was the jump from mechanical machines to digital ones. Mechanical machines were expensive to build and needed almost constant maintenance. In addition, the parameters of the slot machine games were restricted by the movement of physical reels, which spun to determine the game’s outcome. The only way to create bigger jackpots (with longer odds) was to add more reels or put more pictures on each reel.  But players didn’t like the looks of those complicated machines, even if they wanted the bigger payoffs. 

Digital slot machines, patented in 1984, solved those problems.  Today the payouts are determined by computer chips running sophisticated software and relying on random number generators. The chips require less maintenance than physical gears and can be programmed to pay out at any odds no matter what the physical devices looks like. Going digital reduced the costs and removed the biggest limitations to slot machine gambling – and transformed slots into a revenue powerhouse.

The research survey parallel:  When surveys went online – for example, when Zoomerang pioneered a self-service online survey solution in 1997 – that digital technology helped remove the physical limitations and costs of conducting surveys via mall intercepts, call centers and on paper. As a result of going online, the market research industry was able to scale survey-taking in dramatic ways, and the data from online surveys is what powers most market research today.

2)  Getting rid of the cheaters
The Wired article describes early slot machines as “magnets for cheats". Scammers would affix coins to fishing lines or pry open service doors to tamper with the reels of slot machines. Cheaters represented a serious risk to casinos.  And no casino would invest heavily in slot machines until they knew that they could mitigate that risk.

The research survey parallel:  Boy does that one sound familiar!  Market researchers have spent a decade trying to reduce the risk of fraudulent responses (and bad respondents) in online surveys.  While the debate continues, TrueSample has emerged as the “security system” of choice for respondent validation and data quality – and it’s helping customers place big bets on the future of online data.

3)  Customizing the experience
Once the slots went digital and casinos knew they could stop the cheaters, slot machines represented a highly controlled, easily scalable gaming environment. That foundation made it possible for slot machine makers to produce a huge variety of games. The player experience can be customized to present a bet in an infinite number of ways. Now, every gambler can find a machine that fits his or her exact tastes whether they prefer simple traditional machines or machines with lots of variations, mini games and free spins. In fact, slot machines are so adaptable that individual machines can be programmed to change their payouts based upon user information – such as the data stored on “player cards,” which are smartcards given to gamblers as rewards in casino loyalty programs.

The research survey parallel:  The challenge of the online survey industry today is to take the scale that’s possible with online research and the confidence that’s provided by automated data quality tools, and create a variety of customized survey experiences that can cover all potential survey respondents.  Similar to the way the variety of slot machines proliferated in the casinos, we’ve seen an explosion of new data collection techniques across online qualitative work, communities, virtual shopping experiences, mobile surveys, gamification and customer satisfaction programs.

The challenge now is to develop guidelines for consistency and quality that work across these modes.  At MarketTools, we’re working with our partners to prepare for that future by developing online market research quality standards that can be applied across even more formats and in more places. With that assurance, the expanded variety of survey options could result in a surge of willing survey participants and a bounty of available data.
 

Online research panel providers haven’t always had a straightforward process for researchers to identify the right panel attributes for their research projects.  Traditionally, sample vendors have used a book format – which can make it difficult to understand the full scope of attributes you have available to choose from.

MarketTools decided to try something completely different: an Online Market Research Menu that centralizes the majority of panel attributes for ZoomPanel Online Sample on a single sheet of paper. 

Whether you need to gauge consumer interest in new product ideas, gather data to develop a stronger business case, or collect compelling statistics for a PR strategy to tie your brand into the latest trends, the Online Market Research Menu makes it easy to quickly identify your target audience.

That means that if you’re looking for a panel of IT professionals with iPads, cat owners who drink champagne, expectant parents who shop at Home Depot, you’ll be able to quickly find who you’re looking for.

MarketTools ZoomPanel Online Sample, an online panel of 2 million real and unique survey respondents, is tracked on more than 500 attributes in nine key areas:
1. Demographics
2. Internet & Technology
3. Health & Medical
4. Products & Purchases
5. Business & Industry
6. Information Technology (IT)
7. Food, Beverage & Dining
8. Financial Services
9. Home & Vehicles

With ZoomPanel Sample, you’re also assured of the highest-quality research sample in the industry: all panelists are validated with the patent-pending TrueSample data quality process that uses the same automated, real-time, large-scale validation technologies that help prevent credit card fraud and identity theft.

The Online Market Research Menu is available as a PDF and can be printed on demand. (Important: Print your copy on 11” x 17” paper for optimal results.)  This makes highlighting key attributes for each new research project simple and straightforward.

► Click here to download the Online Market Research Menu

Guest blogger Jennifer Becker is the Director of Research, Brand Strategy at Airfoil Public Relations, a high tech firm in Detroit and Silicon Valley – and a MarketTools customer.

If you think that creating online surveys for public relations is totally different from market research, think again. Whether creating a survey to support media relations or launch a new product, the design fundamentals and purpose – to gain brand exposure – are the same, even when the end audiences are not. Whether it’s a story, or your product or service that you’re selling, you want that audience – be it media or customers – to buy!

A strong survey is a strong survey, regardless of how your business ultimately leverages the data. In fact, if you can approach a publicity-based research project with the same objectivity as a market research survey, you will ultimately produce the highest-quality data possible, something media gravitate toward. Your sample should be representative of the population and your questions as focused as possible to elicit data meaningful to the story you hope to tell.

I’ve always believed that surveys are a form of advertising/marketing/public relations themselves. By asking for someone’s opinion, you’re telling the survey taker that your brand cares about their opinion – even if they don’t know who you are until it’s complete. 

Following are some guidelines for quality PR survey design, all things you and a trusted research partner should consider before your next project together:

• Chart a course: Be diligent about identifying the true survey objectives and ensure research goals are appropriate for the recommended methodology.
• Sharpen your sample: Consider the target audience to make sure that those who respond provide information that may lead to actionable insight. While some client lists can be used as a sample, purchasing a quality panel of survey respondents from an online sample provider ensures that you’re talking to the right people. And this could help validate the client’s list in the process.
• Be choosy:  Make sure you apply the right screening criterion to the panel before the survey ever launches.   Are you sure the potential respondents in the panel are representative of the population? Does the panel represent the type of respondent you want as a customer or someone you trust to be at the forefront of a trend?  An online survey panel provider should be able to help you find the right people to take your survey, whether they are IT professionals with iPads, home owners who wear glasses, or business travelers who have taken a trip in the past six weeks.
• Engage the respondent: A survey must be as interesting for the survey taker as the results are for those consuming the data.  Using plain language, rotating question types and avoiding repetition encourages survey takers to be more thoughtful about their responses.

A well-crafted survey can provide data that can be used to change perception of your brand; shape a story around a trend or issue; or prove the efficacy of your offering. Do everything possible to ensure those data points are viable so that your message around them can be received with confidence.
 

This is a follow-up to the recent blog post Mobile Market Research: Getting Started On Your Mobile Market Research Journey, focusing on the first cornerstone of the framework for a mobile market research plan.

If you’re thinking about conducting market research via mobile, one of the topics you may have plenty of questions about is survey sample. Admittedly, having questions on most topics is somewhat of an occupational hazard of the market researcher. Nevertheless, when thinking about a new platform for engaging respondents, sample is one of the core considerations. 

Key questions for researchers considering a mobile research strategy include:

• Can we get a representative sample?
• Are respondents willing to participate in surveys on their mobile phones?
• Will they answer honestly?
• Are they who they say they are?

If these questions prompt feelings of déjà vu, it might be because these are the same questions that were asked of the industry when online research started to replace then-traditional methods of home, street, or mall intercepts using paper surveys. (Is anyone reading this old enough to remember offline research?)

With hindsight, the answer to questions on sample quality was obvious. People responding offline are just as (dis)honest as those responding online. And while the majority give true responses, a few bad apples will always distort the data unless identified and disposed of. This is why MarketTools developed TrueSample, to ensure our panelists are Real, Unique, and Engaged.

So are mobile samples representative? This depends on a number of factors, first of which is platform: while an SMS-based platform that works on any mobile device can be rolled out to a largely representative audience, the penetration of smartphones, while growing, is not quite at the point where we would expect their users to be otherwise similar in behaviour and attitudes to those using so-called “dumbphones”. It is therefore probably fair to say that in developed markets right now, a smartphone sample won’t be as representative as an online panel of the population at large. But who said you wanted a general population target? Maybe the reason you’re thinking mobile is because this is a better way to reach certain groups, e.g. early adopters or youth who are accessible via mobile.

But this will change. When MarketTools pioneered online research in 1997, 20% of Americans were online. Today that figure is over 80%. The adoption of mobile internet will be even quicker. Internet-enabled phone sales have already overtaken computer sales, and consumers who have them often spend more of their time on the information superhighway via these clever gadgets than they do via old-school PCs and laptops.

Many consumers in developing markets are skipping a technology generation and are connecting via mobile without the PC stage. This means that representative samples in these markets have never been accessible online, pushing up costs of conducting fieldwork in these markets compared to developed markets. But just as the adoption of the PC marked a paradigm shift for research in the latter, won’t the explosion of mobile phones unequivocally change the way we connect with consumers in emerging markets?

The rise of online research has come to the rescue as participation levels in offline research have declined in Western markets. In the same way, mobile is likely to succeed in engaging respondents in market research as certain demographics in particular start to drift away from computer-based surveys.