For marketing researchers, the growing number of wireless subscribers and, especially, the number of wireless-only households, has major implications for one of the traditional mainstays of survey methodology: the telephone interview. Mobile phones present a number of challenges with respect to sampling and coverage,” including changing the sampling unit from the household to the person, the need for dual-frame designs in order to reach those with landlines and those without, and how best to define access or use, given the relative impermanence of mobile phone numbers. The purpose of this two-stage exploratory research study was to assess how potential respondents would react to receiving a mobile phone call in which they were asked to complete a survey. This two-stage study contributes some initial insights into the reactions of young adults to this new potential data collection method and offers suggestions for needed future research on this method. Given the purpose of the research and the call for research on this new data collection method from the research industry literature, the following research questions were identified:RQ1. Are there any differences between the two age cohorts (Gen-X and Gen-Y) in terms of their willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone?RQ2. Are there any differences between mobile phone-only users and users who still have landlines in terms of their willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone?RQ3. Are there any differences by gender in terms of willingness to participate in a survey through a mobile phone?Two nonprobability samples of Gen-X and Gen-Y adults in a Southern U.S. state were drawn in 2008 and 2009. Significant differences were identified by gender, age cohort and presence/absence of landline telephones. Regarding willingness to participate in mobile surveys, older, female cell phone only users may be more interested in participating in a mobile survey than older male users because of the novelty of the experience and that outweighs whatever cost concerns they might have. They may also be more trusting and have had more experience with answering surveys in general. Younger respondents (Gen-Y) were more willing to participate by text messaging than older respondents. Young adults are more used to texting (SMS) and instant messaging than are members of the older age cohort. In addition, women were more willing to participate in surveys by text messaging than men were. This relationship needs to be further investigated by marketing and public opinion researchers. One may be able to increase response rate by targeting SMS surveys to women while making voice phone surveys to men. Turning to the significant interaction effect displayed in Figure 2, where older females with landlines were more willing to participate if offered a small discount than were males with landlines, men who have both landlines and mobile phones may be more concerned about cost. Thus a financial incentive or saving (discount) may be more attractive and thus reduce their resistance to participating in a mobile phone survey.

对营销研究者来说，日益增长的无线用户，尤其是只有无线的家庭的数目，对传统的主要调查方式之一的电话调查有重要的启示。移动电话在样本和覆盖度方面都给研究者带来了挑战。包括样本单位从家庭变成个人；为了联系那些有固定电话和没有的双框架设计需要；由于手机号码的相对暂时性，如何最好的定义使用权或使用。这个二阶段的探索性研究的目的是评估潜在受访者在接到要求他们完成一个调查的电话时会有怎样的反应。这个二阶段的研究的贡献包括：年轻人对这种新的潜在数据收集方法的反应方面的观点并提供了未来对这个方法的研究的建议。鉴于本研究的研究目的和对有关这种新的数据手机方法的文献回顾，我们确定了下列研究问题：问题1：就是否愿意参加手机调查方法方面，两个不同年龄组（X世代和Y世代）之间是否有差别？问题2：就是否愿意参加手机调查方法方面，仅有手机用户和仍有固定电话用户之间是否有差别？问题3：就是否愿意参加手机调查方法方面，性别之间是否有差异？2008年到2009年，形成了两个美国南部的州的X世代和Y世代的非概率样本。性别，年龄组和有/没有固定电话之间有显著的差异、考虑愿意参加手机调查方面，年长的，仅使用手机的女性比年长的男性用户更有兴趣参加手机调查，因为这种新奇的体验超过了他们可能有的对花费的考虑。总的来说，他们也对这种调查回答更信任和更有经验。年轻的受访者（Y世代）比年长的受访者更愿意参加短信调查。年轻人比年长的群组更习惯于短信和即时消息。另外，女性比男性更愿意参加短信方式的调查。这个联系还需要营销和公共观点的研究者做进一步的探索。一种可行的提高回应率的方法是对女性提供短信调查，与此同时，对男性使用语音电话调查。至于图2中显示的显著交互关系，其中年长的有固定电话的女性用户会比有有固定电话的男性用户更愿意参加调查，如果提供一点折扣的话。同时有固定电话和手机的男性会更多的考虑花费。因此，一些经济上的奖励或折扣可能会更吸引，从而减少他们对参加手机调查的抵触。