Mobile surveys have never been easier. You capture respondents anytime, on any device. But do people actually like to fill in surveys through mobile devices? Dutch research company Ruigrok | NetPanel examined the preferences of consumers and the functioning of iBeacons when carrying out a survey. Their findings were presented during the annual Marketing & Insights Event (MIE) in Utrecht. Check out the results here.
First of all, the results showed that 19% of people questioned preferred to take part in mobile surveys instead of regular online surveys. This includes 5% of smartphone users and 14% of tablet users. Young people in particular preferred to fill in a survey on their smartphone.
The use of iBeacons in mobile surveys
When looking for participants for your survey, iBeacons can be very helpful. They can guarantee accurate posititiong of respondents. This enables companies to send push notifications to the right person at the right spot and ask context-related questions.
There is one disadvantage of iBeacons: Bluetooth should be activated on the participants’ phone in order to send messages to this person. Research has shown that:
- Only 23% has activated Bluetooth
- 85% of people has activated wifi on their phones
- 44% has activated GPS.
While 48% of people has no objections to the tracking of wifi, 32% does have objections. Another 20% does not know what happens when a company tracks wifi on their mobile device.
So, how could you still reach many people without tracking their wifi all the time? A good solution is to combine iBeacons with an app in your survey. In this way, the app can ask participants to activate Bluetooth on their phone during the survey. It allows you to reach people that normally don’t activate Bluetooth. At the same time, you will only track their phones for a certain time.
The experience of mobile surveys
The research company also found some differences between surveys on a mobile device and a PC:
- Filling in a survey on a smartphone takes more time than on a PC (11-12 minutes vs. 9 minutes)
- More people quit their survey on a smartphone than on a PC (9-14% vs. 2-3%)
- The evaluation of questionnaires is similar for mobile devices and PC’s
- The quality of answers is similar for mobile devices and PC’s.
According to Ruigrok | NetPanel, the results have to do with the fact that people are more concentrated when they fill in a survey on their PC. Mobile surveys are often filled in when people are on the go. So, if you want to create a survey for mobile devices, think mobile and keep it simple!
The Marketing & Insights Event was organised by NIMA and MOA.
