The Need of and the Demand for Completing Surveys on Mobile Devices

This paper aims to study the current need for mobile surveys and the potentialities of using mobile web in surveys. We want to cover the current lack of knowledge (mostly in the frame of commercial panels) and to suggest future strategies for mobile devices surveys. Survey data from the Netquest online panel, collected in a wide set of countries (Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries), are used in order to evaluate both what is the current spread of and the access to smartphones and tablets among Netquest panelists and what is the need to offer web panelists the option of taking part in surveys via mobile devices. The current spread and the trends that characterized in the last years mobile devices among the Netquest panelists were studied. More specifically, we examined to which kind of devices people have prevalently access to (characteristics, one or more devices, and so on). We also evaluated how common is the use of mobile devices in current Netquest surveys. Next, we looked at the willingness of the panelists to participate in surveys specifically adapted to mobile devices. Finally, we compared the propensity of respondents to participate in a survey by computers rather than by mobile devices when this choice is available. In the last years, a considerable big group of respondents already completed web surveys via mobile devices, even when this is unintended. Using survey data collected in a wide set of countries, we want to study what is the potentiality of using mobile web in survey completion, mainly focusing on the study of commercial panels data: in this framework there is still a lack of knowledge. Analysis focused on a non-probability based panel and resulting trends can be referred to panelists only (they could be not representative of the general population). Available data are limited to most recent years (from 2012). This overview is a first important step to suggest which strategies commercial online panels should develop in the future for mobile devices surveys (e.g. providing mobile devices to people that do not have them)