The State of the Art of Internet Research

The State of the Art of Internet Research (pharma market)
EphMrA Conference, June 2000 by Dirk Huisman (SKIM Group)

Last year when we discussed Internet research at the first EphMrA Internet seminar, the primary focus was on transferring traditional research techniques to the net: what was possible, what not (yet) and what were the advantages of internet research.
Where are we now, only 15 months later?

The share of Internet in the market research expenditures now is estimated to be 5% of the total market research expenditures in the USA 1 and these expenditures are rising with triple digit growth rates. The share is expected to rise to 25% or even 40%, depending on the definition of the MR activities. Nevertheless, whatever definition we use, it will be a substantial part of the market research investments.



In Europe we are somewhat lagging behind, but it is a common opinion that the gap will be closed in due time. In particular the Nordic countries are already at the US level of online penetration. However there is a big difference between North and South Europe and between the individual countries. These differences are proven to be more significant when comparing private 'surfers' to Internet users for business purposes 2.

State of the art from a research technology perspective
What is meant by Internet research: we could define it as all research in which the information is collected via the Internet, "the World Wide Web of linked computers and electronic devices". Apart from tracking behaviour it mostly requires self-administration.

Internet research includes a variety of research alternatives such as: pop-up interviews, tracking (surf) behaviour, (virtual) focus groups, (virtual) in depth interviews, web surveys, e-mail interviews.

The different variations of Internet research can be categorised like traditional research in quantitative research, qualitative research and observation research.

Quantitative research
Typical examples of quantitative research Internet studies would be: online pop-up surveys, email surveys (off-line), or combined email/URL surveys. From a perspective of research technology there is hardly any difference anymore between traditional computer-assisted interviewing (like CAPI or CATI) and surveys conducted on the Internet.

The computer-assisted interviewing software has been adapted for the World Wide Web. The functionality is practically identical, offering researchers options to skip, jump, randomise, restore open answers, select lists, make calculations, control answers, individualise the interview, etc. Everything that made computer-assisted interviewing attractive is or can be transferred to the Internet. Even programs requiring intensive interaction and complex algorithms, like for instance Adaptive Conjoint analysis (ACA), can be used on the Internet (like implemented in ACA Web software of Sawtooth Software, Inc.)

Qualitative research
Let us consider surveys in the form of online focus groups and online in-depth interviews examples of qualitative Internet interviews.

One of the characteristics of Internet research is "at distance". So with regard to qualitative research some tools and techniques are missing. We can't observe non-verbal communication and we can't use non-verbal stimuli like body language. Further we miss the spontaneity.

On the other hand in a PC-based qualitative interview all that is said is directly available in electronic form.

At this moment there are various programs available to organise virtual focus groups on the Internet as well as to conduct individual in-depth interviews. Comparing face-to face and online focus groups we may notice the following differences. The variety of stimuli used by the moderator of online focus group is limited to mostly verbal stimuli, no body language. Digital form enables the moderator to repeat easily and precisely what the respondent said to encourage more explanation. He/She can also use a great variety of predefined stimuli (on lists with "Your point is very interesting, can you comment on it, please?") , which makes the interaction livelier.

The email version of in-depth interview is controlled stepwise and is less spontaneous, but better thought through.

Summarising all pros and contras from a research technology point of view we come to a conclusion that traditional qualitative research can be transferred to the Internet.

State of the art Internet research in practice
With 5% market share in the USA, but globally about 2%, Internet research is in its starting phase. Based on number of developed questionnaires we conclude that most Internet research regards pop-up interviews, in which "learning to know the visitor" is the objective of the survey. But this is typical for the starting phase. The medium is new and we want to understand the medium first. In addition most Internet research has been quite simple or standard in nature, because quality couldn't be guaranteed.

Evaluating the potential for Internet research last year following the 1999 EphMrA Internet seminar, we invited the participants to complete a simple Internet conjoint questionnaire, trading off the specifications for an international copy test. The attributes were:

quality (% respondents who had to evaluate the copies in distorted form);
representativeness (% of target group who can be reached);
turn around time of the survey;
costs of the survey.



Although only a minority of the participants of the seminar visited the web site and completed the interview the results were obvious and corresponded with the findings presented at the NetEffects3 ESOMAR Congress in Dublin (April 2000). At the moment the primary reason to choose for the Internet is timing or speed and costs.

Representativeness
Most research agencies, in particular the larger ones, offer research on the Internet or are preparing to offer this kind of research. Sampling and recruitment of respondents is still a key concern, but it currently becomes a common practice to "pre-recruit" and create panels. However this does not guarantee representativeness either. To cope with this problem selective recruiting from the panel is combined with weighting procedures in order to reflect the population. With consumer research you also see a combination of recruiting "not connected respondents" and Internet research. The skewed web sample may be combined with a sample from "not connected respondents" who are invited to Internet cafes to complete an interview. Representativeness is a problem and the "representativeness arguments" against Internet research are fundamental, though also a bit opportunistic as today's alternatives can't guarantee representativeness either.

Response Rate
Another rather unexpected issue regarding Internet interviewing is a problem of response rate. In a comparative survey 3 between pre-recruited respondents, half of whom received a traditional paper-and-pencil mail survey and the other half received an URL to complete an Internet interview, it turned out that the Internet survey had a higher non response rate. Comparing different lay-out versions of the Internet questionnaire showed that like in mail surveys, lay-out influences the response rate.

Experience in interviewing pre-selected (professional) groups
The representativeness becomes less of an issue if you focus on specific groups, like physicians in our case. In the Netherlands we have learned that most of physicians (72%) have an Internet connection. And a number of sampling databases already includes the email address of many physicians. However, a part of physicians who only have Internet access in the hospital or only privately at home, don't want to be bothered with Internet surveys. Nevertheless 52% of the total population of physicians participating in interviews (phone or face-to-face) indicated that they may be invited via the Internet or email to participate in an interview.



These results are in line with the situation in the US where respondents are recruited via traditional methods. Once they indicate their willingness to participate most communication goes via Internet or email.

With regard to qualitative research, which is rather based on the qualities of the individual researcher than on method of data collection, most information on the state of the art is descriptive and based on individual cases. From the articles 4 one can see that a lot is going on, but the contours of a "common practice" can't be identified yet.

Understanding Internet market research: opportunities and limitations
To conduct research via the Internet and to learn about its opportunities and limitations one should understand the Internet. Although we all talk about the Internet and Internet research one should bare in mind that there is no simple definition of what "Internet" is. It all started as a network of computers that could be used to exchange information, independent of computer's operating system. Linked via telephone lines PCs were communicating using the same protocol. Nowadays during one Internet session dozens of protocols can be activated, all communicating via the Internet.

In its early stage Internet was limited to a computer on a university desk or in "a nerd's study". Since then computer has infiltrated daily life and is everywhere. However, nowadays it is not only the computer that is linked to the Internet. speaking of Internet market research should we think of Internet boxes on top of a home TV set, or a PC at work behind scripts and firewalls. Or should we imagine a mobile phone with its UMTS following WAP protocol in the near future? Via Internet we communicate in such a way that although our information is accessible, we don't know in what form it reaches the receiver/respondent, neither do we know how easy it is to react. It is tempting to see the Internet as a uniform "thing" linking PCs, but reality is different.

When transferring traditional market research to the Internet, one perceives Internet as a medium. Apart from the physical and contextual differences as indicated above, we use the medium differently based on the medium type and age of the target group. Important element of communication via the Internet is that the user is in control and often rather impatient. When it lasts too long or when it becomes boring most users tend to surf on. We are missing the interviewer to stimulate the respondent to continue completing the online questionnaire. Consequently the partial non-response in Internet research is higher than in traditional research.

Young people who grow up with the Internet perceive the medium completely different from older people. For them it is a medium to collect information they need and less a medium to provide information. The older users, on the other hand, try to understand the Internet and often look more at the form. The younger users are more inclined to chat, the older ones - to write emails.

Via the Internet one can reach and link different people (physicians, caregivers, or patients) with common interest thus creating virtual communities. For pharma market research these communities are extremely interesting. First of all to follow the discussions and secondly to track the surfing behaviour. The information offered for participants and discussions must be inherently worthwhile otherwise they won't visit you anymore.

Summing up, technologically current use of Internet research is far below its potential. The problems and limitations are all related to the newness of the medium and to the fact that the medium is changing rapidly and hasn't settled yet. Further the focus in Internet research has been primarily on the medium itself; we are only starting to use it as an additional tool. The primary arguments to use the Internet are time and costs and the potential is offering better answers faster.

We have to realise that the Internet and Internet research are part of wider and more fundamental evolution into an e-society. The new options of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) result into global change of processes. More of those become linked and can be traced electronically. For instance the prescription by a physician is clicked or typed and transmitted directly to the pharmacy. Capturing this flow of data can teach us more than asking for the same data. The greatest opportunity for Internet research is probably not in transferring traditional research to the Internet, but to trace, open and combine databases. The paradox is that most information we are looking for is already available and stored somewhere.

Notes
1 Richard Windle, Elisabeth DeLanghe, The State of the Internet in Europe, NetEffects3, ESOMAR, April 2000.

2 Karl Irons, Moving Marketing Research Activities to the Internet, NetEffects3, ESOMAR, April 2000.

3 Karlan Witt, Moving Studies to the Web: A Case Study, " Sawtooth Software Conference Proceedings 2000".

4 NetEffects3, session 5 - Qualitative Research Online