In just over a year, we have delivered one million surveys across 53 countries. To mark the milestone, we’ve analysed our data and put together a mobile research bible, with best practice principles for creating a successful mobile survey.
1. Short and sweet
Shorter surveys yield the highest response. After 15 questions the percentage of people who drop off per question doubles.
2. No need to keep it simple
Contrary to popular belief, routing, rating scales and complex questions are all achievable on web enabled mobiles.
3. Less is more
Ten is the maximum option list length for question choice. We discovered that after ten multiple options, 3% of UK respondents and 4% of Indian respondents do not complete a question.
4. Succinct questions
After a respondent has been exposed to a long question, the average UK drop off rate increases +4.8%, in India 6% versus a short question. So Twitter is right with a maximum 140 characters.
5. Engaged respondents
The completion rate of surveys answered by On Device Research’s panel (more engaged users) is nearly 80%. The UK average completion rate for mobile river sampling surveys is 49%.
6. The right time
Sending out surveys at the right time is crucial both for quality of data and high response rate. Our specialist team can advice on both the best day of week and right time of day for sending your survey.
7. All-phone technology
In India, 80% of respondents use a feature phone. So our survey technology works on both feature phones and smartphones.
8. Incentives
The drop off rate in emerging markets depends on incentive rather than question difficulty. Incentives such as airtime transfer are ideal for rewarding respondents in emerging markets.
Why do we specialise in mobile research?
The world is going mobile. Our research has shown the global audience of mobile-only internet users is growing rapidly, making mobile a significant and necessary research tools. The high uptake of mobile devices allows to create global panels and massively reduces the cost and speed of accessing people, especially the hard to reach audiences.
Photo: Tauno Tõhk
