The high quality of the data is the primary reason to consider conducting research on the Internet. The surveys can be filled out at any time at which the respondents can give their full attention. Unlike telemarketers calling them in their homes and interupting their lives. Respondents are paid in cash per survey and many of them really need this extra cash hence they look forward to answering surveys and take special care in filling them out.

Survey takers can see each question and all possible answers, instead of hearing them. They can access each question carefully and move through the questionnaire at their own speed. Unlike telephone or mall intercept surveys where respondents are under a certain degree of pressure to answer quickly. Since people are paid to fill out surveys an amount proportional to the length of the survey, Internet surveys can be longer and more detailed than telephone surveys. In addition to providing higher quality primary research data, Internet surveys are faster and less costly than telephone surveys.

More Advantages of Online Marketing Research

Online research is inexpensive: The cost of gathering survey information electronically is much less expensive than by traditional means. A typical e-mail survey costs about half what a conventional survey costs, and return rates can be as high as 50 percent. For instance, Virgin.net used online research to launch its broadband service in the United Kingdom in 2002. Now the company does all its research online. The brand has seen an increase in response rates from 17 percent with paper based research to almost 72 percent and costs have dropped 90 percent.

Online research is faster: Online surveys are faster to complete since the survey can automatically direct respondents to applicable questions and be sent electronically to the research supplier once finished. One estimate is that 75 to 80 percent of a survey’s target response can be gathered in 48 hours using online methods, as compared with telephone surveys that can take 70 days to obtain 150 interviews.

People tend to be more honest online than they are in personal or telephone interviews: Britain’s online polling company YouGov.com took 500 people and surveyed half via intercom in a booth and the other half online, asking them politically correct questions such as “ Should there be more aid to Africa?” Online answers were deemed much more honest. People may be more open about their opinions when they can respond to a survey privately and not to another person whom they feel might be judging them, especially on sensitive topics.

Online research is more versatile: The multimedia applications of online research are especially advantageous. For instance, virtual reality software lets visitors inspect 3-D models of products such as cameras, cars and cell phones and product characteristics can be easily manipulated online. Even at the most basic level, online surveys make answering a questionnaire easier and more fun than paper-and-paper versions.

Sources: Marketing News; “Cutting Market Research Costs with On-Site Surveys,” The Secured Lender 64-67; Louella Miles, “Online, On Tap,” Marketing, June 16, 2004, pp.39-40; Bob Lamons, “Eureka! Future of B-to-B Research is Online,” Marketing News, September 24, 2001, pp. 9-10.