We start this week looking at survey modes and the social desirability bias. Then we move to notes taken during a session on response rate sfor web surveys from the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s recent conference. We follow that with an infographic on why the customer experience matters and a list of books that CEOs have recently read, then finish with a reminder that responses to surveys will vary by country. That’s this week’s #FridayFive.
Where web surveys produce different results than phone interviews – PEW Research Center
PEW conducted a 60-question survey by telephone and via the web, and found that respondents are far more likely to give answers that paint themselves in a good social light when interviewed on the phone than when they are answering the same questions via the web. It seems that respondents also tend to become somewhat conflict-averse on the phone, selecting answers that will avoid anyone feeling uncomfortable when dealing with a phone interviewer. And while this writeup separates the two as different biases, they both seem to resonate with the social desirability bias, which has been proven to exist many times before. Summary take-away: survey mode can affect response, so take that into account when deciding how to field your surveys. (And a side note from me: 60 questions seems a lot to answer, whether via web or by phone. I wonder what the drop-out rates were?)
Evaluating response rates for web surveys – The LoveStats blog
The American Association for Public Opinion Research recently held a conference in which a variety of topics were discussed. Check out this writeup from a session all about web survey test response rates. I’ve mentioned some of the items that were discussed in our weekly training sessions (such as follow up with respondents to increase response rates; specify the time to take a survey and confidentiality of responses in the invitation; long surveys tend to have higher drop-out rates).
The real cost of not meeting your customers’ expectations (infographic) – HubSpot Marketing Blog
We hear that not meeting customer expectations can result in all sorts of bad outcomes: losing a customer, losing future sales, losing future customer referrals. The buzz seems to be about focusing on the full customer experience. Check out the infographic for details on what happens when you’re not meeting customer expectations and what happens when you do meet those expectations.
The Forrester 2015 Book Club – Forrester’s George Colony’s blog: The Counterintuitive CEO
This is just a fun post, especially if you’ve ever wondered what books CEOs read. With summer coming up and hopefully some down-time, as well, check out this list of latest reads by various CEOs for ideas on what to read next!
Worries of car drrivers and how they differ by country – GfK Insights blog
We end this week’s list with a reminder that responses can vary depending on the country where the survey is being fielded. I always enjoy looking at global research and seeing the differences in responses based on country. So, while this is interesting and fun to read, let it also serve as a reminder that, when fielding a survey in a locale, the responses gathered in that locale should not be extrapolated to represent the world view on the topic.
