Consumer surveys

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Consumer psychology

Key concepts

Advertising Brand names Brand preferences Brand loyalty Consumer attitudes Consumer behavior Buyer decision making Consumer education Consumer protection Consumer research Consumer satisfaction Consumer surveys Consumer theory Customer service Customer relationship management Family and consumer science Market research Marketing strategy Marketing management Product design Product Price Promotion Retail Market research Quality of services

other aspects

Advertising Behavioral finance Branding Direct marketing Electronic commerce Shopping centres Product placement Public relations Publicity Personal Sales Sales promotion Supply and demand

Consumer surveys are statistical surveys focusing on the measurement of aspects of [[consumer behavior, consumer attitudes etc.

Surveys can be conducted using a number of different mehtods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages:

• Automated telephone surveys
• Mail surveys
• Telephone surveys

Survey methods

There are several ways of administering a survey, including:

Telephone surveys

• • use of interviewers encourages sample persons to respond, leading to higher response rates.
  • interviewers can increase comprehension of questions by answering respondents' questions.
  • fairly cost efficient, depending on local call charge structure
  • good for large national (or international) sampling frames
  • cannot be used for non-audio information (graphics, demonstrations, taste/smell samples)
  • three types:
    • traditional telephone interviews
    • computer assisted telephone dialing
    • computer assisted telephone interviewing
• Mail
  • response rate 5% - 30%^{[How to reference and link to summary or text]}
  • the questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all cases they are returned to the researcher via mail.
  • cost is very low, since bulk postage is cheap in most countries
  • long time delays, often several months, before the surveys are returned and statistical analysis can begin
  • not suitable for very complex issues
  • no interviewer bias introduced
  • large amount of information can be obtained: some mail surveys are as long as 50 pages
  • response rates can be improved by using mail panels
    • members of the panel have agreed to participate
    • panels can be used in longitudinal designs where the same respondents are surveyed several times

Online surveys

• • can use web or e-mail
    • web is preferred over e-mail because interactive HTML forms can be used
  • response rates sometimes 90% before 2000, but have been dropping fast since then (now 2% - 30%)
  • often inexpensive to administer
  • very fast results
  • easy to modify
  • response rates can be improved by using Online panels - members of the panel have agreed to participate
  • if not password-protected, easy to manipulate by completing multiple times to skew results
  • data creation, manipulation and reporting can be automated
  • data sets created in real time
  • some are incentive based

• Personal in-home survey
  • respondents are interviewed in person, in their homes (or at the front door)
  • very high cost
  • response rate 40% - 50%^{[How to reference and link to summary or text]}
  • suitable when graphic representations, smells, or demonstrations are involved
  • suitable for long surveys
  • suitable for locations where telephone or mail are not developed
• Personal mall intercept survey
  • shoppers at malls are intercepted - they are either interviewed on the spot, taken to a room and interviewed, or taken to a room and given a self-administered questionnaire
  • response rate about 50%^{[How to reference and link to summary or text]}
  • socially acceptable - people feel that a mall is a more appropriate place to do research than their home
  • potential for interviewer bias
  • fast
  • easy to manipulate by completing multiple times to skew results
• Methods used to increase response rates
  • brevity - single page if possible
  • financial incentives
    • paid in advance
    • paid at completion
  • non-monetary incentives
    • commodity giveaways (pens, notepads)
    • entry into a lottery, draw or contest
    • discount coupons
    • promise of contribution to charity
  • preliminary notification
  • foot-in-the-door techniques - start with a small inconsequential request
  • personalization of the request - address specific individuals
  • follow-up requests - multiple requests
  • claimed affiliation with universities, research institutions, or charities
  • emotional appeals
  • bids for sympathy
  • convince respondent that they can make a difference
  • guarantee anonymity

Purposes

Surveys are conducted for a number of reasons associated with advertising, customer satisfaction,customer relationship management, marketing etc

See also

• Qualitative marketing research