Todd Hollander Market Research

Many websites request visitors to take part in an online survey. These invitations generally fall into one of three formats: static text, banners, or pop-ups. Here are the pros and cons of using these types of invitations to find survey respondents.

These types of requests are inexpensive to administer but include two inherent drawbacks:

1. They tend to produce very low response rates
2. Because the sample of respondents is entirely self-selecting, the results are not representative of a larger audience (e.g., all customers)

Thus, although these invitations can provide useful feedback, they are not a good substitute for more traditional methods of locating survey respondents. Think of the information gleaned from this type of survey as qualitative/directional rather than quantitative/conclusive.

For more information about finding respondents, see these posts.

In Part 1 of this 3-part series, we learned that 87 percent of online surveys conducted in the United States in 2006 were deployed using a preexisting survey panel. In Part 2, we explored why panels are the preferred method for online interviewing and how to select a panel provider for a market research project.

In this final installment, we will discuss the pros and cons of another popular method of recruiting respondents for online surveys: Customer Lists.

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In Part 1 of this 3-part series, we learned that 87 percent of online surveys conducted in the United States in 2006 were deployed using a preexisting survey panel. In this installment, we will explore why panels are the preferred method for online interviewing and how to select a panel provider for a market research project.

(more…)

One of the biggest challenges faced by marketers seeking to conduct an online survey is finding an appropriate set of potential respondents. Here are some tips for making sure you invite the right people to participate in your survey.

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