Online research has become very popular over recent years to the extent that it is now regarded as a mainstream technique within the research community. The reason for this is because it delivers some fundamental advantages over more traditional research techniques:
An online study is faster to administer than a traditional one, (ie. paper or telephone based). The field work can be conducted within days rather than weeks. The data collected is already in a digital format and therefore there is no need to go through data entry processes. If you are using a good enough system then meaningful findings can be drawn and delivered as the data is collected.
Time is money and the speed benefits equate to lower costs. This is undoubtedly the driving force behind the rise of online research as a methodology. Its important to note that the cost per interview decreases as the volume of interviews increases. This is because the costs associated with online research tend to be weighted at the front-end during set-up. A 1,000 respondent study may cost the same as a 100 person study. Contrast this with using telephone interviews where there would be a fairly uniform cost per respondent across the whole study with 1,000 respondents costing 10 times as much to interview as 100.
As a self completion methodology, online is capable of delivering very high quality research data. More people can be interviewed within the time and budget available and this allows researchers to either be more picky about who is allowed to participate or simply lets them collect more data and thus further increase the level of confidence in their findings.
Interviews can be constructed to be more engaging and relevant than is possible in other formats. Routing techniques can keep the interview relevant and media items such as images, audio and video can be included to make the whole experience more interesting for the respondent.
In today’s commercial world the brand is king. Successful organisations understand this and appreciate that any presence in the market must reflect the brand’s aspirations. Research is not exempt from this rule. A slick modern, efficient looking online survey works with a modern brand in a much better way than the sheet of A4 in a self addressed envelope or left on a seat at the end of a conference.
For good reasons, and with the best of intentions, market research has over the years gone to great lengths to distance itself from the front line of sales and marketing. Purity of research should not be tainted, goes the thinking, by the need of a commissioning company to make a buck. Online research provides opportunities that challenge these assumptions for those willing to take them and in an ever more competitive world there are increasing numbers that do.
An online customer survey might provide an excellent opportunity to include the animated banner advertisement for the company’s new star product or ‘Click here for a video presentation of our excellent Q1 results’. If a respondent is willing to give you 15 minutes of their time to tell you about their purchasing habits then they’re probably a good person to ask ‘Would you like someone to contact you regarding your requirements?’. If they tick ‘Yes’ and you are an ORS client then within a couple of seconds the sales manager can have an email or SMS Text message with the respondents contact details right there in front of him.
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