Real-Time Mobile Consumer Insights – A Powerful Approach

Much has been written on the migration of desktop-based online research as more and more of consumer attention is focused on mobile devices. It’s clear the industry faces a significant challenge in reinventing lengthy, heavy attribute battery laden, uninspired survey designs to mobile and consumer friendly alternatives. However, we believe that mobile creates opportunities not to replace traditional online methods, but to complement them. Furthermore, the opportunities that location-based in-the moment mobile research creates for traditional methodologies are substantial and are creating new markets for approaches that were not feasible before.

Let’s first put things in perspective on this indisputable trend. Mobile technology is changing everything – from marketing and advertising methods to shopper journeys to social interactions. Nearly four-in-10 Millennials (39 percent) say they interact more with their smartphones than they do with their significant others, parents, friends, children or co-workers, according to BofA Research. Furthermore, nearly half of Millennials say they “couldn’t live without” their smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center.

According to an emarketer 2016 study, 11.7% US Internet users will go online exclusively through a mobile device—what eMarketer defines as mobile-only internet users—and that number will continue to rise to 14.9% by 2020. Compare this to desktop/laptop only internet users which are projected to decline at a rapid rate from 12.6% in 2014 to 3.6% in 2020. As marketers, we must ensure full representation of this growing group of consumers as they move beyond the laptop to mobile.

According to a 2017 Pew Research study, the vast majority of Americans – 95% – now own a cellphone of some kind. The share of Americans that own smartphones is now 77%, up from just 35% in 2011!

Still not convinced? One final graph from Kleiner Perkins and emarketer below further illustrates the rapid expansion of consumer time and attention on mobile devices while desktop/laptop access to the internet continues to decline. What an opportunity to engage with consumers the way in which they choose to go online!

For the market research industry, the implications are clear – to gain a fuller picture of consumer insights, we must adopt methodologies that take a “mobile first” approach to connect with target audiences in the way they engage on a daily basis. If not, we risk losing relevance and accuracy in reaching critical business decisions.

We have reached a tipping point for how panelists wish to engage with providers for primary survey research and a “mobile-first” mind-set is crucial.Traditional research approaches typically rely upon recall from visits “in the last 30 days” to garner feedback on in-store experiences. This approach is fraught with inaccuracies due to natural memory loss, degradation of vividness of the customer experience and lack of validation through location-based mobile technologies.

ProdegeMR recently partnered with VoxPopMe on one such approach that capitalized on the power of real-time mobile survey methodology offering valuable in-store customer experience insights. We accessed  ProdegeMR’s highly responsive mobile panel, incorporating polygonal geofencing technology and dwell time techniques for significant reduction in false positives versus traditional approaches. To learn more, I invite you to register for our upcoming free webinar on July 27.

Also, please check back with www.ProdegeMR.com for more blog posts. We’d love to hear from you!