By the Numbers: Using online software to train the next generation of Web surveyors

Editor’s note: The authors all work within the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, S.C. Latta is an assistant professor, Mitchell is chair and Taylor is an associate professor in the department of management, marketing and law. Thrash is director of the school’s professional golf management program.

Business schools throughout the country have been seeking endorsement by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) by providing business students with active learning opportunities such as doing online research projects that enhance their business skill set.

According to a study by Segal and Hershberger (2006), the most desired types of background and training that marketing research recruiters require for job candidates are marketing research experience (45.2 percent), industry-specific experience (32.4 percent), quantitative research and analysis experience (19.8 percent), and software-specific experience (15.2 percent).

To give students experience in those areas, Coastal Carolina University provides training in conducting online e-mail surveys.

AACSB International is the oldest and largest accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. To maintain its AACSB accreditation, the Wall College of Business at Coastal Carolina University is constantly seeking ways of improving teaching and research programs, especially those that provide opportunity to achieve excellence through active learning for students.

Coastal Carolina University sought participation in the academic grant program of WebSurveyor (now Vovici), an online survey research tool. This program allows colleges and universities to receive a renewable two-year grant, with a commercial value of $50,000, to use Vovici software to support teaching and research efforts. Other research software vendors also have academic grant programs and contribute to the training of young research professionals.

WebSurveyor was integrated into four courses in the Wall College of Business, including principles of marketing, marketing strategy, retail management and tourism research. The process involved non-profit organizations (local thrift stores and the South Carolina Chapter of the Red Cross), the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Class A PGA members in the Myrtle Beach area.

Excellent example

The Class A PGA members survey provides an excellent example of best practices involved in e-mail survey methodology that the new marketing research professionals need to understand.

The best practices involved include:

1. Making the questions easy to understand and answer.

2. Measuring the relevant concepts such as importance and performance.

3. Asking appropriate demographic questions.

4. Having a relevant e-mail list.

5. Having a short and effective invitation.

6. Sending the e-mail invitation at an effective time.

7. Using follow-ups as necessary.

Faculty handled items 1-4 above and utilized WebSurveyor to create the survey instrument. The e-mail list came from the PGA and thus was relatively fresh and accurate. Items 5, 6 and 7 were handled by the students after instruction from faculty.

Response rates are typically high for Web surveys compared to other methodologies, with around 50 percent of responses coming within one day of e-mailing the invitations. The majority of responses come within four days.

It is a best practice to send e-mail invitations on Monday evening so they are received by the potential respondents Tuesday morning and do not remain unopened over a weekend. Also, it is important to have an inviting subject line that does not appear to be spam to encourage the respondent to open the invitation. Finally, if possible, it is helpful to have an endorsement from a relevant source to encourage cooperation.

Not optimal

With a class of students involved, control over the survey process is not optimal and not all of these best practices were implemented by all students participating in the survey fielding process.

There were 72 students in two retail management classes who participated in the PGA Web survey. Each student had a list of approximately 20 PGA members to contact through e-mail. The first round of e-mail invitations produced 60 responses from PGA members. The second round of invitations included an endorsement letter from the secretary of the Carolinas Section of the PGA. In addition a specific subject line was provided which said, “A Message From Karl Kimball, Secretary of the Carolinas Section of the PGA.” Students were also required to carbon-copy the retail management professor on all outgoing e-mails to keep track of their efforts so they could receive course credit and so the PGA respondents could receive a summary of the results after the responses were analyzed. The final sample size was 107.

Retain control

Using a program such as WebSurveyor in active learning requires faculty (or the survey manager) to retain control of the survey field process to ensure that e-mail invitations are sent out in a timely fashion, have an appropriate and inviting subject line and include an endorsement by an appropriate source, and offer an incentive for participation in the form of a summary of the results (Goodman, 2006).

With the above issues properly managed, broad use of an online survey vehicle in active learning research projects in support of developing marketing strategies and tactics is recommended by implementing the following 10 best practices for e-mail surveying:

1. Indicate you have permission to use the respondent’s e-mail address to gain cooperation and prevent opting-out and insuring compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.

2. The subject line should be inviting and suggest the value of reading the e-mail.

3. The from line should indicate an organization or individual that is recognizable to the respondent.

4. If possible, test-run your e-mail through a spam checker to see if it triggers filters.

5. Make sure your content is relevant to the respondent and not just you or your survey.

6. Include a “call to action” in the e-mail to encourage participation and indicate what the value of participation includes.

7. Do not cram too much into your survey; if it takes more than five minutes to complete, early termination is likely.

8. Use common response formats to make participation easy.

9. Remember that permission is perishable and getting to the point is essential in the content of the invitation e-mail and the survey itself.

10. Think win-win-win for the student, the respondent, and the business community in designing the e-mail survey from start to finish.

Successful entry

Following these 10 best practices will give students marketing research experience along with specific software experience and in some cases provide industry-specific experience (in this case, golf) as well as quantitative research experience, thereby helping to prepare them for a successful entry into the business world.

References

Goodman, G.F. “Five Common E-Mail Marketing Mistakes,” retrieved June 8, 2006 from www.entrepreneur.com.

Hershberger, E. & Segal, M.N. “Ads for MR Positions Reveal Desired Skills.” Marketing News, February 2007: 28-33.

Segal, M.N., and Hershberger, E. “Preparing Research Professionals.” Marketing Research, Fall 2006, 19-25.