SMS-based surveys: strategies to improve participation

The advertising industry is increasingly using mobile technology to communicate and research. This paper examines the use of the short messaging service (SMS) on mobile phones to recruit samples for probability web and telephone surveys. The influence of topic salience, sponsor identity and repeated contacts on decision to participate in the survey is tested through an experimental design. Results indicated that sponsor identity and repeated contacts have an effect on decision to participate, but topic salience did not. The majority of respondents preferred the web survey alternative over telephone survey mode, and the main advantage of using SMS is the high speed of response. However, the method appears to elicit higher levels of participation from male and younger members of the population.