The Internet has forever changed the way we conduct survey research. As noted earlier, a vast majority of all U.S. research firms are now conducting online research. In the United States, the online population is now closely tracking the U.S. population in most key demographic areas. Moreover, the number of Internet users around the world continues to explode. As the number of users grows worldwide, characteristics of a country’s population and Internetuser characteristics tend to meld. The reason for the phenomenal growth of online research is straightforward. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
Advantages of Online Surveys
Most companies today face shorter product life cycles, increased competition, and a rapidly changing business environment. Management decision makers are having to make complex, rapid-fire decisions, and Internet research can help by providing timely information. The specific advantages of online surveys include the following:
▪ Rapid deployment, real-time reporting Online surveys can be broadcast to thousands of potential respondents simultaneously. Respondents complete surveys and the results are tabulated and posted for corporate clients to view as the returns arrive. Thus, Internet survey results can be in the decision maker’s hands in significantly less time than traditional survey results.
▪ Reduced costs The use of electronic survey methods can cut costs by 25 to 40 percent and provide results in half the time it takes to do traditional telephone surveys. Datacollection costs account for a large proportion of any traditional marketing research budget. Telephone surveys are labor-intensive efforts incurring training, telecommunications, and management costs. Online surveys eliminate these costs almost completely. Although the costs of traditional survey techniques rise in proportion to the number of interviews desired, electronic solicitations can grow in volume with less increase in project costs.
▪ Ready personalization Internet surveys can be highly personalized for greater relevance to each respondent’s own situation, thus speeding up the response process. Respondents appreciate being asked only pertinent questions, being able to pause and then resume the survey as needed, and having the ability to see previous responses and correct inconsistencies.
▪ High response rates Busy respondents may be growing increasingly intolerant of “snail mail” or telephone-based surveys. Online surveys take less time to complete than phone interviews do, can be accomplished at the respondent’s convenience (after work hours), and are much more stimulating and engaging. Graphics, interactivity, links to incentive sites, and real-time summary reports make the interview more enjoyable. The result: much higher response rates.
▪ Ability to contact the hard-to-reach Certain groups are among the most difficult to reach (doctors, high-income professionals, CIOs in Global 2000 firms). Most of these groups are well represented online. Internet surveys provide convenient anytime/anywhere access that makes it easy for busy professionals to participate.
▪ Simplified and enhanced panel management Internet panels are electronic databases, linked via the Internet, that are committed to providing feedback and counsel to research firms and their clients. They may be large or small, syndicated or proprietary, and they may consist of customers, potential customers, partners, or employees. Internet panels can be built and maintained at less cost and timerequired for traditional panels. Once a panel is created and a questionnaire is finalized, surveys can be deployed, data are collected, and top-level results are reported within days. sophisticated database tracks panelist profile data and survey responses, facilitating longitudinal studies and data mining to yield insights into attitudes and behaviors over time and across segments. Response rates are high, typically 20 to 60 percent, because respondents have agreed in advance to participate in the survey. These participants tend to provide more detailed and thoughtful answers than do those in traditional surveys, because they don’t have to give demographic and lifestyle information (it’s already been captured) and because they become engaged in the panel over time.
External Internet panels simplify life for research suppliers The availability of huge Internet panels maintained by firms such as Harris Interactive, SSI, Greenfield Online, Research Now, and Decision Analyst makes the sampling process much easier for research companies that utilize these panels. We will discuss these panels in detail later in the chapter. Moreover, the cost to use the panels has dropped as the number of panel suppliers has increased.
Disadvantages of Online Surveys
The most common complaint about the use of online surveys traditionally was that Internet users are not representative of the population as a whole. As mentioned earlier, this comment has largely disappeared in the United States. Harris Interactive and DSS Research have conducted over 300 surveys using parallel modes (telephone and Internet) and found that the research produced similar results. In all of the studies, it was rare to find a statistically significant difference between the sampling modes.23 DSS concluded that the Internet panel methodology offered the best alternative for market share measurement and competitive benchmarking objectives based on cost (half the cost of telephone), speed (can be completed in less than half the time of telephone), and accuracy of measurement.
Lee Smith, COO of Insight Express, conducted a side-by-side comparison of online research and mail surveys. He found that online research delivered data of the same quality as using mail surveys in one-eighth the time and at one-eighth the cost.24 Other research has shown that in most countries where the Internet penetration rate exceeds 20 percent, online surveys tend to yield results similar to those found in traditional methods such as telephone or paper-and-pencil survey research.
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. It is fully self-selecting and probably representative of no one except web surfers. The problem gets worse if the same Internet user can access the questionnaire over and over. For example, the first time InfoWorld, a computer user magazine, conducted its Readers’ Choice survey on the Internet, the results were so skewed by repeat voting for one product that the entire survey was publicly abandoned and the editor had to ask for readers’ help to avoid the problem again. All responsible organizations conducting surveys over the Internet easily guard against this problem by providing unique passwords to those individuals they invite to participate. These passwords permit one-time access to the survey. third problem is that the sample frame needed may not be available on the Internet. Assume that Guido’s, a popular Italian restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, wanted to know how its customers perceived the food quality and service compared with that of the big chains, such as Olive Garden. A large Internet panel, such as Greenfield Online, is probably not going to have enough members in Dayton, Ohio, that patronize Guido’s to give a representative sample. If Guido’s doesn’t have customer e-mail addresses, then an Internet sample isn’t feasible.
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). Many companies and researchers have become concerned with the quality of online samples. Procter & Gamble states that a high-quality online sample must include only respondents who are real people whose identify and location can be authenticated; are qualified to answer the survey based on screening and behavioral criteria we determine; only take each survey once; and answer questions thoughtfully.
As a result, all research suppliers for Procter & Gamble must do the following:
The most common complaint about the use of online surveys traditionally was that Internet users are not representative of the population as a whole. As mentioned earlier, this comment has largely disappeared in the United States. Harris Interactive and DSS Research have conducted over 300 surveys using parallel modes (telephone and Internet) and found that the research produced similar results. In all of the studies, it was rare to find a statistically significant difference between the sampling modes.23 DSS concluded that the Internet panel methodology offered the best alternative for market share measurement and competitive benchmarking objectives based on cost (half the cost of telephone), speed (can be completed in less than half the time of telephone), and accuracy of measurement.
Lee Smith, COO of Insight Express, conducted a side-by-side comparison of online research and mail surveys. He found that online research delivered data of the same quality as using mail surveys in one-eighth the time and at one-eighth the cost.24 Other research has shown that in most countries where the Internet penetration rate exceeds 20 percent, online surveys tend to yield results similar to those found in traditional methods such as telephone or paper-and-pencil survey research.
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. It is fully self-selecting and probably representative of no one except web surfers. The problem gets worse if the same Internet user can access the questionnaire over and over. For example, the first time InfoWorld, a computer user magazine, conducted its Readers’ Choice survey on the Internet, the results were so skewed by repeat voting for one product that the entire survey was publicly abandoned and the editor had to ask for readers’ help to avoid the problem again. All responsible organizations conducting surveys over the Internet easily guard against this problem by providing unique passwords to those individuals they invite to participate. These passwords permit one-time access to the survey. third problem is that the sample frame needed may not be available on the Internet. Assume that Guido’s, a popular Italian restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, wanted to know how its customers perceived the food quality and service compared with that of the big chains, such as Olive Garden. A large Internet panel, such as Greenfield Online, is probably not going to have enough members in Dayton, Ohio, that patronize Guido’s to give a representative sample. If Guido’s doesn’t have customer e-mail addresses, then an Internet sample isn’t feasible.
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). Many companies and researchers have become concerned with the quality of online samples. Procter & Gamble states that a high-quality online sample must include only respondents who are real people whose identify and location can be authenticated; are qualified to answer the survey based on screening and behavioral criteria we determine; only take each survey once; and answer questions thoughtfully.
As a result, all research suppliers for Procter & Gamble must do the following:
- Use objective quality criteria that are predetermined, replicable and standardized.
- Rely on automated processes to meet quality requirements.
- Ensure that potentially fraudulent respondents cannot easily identify or circumvent the quality measures in place.
- Uniformly apply quality requirements to all projects when requested, regardless of sample source, survey technology, and geography.
- Deliver reports demonstrating the impact of applying the quality requirements
- Protect and secure all personally identifiable and confidential information collected from respondents, suppliers and/or clients.
No comments:
Post a Comment