The online world
Over 35% of the worlds population is online
Most managers accept the idea that online research can accurately represent consumers as a whole
The growth of online use in africa and the middle east has risen by 2000%
Non adapters of the internet tend to be older and low income consumers
The vast majority of marketing research is performed online
Paper research is still popular 2/3rds of market research uses paper
Using the internet for secondary data
- secondary research can ca;irfy the problem, suggest a methodology for approaching the problem, and maybe provide a solution so that the time and cost of primary research are avoided
The internet has made this possible
blogs
companies are also using blogs to communicate directly with customers and other businesses.
More recently, market researchers have used blogs to monitor brands, track trends, profile customers, and identify unmet needs. Blogs are growing to be an important tool in the exploratory research stage of many formal survey projects.
Companies also use blogs to talk to customers and to other businesses
ONLINE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
The primary form of online qualitative research is focus groups. These come in two categories in the online world: traditional, sometimes referred to as synchronous groups, and online bulletin boards, sometimes referred to as asynchronous groups.
online focus groups
Focus groups conducted via the Interne
advantages of online focus groups
much lower costs , faster turnaround time, participation by respondent who are geographically separate and located anywhere,
advantages of online surveys
- rapid deployment nd real time reporting
- reduced costs
- ready personalization
- high response rates
- ability to contact the hard to reach
- simplified enhanced panel management
- external interest panels simplify for research suppliers
dfisvandates of online surveys
- Internet users are not representative of the population as a whole.
- A second problem exists when an unrestricted Internet sample is set up on the Internet. This means anyone who wishes to complete the questionnaire can do so.
- A third problem is that the sample frame needed may not be available on the Internet
- Other problems include a lack of “callback” procedures to clarify open-end responses, potential for questionnaire programming errors, and a lack of bandwidth (some potential respondents can’t complete the survey or download photos and video quickly).
methods of conducting online surveys
- web survey software
- The Web server distributes the questionnaire and files responses in a database. The user can query the server at any time for completion statistics, descriptive statistics on responses, and graphical displays of data.
- gaining survey completions
- survey design and web hosting sites
commercial online panels
- A group of individuals who have agreed to receive invitations to do online surveys from a par- ticular panel company, such as e-Rewards or SSI.
- commercial online panels are created for the use of multiple projects by many different companies.
factors that influence the quality of an online panel
the recruitment methods, respondent partici- pation, panel management practices, and types of incentives offered.
panel recruitment
- The method of recruitment of panel members is critical to the quality of the panel.
- There are essentially two methods for recruiting for an online panel: open source and by-invitation-only.
Open online panel recruitment a
A recruitment method for online panels in which any person with Internet access can self-select to be in a research panel.
This provides the benefit of building a panel quickly with people who are Internet-savvy and responsive to online advertising
A key drawback is the lack of control over who is recruited.
Closed online panel recruitment,
Invitation of only prevalidated individuals or those with shared known characteristics to enroll in a research panel.
he by-invitation-only method enables a panel researcher to recruit people with specific demographics into the panel in order to meet a client’s needs for a represen- tative sample of the understudy population, or to meet specific needs
Using a by-invitation-only recruitment method gives a panel provider greater con- trol over who is invited to the panel and greatly reduces the likelihood of professional survey takers.
respondent cooperation
Respondent participation is critical to the success of the research process in order to minimize non-response bias. Therefore, it is important to understand the panel man- agement practices and incentives employed by an online panel.
Ensuring participation is a function of several factors, including to what extent panel members are engaged in the research process, their experience with surveys and the panel in general, and the topic of the research.
Generally, online panels use two incentive models:
the sweepstakes model and the pay-all model. The sweepstakes model offers survey participants a chance to be entered into a drawing for a prize, often hundreds or thousands of dollars, albeit with extremely low odds of winning. Pay-all incentive models pay each respondent a small incentive for their time and participation each time they take part in a survey.
controlling the panel
n addition to effective panel recruitment and respondent cooperation programs, online panel providers must have effective ongoing management of their panel to ensure high quality
Panels must continually see that that their participants have positive experi- ences with every research project.
Finally, panel management includes ensuring panel freshness.
Panel providers are continually recruiting new members to keep up with the growth in demand for online samples, as well as replace any panel members who may drop out.
mobile markeitng research advnaages
can reach the hard to reach
increased respondent cooepratiom
immediate feedback
cost savings
mobile marketing research disvandtaes
- response rate decreases with age
- questionnaires must be short
- question types are limited
- higher incentives are necessary
