Tag Archives: online research

Holiday Shopping Goes Mobile!

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Half of consumers with mobile phones view their device as a holiday shopping resource for product and sale information, coupons, product reviews, and store information, a new survey finds. And 32% believe their mobile phone is helpful for buying products. Internet Retailer

The stats say that one-third of us have already begun our holiday shopping, and 54% are going to start any minute, here at the beginning of November. Nothing new there. What IS new is the number of us getting more and more comfortable doing our holiday shopping on our mobile devices.  In fact:

  • 70% of consumers who use mobile devices for information and guidance on gift buying say they are likely to consider spending $20 or more on items such as toys, games and electronics via their phones.
  • 40% feel comfortable spending $50 or more on a single holiday gift item using their mobile device.

Consumers at this time of year are on a mission – they have a list and they are ready to buy! So I guess it makes sense that some of the neat-o functions you play with on your phone at other times of the year now suddenly become vital tools in your holiday shopping – locating, researching, comparing and, of course, downloading coupons!

How about you? Will you be using your mobile device as you do combat this holiday season? Let us know!

Over One Million Served!

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On TV shows it’s a really big deal: a woman walks into a store, sirens blare, balloons fall and a guy rushes out with a big cardboard check. You’re our 1-millionth customer!!

Real life is a little more subtle. In fact, if the Surv-o-Tron 2000® down at MindField Central hadn’t blown a gasket and started leaking coolant, we might not have noticed that the counter had turned over a million.

That’s right, one million survey responses. And who was number 1 million? THIS LADY!

This is Michelle from Maine. As you can see from her Facebook pic, she’s married and has two young kids. And to celebrate this milestone, MindField added FIFTY BUCKS to her payout.

This is just one example of the fun and surprises to be had here at MindField Online Internet Panels. So, thanks Michelle! Everybody else, stay tuned, our big $2500 drawing is just around the corner!

Mobile Consumption by the Numbers

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Yahoo has recently conducted a big study on the numbers and ways we are using our smartphones for entertainment, specifically how much time we watch mobile video. Check it out!

How many of us are using mobile web?

According to the Yahoo study, 54% are spending more time on mobile web than a year ago.

How are we using mobile web?

  • 38% of mobile consumers used the mobile Web to connect with other users.
  • 16% used mobile Web to search
  • 15% used it for entertainment

And the time spent watching video on mobile has increased nearly 30%

What kinds of entertainment?

  • 42% gaming video content
  • 34% movie clips and trailers
  • 33% full-length TV shows and movies or sports coverage
  • 32% celebrity, beauty or fashion video content on their devices
  • 14% political coverage

When?

The majority of time spent happens before 1 p.m.

Are we satisfied with what we are seeing?

Are you kidding? We’re AMERICANS! 60% of us are still looking for a better user experience and expect more!

So that’s the rundown. You’re welcome to check out the original article but, frankly, it’s a tough read! How about you? Are you using mobile web for entertainment? Has your use increased?

Blackberry Blackout equals Outage Outrage!

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Blackberry sends sadface. Millions without service do not receive it.

The longest BlackBerry outage in many years left customers outraged this week, threatening to cost the granddaddy of all smartphones more business when it’s already struggling to keep up in a crowded marketplace.  – Huffington Post

It’s not like things weren’t already going sour at Blackberry. They have seen their market share drop in the past year – from roughly equal worldwide with Android (19% vs. 18%,) to less than a third (12% vs. 43%.)  But last week’s global blackout now has users rethinking their commitment to Blackberry, especially with the big launch of iPhone 4S underway.

The big, three-day hiccup affected millions of users worldwide. Now, to soothe angry subscribers, Blackberry is offering $100 worth of free downloads including SIMS 3, Bejeweled, Photo Editor Ultimate, Vlingo Virtual Assistant and more. For its enterprise customers, Blackberry is offering a free month of tech support.

So, do you use Blackberry or know someone who does? Were you affected? If so, do the free downloads make up for it, or is it too little, too late?

The Kitchen is Closed

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We all have a defunct restaurant from yesteryear that we miss – usually some mom and pop diner or local steak house. But who knew we would mourn Bennigan’s or Don Pablo’s? Well, it’s come to this, people.

 There is a school of thought that says the restaurant business is always a good business because people need to eat. A glance at the sales of many of America’s largest restaurant chains over the past decade quickly dispels that myth.             MSN Business.com

Here’s the deathwatch:

  1. Bennigan’s: This nationwide, Irish-themed casual-dining restaurant has 87% fewer locations than it did in 2001.
  2. Ground Round: This casual-dining burger and steak chain lost 81% of its locations in the last 10 years.
  3. Bakers Square: Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, but is best known for its pies. Has 70% fewer locations than 2001.
  4. Damon’s: I always knew it as a rib joint, but later became a sports bar. 72% decline.
  5. Don Pablo’s: Nationwide Tex-Mex chain. 70% decline.
  6. Gloria Jean’s Coffees. In its 30-year history, it has expanded to Australia, where it still thrives. Here? 73% decline.
  7. Big Boy. This one I don’t get. Frisch’s is the Big Boy chain back home in Ohio, and I have seen ZERO decline. Every one of the dilapidated shops from the 60’s has been renovated. But, the overall national chain is down 65%.
  8. Tony Roma’s. Tony still has a large international presence, but here at home is down 72%
  9. Country Kitchen. Buffet place, right? Down 74%.
  10. Black Angus Steakhouse. Primarily out west, there are 46 BA’s today, down from 107 in 2001 – a 57% drop.

So, any of your favorites on the list? Who did they miss? Let us know!

A Heist Indeed!

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An odd movie experiment is underway:

If you live in Atlanta GA or Portland OR, you’ll be able to watch the new Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller movie in your house for $59.99 — while the movie is still in theaters and months before it would normally be available for video-on-demand rentals. Wall Street Journal

You might be thinking it sounds like a cool concept, while simultaneously thinking that nobody would pay $60 for it. And by you I mean me.

Anyway, Universal Studios is using its new release “Tower Heist” to tinker with the concept of “windows” in movie releases and pricing. We are accustomed to paying different prices for a new release in theaters, a video-on-demand rental, a DVD from Redbox, Netflix by mail, etc. It’s just a matter of how bad we wish to see something, how soon, and how much we want to pay.

To which you might say “yeah, but sixty bucks?”

Time Warner, Sony, Comcast and Fox tried this a while back. Their experiment cost $30, which might conceivably be a bargain for the typical movie night when you think about gas, parking, babysitter, two tickets, etc.

But sixty? What do YOU think? I think it’s ironic that an experiment that comes into your home and takes a lot of money involves a movie about going into a home and taking a lot of money. Here’s the trailer for Tower Heist.

UPDATE: Trouble’s brewin’… not surprisingly, theater owners are pitching a fit.

Further Update: Idea already dead?

The Return of Layaway

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Until recently, layaway was on the “endangered strategies list,” replaced by increased use of credit and gift cards. So why bring back this dinosaur of a payment practice? It’s simple…our economy. With banks being more cautious, consumer credit lines are withering.       Harvard Business Review

Everybody remembers layaway, back in the days before they gave out credit cards to anybody with a pulse. I remember layaway as that cruddy window in the back of the store, where you stood in line with your mom and all the other bored kids and their moms, sweating to death in your big old parka and getting nauseous from all the cigarette smoke. Good times.

Anyway, layaway is back in a lot of stores, but Wal-Mart is really making some noise. Their plan is probably pretty typical. Specifically…

 it kicks off on 10/17 and runs through 12/16. …an item has to cost at least $15, and the total minimum order is $50. [It is] limited to toys and electronics (and most cell phones aren’t eligible), and it applies only to in-store purchases. You have to put down at least 10 percent of the cost of the total order when you put the items on layaway…you don’t get charged interest on deferred purchases, [but] the layaway program isn’t free: Walmart is charging a one-time non-refundable $5 service fee for the service, and you’ll get hit with a $10 fee if the layaway order isn’t paid in full and picked up or canceled by the end of the day on December 16.  Consumer Reports

So, what do you think? Will you be taking advantage of this or other layaway programs? If you do, put me down for a Lost in Space robot, a Six Million Dollar Man doll action figure and an Evel Knievel dirtbike!

iPhone Losing Its Cool?

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“There’s an interesting thing that’s going on in the market. The iPhone has become a little less cool than it was.”

Now, here at MindField we love our iPods, iPhones, iPads, you name it. We’d like to think it’s because they’re innovative, they work well (alone and together) and they have great apps. We’d like to think it’s NOT for the Apple “cool factor”…because that wouldn’t be cool somehow.

But the cool factor is a big part of it for a lot of people. Believe me, I know. I worked at a company that made cases and power accessories for Apple products. The boss would call a staff meeting. 30 people would gather around the big table, and all of them would immediately whip out their iPhones. Heck, about a third of them had iPads, too. And here I was with a dumb old Nokia flip-phone.

So when my wife’s boss was giving up his iPhone 3GS and upgrading to an iPhone 4, I jumped at his used model. Social faux pas averted! Coolness achieved!

So, when I read this article, “Has the iPhone Lost its Cool?”, I got a bit of a chuckle. Basically, it says that college kids are turning away from iPhone for one or both of the following reasons: first, if their parents love the iPhone – as parents definitely do – there must be something terribly LAME about it. Also, if you want an iPhone, you’d better be ready to lay down at least three bills for it – unless you buy a creaky old 3GS like mine! Meanwhile, nicely capable Android phones are available at a variety of price points.

Now, bear in mind, this article was based on an Android executive’s personal experience dropping his daughter off at her college dorm – so take it with a grain of salt! But what do you think? Has the iPhone lost some of its luster? Are you just as happy with an Android? Let us know!

Target.com’s “Missoni Impossible”

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If you are totally in the dark – or a dude – Missoni is an Italian knitwear designer. They are the latest “big get” for mega-retailer Target. They teamed up to provide Target shoppers with their wide-ranging line of EXTREMELY popular knitwear. But the big launch didn’t go so smoothly!

Comedian Louis C.K. has a bit about people becoming violently frustrated with their smartphones: “Come ON! Download! Stupid thing!” Louie says, “Could you relax? It has to go to outer space and back to provide you a convenience you couldn’t have imagined 10 years ago!”

Something to think about because, during last week’s big launch day, shoppers completely MELTED Target‘s online store, Target.com.  Millions of online shoppers saw the following message:

How can you stay mad at Toolbox Dog? He's got a little toolbox!

And how did they react? How do you think? According to the article, there was a whole lot of “What the ____? Bummer! Totally p*ssed off!” on all the discussion boards.

Meanwhile, the lucky shoppers who had gotten through and glommed up all the merchandise prior to the meltdown were already on eBay, reselling at premium prices.  Come on! These aren’t Beanie Babies or Cabbage Patch Kids!

So anyway, no big judgment here, other than to say if you are going to whip up a consumer frenzy, you’d better be able to handle the traffic! So how about you? Were you part of the madness? Did you score, or were you shut out? Let us know!

Qualifying for Surveys, Revisited

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If you are a member of MindField Online Internet Panels – or any other reputable survey company – you know that it can be hard to qualify for surveys at times. Sometimes you respond to an invitation, begin to answer some of the background questions and, before you know it, the survey has “kicked you out.” That can be a bummer, and you have probably wondered why it happens. Today, we will try to explain.

We wrote that blog post about 10 months ago, referred people back to it from time to time, and eventually we made its own dedicated page. We wanted it to be permanently on display, because we know that Qualifying is an important topic, and often a sore subject.

As we say, MindField Online has a responsibility to get our members as many survey opportunities as we can. We also have a responsibility to our clients to get them good, detailed, usable data. Qualifying is where those two concerns meet.

So, we invite you to read the page, “Bringing Clarity to Online Survey Qualification” once again. You’ll learn more about the how and why of qualifying, as well as a few tips on improving your chances at completing more surveys.