Brands must improve efforts to gather customer opinion, according to study into online surveys

'Engaged respondents will take spend 80% longer and give twice as much feedback as bored ones'

June 2009 - A study published by Engage Research and GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc)

Engage your respondents - Follow this link to read the article
pdf format - 14k

Engaging with online respondents - Phase 2

Further to our groundbreaking research in 2008 when, in collaboration with GMI , we

• Isolated some of the triggers for a loss of respondent engagement
  
• Illustrated the effect bored respondents could have on data quality
  
• Identified some alternative question formats on a new research platform to help overcome these issues
• Identified clear benefits of engaging with respondents in terms of
  
  

  quality and quantity of data collected panellist enjoyment and willingness to take part in future survey

  And this was presented at various conferences, and is available for presentation to any of our clients

Since then, we have been investigating additional ways in which to engage with respondents

• Adding a didactic or competitive dimension to the question
  
• Exploring ways of encouraging more detailed and actionable verbatim response
  

Initial findings are looking very exciting and the research will be completed in March, with some findings being presented at the ARF Conference In New York

We are very happy to present our most up-to-date findings to interested end users!
Please contact Deb Sleep on 0208 819 5532 for further details

UK consumers now 'poles apart' in their spending habits, according to new research

Consumers are taking dramatically varied approaches to their spending during the economic downturn, with a significant number determined to maintain their previous spending habits, according to a new study carried out by Engage Research. While nearly 40% of the population have cut back heavily on their spending across the board, 21% have actually cut back very little or not at all.

The research has shown that consumers can be typified by four distinct groups, driven by their willingness and ability to spend and their confidence about the future. 'Scared Down Shifters' - (39%) have made deep cuts in their spending, are very cautious and pessimistic about the future. 'Cash strapped Realists' account for 15% of the sample and have not cut back much on current spending but remain pessimistic about the future.

'Cautious Optimists' made up 25% of the sample, and this group have cut back on current purchasing but remain optimistic about the future. But 21% of the sample take a 'Carry On regardless' approach to their spending, and have not only have not cut back, but are optimistic about the future.

The study examined purchasing habits for luxury and everyday goods, and saw a marked overall decline in spending on a range of luxury items from over 25% of respondents. The biggest cuts are being made in areas such as eating out (-37%), drinking/eating in pubs (-36%), trips to the cinema, theatre and family days out (-29%, -29% and -31% respectively).

Key luxury items still 'too important to cut'

In contrast, people are currently less willing to cut back on other areas such as drinking at home (down only 8% overall), going on holiday (-14%) and gym membership (down by 11%). The 'Cash Strapped Realists' and 'Carry On Regardless' groups who together account for 36% of respondents actually plan to increase their spending on holidays, and gym membership, and will cut back less on other things.

"Those consumers making the biggest cuts in their spending are driving the overall behaviour of the population - the financial and employment difficulties being experienced by increasing numbers of people are of great concern to most people," explained Engage Research. "But it is also interesting to see a significant number of people who for their own reasons are ignoring the general trends, continuing to spend and who are optimistic about their ability to keep spending."

For further information about this study, contact us on: +44 (0)20 8819 5532
or email us.
Follow this link to read the article in Moneywise

Ground breaking research into respondent engagement
Engage have been working in collaboration with GMI, an online panel specialist, on understanding how we can better engage with online respondents and the benefits of this. We've conducted original research and will be presenting various strands of this at various conferences

• Esomar Panel Conference in Dublin 21st - 23rd October
  
• MIE Conference in Rotterdam 3rd - 5th November
  
• MRA Fall Conference In Las Vegas 3rd - 5th November

The research covers

• Ways of spotting a potential loss of interest
• Measuring the extent of, and identifying the triggers for, a loss of interest
  
• Implications of a loss of interest for data quality
  
• Using alternative questionnaire structures and question & answer mechanics to make surveys more engaging and easier to take
  
• Measuring the impact and effects of improving the respondent experience
  
• Recommendations for the design of online surveys

We are very happy to present the findings to interested end users
Please contact Deb Sleep on 0208 819 5532 for further details.

New team member
Joanna Bubb has joined engage research as a Research Assistant. Joanna is on a one year placement from Portsmouth University where she is studying International Business.

30th June 2008