November 29, 2011

Offline, online or mobile?

If you wanted to know what UK consumers had in their fridge and what they bought to replenish their stock, what research methodology would you use? You can’t simply track the transactions online. (According a recent mini-poll conducted with our UK panel, almost 90% of people in the UK still go to the local supermarket for their supplies. But hopefully, you already knew most people don’t buy their food online.)

Would you run a traditional quantitative survey asking shoppers to recall what they purchased and why they bought a particular type of product? Would you apply qualitative research? How about a combination of traditional, ethnographic and qualitative research? And maybe utilize advanced data collection techniques?

Researchers have more options to collect insights than ever before. Technology has enabled researchers to push the boundaries of what questions can be asked and what data can be collected. We should encourage consumers to provide insight using media they are comfortable with and use often.

Maybe mobile is the future of market research. How could researchers use mobile to enhance their data collection? Would not taking a picture of the shopping basket be more insightful and accurate than listing purchases from memory? How about location-based tracking, such as utilizing GPS data showing in-store movements? Or using the phone to scan product packaging codes?

BRIC Markets Should Make You Pay Attention to Mobile

As huge economic growth continues in the BRIC markets, there is a need for more data and consumer insight. So is the mobile device the tool to deliver that insight? I think YES! Not only due to the fact that online PC usage will flat-line in these markets due to access and cost, but because the mobile device is becoming more affordable to the masses. Now you can get non-urban sample and data by asking for consumer opinions from villagers via their mobile phones. We know that:

• In China and India, more people have mobile phones than any other type of device – this surpasses even entertainment devices such as TVs and radios.
• Availability of smartphones allows mobile research to become more efficient and engaging.

Only recently, the head of stated, “The next 200 million new Indian Internet users will largely be mobile-first users and out of those, 100 million will be mobile-only users.”  Google expects India’s Internet growth to be driven by mobile users, predicting that they will form the majority of new Internet users in the country as low-priced smartphones become widely available. Will mobile phone adoption allow us to provide a mobile market research solution to India’s masses?

Obviously one size does not fit all. You cannot simply apply all offline and online practices to mobile research. We need to think about engagement and user experience. Surveys need to be short and precise with appropriate incentives (e.g., top up on mobile phone credit, free airtime, etc.).

Mobile Research. Is it the next big thing? I think it will be as mobile telephony gets even better, panel companies gain access to more and newer respondents, and through the convergence of mobile and tablet PCs.

Category:Mobile Surveys
Posted on November 29, 2011



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