Mobile Research Conference 09

Reg has kindly allowed me to act as a guest blogger. I’m in London at the (first?) Mobile Research Conference, put together by Global Park. About 75 people in attendance, mostly suppliers and academics. Today was the first day and we had 6 sessions ranging from broad keynotes to case studies of specific research projects conducted on mobile platforms. My broad observations at this point are more about what isn’t being said than what is:

1. A lot of emphasis is placed on the advantages of mobile platforms as “personal” in a way that web surveys on computers are not. Not honestly sure I understand this. I understand that people have a different relationship with their phones than with their PCs, and that PCs are often shared, but that doesn’t mean computers aren’t personal, and in any case I’m not sure what practical advantage a “personal” device has for research. I certainly see some of the practical disadvantages – principally that if a research invitation is greeted as spam, it’s likely to raise more ire on a phone than in email on a computer.
2. Research using SMS and web surveys on a phone browser are the first modes I’m aware of that have cost implications to participants (other than the value of their time). Six questions posed by SMS can cost the participant upwards of $2. In countries with high rates of pay-as-you-go mobile plans, the cost can be quite high. This has clear implications for how we provide incentives, but I suspect it has other implications as well, which haven’t been thought through well.
3. There is a huge need for sample sources. There is no frame of mobile phone numbers and no real equivalent of internet access panels as a driver of mobile phone research growth yet. The panels that exist are subset from existing internet access panels so its coverage error compounded with coverage error. The panel providers who spoke typically saw 30% uptake among existing panels to participate in a mobile panel, but surprisingly the common remark is that their mobile panels are underused.
4. Questionnaire length limitations are and probably always will be a feature or limitation of this mode. We need to seek out more creative ways to use the mode beyond just asking questions. Sweetening responses with other forms of data (location services, photos) helps but it also turns the mode into a vehicle for discussions that are semi-qualitative in nature – very cool but not fitting very well into the model for efficient research that the industry relies on now.
5. Every presentation focused inordinately on how quickly people respond. It reminds me of the early panel days when speed was touted as an end rather than a means to an end. I am interested in compressing time to results, but with the exception of certain polling and media research context, I don’t think that getting responses in 2 hours rather than 2 days really addresses a client need.

Apologies for any typos. I’m trying to embrace the casual nature of the medium. Those interested in going a step further can consult the conference’s tweets at \mrc09.