Wherever we go, whatever we do, we’ll have our mobile phones in our pockets. This technological phenomenon opened many possibilities that has led many market researchers to success. Thanks to the countless features of smartphones along with the continuous enhancement of mobile apps for research, information gathering has become more and more straightforward, undemanding, and trouble-free.
What are the advantages of conducting mobile research?
- Cost-Effectiveness - Conducting mobile research allows researchers to reach a multitude of people all over the globe fast, saving many researchers a great deal of time and money unlike what traditional offline research methods would normally cost. Phone interviews, focus groups and mobile surveys can now be done from literally anywhere. It is inexpensive and convenient. No more hotel bookings, transportation fees, jetlags, and getting stuck in traffic jams.
- Reachability - In this day and age when mobile phones have basically become people’s life-support tool, it is difficult to get a wide range of research participants through the traditional mode of research. Therefore, the researcher’s reach rapidly grew with mobile research. Anywhere you are in the world, as long as you own a mobile phone, you could be contacted for market research. The process, however, is mostly advantageous for getting a hold of hard-to-reach participants, such as those living in distant locations. Follow-up questions post-interviews can also now be processed in a breeze. The process doesn’t end at contacting prospect participants. It extends to whether or not they agree to participate. However, since mobile phones are practically indispensable devices, using these greatly increases participant cooperation rates, as being mobile has made studies more fun and engaging.
- Efficiency - If you’re looking for instantaneous data collection, mobile research is the ideal means for you. Surveys are now made succinct as they are tailored for mobile. This eliminates “research fatigue”, also known as participant fatigue, where a survey or interview lasts so long that participants lose interest. This oftentimes triggers them to resist further participation and/or begin providing false information in order to finish the process quicker, resulting to unreliable results. Mobile research also requires very little setup or sometimes even no setup at all. Researchers can administer their mobile market research studies by sending emails with a link to the website or a downloadable app where the survey will be conducted. This does not only favors the researcher but also the participants to fit research activities into their schedules seamlessly (i.e. surveys could be completed on the participant’s way to work or school). Mobile research is also versatile and personalized - participants can upload pictures, videos or audio recordings, and write notes in digital diaries. The easier it is, the more participants are encouraged to supply data frequently.
- Accuracy - Mobile market research allows market researchers to collect crucial responses closer to the moment the respondents make decisions. Since data is user-generated, the accuracy of the gathered information is higher than answering the WHY’s at a later time. False self-reporting happens when respondents are asked to recollect their experiences a while after, which eventually leads to data insufficiencies. This can also promote post-purchase rationalization, which is a cognitive bias. Catching fresh, real-time insights enables researchers to be in tune with participants for better understanding and prediction of consumer behavior. This then translates to companies formulating better merchandising and marketing platforms, which ties in to providing better service, products and/or overall customer satisfaction. Wherever you are in the world, if you’re a researcher, mobile research will surely lead your study to success.
- Real-time Sentiment - The rate at which we consume information today is at lightning speed. Consumer exposure to ideas has become a never-ending barrage of visual and emotional data. As a result, consumer sentiment changes rapidly and impressions swing quickly. With this pace of rapid-fire consumption, companies need to catch people immediately and obtain their feedback and make the most of their sentiment. Getting to ‘Why’ is the most important measure of why something is sought after or purchased. Tools that gather sentiment, like the Civcom ThoughtLight Mobile App, enable you to collect feedback directly from your users. You can gather valuable sentiment and input from your users while they use your app. Sentiment gathering enables you to give rich insights to key stakeholders that can answer the important question of ‘Why.’ Audio recordings generated through mobile market research enable researchers to hear the sentiment expressed in a decision. From their tone of voice to the way they phrase their concerns and excitement, you are getting closer to the real thoughts and feelings of your respondents when you conduct your research using audio recordings and then listen to what your respondents have to say.