SKIM and Vodafone at Market Research in the Mobile World

O Mobile Citizen, where are thou?

By Caspar Hautvast, Vodafone

and Gerard Loosschilder, SKIM

In our market

research practice,

respondents are

migrating from

traditional

devices

(notebooks and

desktops) to

mobile devices

(smart phones

and tablets)

It is part of a transition

from being a Domestic

Citizen (digital life from

home) to a Mobile

Citizen (digital life

everywhere and 24/7)

We utilize this transition by making

our surveys context dependent:

not just based on who the respondent

is, but moreover, where he is, when

she is there, and what she is up to

In a world of fierce competition

Mobile

Broadband

Fixed

TV

OTT

Vodafone has 66 competitors in

the Netherlands; four real

networks and 62 virtual network

operators. Vodafone needs a

meaningful point of difference

Vodafone is

Vodafone’s meaningful point of difference is:

Easiest to choose for

Easiest to manage your digital life

Easiest at taking our surveys

She is mobile

We’re ready

Because we see great potential

But is mobile research valid?

Our research has shown

that we can take a

traditional conjoint choice

exercise down from 12

tasks with 5 options each

down to 3 choice tasks

with 3 options each, at the

same level of validity.

The respondent goes

from sitting a half hour

behind a computer …

…to

three

taps on

a mobile

phone

while on

the go

Because we have

fewer data points

per respondent, we

need to two things,

(1) we increase the

sample size to n>

600 at a low CPI

and (2) we user

smarter research

designs with better

D efficiency and M

efficiency levels

Interaction design

We have a research program in place

to prepare ourselves for the Digital Era

and to reach the Mobile Citizen

Who? The transition to mobile marks

a paradigm shift in the way

we do our studies.

Who? Before, we focused on the “who” only:

who do we want to understand and study?

Who do we select to participate in our studies?

Who? We assumed that who you were

was a constant across all situations and contexts.

Or we did not think about it at all.

Where & When? Now, we can select respondents

based on where they are,

at what moment, and what they are up to

Where & When? Assuming that people are impacted by their context;

something we should take into account.

Where & When? So we can take into account how the context

shapes the individual, or select them solely

on the basis of where they are, and when

We can use this to

better understand

customers in

Vodafone’s retail stores

We can do a exit poll of

customers in Vodafone

stores to gauge their

likelihood of churning to

and from the brand, as

an effect of the sales

pitch of shop floor

personnel and other

information.

Each store is described

in terms of the

coverage area of its

visitor base and the

likelihood of churning

away from the

Vodafone brand, based

on a mobile CBC study.

KPN 44%

T-mobile 32%

Telfort 13%

Hi 11%

27%

Amsterdam

Churn risk KPN 42%

T-mobile 23%

Telfort 19%

Hi 16%

17%

Rotterdam

Churn risk KPN 45%

T-mobile 27%

Telfort 11%

Hi 17%

34%

Eindhoven

Churn risk

Sales personnel can

be incentivized based

on the results, and

additional training can

be delivered.

Scanning..

Contact Gerard Loosschilder at

g.loosschilder@skimgroup.com

Or at Twitter @Gloosschilder