Op4G is a charity-focused online panel technology company. It provides research panel members (non-profit volunteers, staff, and donors) the opportunity to participate in sophisticated paid online research surveys and subsequently donate a portion of their compensation to charity. To date more than 300 non-profit organizations have registered with Op4G. Following an evaluation of the leading survey software platforms, Op4G selected Kinesis Survey to program and execute its online surveys.

“As both our panel and non-profit partners list grow, we wanted the superior offerings of Kinesis to best serve our clients,” said Frank Nappo, Op4G President and CEO. “Op4G’s survey complexity needs have increased and we determined that Kinesis provides the best advanced programming tools and support. Additionally, the Kinesis reporting functionality is state of the art; it enables faster delivery of our clients’ data and allows us to analyze the data in numerous ways.”

Kinesis Survey is the leading online survey software platform. It facilitates the programming and execution of desktop surveys, mobile surveys and tablet/iPad surveys – utilizing only one mode per project or utilizing all simultaneously for a multimode solution. The software readily supports complex survey designs and high-volume survey traffic with an intuitive user interface and cutting-edge technologies.

“Kinesis is very pleased to welcome Op4G as a new customer; they not only conduct valuable research for clients but also facilitate philanthropy on a wide scale across the U.S.,” said Kinesis Director of Sales Gene Filipi.

More information about Op4G is available at www.op4g.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.

About Op4G
Opinions For Good, Inc. (Op4G) a member-based, online panel technology company. Op4G’s objective is to provide a strategic alignment among Non-Profits, Clients, and Members that benefits each party. Op4G establishes and nurtures a secure online membership base that receives cash payments for involvement in a broad range of Internet-based market research activities, while expanding funding for non‐profit organizations across the United States.

]]> http://www.kinesissurvey.com/2012/04/26/opinions-for-good-chooses-the-kinesis-online-survey-platform/feed/ 0 http://www.kinesissurvey.com/2012/04/23/mrmw-community-survey-results/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrmw-community-survey-results http://www.kinesissurvey.com/2012/04/23/mrmw-community-survey-results/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:15:17 +0000 Holly Rios http://www.kinesissurvey.com/?p=3287

The Market Research in the Mobile World conference took place in Amsterdam last week; it was an agenda-packed and insightful event that solidified the industry’s commitment to expanding both the opportunities and the capabilities of mobile market research on a global scale.

Kinesis’ Leslie Townsend and Tariq Mirza delivered a session “Glocalizing” Mobile Research in the European Region which compared mobile survey traffic, device usage, completion rates, and other metrics between Europe and the U.S. Kinesis also conducted a survey among the conference attendees via our multimode MRMW Community to gauge researchers’ own perceptions on mobile; some results are shown below:

The majority of MRMW respondents indicated that location-based research and gamification will gain prominence in the near future, but a number of respondents indicated that it is still too soon to tell/don’t know what impact the various mobile capabilities will have on the industry. This was somewhat surprising to us, given what our own Kinesis respondent traffic looks like these days. Ms. Townsend and Mr. Mirza shared some Q1 data that revealed more than 25.5% of Kinesis’ U.S. survey traffic is now mobile, and that mobile-intended surveys completed on mobile devices have an impressive 59.7% completion rate in the European region. From our data, mobile is gaining ground in all areas of market research, and at a faster rate than ever before.

More information from their MRMW session, and additional findings from Kinesis’ latest data, will be shared in an upcoming Kinesis whitepaper – be on the lookout for it next month. Our team will also be present at the MRMW U.S. event being held July 18-19 in Cincinnati; we look forward to continuing the conversation then.

Precisely how Google’s decision to move deeper into the market research space will influence our industry remains to be seen, but it is clear that certain facets of the research sector will be impacted faster and more deeply than others. The Google Consumer Surveys model offers only one question at a time, so clearly it will not serve companies seeking comprehensive, detailed research solutions. Yet for those companies utilizing DIY solutions such as SurveyMonkey®, Google’s $0.10-0.50 per complete price is going to be very appealing, and it may well cause a major shift among the self-serve segment of the industry – particularly for low-incidence or other well-defined populations.

Also greatly impacted may be the lower cost panel providers; for who is able to compete with Google in terms of sample size? And while many within market research have long argued that all panels bring some form of bias to their data sets, Google is able to rightfully claim the largest and most diverse group of potential respondents, period. What is not yet clear is how much visibility Google Consumer Surveys customers will have into the sample composition, so at least in the short term the panel companies can leverage that advantage.

Just as the core MR industry is subjected to scrutiny regarding whether survey respondents are unique and truthful, the accuracy of the Google Consumer Surveys data may be called into question as well; once users realize they can gain free access to premium content that they used to pay for, and with no customary cash or other incentive, they may not take the survey as seriously as one in which such incentives are present.  Google will likely counter that the one-question-only model addresses this potential issue – it is only one quick question after all, and free access to desirable content is a great incentive to answer thoughtfully.

Google’s research methodology is not new, but rather a mirror of a growing trend among tech companies that are offering up (in this case, on behalf of others) a single, salient question or greatly streamlined survey.  With mobile device use representing an increasingly large percentage of the respondent base, and the social media generation more attuned to giving their input in the form of chatter, the one-question survey is likely to become a staple of ongoing tracking for many types of surveys going forward. The complexity of the solution lies within the sampling framework, the marrying of data sets, and the backend analysis – all of which Google is in good stead to offer.

This model is not limited to Google, of course.  Our industry has been offered similar presentations by Facebook, the now-diminished MySpace, and other major Internet players over the recent past.  What is clear is that he who holds the data is no longer the market research industry, and that monetization models for search engine, advertising, social, and other types of data will increasingly impact our industry and business practices in the future.

This whitepaper identifies key panel migration issues and offers various recommendations about how to successfully move a market research panel from one software platform to another.  It details crucial considerations such as deciding what current and next-generation panel functionality is needed, how to determine what panel data to keep and what to purge, planning for data mapping and export processes, and, most importantly, how to ensure as little disruption as possible for panelists.

“During 2011 alone, Kinesis successfully migrated more than 3 million panelists from other panel management solutions to Kinesis Panel™,” said Kinesis President Leslie Townsend. “These panel migrations, as well as many others that Kinesis completed in years past, have resulted in significant experience and lessons learned. We are happy to share this valuable information with other companies that are considering a change for their panel management platform, in order to alleviate potential problems and help ensure a smooth transition.”

The whitepaper offers many forward-thinking suggestions that not only aid in the panel migration process, but also to help avoid the necessity of future panel migrations as market research technologies and processes evolve. It is applicable for panels of all sizes, with an emphasis on large panels that have more than 250,000 members. The Issues and Considerations for Migrating Large Panels whitepaper is available for free download here.
 

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.

The Kinesis solution suite provides new time-saving features and additional next-generation market research capabilities

AUSTIN, TX (March 23, 2012) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announces the release of new versions of Kinesis Survey™ and Kinesis Panel™.

Kinesis Survey™ is the leading survey software solution for multi-mode (desktop/tablet/mobile) survey execution, and provides comprehensive online survey functionality for a wide range of market research projects. The latest version of Kinesis Survey™ offers more than 100 new and augmented features including various enhancements within the survey editor, document importer, invitation management, and reporting components of the solution. Kinesis Panel™ is a highly versatile panel management solution that supports market research panels of all sizes and includes a multi-mode community website solution, Kinesis Community™.  The new version of Kinesis Panel™ furthers expands the software’s robust querying and data import/export capabilities, as well as its Kinesis Community™ features.

“Kinesis strives to provide the highest degree of cutting-edge functionality and flexible ease of use available in the market research industry,” said Leslie Townsend, Kinesis President. “The latest versions of our software achieve this goal by providing our clients with a wide range of new features, as well as many usability enhancements that increase automation and efficiency.”

Software development for the new version of Kinesis Survey™ includes:

• Additional capabilities for latest generation touchscreen devices including new conditional logic support and usage of matrix tables
• Enhanced analysis capabilities such as dynamic target data weighting for both crosstabs and topline reports, and expanded template options for PowerPoint exports
• Augmented survey programming/editing via enhanced drag-n-drop and right-click menu functionality
• New progressive matrix table question type that reveals the next selection row once the previous row is answered
• Availability of mobile phone make/model specification for all mobile survey sessions
• Improved HTML question text editing via the automated interface
• Additional mail server configuration options for enhanced email deliverability

Software development for the new version of Kinesis Panel™ includes:

• Additional capabilities within the query tool, including the ability to share queries between projects
• Increased security and encryption tools to support privacy protection and extend industry privacy standards
• Expanded support for numerous panel recruitment options
• Augmented branding and theme elements for increased customization
• Numerous enhancements for Kinesis Community™ websites, including new page templates and design features, support for embedded videos, and display order randomization of quick polls

All Kinesis solutions will be featured at the Advertising Research Foundation’s Re:Think Annual Conference March 26-27 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Kinesis will be exhibiting at booth #407.

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.

Market researchers are already aware that competition for panelists is at an all-time high and panel attrition is a serious issue.  We all know that the MR industry needs to ensure we are providing a satisfactory experience to respondents; not only because it affects engagement, but also because it influences data quality. Yet poor questionnaire design and usability errors continue to be serious problems.  Inadequate querying practices too often result in unrepresentative samples and the over-sending of survey invitations. Ineffective de-duplication processes permit individuals to complete the same survey multiple times. Our industry is well aware of these issues, and the panel of panelists at CASRO Online readily reinforced the message.

So what’s the answer? Utilization of effective survey software and panel management software goes a long way toward solving these problems. Today’s sophisticated survey and panel solutions provide tools – both automated and customizable – that enhance panel performance and keep respondents happy and engaged. In situations where outside sample and/or multiple sample sources are utilized, respondent authentication solutions such as TrueSample® are also beneficial to verify, de-dup and monitor survey participants. Kinesis proudly integrates to TrueSample, and readily provides many additional next-generation features (multimode community websites, advanced email delivery tools, panel health assessments, and more) to empower our clients and facilitate successful market research panels.

New Facebook and Twitter features further enhance social networking for market research panels

 
AUSTIN, TX (March 8, 2012) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announced that Kinesis Community™ now includes expanded social media capabilities and enhanced interaction with Facebook and Twitter.

Kinesis Community™ is the leading community website solution that facilitates consistent user interaction from the various types of web-enabled devices (computers, tablets and mobile phones), and enables members of market research panels to participate in all available research activities from one centralized location.  Among Kinesis Community’s latest social media enhancements are the ability to directly refer Facebook friends to join the community panel, and to display a real-time Twitter feed(s) on the community homepage.

“Community websites are the natural bridge between market research panels and the social media platforms that a majority of consumers now utilize as part of everyday life,” said Juha Vehnia, Kinesis CTO. “Kinesis Community now offers improved synergy between the two, thereby facilitating deeper engagement for community members and enhanced insight gathering for researchers.”

In addition to the latest Facebook and Twitter features, Kinesis Community includes other social media functionality such as discussion forums and image/video sharing. The solution also provides access to available surveys, a review of participation history, reward tracking, friend referral via email, account settings management, and more. Kinesis Community enables full mobile device interaction to support the latest generation smartphones and tablets, including those with touch screen capabilities.

Learn more about Kinesis Community here.

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.

OnlineMR

“We believed back then – which has certainly proven true since – that mobile technology would become vital within the MR industry for immediate, flexible and highly reliable feedback gathering.” — Leslie Townsend

Read the full interview here.

Millennials have never known adulthood without the Internet and mobile phones. For the younger half of the 18-34 year old group, social media has been part of their everyday lives since they were tweens. A staggering 95 percent of US Millennials own a mobile phone (more than 40 percent own a smartphone), and 81 percent use Facebook every day. Researchers who are eager to recruit and engage Millennials in survey participation clearly should strive to meet this generation on their preferred communication platforms. Certainly the market research industry is already undergoing a transformation to account for mobile and social media usage, but the question remains – are we evolving quickly enough?

Desktop Internet usage remains very high among the GenX and Boomer generations, however Millennials are a much more mobile-centric group. The mobile-only Internet population is expected to grow 56-fold from 14 million at the end of 2010 to 788 million by the end of 2015. That’s just a few short years away. And while overall social media usage is beginning to level off, the percentage of social media traffic coming from mobile devices is still steadily growing. This is a clear indication that the combination of the two platforms is where some of the most compelling and radical transformation of MR communications will occur.  In order to engage the prized Millennials, as well as the generation coming up behind them, research software solutions simply must support full-function mobile and social media interaction…and the time for implementation is right now.

This prediction likely did not sit well with the market research software providers who have built their entire mobile offering on an app-based model. Some of these companies provide an app solution that is specific to one type of smartphone, while others provide multiple versions of their app to cover the most common smartphone OS platforms (e.g. Apple iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc.). Regardless of which smartphones their apps support, they all probably disapproved of Kinesis’ position. They were also probably quite happy to learn that the one millionth app milestone was achieved in December, that the apps market more than doubled in 2011, and that mobile users now spend more time using apps than mobile browsers.

Given last year’s explosive app development and predictions for further app growth in 2012, does Kinesis still believe that apps will fail to sustain prominence as a major mobile research tool in the coming years?

You bet. While apps continue to be developed at a furious pace, in reality the vast majority of them are used by a very small number of mobile subscribers. Additionally, app usage seems to be reaching a peak. The fact that app usage time surpassed mobile browsing time last year is largely attributable to only one company – Facebook – and recent data from app analytics firm Flurry indicates that app usage now appears to be slowing. A study last year by Localytics found that one in four smartphone apps is downloaded but never used again. For market research, respondents may very well download an app for a one-time project or to join a panel, but continuous respondent use is required in order to provide ongoing value to the researcher. And in order to maintain continuous use (aka “the engagement factor”), ongoing development is essential. Both initial and ongoing app development can be a substantial endeavor. According to Deloitte: to reach more than 90 percent of all apps users, a developer may need to create versions for five different operating systems (plus HTML5), five major languages, three different processor speeds, and four different screen sizes. In other words, 360 variants of a single app may need to be created in order to fully cover the global market.

Since most research studies require a diverse and representative sample, multiple versions of the app must be maintained to accommodate a diverse group of mobile subscribers. And even for the research companies that have these necessary development capabilities, another significant challenge exists in how to deliver the app’s functional enhancements to users. There is no assurance that respondents will download updates, and their failure to do so may result in significant usability and performance issues.

For these reasons and others, Kinesis stands behind our prediction. App solutions simply have more inherent limitations than mobile browser-based solutions. It is true that today’s mobile browsers have their own set of limitations, but with the advent of HTML5, mobile browsers continue to close the gap on desktop browsers. Over the next few years, the capabilities of mobile browsers will become increasingly powerful and will ultimately replace the need for the majority of research apps.  Now Kinesis is not claiming that ALL market research apps will become extinct – there will continue to be highly specific and targeted research initiatives that are better suited for custom app delivery – however the advantages of mobile browsers will result in their dominance for mobile market research. Further, since the browser-based approach has the ability to support all mobile devices, any market research company that spends money developing device-specific apps for solutions that can be more readily supported via a browser will be at serious financial disadvantage.

It will likely take another few years for HTML5 to roll out its complete feature set and gain wide adoption, but it will happen. Benefits in terms of device flexibility and cost, as well as factors such as lower battery consumption and ease of delivering functional updates, will ultimately win out.

Growing Demand for Kinesis Solutions Results in More Than 30 Percent Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth

AUSTIN, TX (January 23, 2012) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announced more than thirty percent revenue growth for 2011 and the relocation its U.S. and U.K. offices.

This ongoing organic growth underscores Kinesis’ rising industry presence as the frontrunner for comprehensive, multimode market research software. With a solution suite that includes robust survey, panel management and online community solutions, Kinesis continues to attract prestigious market research and enterprise companies to its platform. During 2011 Kinesis successfully migrated more than 3 million panelists from other solutions to Kinesis Panel™, and also maintained its position as the worldwide leader for mobile survey software with more than 10 million mobile survey sessions executed via Kinesis Survey™.

“Last year Kinesis continued to demonstrate our strength not only in mobile survey research, but as a future-proof and fully integrated platform for all market research initiatives,” said Leslie Townsend, Kinesis President. “Kinesis’ agile and forward-thinking approach to solution development, coupled with our commitment to customer service excellence, is propelling the company to the forefront of market research software. Last year was our most successful to date, however we expect even greater success for 2012.”

Key 2011 achievements for Kinesis included the expansion of global operations with the opening of a European office, new strategic partnerships, and the debut of the industry’s first fully multimode panelist community solution. The company also unveiled a smartphone app with geolocation and barcode scanning capabilities, introduced QR code generation for both surveys and communities, provided Facebook survey integration, and added automated diary research campaigns to its panel management solution.

“Kinesis is proud to offer highly valuable survey and panel functionality that is not available in competing solutions, and a price point that provides the best ROI in the industry,” said Michael Swimelar, Kinesis CFO. “We expect 2012 to be another record year for Kinesis.”

To support Kinesis’ worldwide expansion, the company is relocating both its U.S. and U.K. offices this month. New office address and phone information is available here.
 
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.

Whitepaper identifies key variables for successful management of market research online panels

AUSTIN, TX (Jan 11, 2012) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, has published a new whitepaper entitled Future-Proofing Online Panels: A Multimode, Multisource Approach.

This whitepaper focuses on the changes that are occurring within the market research industry in terms of panel management strategy and implementation. It details the importance of expanding panel management practices to support new web-enabled device types including mobile phones and tablets, as well as utilizing new recruitment sources including river sampling and social media, to improve overall panelist recruitment and retention.

“Changes in consumer habits are dictating that online panels become more inclusive of new technologies and strategies,” said Kinesis President Leslie Townsend. “Since usage of mobile devices and social media tools continues to escalate within market research, Kinesis offers our new whitepaper to assist panel managers with the expansion of their panel functionality, and to ultimately improve the quality of their research.”

Topics addressed within the whitepaper include changes in panelist behavior, multimode device support, panel functionality, panelist recruitment/profiling/engagement strategies, and best practices recommendations. The Future-Proofing Online Panels: A Multimode, Multisource Approach whitepaper is available for free download on the Kinesis website here.

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.

The market research industry initially viewed tablets as a valuable tool for general intercept survey research. Tablets offer the mobility of smartphones and the larger screen size and keypads of computers, making them well-suited for consumers to utilize on-site at retail and entertainment locations. What perhaps many researchers have not yet considered is that with 54 million tablets and e-readers sold last year, and some predictions that tablet sales will reach a quarter billion in 2015, these devices are becoming a valuable tool for almost ALL types of market research.

We at Kinesis have been advocating multimode research implementation for some time; the industry needs to routinely deliver surveys that can render across the primary web device spectrum – computers, mobile phones and tablets – because consumers utilize all of these device groups. The vast majority of survey invitations continue to be delivered via email, which necessitates the need for mobile- and tablet-enabled surveys since both mobile and tablet email viewership continues to rise. A recent study from ReturnPath cites a 73% increase in email opens on the iPad from April to September of 2011 as compared to the previous six months, and a 34% increase across all mobile devices in the same timeframe. And while webmail and desktop still dominate email viewership, ReturnPath’s findings indicated an 11% and 9% drop, respectively. It is realistic to believe that email viewership will continue to balance out across device types over the next few years, and if research respondents use a variety of devices to open emailed survey invitations, it is highly likely that they will also click on the link and attempt to take the survey using the same devices.

Given tablets’ hybrid functionality, it only makes sense that they will continue to expand their value for market research. While some survey projects are not well-suited for mobile phones (e.g. long/detailed surveys or those that include detailed images) or desktops (e.g. on-site completion requirements or mobile-specific studies), tablets are applicable to nearly all projects. The good news is that adding support for this device group does not include any real pain points for implementation, at least not for researchers who utilize a survey platform with inherent multimode capabilities and touchscreen support. Technology is moving faster and faster, and its advancements are getting harder and harder to predict. Perhaps another iPad will soon come to market and change the web landscape yet again, but it is safe to assume that tablets will have a predominant place in the market for some time. Researchers have no choice but to embrace tablets, because consumers certainly are.

Kinesis Now Offers Easy One-Click Access to Highly Advanced Data Analysis Tools by MarketSight

AUSTIN, TX (December 20, 2011) - Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC (Kinesis), the industry leader for future-proof market research software solutions, today announced that Kinesis Survey™ now includes data export integration to MarketSight® analytics and reporting software.

MarketSight®, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, streamlines the data analysis process for market researchers. It provides intuitive solutions that enable users to create crosstabs, automatically run statistical significance tests, create powerful charts, view individual survey responses, and report results in a secure, web-based environment. The MarketSight® integration augments the broad reporting capabilities that are native to Kinesis Survey™, and offers Kinesis clients additional options to analyze survey data and present findings.

“Kinesis supports a highly diverse group of researchers with highly diverse data analysis needs,” said Juha Vehnia, Kinesis CTO. “Our ongoing desire is to provide Kinesis clients with the most innovative and flexible research technologies available, and this latest integration with MarketSight continues to support our goal.”

Kinesis Survey™ is a comprehensive online survey solution that enables the programming and execution of web surveys and mobile surveys, utilizing only one mode per project or utilizing both simultaneously for a multimode solution. Use of MarketSight® software is optional for Kinesis Survey™ clients; those who elect to utilize the software can export data directly from the survey solution and then access it within MarketSight®. MarketSight enables data to be transferred to and from its platform with several applications such as PowerPoint®, Excel®, PDF, SPSS® and SAS®.

“We are very pleased to combine the advanced analytics and reporting features of MarketSight with the comprehensive Kinesis Survey solution,” said Michael DeNitto, MarketSight CEO. “With this compelling integrated offering, the full range of client needs can be met in one survey platform.”

Additional information about MarketSight is available at www.marketsight.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.

The good news about this expansion is that the cost ratio of mobile sampling versus traditional sampling will begin to balance out in 2012, and over the next few years, mobile will actually drive down overall data collection costs. As researchers gain experience running mobile projects and optimize their mixed-mode survey design practices, costs will diminish. Additionally, many survey software providers including Kinesis discount mobile surveys as compared to web surveys simply because (in most cases) they are shorter and simpler to implement, and therefore utilize fewer people and computer resources. Naturally there will always be research projects that cannot / should not be delivered via mobile, but whenever possible device flexibility should be offered.

Furthermore, the utilization of a mixed-mode approach affords participants the flexibility to complete surveys whenever and wherever they choose, and will result in increased respondent recruitment and retention. This is a crucial benefit when we consider that the traditional online respondent pool is insufficient to meet industry needs today, and will be even more so a few years from now. The exclusion of mobile in sampling practices has already left a vast supply of potential respondents untapped.  For many potential respondents, especially those who fall into the highly desired Millennial generation, mobile is their preferred platform for web access (or perhaps their only platform). Device flexibility gets to the heart of the engagement process, and if we allow respondents greater options, in theory, panel churn will be reduced.  2012 looks to be a tipping point.

What does this mean for market research? Flash is still a great resource for creating visually-rich survey questions, but because the technology has only been (and only will be) designed for desktop survey-takers, researchers who still require the technology should take one or more of the following measures to ensure a proper respondent experience:

1. Implement automatic browser checks at the beginning of the questionnaire that disable respondents with unsupported browsers from taking the survey.
2. If the technology from #1 is unavailable, disclose to respondents on the first page of the questionnaire the specific browsers and devices for which the survey has been designed.

Of course the best way to ensure universal support and to eliminate “device bias” among your respondents is to use plugin-agnostic technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript that are supported by nearly all browsers and devices. As the HTML5 standard is finalized over the next few years, more and more resources will emerge (and have already emerged) that reproduce some of the visually rich and intuitive content that Flash has traditionally brought to the table. This technology standardization and defragmentation across platforms (desktop vs. smartphone vs. feature phone), coupled with the rapid smartphone adoption seen in developed nations, should provide researchers with a more streamlined design process for multimode surveys down the road.

Headquartered in London with an additional office in Madrid, Effective Research provides comprehensive online and mobile fieldwork services worldwide. Other main services include panel build and related panel management tasks. Founded by online market research industry experts, Effective Research sought to employ a more cutting-edge and highly flexible survey platform with which to expand its business. Kinesis Survey™ was evaluated along with solutions from four other leading survey software vendors, and Effective Research ultimately determined that the Kinesis solution best fulfilled its needs.

“From my experience, Kinesis Survey includes the best bits of several survey solutions and combines them into one,” said Alan Hargreaves, Director of Online Global Operations and Partner at Effective Research. “Kinesis provides market leading functionality, including advanced mobile technology, that was either not available or as robust in the other platforms we considered. Like Effective Research, Kinesis is very forward-thinking and we feel a great synergy between our two companies.”

“Kinesis is very pleased to have Effective Research as a client,” said Tariq Mirza, Kinesis Managing Director of Europe. “The Effective Research team is enthusiastic and offers extensive fieldwork and panel expertise, and a commitment to innovative research delivery.”

More information about Effective Research is available at www.effective-research.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.

There is no doubt that location technologies, just like social and mobile technologies, hold tremendous promise for market research. The possibilities for location-based surveys are vast, and could very well transform how the majority of market research is conducted in the future. A valid criticism of location-based technologies has been that they are still too imprecise for most applications in our industry, particularly when utilized indoors. Yet, many of the Geo-Loco speakers argued that location-tracking precision will continue to improve just like all SoLoMo technologies that offer value, and one day we will be able to accurately track consumers in a building, on a floor, and even near a product on the shelf. Just how far off this capability really is can be (and is being) debated, but it is coming.

Kinesis ran its first location-based research project back in 2007 utilizing geo-fencing, so it is a technology we have been evaluating for some time. Earlier this year we introduced a mobile research app designed for point-of-sale diaries that utilizes geolocation to identify where and when diary entries are made. While we have found it advantageous for certain types of projects, we do not feel location-tracking is yet ready for broad implementation in market research. Kinesis will continue to keep an eye on the advancements of location-based technologies and all things SoLoMo, and expand our solution suite accordingly in order to keep our clients at the top of the research game.

Be sure to stay tuned to privacy issues around geolocation – we will be posting more on this issue soon.

Due to a slight schedule shake up, Diane Hessan of Communispace presented “Online Communities: Mistakes, Misuses and Challenges” back-to-back with Felix Koch of Promise Communities, who presented “What’s Next? Five Predictions About the Future of Online Co-Creation.” This proved to be an ideal change because the two presentations offered a lot of synergy regarding how successful research communities operate today, and how they should evolve over the next few years.

During her presentation, Hessan shared some community best practice recommendations, as honed by Communispace’s extensive experience in running online communities for its clients. Some of her key takeaways were:

• Bigger is not always better – an ideal community size is 300-500 members, because as the number of members goes up, participation rates go down
• Communities should never be used simply as a means of delivering surveys – engagement is better sustained with multiple activities (an ideal split would be one third surveys / one third discussions / one third “other” activities)
• Researchers must remain focused on real listening instead of trying to create brand advocates – members want to feel invited to share their true opinions rather than be coerced into adopting ours, and they can always tell the difference (this argument could certainly apply beyond online communities to all research activities)

Next up, Koch offered his five predictions as to how online co-creation, which often occurs via research and social media communities, will change in the near future. He said co-creation will become more:

• Mobile – communities will have to support mobile interaction due to the escalation of mobile device use
• Engaging – competition for people’s online time will only get tougher and therefore communities must ensure they can attract and sustain attention
• Rewarding – as more participants become digitally literate and aware of the value they contribute, new incentive models will be constructed
• Playful – social games appeal to the online masses and are not limited to “gamers” anymore, therefore research gamification will continue to escalate
• Hybrid – communities will begin to combine both online and offline methods of communication to further enhance co-creation

The vast majority of the content from these two presentations aligns with Kinesis’ views as to the present and future of online research communities, and validates the future-proof functionality we built have into our new Kinesis Community™ solution. While market research online communities should not be utilized for all types of research, they do spur co-creation and provide insights that other research mediums cannot. Healthy and thriving communities are sustained by utilizing a community platform that is device-flexible, engaging, and highly advanced.

The argument has strong merit, but gamification has its own consequences as well, and this point was addressed in another ESOMAR 3D presentation, “How Far Is Too Far” by element54’s Bernie Malinoff.   Malinoff reported that the introduction of gaming scenarios, and Flash, significantly lengthens the time that it takes a respondent to complete a survey – and many in the industry feel that surveys are already too long. It also introduces new forms of data bias, including forms that we are not even aware of yet, because of rapid technology change. When table grids are replaced with sliders, results will not benchmark. Gamification requires great creativity to be successful, but it doesn’t scale, and Malinoff argues for efficiency and scalability in research design.

Ultimately, research projects have always come down to costs and timing.  “Out of the box” programming is not truly possible in gamification, and therefore gamification is going to require a new resource set in the industry – one which will result lengthier programming time and increased costs, because all programming will be customized. But if the gamified surveys are sufficiently interesting, the participants may become voluntary (although this implies non-representative).  If gamification becomes a mainstream market research methodology, the research experience – both for participants and for researchers – will be very different than it is today.