ESOMAR GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING SURVEY RESEARCH
VIA MOBILE PHONE
1.
INTRODUCTION
As mobile phones become the preferred
mode of telephone communication on a global scale, it is critical
for ESOMAR to establish clear guidance on the conduct of market,
social and opinion research via mobile phone. The aim is to promote
professional standards, best practices, and respectful
relationships with the individuals being called and to assist
researchers in addressing legal, ethical, and practical
considerations when conducting research via mobile phone.
Mobile phone technology and
communications have grown rapidly in some countries and at a slower
pace in others, and mobile communication laws and regulations are
still evolving. Only a few countries have addressed the legal
parameters for unsolicited communication and interaction with
mobile phone users. The regulatory dimension is complicated by the
multiple communication mediums that the mobile phone provides to
the user.
Further, there may be national laws that
pertain specifically to the mobile phone user, e.g., restrictions
on using mobile phones while driving. Such regulations indirectly
affect, and could potentially be construed as establishing legal
liability for a researcher contacting a potential survey
participant via mobile phone.
Given the above conditions, it is
critical that the researcher is aware of and respects regional,
national and local laws and regulations and relevant cultural
dispositions which may mandate a stricter standard of practice than
that being required in this guideline.
The guideline may well apply to any form
of telephone research project even if is intended to contact
land-lines since it may be impossible for researchers to identify
whether a given telephone number relates to a fixed-line phone or a
mobile and a fixed-line number may be set to divert to a
mobile.
2. SCOPE
The ICC/ESOMAR International Code on
Market and Social Research requires that the same fundamental
ethical and professional principles which govern face to face, mail
and online research also apply to research via mobile phone (see
Appendix). This guideline must therefore be read in conjunction
with the ICC/ESOMAR International Code and other ESOMAR guidelines
available at www.esomar.org.
While recognising that many mobile phones
and mobile devices permit the use of online research methodologies,
including e-mail and web surveys, the ESOMAR Guideline for Online
Research covers research using email, browser-based or downloaded
applications and this Guideline for Research via Mobile Phone
applies to research conducted by using voice or text message (SMS)
to contact respondents on their mobile phones. If a combination of
mobile and online is used, e.g. mobile phone to contact and
internet browser to respond, then the appropriate parts of each
guideline should be applied.
3. KEY
PRINCIPLES
As a general rule, researchers knowingly
calling or sending text messages to a mobile phone for the purpose
of conducting a survey shall observe the principles of respect and
disclosure that are practised in fixed-line telephone research in
line with the ICC/ESOMAR International Code. These include
identification of the calling party, the identity of the
organisation that will receive the data if the company carrying out
the call is only providing data collection and not analysis,
notification as to the purpose of the call/survey (see the
ICC/ESOMAR Code Notes on transparency for more details), the
voluntary nature of participation, the guarantee of confidentiality
and consideration of local expectations about appropriate times for
telephone calls.
Due to the nature of mobile phones and
the patterns of use that have evolved over time there are a range
of additional legal and ethical considerations to be observed.
While these considerations may vary by country and culture it is
BACK TO CONTENTS essential that researchers understand these
variations and adapt their survey protocols accordingly. For
instance, while most legislation restricts unsolicited calls for
commercial purposes but not market research, it is mandatory to
consult and apply research-specific do-not-contact lists for mobile
as well as fixed line phones if such exist. In addition,
researchers should be aware that the mobile phone service provider
may cut the service should they receive a complaint about
unsolicited approaches by text or other electronic messages to
potential respondents. Researchers are therefore required to verify
that individuals contacted by such means for research have a
reasonable expectation that they will receive a contact for
research (see ESOMAR Guideline for Online Research, section
2.2).
If calling, researchers must remain
mindful of concerns about privacy and intrusion and politely
terminate the call when it becomes apparent that the recipient is
not in a position or does not wish to take the call, is not
competent, or is a child (unless the researcher receives consent
from an appropriate adult to proceed with the call). The legally
and socially accepted age of children varies from country to
country. If the respondent is a child, the researcher must not go
further with the interview unless consent is obtained from a parent
or legal guardian to invite a child to participate in a research
survey (see ESOMAR Guideline on Interviewing children and young
people, section B 10).
4. RESPONDENT
COSTS
In some countries, calls to mobile
telephones, unlike fixed line calls, can involve a charge to both
the caller and the recipient. Also, in instances where survey calls
are made to mobile numbers across regional or national boundaries,
additional "roaming" charges may be incurred by the called party
and this can also apply to sending and receiving SMS.
Respondents using mobile phones to take
part in surveys may incur air-time, roaming or data costs in so
doing. If possible, the researcher should design the study so that
the respondent incurs no cost. If this is not possible, the
researcher must be prepared to compensate respondents for their
costs. Where mobile respondents are added to a panel or sampling
database the issue of cost and compensation should be agreed at the
"sign up" stage.
5. RESPONDENT
SAFETY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Due to the nature and usage patterns of
mobile telephones researchers sometimes will contact potential
respondents who are engaged in an activity or in a setting not
normally encountered in fixed-line calling. This might include
driving a vehicle, operating machinery, walking in a public space,
or when the caller is in another country/time zone. The researcher
has an obligation to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that
respondents are not harmed or adversely affected as a direct result
of participating in an interview. Therefore, where it is known that
the call is to a mobile number or there is cause to believe this to
be the case, the researcher should confirm whether the potential
respondent is in a situation where it is legal, safe and not
inconvenient to take the call. If the researcher does not receive
confirmation, then the call should be terminated while allowing the
possibility of making further attempts at another time.
Furthermore, a researcher might contact a
potential respondent who is engaged in an activity or in a work or
social situation where others may overhear the call and
confidentiality is compromised. Since a respondent could be reached
in a public or semi-private space, the researcher must consider the
nature of the survey content in light of the possibility that the
respondent might be overheard and personal information or behaviour
inadvertently disclosed or responses modified on account of the
respondent's situation. If appropriate, the call should be
rescheduled to another time or location when confidentiality will
not to be compromised.
Researchers should be aware that any
research data stored locally on the respondent's phone is
potentially available to others should the device be stolen or used
by another person For these reasons, special care should be taken
if using SMS to return data, as the text message may be stored in
the sent messages file of the phone. It is good practice to warn
respondents who will be using SMS to send responses of this and to
send a final message at the end of the research reminding
respondents to delete research replies in their sent mail. This
requirement must be observed if sensitive data is being
collected.
6. CONTACT
TIMES
A number of countries have laws or
standards that specify calling hours allowed for unsolicited calls
of any type and these should be observed for surveys via mobile
phones as well. In the absence of such requirements, researchers
should observe the same calling hours as for fixed-line phone
surveys. For telephone surveys in the business to business sector,
acceptable times are implicit in the office hours of the business
concerned.
Similar attention should be paid to the
sending of SMS text messages to mobile phones in order to avoid the
respondent receiving the message received alert outside "normal
hours".
Mobile phone numbers rarely indicate the
respondent's location and it is therefore incumbent on the
researcher to anticipate that the person being contacted might be
in a different time zone, and to verify the convenience of the
time, location and situation.
7. INTERVIEW
DURATION
While there is little empirical evidence,
some researchers report anecdotally that mobile telephone
respondents are more difficult to keep online than are respondents
called on fixed lines. It may well be that the nature of mobile
technology means that respondents are more easily distracted or
more likely to lose concentration, or that the call is more likely
to be interrupted or dropped. In addition, the respondent's
environment may change during the course of an interview to one
where safety or confidentiality is at risk. The researcher should
take these issues into consideration and ensure that the interview
length is kept as short as possible.
8. AUTOMATED
DIALLING AND CALLING EQUIPMENT
Researchers should note that a number of
countries restrict the use of auto-diallers and other automated
dialling equipment including predictive diallers . Some countries
may permit the use of such equipment only if a respondent has given
prior explicit consent (for example, as a member of an opt-in
panel) to be dialled by automated dialling equipment. Where
automated diallers are permitted and used, "abandoned or silent
calls", where no live interviewer is immediately available, are not
allowed.
9. LOCATION
DATA
It is now possible to capture additional
data from interactive mobile devices and smartphones such as real
time location data. ESOMAR's Guideline on Passive Data Collection
addresses this issue. The researcher must have the respondent's
permission before processing it.
10. CALLING
PROTOCOLS
Some people consider their mobile phone
to be a personal and private instrument. The researcher has an
obligation to be sensitive to these privacy concerns. It is
appropriate for the calling protocols for research via mobile phone
to differ from the practices that are used in fixed-line telephone
research. For example, the researcher should consider limiting the
number and pattern of call-backs when contacting a known mobile
number.
In line with the ICC/ESOMAR Code
requirement that researchers shall identify themselves, calls to
mobile numbers should be set to allow the display of the caller's
number where this is possible and this facility should not be
deliberately suppressed. If the researcher chooses to leave a
voicemail message for a potential respondent (who may have to pay
to retrieve the message) then this message should detail how the
researcher will offer to recompense for the cost of retrieval.
Wherever feasible, it should be made
possible for the called party to contact the researcher by calling
the number displayed to establish the researcher's identity. It is
good practice to provide a toll-free contact number, recognising
that the respondent may need to call the researcher over a
fixed-line.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Queries about implementing the Guideline should be sent to the
ESOMAR Professional Standards Committee, professional.standards@esomar.org
Project Team
- Diane Bowers, President, CASRO (Co Chair of Project Team and
member of ESOMAR Professional Standards Committee)
- Bill Blyth, Global Methods Director, TNS, UK (Co Chair of
Project Team and member of ESOMAR Professional Standards
Committee)
- Keith Bailey, Senior Manager Product Development - Research and
Testing, Nokia Mobile Phones, UK Reg Baker, COO, Marketing
Strategies, USA
- AJ Johnson, VP of Global Operations, Ipsos Open Thinking
Exchange Peter Milla Consultant to CASRO
- Guy Rolfe, Global Mobile Knowledge Leader, Kantar
Operations
- Pravin Shekar, Founder, The Social Catalyst, Kreator-in-chief,
Krea, India
- Tom W Smith, Director of the General Social Survey, National
Opinion Research Center/University of Chicago and Vice President
and President-Elect, WAPOR
- Dr. Tim Snaith, Chief Research Officer, OnePoint Global
- John O'Brien, Consultant to ESOMAR Professional Standards
Committee
APPENDIX - KEY
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ICC/ESOMAR CODE
The Code is based on these key fundamentals:
- 1. Market researchers shall conform to all relevant national
and international laws.
- 2. Market researchers shall behave ethically and shall not do
anything which might damage the reputation of market research
- 3. Market researchers shall take special care when carrying out
research among children and young people.
- 4. Respondents' cooperation is voluntary and must be based on
adequate, and not misleading, information about the general purpose
and nature of the project when their agreement to participate is
being obtained and all such statements shall be honoured.
- 5. The rights of respondents as private individuals shall be
respected by market researchers and they shall not be harmed or
adversely affected as the direct result of cooperating in a market
research project.
- 6. Market researchers shall never allow personal data they
collect in a market research project to be used for any purpose
other than market research.
- 7. Market researchers shall ensure that projects and activities
are designed, carried out, reported and documented accurately,
transparently and objectively.
- 8. Market researchers shall conform to the accepted principles
of fair competition.
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