The Holiday Survival Guide for Online Quantitative Research

The start of the holiday season is just weeks away. For most people, this means finalizing plans for Thanksgiving, planning which stores to hit up on Black Friday, lining up holiday parties to attend, and getting ready to celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah, and the New Year. But for market researchers, on top of all that, it means an influx of projects that need to be completed before the end of the year, budgets that need to be spent, long nights and weekends, and overall, just a mad scramble to finish out the year strong.

With that in mind, we here at EMI have put together a list of tips and best practices to make sure you not only hit all your professional and work goals, but that you also get to enjoy the holiday season.

Watch your Launch and Fielding Dates

We know that projects need to be completed, but to do so, you need respondents to complete your survey. Respondents are human too, and they are going to be celebrating the holidays with their friends and family. 

The holidays, specifically Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve have traditionally lower response rates to surveys than normal. Keep this in mind when you are looking to field your study and try to adjust your launch or fielding times to avoid these days. If you can’t avoid them, be aware that traffic to your study will be lower as will the number of responses, so be patient or build in extra time.

Confirm your Specs ASAP

With everyone trying to use their budget and/or complete their projects before year-end, there is an increase in demand for online sample. To help mitigate any problems in fielding, you will want to get your specs confirmed and your project approved as soon as possible. This can help get you into field quickly, and you may be less impacted by any potential supply issues that can occur when demand is high.

Survey Design and Length are Crucial

With the overall high demand for respondents, your study will be facing increased competition for your target audience from other studies. Because of this, you should put some additional focus on your survey design and its length. If a respondent is picking between a 30-minute survey and a 10-minute survey for the same incentive, which one do you think they are going to pick?

We recommend putting in extra effort at this time of year to ensure your survey is both engaging to respondents and not too long.

Attitudes and Behaviors Differ More

Respondents are human and they all have different attitudes and behaviors that can change due to circumstance and time – this is no surprise to anyone. But during the holiday season, with response rates being volatile, the changes in the attitudes and behaviors is greater than normal. You should account for this when you are planning your study. A good sample partner (like EMI) can help you navigate this and build a sample plan that can help mitigate the impact of this on your results.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

If you want to enjoy the holidays, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Here at EMI, we like to work as an extension of your team, managing any panel providers on your study and proactively handling any issues that arise. We like to handle all the hard stuff, especially around this time of year, so you don’t have to.

Want help with an upcoming study this holiday season? Click the button below for a free consultation with one of our sample experts.