|
In the past when mobile phones were not yet in the market, people used telephones. There was no house or office that didn’t have at least one telephone. When mobile phones came to life, it enabled people to call or message anyone at anytime from any place. Nowadays, nobody walks around without a cell phone. The primary functions of a mobile phone were easy access to family members in times of emergencies or important occasions and convenience in keeping in touch with people for business purposes expediently. Now, it can be used to conduct mobile researches. In this type of method the respondents are treated like they are the experts on the products or services given to them to try or check out. Giving them the space to think, experience and provide insights to a test product, a newly invented prototype, a certain kind of service or simply something entirely new, lets them feel more on top of the research rather than under it. In this way, they feel more open, more eager and more comfortable in assuming their role as participants rather than subjects or objects of study. Mobile phones cut both ways – it’s a personal item, which can be customized any way they want, kept handy at all times; personal because they manage their contacts, messages, calls, phone apps to better suit their lifestyle. It becomes a public item once it is used to access information by simply calling a hot line, or messaging mobile networks to send them what they need to know over the phone. It is also the means by which other people contact them effortlessly, whether by a friend, a coworker, or a salesperson promoting something new. For mobile research, this kind of atmosphere builds the kind of comfort and security respondent can not have in personal meet ups. Mobile research allows them to continue with their normal daily routines with very minimal distractions. Their time to do other things is not taken from them, and feeling that the research is less demanding lets them relax and take part in it smoothly. Letting them have the option of a freer and easier approach to sharing their ideas, opinions and beliefs about newly created or innovated products or services with just the touch of a button or a number on speed dial helps much in the research’s progress. They become more susceptible to interviews done on the phone. They become more willing to answer the open guided questions or even initiate it on their own. For the most part, researchers will take this chance to listen, understand, and document the given information real time.
Related Articles -
Mobile phones, mobile apps, marketing research,
|
