Survey Results Spotlight: Ipsos I-Say

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Panelists enjoy a variety rewards for completing surveys including gift cards, cash and prizes. However some people participate because they are interested in making a difference in products and services around the world. Results from various surveys can be seen on store shelves in new products or packaging, improved services or they can be found published in various media forms.

Example of a Survey Result

One example of the results of a global survey is this one from Ipsos: https://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5573

This survey explains the internet usage of respondents in terms of shopping, banking and looking for work online. Results are broken down into categories, such as nationality and shopping habits.

At the bottom of the page all the countries that participated are listed, so the results from the Canadian survey are combined with those from around the world. The demographic profile is also discussed in relation to the results. In this case it is easy for panelists to see why providing information such as income, age, et cetera is so important on each survey.

Results Explained

Still using the above example, we can see that respondents were asked a number of questions relating to their online habits. There were panelists answering from 24 countries and the first synopsis shows how everyone as a group behaves, in this case that 59% of people from all countries listed use the internet to check their bank accounts, 48% shop online and 41% have looked for work online in the last three months.

The results then go into more detail, showing the top seven countries that have used the web to “check bank account and other financial holdings”. Then the four countries that use online shopping the least amount are also listed.

Shopping habits are detailed next, showing who shops online but also who uses the internet for online research before buying a product. Results are broken down to show that online shopping is the norm in developed countries, but those who use the web to do research on products before purchasing them come from a variety of countries.

Results also show a lower number of panelists from Asian countries use the Internet to look for jobs or search job recruitment sites, with a higher number of users from eastern Europe, among others.

The final breakdown uses results from all the countries polled, but filters the results with fields such as household income, education and age. This survey shows that those who go online to check their bank accounts the most tend to have the most education with a high income and are over the age of 50. Those who use the internet for job searching tend to be younger (under 35) single, and (appropriately since they are job hunting) have a lower household income.

How Results From Studies Are Used

By looking at the results from the above link from Ipsos one could guess the types of questions asked on the survey, especially if a panelist has answered surveys in the past. The demographic questions about income, age and education now make sense and the panelist can see why answering these questions honestly make a difference in the results. They can also better understand how their answers are combined with those from other panelists and how their privacy is thus assured.

But what happens now that the results are in? The company that requested the survey can now move forward with improving their products. In the above example, a job search site may choose to expand their sites in Poland, Hungary, South Africa and Mexico since a greater number of users come from those countries. Now job seekers from these four countries would see more options and information available while looking online for work. This is just one example of what can happen with online survey results.

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