Research and consumer insights company Pondering Panda has just set a new record for the most interviews completed in under a year by a South African consumer insights company, having successfully completed more than 2 million interviews in under 12 months.
All interviews were conducted on cell phones. The interviews covered a wide range of topics, from politics and current affairs to consumer goods, food, finances and health related issues.
“Research in the digital space is indeed a brave new world. We’ve been conducting interviews at a breakneck pace all year, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down,” says Butch Rice, co-founder of Pondering Panda. “The speed at which we are able to complete surveys blows away traditional industry methods. We can guarantee answers to advertising, marketing and brand questions within 24 hours – as well as poll opinion on political issues as they unfold.
“This speed enables marketers to react and adjust to consumer opinion within days, instead of weeks or months. And thanks to the size of our respondent base, we’re able to deliver the large and robust sample sizes that are quickly becoming the new industry standard. The support we have received from clients has been extremely gratifying.”
Pondering Panda’s commercial success is attributed to the fact that interviews are conducted via cell phones. People have their phones with them at all times, ensuring a high response rate. Because respondents feel relatively anonymous, their answers are more candid than they would be in traditional interviews conducted by a fieldworker. As all information is input digitally, a rapid assembly and analysis of the data can be completed, allowing for a fast turnaround
Now the company has set itself a target of four million interviews before the end of 2013.
