by Heidi Dickert

Contributing Editor - WIIE

Mobile phones are pervasive. There are over 262 million wireless subscribers in the US accounting for more than 84% of the US population. But even more significantly, people rely on their phones for vast and diverse uses, far beyond simple phone calls. In fact, over half of all US subscribers use mobile data – text messages, photos, videos, internet surfing, looking for directions, downloading and playing games, getting music, checking email and more.

Research from the Nielsen Company shows a steady rise in mobile Internet usage, with more than 100 million unique mobile subscribers and $1.8b in revenues for the second quarter of 2008. The 102 million mobile Internet subscribers represent 39% of all wireless subscriptions, and a 32% increase in year over year growth since Q2 2007.

MMetrics reports Americans spend more than 4.5 hours per month browsing on smart phones; nearly double the rate of the British. Among smart phone users in the United States, mobile browsing has increased 89 percent year over year, and page views have increased 127 percent. Consumption is quickly evolving from brief transactions, such as checking the weather or flight status, to time-intensive interaction with mobile Web sites—even without an iPhone.

Bottom-line, the Mobile platform may outpace and replace the usage of traditional computers for services currently provided on the web, including market research.

Companies are embracing the boom in mobile applications for their marketing plans. In a recent CMO survey released by Epsilon, 63% of marketing execs were planning on increasing interactive/digital spend, while 59% reported a decrease in traditional marketing. 29% were interested in mobile and 22% have already added mobile to their marketing mix, recognizing that this tough economic period is precisely the time when highly targeted and more effective marketing channels play a crucial role. In a July ‘08 survey by the DMA, Mobile Marketing: Consumer Perspectives, SMS campaigns were found to be the most successful mobile ad medium. 70% of those surveyed had responded to a marketing text message, whereas only 41% had responded to a survey and 30% to email offers.

Mobile is a high-impact new channel for communication of all types, and a natural fit for research.

Consumers are expecting market research companies to adjust to these changing usage behaviors and survey them where and when it is most convenient for them. The younger segments (teens and 18-24 yr olds) in particular are ready users of mobile applications and cell phones are a given. M:metrics reports there are 16.2 million mobile phones users aged 13-17 and 29.8 million mobile users aged 18 - 24 in the US. Increasingly, this segment is relying entirely on wireless phones – cutting the cord from landlines. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that over 15% of US households have gone to a wireless only household. It is imperative, therefore, that companies reach these consumers through their chosen channels.

The natural immersive quality of mobile makes it an outstanding fit with the market research challenges of motivating participation and engaging respondents. In a recent MarketTools Mobile survey, Mobile survey takers report overwhelmingly positive responses, focusing on the ease of the interface and their sense of being in control. Consumers replying to MarketTools mobile surveys indicate they are taking mobile surveys while shopping, at work, in school, at a racetrack, even in church! In fact, the number one reason consumers liked engaging in Mobile surveys was the ability to engage anytime and anywhere.

Mobile gives consumers the choice of when they want to reply. They are not required to be near their computer or even at home. Mobile Market Research studies allow consumers to continue their participation in extended use market research studies when they go on vacation vs. the traditional product test requirement of being required to stay close to home. The ability to text messages and remind consumers to participate in the mobile research throughout the course of the day allows Market Researchers to interact with consumers at home or away.

Mobile surveys also tackle the inherently challenging issue of gathering accurate insights even though much consumer behavior is driven by unconscious motivations. Consumers are often unclear on how they came to a particular conclusion or point of view. Therefore, when asked direct questions in the unrelated environment of a research study (even sitting at the computer taking a survey well after the event itself) consumers are forced to provide answers under an artificial spotlight – often leading them to answer in a socially acceptable way, but without connection to their true motivations. Quite often, Mobile Content providers overlook the opportunity to conduct a market research study within the context of someone actually using their device. Simply put, imagine asking a consumer to evaluate a new mobile service offering while they are actually using the mobile application.

A Fortune 100 mobile content provider recently sent out a satisfaction survey via a Mobile Market Research survey to users as soon as they received the new mobile products. Response rates were as high as 80% among target users. Furthermore, time and date stamping allowed for tracking accuracy of the delay in days after receiving their mobile product and understanding when actual Day 1 vs. Day 14 consumer observations were being collected. The company was also able to trigger a second survey to users to obtain a secondary feedback point a few weeks later.

Mobile surveys are currently being used to address customer satisfaction, brand awareness, opinion polls, event evaluations, advertising effectiveness, extended use product testing questions.

Mobile surveys overcome many issues and helps provide a more natural means to collect accurate insights:

• Respondent fatigue, response rates and validity are becoming an increasing concern as consumers show less and less interest in completing long, non- engaging online surveys.

• In-context real time data collection reduces “interference” (time and memories of other events) between the target event and description of that event and reduces the degree of introspection.

• Data is collected and shared “at that moment”, and therefore is not subject to comparison by previous answers. This reduces over-analysis and over-confidence bias and instead reflects how they actually feel.

• For the majority, the act of using a cell phone (speaking or texting) is commonplace. The familiarity of the medium increases consumer ease and reduces the possibility that the act of describing their experiences overshadows the experience itself.

Together, the cell phone and text messaging surveys are allowing data collection to evolve into a form of unique behavioral observation. However before commissioning an on device mobile survey, there are some questions you need to ask yourself to help you identify whether mobile is the right platform to meet your business needs.

There are many companies offering Mobile Market Research services. As you choose your service provider, below are a few areas to probe upon in your evaluation. Always ask the providers to demonstrate their surveys by sending a survey to your phone. Then ask them to send you to their real time reporting site or other tools in which the data delivery can be shown to you.

If the service provider allows, take the time to try programming a survey yourself with sample questions you might ask your consumer. Does it make sense to receive these questions on the phone? Do you see yourself gaining the insights you require to make your business decision?

More and more research suppliers are offering on demand market research as part of their offerings. Below are a few companies that are currently offering this capability as a Research supplier, Technology supplier, or both. These companies might be a good place to start your service provider search.

Mobile surveying uniquely leverages growing consumer trends into a new research method that is engaging, insensitive to interference, encourages participation among consumers while also creating greater quality, cost and time efficiencies for clients. I hope you’ll give this new medium a test drive in the near future.

If you have any further questions or would like further information or assistance with conducting a Mobile Market Research study, please contact Heidi Dickert at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or see www.mobilecompassinc.com.