Respondent Co-operation and Industry Image Study
January 14 2002
The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) has released new views on Internet respondents and their views towards surveys. According to Jane Sheppard, Director of Respondent Co-operation, many now find the research process a positive experience.
In an interview reported in the recent BMRA newsletter, Sheppard outlines her thoughts on how the Internet is changing the face of surveys. She is recorded as saying that they should be viewed as a complement to other data collection methods, not necessarily as a replacement. This is confirmed by the results of the latest CMOR Respondent Co-operation & Industry Image Study.
Findings from the study confirm that Internet respondents truly enjoy using this technology. However, these respondents appear to have a more overall positive survey experience than the telephone respondents regardless of the method employed in their last survey experience. In fact, only 4% described their last survey experience as unpleasant
Sheppard points to the fact that, when asked about their last survey experience, respondents revealed the following differing feelings about the different methodologies:
- Phone/face-to-face surveys :Interviewers were regarded as courteous and pleasant by nearly all Internet respondents, well over half did not think questions were too personal nor too tedious, time convenience did not appear to be an issue.
- Mail/Internet surveys: Surveys were easy to understand, most did not think questions were too tedious or personal, fewer than half of the Internet respondents thought the surveys were too long, only 1 in 5 were paid an incentive for participating.
At the same time, Sheppard notes that although nearly all Internet respondents (97%) stated that they would be very or somewhat willing to participate in surveys in the future, about half reported that they had indeed refused to participate in a survey last year. And, if given a preference, Internet respondents overwhelmingly prefer to participate via the Internet, with their second choice being mail (another self-administered method).
These findings might suggest that Internet respondents embrace surveys as a high-involvement activity. Most are members of online survey panels, reflecting their agreement to participate in multiple studies. Hence respondents appear to be unusually interested in responding to surveys. However, most researchers complain about the problems of reaching them by telephone. Eighty-six percent own answering machines, and nearly three quarters of those respondents screen their calls to some degree.
Their adoption of technology is evident with the high number of subscribers to Caller ID and Call Blocking. Sheppard suggests that the answer lies in reaching these respondents (typically college educated, aged 25-54) through 'traditional' means. Once contacted the evidence points to a strong likelihood they will participate providing the survey is both interesting and short.
For more information about the Respondent Co-operation & Industry Image Study, visit the BMRA or CMOR websites.
All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
