Last summer Kinesis offered up our Top 10 Predictions as to how mobile technology will significantly transform market research over the next few years. Included on the list was a prediction that “apps will be a mostly transitional phenomena in the industry.”

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.

When Apple first announced the iPad two years ago this month, it was received with very mixed reviews among the technology gurus and press. While some immediately saw its value, many others predicted that it would fail. Leading tech reporters deemed the iPad “disappointing,” and its utility as “awfully thin.” Fast forward to now, and obviously the skeptics have been silenced. The iPad has spawned a whole new generation of tablet computing and it – along with its relatives such as the Kindle Fire, HP Touchpad and Samsung Galaxy Tab – became the fastest growing consumer electronics products of 2011.

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.

To date, sampling costs for mobile respondents have been higher than those for traditional web respondents. This reality has left many market researchers hesitant to recommend mobile (or mixed-mode) survey projects to their clients. It is true that mobile research methods can be more expensive during initial implementations, but this is primarily because mobile is still a relatively new platform for most researchers, and start-up costs are always associated with the introduction of new technologies and methodologies. Yet, as mobile usage continues to escalate (tablets are included in the mobile category too since functionality such as touchscreen support and image scaling is required to support these devices), the market research industry will have to adopt a mixed-mode approach that supports respondents on all of their commonly-utilized web devices.

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.

Earlier this month Adobe – creator of Flash technology – announced that it will no longer develop out Flash for smartphone and tablet devices and will only continue providing security updates and patches. When it comes to mobile support, Adobe is instead getting on the HTML5 bandwagon with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM. Regardless of the fact that Flash has never been supported in Apple iOS’s Safari (a large portion of the US and global smartphone market), the technology has never been truly optimized and scaled for any mobile platforms.

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.

 
There are many resources available, including several from Kinesis, that detail best practices for mobile surveys. Harder to find are best practice recommendations specific to mobile survey invitations; while there are actually numerous invitation options to consider, little information is available to the MR industry as to which are most effective for any given mobile research project. This is primarily because a majority of today’s mobile survey traffic comes from respondent intercept on mobile websites and ads, rather than from mobile panels. Things are starting to change however – Kinesis is seeing significant growth of mobile and multimode panels among our clients and throughout the industry – and therefore effective mobile invitation delivery is becoming a critical issue. The challenge is that there are many mobile invitation modes to consider, and determining which mode(s) to utilize can be tricky.  Below Kinesis has briefly identified both the well-known and emerging mobile survey invitation options available to researchers, with some recommendations for use.

Email. Just as is the case with desktop surveys, email is a predominant survey invitation method used in mobile research, and rightfully so. Email is a very inexpensive invitation option, recipients are highly familiar and use it regularly, and delivery times can be precisely scheduled. Email remains a strong and perhaps the best option for multi-mode (web/mobile) studies in that it provides respondents with the ultimate flexibility to decide when, where and via what device they will participate.

There is also an email-to-text option that uses the built-in email address specific to each mobile phone rather than the recipient’s third-party email application, but since many mobile subscribers do not know and do not use their mobile email address, Kinesis does not generally recommend this option. While it can be useful in camera phone ethnographies and mobile diaries, today’s mobile devices are sophisticated enough to utilize the third-party email applications for these projects, and therefore this invitation mode is becoming obsolete.

SMS.  SMS is a widely used mobile communication method, particularly among younger mobile subscribers, and enables the survey invitation to be sent as a text message. SMS short codes are well-suited when targeted recipients’ mobile phone numbers and email addresses are not known, and are currently the most popular option for recruiting feedback at public venues because they are fast/easy to type and automatically return the survey URL (or other content). SMS is a highly immediate option, yet it can be expensive. Per-usage fees are often required which can make implementation undesirable if the sample size is large, and may involve usage fees for the respondents themselves (although there are some new free-to-recipient SMS services emerging – the MR industry should keep watch here). Additionally, in Europe and other places where GSM network standards are used, WAP Push is available. WAP Push utilizes an encoded message which can be used to send links that open up directly in the mobile browser, and has proven to have higher completion rates than basic SMS.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). MMS is like SMS but it can also send sound, images and video files in addition to basic text. Currently MMS usage is very expensive and there is not a single standard in use. Additionally, email provides much higher resolution for images, and mobile email supports other forms of media more readily, therefore Kinesis does not recommend MMS.

QR Codes. QR codes are a further option for pubic venue research where targeted recipients’ mobile phone numbers and email addresses are not available. QR code invitations are inexpensive to implement (the only required cost is signage/display printing) and ensure that surveys are accessed from the mobile device like SMS invitations. Respondents for QR code surveys are limited to those who have an installed QR code reader/scanner app on their mobile device, but QR code knowledge and usage is growing very quickly worldwide, and it will likely be a very viable invitation option moving forward.  QR codes may also be used in conjunction with short codes to appeal to the broadest possible audience and increase response rates.

Location-based.  Utilizing the location-tracking technology that comes standard with most smartphones, survey invitations can be triggered based on the targeted recipients’ physical location. Technologies such as geo-location, geo-fencing, Bluetooth, etc., ensure real-time invitation delivery, and can also confirmation where a survey was completed. There are limitations with this mode however; mobile users have the ability to turn off this feature, location tracking is still sometimes imprecise, and its usage may require compliance with regional privacy laws. Researchers need to be careful not to abuse or alienate respondents with location tracking until the technology becomes more mature, so therefore today it should be used with caution.

In-App Messaging.  Use of smartphone in-app messaging obviously first requires that a custom mobile research app has already been developed and downloaded to the phones of the participants. For research panels where regular communication is necessary and expected, apps are a good option. Beyond the development and maintenance costs, app messaging is typically free and invitations pop up similarly to text messages.

Social Media. Several survey software tools now offer survey invitation integration with leading social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and this is a good option for multi-mode surveys since these sites are readily accessed by both web and mobile browsers. Social media sites are a good recruitment source for brands and companies with an active and successful social media presence, however survey invitations posted to a Facebook Wall or Twitter Feed may be easily ignored, and therefore response rates may be lower than expected.

Naturally, determining which mobile invitation option(s) to use is dependent upon the type of survey being conducted, the targeted demographic groups, and also the regions in which the project will take place.  Significant research-on-research will be necessary to determine industry-wide mobile survey invitation best practices, but in the meantime, hopefully this blog can shed some light on both the pros and cons of the options available for today’s mobile projects.

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 Kinesis team is just back from exhibiting at the ARF Re:think 2011 Convention in New York. What was HOT for Kinesis at ARF?  QR codes.

Kinesis recently unveiled built-in support for QR code generation that enables respondents to take a picture of a displayed QR code with their camera phone and immediately trigger a mobile survey. The QR codes posted on the Kinesis booth signage drew a lot of attention from among the ARF attendees, and rightfully so.

QR codes are gaining in popularity for all aspects of advertising and marketing.  Retail stores and restaurants can recruit for feedback and offer promotions in real-time as their establishments are being patronized. Magazine and signage advertising can easily provide readers with access to additional product information. Business cards can be used to direct prospects to the company website.

For market research, QR codes are easy to implement and solve many invitation issues for mobile surveys. Often companies desire to capture experience feedback in the moment, but cannot find an easy way to get the survey invitations out to respondents.  If a researcher wants to capture responses from commuter train passengers while they are riding the train, as an example, how does he or she deliver the invitations in real-time?  There is no way to know the phone numbers of those riding the train at any particular time, but there are some invitation delivery options:

• Post a short code for SMS reply that returns a survey link.  Implementing this option may take up to six weeks to obtain the short code, and entails usage-based costs for each use of that code.
• Develop a custom mobile app.  This option could include a survey component, and also offer value-add in the form of an easy way to update schedules, etc., however the app’s availability must still be communicated to passengers and they would have to download the app before using it. Plus it requires significant development time and cost.
• Post a QR code that, when scanned, immediately directs respondents to the survey invitation.  This option can be implemented very quickly simply by generating a code (using one of many free online tools) and posting it on signage inside the train.  To scan the QR code, respondents must first install a free QR code reader app on their phone, but simple instructions for doing this could be included on the signage as well.

QR codes accomplish the same goals as short codes – but eliminate the expense – and they are quickly gaining in popularity.  A recent MGH study found that 32 percent of surveyed smartphone users indicated that they have used a QR code before, and 70 percent said that they plan to use a QR code again or for the first time. Clearly QR codes have the potential to vastly increase the reach of mobile market research. Good thing Kinesis is ready – today.

The market research industry is currently facing some big challenges. New technologies such as mobile and social media are being rapidly adopted by research participants, and therefore dramatic changes to our processes and methodologies are required. At the same time, research budgets and project timelines are shrinking, making it difficult to quickly and effectively implement the necessary changes. With mobile and social media development moving faster and faster, and other new and valuable research technologies emerging (such as on-site barcode scanning and media capture, gaming and geolocation), it is clear that the fast-paced trend will not reverse any time soon. Those who are struggling to keep up now will undoubtedly fall further and further behind in the coming years unless fundamental strategy changes are implemented.

So, the million dollar question is this: how do you protect your investments in skill sets, software, training, etc., while simultaneously migrating your business to support these new and critical technologies?

Thankfully the million dollar question does have an answer, and the answer is a relatively straightforward one: become future-proof. Wikipedia defines future-proof as: anticipating future developments, so that action can be taken to minimize possible negative consequences, and to seize opportunities. Dictionary.com defines it this way: (of a system, computer, program, etc.) guaranteed not to be superseded by future versions, developments, etc. To become future-proof, a shift in mindset is required. It means considering not only how emerging technologies are being applied to research today, but also how they could and should be applied tomorrow.

To successfully future-proof your business, new investments must be made now – even though we are facing a weak economy. Education and training are needed to understand how these new technologies will affect research processes during the next several years. Survey design, panel management, sampling practices, participant authentication tools, etc. are evolving as a result of mobile and social media usage, and all researchers need to fully understand the implications. In the face of the growing DIY research movement, education will be the card to play that keeps MR companies thriving. Researchers need to be anticipating where the participants will go next, how to reach them there, and what tools will be needed to keep them engaged. Enterprise businesses will have no choice but to return to the experts for truly effective market research analysis and results.

New investments in software may be needed as well. Some solution providers are stagnated in the wake of mobile web growth (while already lagging behind in web solutions), and are now attempting to play catch up with their solution offerings. As a result, many MR companies are now faced with needing to change, or at least augment, their research platforms in order to keep pace with the industry’s evolution. For companies in this position, a careful ROI evaluation is needed for each solution being considered, particularly in terms of longevity and flexibility. Consider how well your software investment will be protected as expanding technology continues to evolve market research, and whether or not the solution vendor will be capable of providing ongoing future-proof solutions.

The answer to the million dollar market research question is straightforward, but that does not mean its implementation will be easy. Collectively we must recognize and embrace the changes being thrust upon our industry, and be willing to do the hard work necessary to achieve success.  Now is the time to take on a future-proof mindset and answer the question for yourself.

For the MR industry, the time to capitalize on mobile research is now. According to an eMarketer report, U.S. mobile Internet usage is projected to increase to more than 101.1 million users (32.3% of the population) in 2011, and similar growth is occurring around the world. This group represents a huge and largely untapped respondent pool – and unlike PC-user respondents, they have the ability to provide feedback from virtually anywhere.

Yet even with all of the industry buzz this year, mobile is still a new and unchartered survey platform for most researchers. The challenge for newcomers lies in designing a mobile survey that both meets its research objectives and provides a satisfactory user experience for respondents. Effective mobile survey design requires much more than simply replicating an online survey in mobile format. Certain aspects of the survey design are contingent upon the kinds of mobile phones being utilized by respondents (smartphones vs. feature phones), and other design aspects are the same regardless of mobile device type. Let’s start with a few best practices that should be utilized for every mobile survey.

First, all mobile phone screens offer limited display real estate when compared to PC screens, so in the world of mobile surveys, less is always more. Use minimal branding so that the majority of the viewable area can be devoted to question content (it may be necessary to restrict branding to only the first and last survey pages for feature phones). Then, ensure that questions and response options are written as concisely as possible to optimize the limited display and reduce the need for scrolling or breaking answer lists onto an additional page. The total number of questions contained in the survey must also be limited; mobile devices are intended to be utilized on-the-go, so lengthy surveys that take more than a few minutes to complete are not ideal. Finally, there are some commonly-used online survey elements that are not supported by a majority of mobile phones, and should therefore be avoided. Table structures, Javascript, and even Other: specify questions can be tricky to implement in the mobile world.

Another consideration for all mobile surveys is the invitation delivery method: SMS (text) or email. While text invitations are likely to grab the recipients’ attention faster than email, SMS laws and costs vary greatly by region and must be defined for each mobile project. SMS rates can quickly get expensive for the client – or worse, the target recipients – therefore text expenses must be planned for in advance. Typically email invitations are best if the application permits their use. WAP push is possible in regions such as Europe where a common wireless network standard (GSM) is used.

Shifting gears, there are additional best practices that are determined by mobile device type. Researchers must determine whether their sample will be limited to users of smartphones (with higher functionality) or feature phones (with more limited functionality) or include a mix of both. This decision has several implications. For instance, smartphones offer network speeds that feature phones simply cannot match. Network speed affects how quickly each survey page (and embedded image) loads, and slow load times undoubtedly affect dropout rates. Older mobile devices also have limited color configurations that could result in a distorted visual appearance of the survey and its included elements, and some cannot support images at all. On the other hand, the image capabilities of the latest smartphones rival that of PCs, TVs and digital cameras, and most auto-scale images to fit the screen size. Full-motion video can even be utilized if the sample is limited to smartphones, however its implementation can be challenging because different devices utilize different display formats. Smartphone surveys can also include the use of embedded links (to provide additional product, support, privacy policy, etc. information), whereas most feature phones cannot.

Data entry is another a primary consideration based on device type. Smartphones enable relative ease for data entry because of their full alphanumeric key options, while feature phones have traditional phone-style keypads that make text inputs slower and more prone to typing errors. Touchscreen smartphones have a distinct issue as well – ample space must be provided between response selections so that respondents do not accidentally click the “wrong” response, and thereby invalidate the survey results. This risk can be mitigated by utilizing a mobile survey solution that includes advanced touchscreen support to optimize visibility and interaction.

This list provides a summary of the key mobile survey design considerations, but of course there are others, and every research project has its unique variables. And while much of this blog outlines the limitations of feature phones vs. smartphones, it is imperative to note that feature phones are still very effective in mobile research provided the surveys are optimized for their capabilities. For researchers who are just entering the mobile arena, hands down the number one best practice is to work with a mobile survey solution provider that possesses the software functionality and delivery experience necessary to ensure your project’s success.

Stay tuned for the next Kinesis blog post…it will identify the essential best practices for implementing and managing a mobile panel.