In between the times I answer, or not, telephone surveys or intercept interviews (such as the one at a baseball game last week), I often look at the results of market research and opinion polls and wonder WHO are they talking to?!
AdAge gives a topline on last week's Research Industry Summit for Improving Respondent Cooperation. The bottom line: response rates to surveys are now commonly below 10%. Among the discussion points:
Nonrespondents tend to be disproportionately male, black, Hispanic and young (30% of households headed by consumers 25 and younger now only have cellphones and are impossible or highly expensive to reach by phone).
One participant noted that 0.25% of the population supplies 32% of responses to online surveys and 50% of all survey responses come from less than 5% of the population.
And ... Ironically, no one in a roomful of market researchers suggested researching what might best persuade nonrespondents to participate.
Points to ponder as you plan or review quantitative market research studies.
Technorati Tags: Market Research, Opinion Surveys, Response Rates
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