Opinion

Telephone survey response rates are on a precipitous decline, although telephone surveys that include landlines and cell phones and are weighted to match the demographic composition of the population continue to provide accurate data along most measures, finds the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in a May 2012 report. Looking at contact rates over time (the percent of households in which an adult was reached), the study shows a drop from 90% in 1997 to just 62% this year. And when factoring in a declining cooperation rate (percent of households contacted that yielded an interview), the report finds the response rate (percent of households sampled that yielded an interview) this year to be just 9%, down from 36% in 1997 and 25% in 2000. Read more »

57% of consumers who have completed a customer satisfaction survey said they did so in order to share a good experience, while half did so to improve the company, according to [download page] a survey released in February 2012 by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB). And although a significant proportion have more selfish motives, such as obtaining discounts (45%), entering into a raffle or sweepstakes (40%), or receiving a free gift (28%), many also complete surveys to praise a specific employee (39%) and to receive better service or products from the company (37%). Read more »

62% of global consumers say they are fairly or very likely to purchase a brand's product if the brand asks for their opinion in a study, compared to just 3% who are not likely to do so, according to a survey released in January 2012 by Cint. The majority of respondents (56%) also say they feel more loyal to the brand if it takes the time to ask them their opinion, more than double the proportion who say their loyalty is not influenced (24%). Read more »

Not all digital ad agencies are as savvy on these strategies and technologies as they proclaim, according to the initial survey results of integrated marketing agencies by Andrew Ballenthin, president of Sol Solutions. Read more »

Online advertising agencies need to focus less on impressions and more on serving the needs of their clients' audience, according to John Burbank, CEO, Nielsen Online Division. Read more »

Internet videos created to raise awareness of AIDS, and to promote soft drinks and athletic shoes, are high on the list of the top-10 viral and up-and-coming-viral campaigns selected by video-content distributor goviral as the most interesting and innovative in January 2010. Read more »

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 was viewed by slightly more than 48 million people, according to figures from The Nielsen Company. Read more »

The Consumer Confidence Index edged up from 53.6 to 55.9 in January 2010, according to the Conference Board. Read more »

The internet will play big role in many Americans' efforts to fulfill their New Year's resolutions, according to a recent study by Performics. The research found that nearly half (48%) of respondents indicated they would use the internet to perform research as it relates to accomplishing their resolution. Read more »

The majority of global business intelligence (BI) practitioners in a recent study expect the use of BI at their organizations grow at a steady pace in 2010, but most are skeptical or unsure about the value of analyzing data obtained from social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, according to Kognitio and Baseline Consulting, which collaborated on the research. Read more »