Sonic Drive-Ins has recently reviewed information for a number of surveys involving various types of product evaluations. All the surveys were completed online with customers recruited from their proprietary panel. In addition to the actual survey data and other information, the online interviewing system captures the browser that the respondent used to complete the survey. Analyzing the “browser used” data, Sonic has observed a slow but steady increase in the number of individuals completing the survey on mobile browsers, including tablets and smartphones. The most recent results show a big jump in this percentage from a year ago, with an average of nearly 30 percent of the more recent surveys completed on mobile browsers.

Several managers have attempted completing some of these surveys using their own tablets and smartphones. They like the idea that using these platforms increase the options for the consumer and that these devices permit consumers to take the surveys at times and in places when and where they previously could not. However, their experiences in testing the surveys on their mobile devices have suggested that they may need to change the way they design questionnaires to accommodate smartphones and tablets.

Questions 

1. What are the impediments and difficulties associated with completing surveys on mobile devices?

2. What changes does Sonic need to make in its survey designs to take advantage of these new survey platforms?

3. What about mixing survey results taken on laptop computers and those taken on mobile devices? What cautions, if any, would you have?

4. Might the inclusion of mobile devices, along with laptops and desktops, improve the quality of the sample? Why do you say that?