Research Via Mobile Phones

Ipsos MORI's Technology Tracker for February 2009 shows that over 89% of the people in the UK use mobile phones. This high penetration makes the mobile phone an excellent addition to our data collection toolkit.

The mobile research platform is very easy to use and offers all the features you expect to find in a research project and more. We offer both WAP (with the use of pictures and graphics) and SMS research to target participants. Our automated system distributes and manages prompts and replies with immediate results on a real-time basis as soon as the survey is launched. A sample list can be provided from a client or a "text" in free number can be used to enable anyone to participate in the survey. However if you do not have a sample then we already have a growing mobile panel of over 11,000 users in the UK willing to take part in mobile research.

Benefits of using mobile technology for research:

• Quick response: as a mobile phone is normally always on, a high percentage of participants respond within the first 10 minutes of launching the survey.

• Mobility: the participant can be reached when they are on the move, anywhere they receive mobile reception. eg they can react to outdoor advertising as and when they see it.

• Demographics: the mobile phone is the most ubiquitous technology with the broadest demographic reach. It is also one of the few ways to reach the youth market.

• Inclusion for all: anyone with a mobile can join in the survey with our free text in number i.e. Text client to a free text number that starts the survey process.

• Immediacy: the participant can be reached at exactly the moment that their opinion has been formed. Especially useful for customer satisfaction and feedback eg 'How long did you have to wait until you were served at the checkout?'

• Additional information: other data can be collected on the participant, including GPS location and activity with the devise* (*With prior participant permission)

Mobile research is a particularly good method to use for opinion polling, customer satisfaction surveying, advertisement recall, tracking survey's and diary applications.

Our experience using mobile research:

With over seven years' experience in using mobile research we have a wealth of experience to guide you through using this research technique.

A recent ongoing project using mobile technology conducted on behalf of Orange is 'The Orange Business Jury'. The panel was recruited from our own Online Panel consisting of 1,000 small business owners, managers and decision makers. The survey is used to gain instant insight into breaking news stories and events from the business community's point of view as and when they happen. The flexibility and speed of the research enables instant results. An example of this was the Bank of England's changes in UK interest rates. The SMS survey was released on the same day as the announcement and results were available at 4pm on the very same day, with a high response rate of over 62% for the questions asked. Other surveys of our business panel have received a 70% response in less than 10 minutes.

Another recent successful mobile research project used SMS technology to ask the general public their views on crime in the UK. Again recruiting from the online panel, a sample of 2,500 was drawn to represent a national profile of the British public aged 16 to 64. The fast turn around of the project meant that the survey was sent live on the Friday and results published on the Sunday.