Here’s a statistic consumer insights professionals might consider memorizing: Pew Research Center now reports that 20% of adult Americans rely solely on smartphones for their internet access. That’s up from 13% who reported relying on mobile phones alone in a Pew study in 2015.

Your own data needs to be representative across whatever demographic you’re trying to understand. Which means you need to reach the public where it lives. Just as railroad stations gave way to airports as the main hubs of physical journeys, personal computers are giving way to mobile for consumers' digital journeys. That’s especially true for crucial, traditionally “hard to find” Hispanics, African Americans and young-adult consumers. Reaching out to them on a personal computer for consumer surveys is barking up the wrong device. Data from Pew studies conducted in January, 2018 and in 2015 shows why:

• Hispanics: 35% are now smartphone-only, up from 23% in Pew’s 2015 study.

• Ages 18-29: 28% are smartphone-only, up from 19% in 2015.

• African Americans: 24% are now smartphone-only users, up from 19% in 2015.

• Whites: 14% are smartphone-only in 2018, up from 10% in 2015.

• Age 65 and older: Even among these slower adopters, smartphone-only use is now at 10% of the senior population, up from 7% in 2015.
  

One obvious takeaway is that in order to reach the representative slices of the public that market research requires, it has be done with mobile. But what you need to know is a bit more nuanced than that. We'll tell you why in our next blog post, so stay tuned. In the meantime (or at any time), you can have a personal, one-on-one info session and demo on state-of-the-art mobile research capabilities, simply by clicking here. 

If you’re talking to the wrong consumers, consumer data and consumer insights suffer. A recent GreenBook webinar called “Working Together To Improve Respondent Experience” reminded us of the deeply inadequate state of online consumer panels, and the threat it poses to your ability to do your job and secure your standing in the decision-making process.

Kristopher Sauriol, Senior Director of Global Research Insights for Visa, was one of the participants, and he summed up the problem and what’s at stake in just a few words:

 “Your data is only as good as the people who are taking your survey….[But panel quality] is not always something research agencies  are forthcoming about….you either should ask, or you should look at some other agencies that do consider this a factor.”

We’d take it just a step further. Accessing validated consumers who are fully engaged in sharing what you need to know is not just “a factor.” It’s the factor. Finding them is a matter of reaching them in their preferred environment, via their preferred technology, the mobile app.

MFour’s story, in a nutshell, is that we built the app, 2 million representative U.S. consumers have downloaded it, and these are the consumers who are best situated to give the insights industry “data…as good as the people who are taking your survey.”

“Surveys on the Go® ranked top 80 in app store busiest app section, lifestyle”

National mobile market research firm MFour Mobile Research’s Surveys on the Go® application is among Apple’s top apps, ranking 80 in the lifestyle section of the app store, among more than 2 million applications. Its ease of use, stellar customer service, and panelist incentive all push this application above of the rest, and contribute to its 4.5 star rating with more than 28,000 reviews.
“It’s simple. We treat our panelists well so they recommend our app to their friends,” said MFour CEO Chris. St. Hilaire. MFour also reported that more than 2,000 new panelists are signing up to participate daily.