The idea of respondents completing questionnaires on mobile devices has long been “the next big thing” in online research, however, like many “next big things”, most of us have been waiting for it to actually happen. However, with the explosion of mobile Internet usage over the last few months, it looks like that time is rapidly approaching.

At the recent ESOMAR event in Chicago, we had the opportunity to present our paper “Best Practices In Mobile Research”. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, Internet usage on mobile devices is gaining traction. This was supported by the research we did for our paper as we found that members of our national panels are already receiving survey invitations on their smartphones, meaning that if they want to complete the questionnaire right then and there, they can click the invitation link which will then open the questionnaire on their mobile browser. And we aren’t the only ones to witness this. We’ve had clients tell us that they’ve been contacted by respondents who have tried to complete questionnaires on their mobile devices.

The problem with respondents trying to complete questionnaires on their smartphone is that online questionnaires are almost always designed for the traditional desktop internet experience. Obviously, this results in a number of complications. For example, some question types require scripting that is automatically disabled by smartphone manufacturers (“Other, specify” being an example) meaning that respondents can get stuck at a question, unable to advance because their response option won’t work properly.

Another issue is the limited screen space on a mobile device. These small screens can make reading (and responding) to a question very difficult due to the amount scrolling that might be required. As those of us who use the mobile web can attest to, scrolling a webpage that has not been formatted for mobile devices is not only extremely frustrating, but respondents could easily misinterpret a question if they choose not to fully scroll.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that when done properly, there are many benefits to mobile research. This includes higher response rates, getting access to respondents who aren’t typically at a computer, more timely responses, etc.

And here’s more good news: in our ESOMAR paper we found that the answers provided by respondents on their mobile device do not vary significantly from the answers provided by those answering the same questionnaire on a desktop.

Furthermore, a sizeable proportion of those who completed the questionnaire on their mobile device said they are more likely to complete questionnaires if they are provided with the opportunity to complete the questionnaire on their mobile device. Of course there are some caveats to these findings, (which I’m not going to get into here – you’ll have to read the paper), but these results suggest that mobile data collection is a viable data collection technique which needs to be addressed by market researchers now, rather than later.

The recent ESOMAR in Chicago presented our industry with a new way of looking at research: listening as opposed to our default of asking. The web offers an unprecedented amount of information just waiting to be mined for research purposes. The challenge today is not only finding the right information, but packaging it in a digestible format. Two papers at ESOMAR presented ideas on how to achieve this: one involved Netography and the other Tweetmiotics. In both cases, researchers didn’t ask questions to a group of “respondents” but rather utilized information generated by the general public.

Netography
The netography example gathered buzz related information from selected websites about a reality show in Europe. The information was used to assess the relative positioning of the contestants and to track changes over time. By simply listening to the amount and type of content being generated, it was possible to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each contestant and predict the overall outcome. The interesting takeaway for me was the possibility of applying this technique to brands, companies and products – especially if the results tied into to other information sources including more traditional market research.

Tweetmiotics
The Tweetmiotics case was similar but focused solely on listening to content generated through Twitter. The study evaluated tweets related to a specific company and their line of products. The analysis revealed that one product in particular was generating the bulk of negative comments. This information was already known internally however the study served as a catalyst since the company didn’t realize the extent to which the product was creating negative public discourse. Tweetmiotics opened up considerable debate at the conference, both on an off the stage, about the value of Twitter and appropriate uses of Twitter for market research purposes.

Both of these ideas cause some great consternation in the somewhat traditional world of research because neither fit within our usual research box; and on first blush lack the control and rigor we’re accustomed to. Nevertheless there’s no reason we can’t develop appropriate approaches, techniques and methodologies to have confidence in the validity of this analysis. It is incumbent upon us as an industry to embrace these new technologies, information sources and data. With some innovation, foresight and experimentation, these approaches can be another arrow in our quiver with which to service our clients in a holistic fashion.

Creative Commons Photo by Striatic