What are the difficulties behind market researches through internet surveys, and what are its effects to marketing plan strategy for the corporation?

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Strongly agree with the answer given by Mr. Achmad

Over the past decade, the use of online methods for market research has skyrocketed.  Due to ever-increasing technological advances, it has become possible for do-it-yourself researchers to design, conduct and analyze their own surveys for literally a fraction of the cost and time it would have taken in the past.  But are there any drawbacks compared to traditional methods (such as mail, telephone and personal interviewing)?  Today I'll provide a list of several main advantages and disadvantages of conducting market research surveys over the internet.  While the choice of mode is entirely dependent on your specific topic, purpose and goals, internet questionnaires are a great option in many instances.Advantages

• Low costs.  Due to drastically lower overhead, collecting data does not have to cost you thousands of dollars.
• Automation and real-time access.  Respondents input their own data, and it is automatically stored electronically.  Analysis thus becomes easier and can be streamlined, and is available immediately.
• Less time.  Rapid deployment and return times are possible with online surveys that cannot be attained by traditional methods.  If you have bad contact information for some respondents, you'll know it almost right after you've sent out your surveys.
• Convenience for respondents.  They can answer questions on their schedule, at their pace, and can even start a survey at one time, stop, and complete it later.
• Design flexibility.  Surveys can be programmed even if they are very complex.  Intricate skip patterns and logic can be employed seamlessly.  You can also require that respondents provide only one response to single-choice questions, which cuts down on error.
• No interviewer.  Respondents may be more willing to share personal information because they're not disclosing it directly to another person.  Interviewers can also influence responses in some cases.

Disadvantages

• Limited sampling and respondent availability.  Certain populations are less likely to have internet access and to respond to online questionnaires.  It is also harder to draw probability samples based on e-mail addresses or website visitations. 
• Possible cooperation problems.  Although online surveys in many fields can attain response rates equal to or slightly higher than that of traditional modes, internet users today are constantly bombarded by messages and can easily delete your advances.
• No interviewer.  A lack of a trained interviewer to clarify and probe can possibly lead to less reliable data.

 

5 Success Tips for Market Research Surveys

 

These are our top five tips for giving your market research the best chance for success.

 

1. Define Your Marketing Challenge

 

The first step to designing a good market research plan is to define your need. What issue do you want to address? What do you hope to achieve? Set a survey goal to keep your market research focused on the decisions you are trying to make.

 

You may need to conduct a qualitative research study first to identify which issue is the most pressing or test a hypothesis. This exploratory market survey can be distributed to a focus group, or you could conduct a phone or personal interview.

 

Social media has become increasingly popular for gauging people’s interest and is a great way to engage your audience around a topic you would like to address. You can post a short survey or a one question poll to quickly test your hypothesis before conducting a full study.

 

2. Craft Your Survey Questions Carefully

 

With your market research goal in mind, you are ready to design and build your survey questions.

 

Since the exploratory phase has already been completed, the majority of your questions should be of a quantitative nature. Quantifiable data will give you data you can act on. You can use a few qualitative questions, but keep these to a minimum to avoid survey fatigue and abandonment.

 

Only ask questions that are relevant to your objectives. Asking the wrong questions will result in misleading answers that in turn will lead to poor business decisions.

 

Knowing how to ask a question is just as important as what to ask. Avoid leading questions and be aware of sensitive questions that some respondents may find too personal or offensive. Keep your questions simple, specific and direct.

 

3. Distribute Your Research Survey to the Right Audience

 

Before you start collecting data, you need to consider the sample size needed to draw a statistically sound conclusion, as well as the distribution method that’s needed to reach the audience you’re after.

 

Market Sample Size

 

It is not realistic to think that you will be able to survey your entire target population, but you do need an adequate percentage and a representative cross-section of your consumer base.

 

If there are variations in your target population or if you are interested in finding statistically significant differences between subgroups in the sample, the sample size should be adjusted for these goals. You can read more about the intricacies of these types of analysis survey sample size here.

 

Survey Distribution Method

 

Choosing the right distribution method to collect your data is important, because the distribution method determines the audience you can access. Additionally, different modes introduce different forms of bias.

 

Carefully consider your target audience and then find the best channel for reaching them.

 

For instance, if your target audience is an older demographic group, social media or internet channels may not be the best distribution options. Direct mail, phone, or personal interview may be the best option for reaching this audience.

 

If, however, your audience is young and active, social media, email invitations, mobile surveys, or a survey embedded on your website may be the way to go. Also consider other distribution methods, such as QR code or web addresses on receipts, newsletters, and printed brochures to expand your survey’s reach.

 

4. Review Your New Market Research Data

 

Before you report and share your results, there are several steps you should take to review and prepare your data.

 

Clean your survey data:

 

Consider cleaning your survey data to locate any low-quality responses that could distort your conclusions.

 

Identify and weed out responses that have straight-line, Christmas tree, red herring, and/or outlier patterns.

 

You may also need to keep an eye on completion times; people who finish considerably faster than average may not be giving the questions their full attention.

 

Analyze your data:

 

Analyze the data to determine if your questions were answered in the format you expected. Unusual trends could indicate a problem with the question or question type.

 

If so, you may need to discount the question or run another study related to the learning objective.

Segment your data:

Filter your report by population segments to see if you have a ratio that accurate represents the demographics of your audience. If not, you may need to adjust the weight of your responses.

 

You can also segment your data by learning objective so that you can identify trends and patterns.

 

Report your results:

 

It’s time to highlight and share your findings! Consider data visualizations such as pie charts, bar graphs, and infographics that help to visually convey your message.

 

These visuals can drive home your data without requiring your audience to read each individual response.

 

5. Make Data-Driven Marketing Decisions

 

Armed with your market research data, you can confidently make sound marketing decisions. You can proceed with new campaigns with confidence, knowing that you’ve gotten in touch with your audience directly and can create relevant messages.

 

Plan Your Next Online Market Research Survey

 

Budgeting and planning your market research can save you time, effort, and money in the long run by ensuring that you are targeting the right audience, investing in the right sectors, and delivering the right branding message.

A well-designed marketing plan allows you to make tactical and strategic business decisions with confidence. So start planning your next market research survey!

Thanks for the invite ............................ Leave an answer to the experts

1. There's a big assumption that customers are being 100% true
2. People don't generally take too much time filling them, hence there's always a possibility they didn't comprehend the question
3. Internet surveys are mostly general

Hence the marketing plan needs to have more data from direct  sources if you are to make the kind of impact you'd like. focus groups are generally considered more useful.

I apologize for the answer I leave the answer to the specialists the experts in this the field that's not my area.

I think that, the Internet has a number of features that are attractive for marketing research surveys including low cost, fast response time, and access to any location. Although the use of e-mail survey and Web-site survey  is potential but it has serious problems or shortcomings with the methodssuch as: sampling and representativeness, problems with e-mail, selection bias, software problems, response rate, data quality, privacy issues, and problems specific to Web-site surveys. While there are clearly numerous problems associated with on-line survey research, there would be little interest if it did not offer a number of important benefits for marketing researchers, nevertheless, the advantages of on-line survey research are cost benefits, time benefits, flexibility, completion, sampling advantages, interactivity, and context.

I agree with Mr   ACHMAD SURJANI  answers, thanks for the invitation.

Agree with the expert answers.