Sonic Goes Mobile

Sonic Drive-In has recently reviewed information for a number

of surveys involving various types of product evaluations. All

the surveys were completed online with customers recruited

from their proprietary panel. In addition to the actual survey

data and other information, the online interviewing system

captures the browser that the respondent used to complete

the survey. Analyzing the "browser used" data, Sonic has

observed a slow but steady increase in the number of indi-

viduals completing the survey on mobile browsers, including

tablets and smartphones. The most recent results show a big

jump in this percentage from a year ago, with an average of

nearly 30 percent of the more recent surveys completed on

mobile browsers.

Several managers have attempted completing some of these

surveys using their own tablets and smartphones. They like the

idea that using these platforms increase the options for the con-

sumer and that these devices permit consumers to take the sur-

veys at times and in places when and where they previously could

not. However, their experiences in testing the surveys on their

mobile devices have suggested that they may need to change the

way they design questionnaires to accommodate smartphones

and tablets.

2. What changes does Sonic need to make in its survey designs

to take advantage of these new survey platforms?