Mobile Device Shift: 1 in 8 US Panelists Responding on Mobile

Jan 30, 2013 | Uncategorized

By Patrick Comer

‘Mobile’ is one of the biggest research buzzwords in 2013. It comes as no surprise that the newest tablets and smartphones were the hottest tech gifts this past holiday season. What’s less obvious is how quickly these newly bought devices are being used for research surveys. At Federated, we’ve been closely tracking this new mobile research trend.

Ray Poynter (@RayPoynter) just posed the question on the NewMR blog: How much accidental MMR is happening? The answer will probably not surprise you… a lot and growing quickly. Over the next year, we plan on pouring through our data to gain further insight into this changing data collection landscape.

As usual, we dug into the data to learn about the behavior of survey respondents. We compared the 30 day survey period before and after Christmas using Google Analytics:

oneIn8_pic1

Specifically, we looked at respondents who came ‘directly’ from an email invitation, rather than an online site or offer, as to separate pure panel from routing, river, or social media respondents (who would already be in a PC environment). Additionally, we wanted to look at the bounce all the gadget giving gave. One chart sums it all up nicely:

% of U.S. Panelists that respond via mobile device (2010-2012)

That’s a 20-30% bump each year after the holiday season. Before we know it, a majority of panelists will choose their smartphones over PCs, and another fundamental shift will have occurred in the research industry. Are you prepared?Over the next few posts, we will look at other factors impacting mobile respondents: LOI, completion rates, and demographics.One final note, we can also see what the hot new devices were this holiday season… at least for survey taking!