Mobile Research In The Real World

An Overview of Mobile Research Best Practices and Ethics

The Moral Compass Within Consumer Testing: A Comparison between academia and the food industry

What is Mobile Research?

• It’s not research about the mobile industry or mobile devices…

• Or about why or how people use mobile devices…

Mobile Research is About Context

• It’s about using the mobile web to conduct traditional marketing and social research in context– In homes, in kitchens, dining rooms, on the go, in

restaurants– to create better products, brands, packaging and

customer experiences

• Know your mouse = make better decisions

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Why use Mobile Research?• People are highly engaged with their mobile

devices – Your customer is always within 2 meters of their

mobile device• Personal media creation and sharing• More mobile devices are being used to

connect to the internet than desktop computers

• The Internet of Things is mobile and growing

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Why use Mobile Research?

• Best way to know what participants are really doing (behavior) and feeling (consciousness) in their natural environment

• Be with and understand your customers wherever they are

• No recall issues• Real time data tracking and time stamping• Validated with geo-location• Enhanced reporting with video/photo/audio

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Types of Data Mobile Research Provides

• Behavioral What people do • Observational What people see • Sentiment What people say/think • Emotional How people feel• Sensory How people perceive sights, sounds

• Future sensors will include body temperature, galvanic skin response, heartrate, eye tracking and more

• Passive Geo-location, timing, media engagement, • Visual Codes Packaging scans (UPC and QR codes)

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Advantages of Mobile Research

• Immediacy, fewer recall issues• Fewer questions leading to higher data

quality • Contextual richness • Respondent convenience• Greater reach in emerging market• Greater youth engagement

“OMG” & “WTF” • OMG– O – Online tracking data– M – Meta-data in photos– G – Geo-location

• WTF– W – Wandering device ID’s– T – Too complex privacy polices– F – Fees for SMS and data streaming

In 2012 MMRA worked with major research associations including ESOMAR, QRCA, MSPA, to

create guidelines for privacy assurance

Continuing to modifyguidelines.

www.mmra-global.org

Key Points• Transparency • Informed consent• Conforming to local legal requirements• Avoid causing inconvenience• Need to protect personally identifiable data• Ensure no harm comes to participants• Avoid costs being incurred by participants• Leave a record of what has been agreed to with the

participant• Chain of custody and data protection

Legal Requirements

• Privacy is a right in most countries• People have a right to see personally

identifiable data held about them• Limits to what kinds of data can be

transferred across borders• Controls on unsolicited contact• Controls on the times of day that

communications can be received

Safety Requirements

• Not using their mobile while driving or in other risky situations

• Not taking photos in places where they are banned

• Securing participants’ information• Advising participants about the risks of being

overheard or observed when in public places

Whose Consent?

• Informed consent of participant• Third parties in photos and videos• Friends, kids, parental consent• Social media sharing• Personal data, e.g. address books,

received emails,texts, photos, etc.• Device interactions, e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

etc.

Videos and Photographs• Clear pictures of faces are personal identifiable data• Respondents should be warned not to take

photos/videos in banned locations– e.g. parts of airports, government buildings

• Pictures/videos of children always require parental consent

• Images of incidental non-consenting third parties should have their faces pixelated

• Self-editing and review before approval• The right to be forgotten

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Guidelines for Use of Videos/Photos

• If using self-generated video, best to review the video with the participant and have clearly written permission to approve use of video AFTER reviewing it with participant

• Similarly with photos – have the participant agree to “post” EACH photo even if only used for reporting

• Check with country laws if sending photos via mobile devices• Some countries (i.e. China, Canada) do not allow transfer of images or

video using mobile devices

• Policy for protection of photos and images should be specified in advance, in a clear manner

Full Mobile Research Guidelines on Website

www.mmra-global.org