AUSTIN, TX (August 23, 2011) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announced that Harmon Research Group has selected Kinesis Survey™ as its exclusive survey software platform.

Located in California and Costa Rica, Harmon Research Group specializes in telephone and internet data collection projects conducted in the U.S., Latin Americas and the Caribbean. Following a competitive analysis of available solutions, Kinesis Survey™ was selected by Harmon Research Group because of its flexible multilingual capabilities and its extensive multimode survey programming functionality.

“We needed a solution that enabled surveys to be delivered in dual-mode to both mobile and desktop devices, and in multiple languages to support our diverse respondent groups,” said Joey Harmon, Harmon Research Group President/CEO. “We selected Kinesis Survey because it more than meets these needs, and it is able to handle complex research projects while being very easy to use. In addition, our clients love having personalized data and reporting tools available to them 24/7 via a secure Kinesis server.”

“Harmon Research Group has extensive research experience and is among the industry leaders in multimode data collection services,” said Kinesis Director of North American Sales, Gene Filipi. “Kinesis is very pleased to be Harmon Research’s survey software partner.”

More information about Harmon Research Group is available at: http://www.harmonresearch.com.

About Kinesis Survey Technologies
Kinesis Survey Technologies, LLC provides a multimode survey and panel management product suite to advance innovation in both mobile and web-based market research. Delivering intuitive, state-of-the-art applications, Kinesis software products can be effectively utilized without deep programming knowledge yet are robust enough to perform the most complex of survey and panel functions. Headquartered in Austin, TX USA, Kinesis offers product versions for both the market research industry and enterprise business organizations, and proudly supports next generation research applications worldwide.

Earlier this year Kinesis unveiled QR code support for Kinesis Survey™ so that clients could automatically generate a QR code for any mobile or multimode survey. Just last month we introduced the most advanced MROC portal, Kinesis Community™, which also can utilize QR codes as a means to drive recruitment of new panelists. While QR code implementation is not yet a widespread practice among our clients, nor among the greater market research industry, Kinesis is certainly ready when they are. Considering some recently released QR code usage statistics, it looks as if consumers – particularly those in younger demographics – are ready as well. Last week Comscore reported that 14 million Americans scanned a QR code using their mobile phones in June (representing 6.2 percent of the total mobile audience and 53.4 percent of users ages 18-34). In July, Mobio indicated that QR code scanning grew 9,840 percent in North America in Q2 2011 on a year-over-year basis.

What does this mean for market research? It means that there is a significant opportunity for the industry to get ahead of this mobile technology’s rapid adoption and capitalize on the benefits it affords our projects and clients. It means there is a less expensive and just-as-easy-to-use alternative to SMS short codes for general intercept research.  While short codes are currently the most commonly utilized method for recruiting respondents to provide feedback at retail stores, restaurants and other consumer-targeted locations, they are an expensive invitation delivery option. The client must incur a fee every time a potential respondent submits the short code – or worse – the respondent is charged for initiating the text. Here is the big “in” for QR codes – free for both parties!

QR codes can be displayed on promotional media just like SMS short codes, yet there is virtually no cost associated with their use.  While photographing a QR code first requires that a QR code reader application (app) is installed on the mobile device, several free and nominal cost apps are available for download on a variety of mobile devices. Additionally, as QR code usage continues to grow and becomes commonplace among mobile users, it is highly likely that smartphone OS providers will begin including QR code functionality as part of the standard mobile operating system, and thus eliminate the need for users to search for and download an app on their own.

For now, Kinesis recommends that all researchers who utilize short codes as an invitation delivery method also provide a QR code option. Using both in tandem provides potential respondents with greater flexibility and offers a choice that is free of charge. In the future, as QR code knowledge and usage continues to grow among consumers, QR codes will very likely supplant SMS short codes, unless the fee structure of SMS usage is radically changed.

The market research industry has an opportunity to lead mobile marketers to greater QR code adoption and assist them to reduce the research costs for many general intercept projects. Won’t you join us?

The Survey Geek recently posted a highly sarcastic (and highly entertaining) blog entitled How to write a mobile research pitch piece. It labels mobile research as largely “hype,” questions the significance and usefulness of mobile as a data collection platform, and postulates that most researchers who pitch mobile to their clients lack proof of its effectiveness. While a very entertaining read, this blog post is somewhat misleading and certainly one-sided. As the leading provider of mobile market research software solutions, Kinesis naturally feels the need to offer a counterpoint. Jason Cazes, Kinesis Sales Engineer, provided this excellent retort:

Fully realizing this post is made in jest, I’m going to try to address the underlying mentality in a counter-argument…

I agree with you wholeheartedly that people who approach new technology or ideas with a lot of energy but without any sort of plan or direction need to settle down and start producing. This is not a new concept, and it is certainly not unique to market research. People get excited about new technology, and they start talking about it. Some people innovate, and others don’t really know what to do with the new information and so they just keep talking. Some conferences (and now social media) seem to amplify this sort of useless chatter, but these communication mediums can also spark new innovations through knowledge-sharing.

Yes, there are limitations with mobile. There are limitations with every data collection medium. Phone, paper, and internet all present data collection challenges, but there are three important things to note about mobile:

1. Mobile is unquestionably the best way to intercept respondents in-store or on-site. This is already being done, and researchers are already successfully collecting and analyzing data. Sure, some may not want to participate, but inferring that the collection method itself is intrusive is just a fallacy of composition. Incentives change everything.
2. Mobile is simply another way people are connecting to the internet.
3. Limitations traditionally posed by mobile surveys are fading fast as mobile devices become more advanced.

In some regions – like the US – people are now purchasing more smartphones than feature phones. Does it make sense to launch a WAP survey in the heart of a location with low mobile internet access penetration? Absolutely not. Data collection efforts should always factor demographics and geography into the launch plan.

Revisiting the topic of the rise of mobile usage, consumers will soon be spending more time on their mobile devices than on their traditional desktop / laptop computers. Watching the iPad become the fastest growing consumer electronics product in history demonstrates this movement loud and clear. People want to spend more of their down time on mobile devices. Look at Nielsen’s latest mobile usage statistics to see the diversity of where people are using their devices and (potentially) browsing the web. These people are potential respondents!

In summary, market researchers need to be ready for respondents no matter which medium those respondents desire – internet (including mobile), phone, or paper.

References:
http://gigaom.com/2010/04/12/mary-meeker-mobile-internet-will-soon-overtake-fixed-internet/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39501308

http://www.getelastic.com/how-we-use-the-mobile-web-infographic/

AUSTIN, TX (Aug 4, 2011) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announced a new proprietary survey conversion process provided by Infotech Global that enables surveys programmed using other software solutions to be migrated to Kinesis Survey™.

As Kinesis’ survey conversion partner, Infotech Global now offers a full range of automated survey migration services for companies desiring to transfer existing survey projects from another survey solution to the Kinesis platform. Using proprietary conversion scripts, Infotech Global can migrate surveys while preserving data and critical design elements including question formatting, conditional logic, quotas, translations (for multilingual surveys), and more.

“Kinesis’ advanced functionality and superior return on investment attracts many research companies to us from other survey software vendors, and often significant data conversion is necessary when they come aboard,” said Jason Ehler-James, Kinesis Vice President of Client Services. “Through our partnership with Infotech Global, the process of converting surveys to the Kinesis platform is now highly automated and streamlined. Costs associated with converting survey projects, particularly when translations are involved, can be minimized as well.”

In addition to providing survey conversion and outsourced survey programming services, Infotech Global is now a Kinesis client. Infotech Global will utilize Kinesis Survey™ for its own varied research projects.

“For research companies with large volumes of surveys, such as those who conduct ongoing trackers and/or longitudinal studies, switching software vendors has historically been a laborious process,” said Sunil Sachdev, Executive Director at Infotech Global. “Having discovered the value that Kinesis software provides to our own business, Infotech Global is pleased to partner with Kinesis and offer our survey migration and programming services to other companies seeking the most robust and cost-effective research platform.”

About Kinesis Survey Technologies
Kinesis Survey Technologies, LLC provides a multimode survey and panel management product suite to advance innovation in both mobile and web-based market research. Delivering intuitive, state-of-the-art applications, Kinesis software products can be effectively utilized without deep programming knowledge yet are robust enough to perform the most complex of survey and panel functions. Headquartered in Austin, TX, USA, Kinesis offers product versions for both the market research industry and enterprise business organizations, and proudly supports next generation research applications worldwide.

About Infotech Global
Headquartered in Piscataway, NJ, with additional offices in the U.S. and India, Infotech Global is driven by a team of experienced and talented individuals with over 20 years of industry expertise and domain knowledge. Infotech Global’s evolution from its 1992 origins demonstrates the company’s ability to adapt to changing business dynamics and the needs of the markets we serve. Today, Infotech Global has established itself as a premier technology service and a solutions provider. Infotech Global is structured to meet the growing business demands of the Healthcare, Financial Services, Government, Manufacturing, Media, Telecommunications, Insurance and Reinsurance verticals. Visit www.igiusa.com or www.igihealth.com for more information.