COVID-19 is certainly impacting nearly everything in society, from cruises, public transportation, and other travel, to large events, and even toilet paper ! This is a serious topic and at our company (I Apac Online), we are all working remote-working policies indefinitely.

You should not see any disruption in service from us.

But what about its impact on survey research?

Keep in mind that we focus on Online quantitative research. The impact is obviously very different to other forms of research, including any in-person or qualitative research.

We aren’t experiencing disruptions to service due to the virus. Over the past week, we have seen a positive increase in survey participation.


Why is Market Research Interest Increasing During the Pandemic?

Changing work circumstances = increased availability. Many respondents are working from home, have reduced hours or have unfortunately been laid off. This means that they have more time to participate. (For people who have taken a hit to their incomes, incentives certainly don’t hurt either).

A need to be heard. Many if not most of us feel some sense of powerlessness in the face of this pandemic. Providing input and feedback, even in the form of an online survey, gives many a tiny sense of control, that we matter. Moreover, knowing that brands and organizations we rely on are moving forward with plans is a welcome sign of stability.


What about from a respondent perspective? Will response rates vary, and more importantly, will there be changes in survey responses because of this?

We have experienced increased response rates on nearly all consumer and B2B studies.

For healthcare studies, it has been more sporadic as you would expect. For any healthcare-related studies, it should definitely be taken into account as this topic is dominating the news and the overall conversation. Any data collected at this time should be marked/noted accordingly and used for context.

Elsewhere, the answer (per usual in market research) is “it depends.” Response rates will certainly fluctuate due to Coronavirus and will be less predictable than normal. It’s possible that response rates will continue to increase in some cases and down in others, which could impact incidence rates(IR), quota management, and project timelines.

We will be monitoring this very closely with our panelist.

Additionally, there could be increased anxiety (for both health and financial reasons, and perhaps even safety reasons), which could come across in any survey asking for opinions on nearly any topic.

Many brands and researchers should use this as an opportunity to learn more about situations like this and the impact on survey research. An interesting question to add at the end of surveys could ask about awareness/concern of COVID-19 and then segment the respondents. As clients start to question the data, it will be better to get ahead of any possible data differences.

Our economy is currently undergoing a shift as more people work from home and adjust their behaviors, which may become long-term habits.

Our industry is uniquely positioned to measure and leverage this.

We hope this is only a short-term impact, but we will continue to monitor the situation from a best practices standpoint.

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