Data should be the driving force behind your marketing efforts, and collecting customer insights will help you better understand your customers in order to improve product advertising and messaging, and strengthen your overall marketing strategy. Success in marketing is based largely on the return on investment it delivers, and surveys can be a quick and cost-effective way to collect customer insights and improve ROI. Read on to learn more.

The Value of Consumer Insights

Today’s marketing is taking on a more consumer-centric role. Great marketing plans focus directly on the consumer by providing them with the information they want so they can make an informed buying decision. Globally, more than $500 billion is spent on advertising yearly, so using your marketing budget wisely should be a priority.

Consumer insights are data points that can be gathered to help businesses build their brand and sell their products more effectively. This data can help you understand the current market landscape and determine what is important to your target audience.

Some of the most valuable data you can gather will tell you why consumers behave in the way that they do. You can find out how they perceive a brand, which marketing messages speak to them the most, and get feedback on products or campaigns. You can also collect data at various points throughout the customer journey to see how perceptions develop over time.

How to Use Surveys to Collect Consumer Insights

Organizations understand that the most useful data comes from accessible and understandable customer insights delivered on demand. In today’s world, insights are constantly shifting. Information is delivered to consumers at lightning speed, and their opinions and thoughts can change just as quickly. So, it’s necessary to gather consumer insights in a way that delivers results quickly. While traditional market research methods like focus groups have their place, surveys can be a quicker and more cost-effective way to collect actionable data.

Surveys can be administered directly to consumers, no matter where they are located, through web-based links, mobile applications, or text messages. Online surveys are an excellent and affordable option in areas where internet penetration is high or if you are looking to reach wealthy populations. However, in countries where internet connectivity is unreliable or if you are looking to reach a representative sample in emerging markets, surveys sent through SMS are an excellent alternative. SMS surveys are delivered instantaneously to the mobile phone of a potential respondent, and the results come back in near real-time.

A majority of survey-takers note that they want to have a say in a company’s upcoming products and services, and surveys help your customers feel like they’re being heard. As soon as the results of your survey start coming in, you can use the data to shape your future products and marketing campaigns. 

Determining the Type of Cosumer Insight Survey to Use

What type of survey questions you want to ask will often depend on what type of information you’re looking to collect. For example, when you’re launching a new product, you may use a one-time survey to help understand people’s initial thoughts about the product, and how you can improve it.

On the other hand, if you’d like to track people’s perception of your brand over time, you may want to run regular surveys over the span of weeks, months, or longer. You can see if your brand or product is trending amongst competitors, or if your latest marketing campaign had the impact you wanted on consumers.

You can also use surveys to learn more about the specific profile of your target customer, and what they care about the most. You can learn about their interests that go beyond your brand or product, and may even discover a previously unknown demographic that has an interest in what you have to offer.

One-time surveys can be used to complement the data you gather from other sources, like website analytics or point of purchase systems. If you notice people are coming to your product pages and spending time there, but are not actually making purchases, send out a survey asking them what you could do to improve. Take a look at some of the trends on your website, and use these as a basis for your surveys so you can more clearly understand why your customers are taking certain actions.  

Collecting Consumer Insight Data in Africa

Before businesses can put forth a successful marketing plan, they need to understand the different needs of each population they’re looking at. Targeting different populations throughout the world means taking into consideration cultural influences, technological limitations, and differing product use cases.

Using text message surveys to collect consumer insights in Africa can be particularly effective because of the widespread use of mobile phones throughout the continent. The rate of internet penetration is still quite low in some parts of Africa, and while it is increasing rapidly every year, basic mobile phones are available to more of the population than internet-enabled devices. Users don’t have to have a smartphone or internet access to be able to receive an SMS survey. Even if a phone is turned off or out of service when the survey is sent, it will appear in the user’s inbox when service is restored. Surveys that utilize web links that can be opened in basic mobile browsers can also be successful when reaching certain target audiences, and are often less expensive than text message surveys.

Consumer markets are growing rapidly throughout Africa as economies strengthen and people have more disposable income. Tapping into this growing market is essential for many businesses, and mobile-based surveys are an excellent way to gather business intelligence from all over the world. GeoPoll specializes in collecting consumer insights in emerging markets using mobile-based modes, and can reach your target audience quickly to collect high-quality data that drives business growth. Contact us today to learn more.

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Customer satisfaction research metrics

To begin, we will touch on how customer satisfaction is measured quantitatively through surveys. There are three common metrics that are used by companies to measure the level of customer satisfaction: Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Effort Score (CES), and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).

Net Promoter Score is the most popular measure of affinity to a brand, however NPS surveys do not provide much additional detail on consumer perception of your specific brand. A NPS survey will simply break up a group of past customers into three categories—promoters, passives, and detractors—and then calculate a score that indicates overall attitude surrounding the brand. Although the data collected from Net Promoter Score calculation can be wildly useful, supplemental consumer research can provide additional constructive insight for a brand.

Customer Effort Score is a metric that measures and quantifies how difficult it was for a customer to complete a task. Using CES to measure consumer attitude can shed light on the ease of interaction with anything surrounding your brand. One good example for where Customer Effort Score could be useful is surveying a customer immediately following an interaction with a representative in the customer service department. CES calculation will quantify user experience in a constructive manner.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a metric used to measure how happy a customer is with what they purchased or the services they received. In order to avoid bias that may skew resulting data, a survey that is conducted to research customer satisfaction should be performed anonymously, most often through pen-and-paper or digital avenues such as online or mobile-based surveys.

Customer satisfaction survey design best practices

Likert scale

Many customer satisfaction surveys prompt participants to answer questions on a Likert scale, which provides anywhere between five and nine answer options on a rating scale, with the middle point being a neutral response. This response type is commonly used in surveys, regardless of the topic, to quantify attitudes on a subject. In the case of customer satisfaction surveys, a Likert scale question may look like the following,

“Please respond to the following statement: The product I purchased today functions as I anticipated.

1- Strongly disagree 2- Disagree 3- Neutral  4- Agree  5-  Strongly Disagree”

The varying scale on which participants respond allows for researchers to categorize the degree in which someone feels positively or negatively about a topic. Likert scale questions also always provide a neutral answer choice as to not polarize the attitudes that are gathered through the research process.

Multiple choice questions

Many survey questions can be successfully designed as Likert scale questions but, unlike with Net Promoter Score questions, there is flexibility in questionnaire design for general customer satisfaction research. Standard multiple choice questions are another useful tool when developing a research survey. Demographic information such as age, gender, race, education level, and location is often collected via multiple choice questions, and additional custom questions can also be formatted as a multiple-choice or select-all-that-apply question.

Open-ended questions

Depending on the survey mode, open-ended questions are a way to break away from gathering strictly quantitative research. Providing space for free-form feedback will allow for more detailed, and potentially constructive, responses.

Keep your goals in mind when designing questions

Write the customer satisfaction survey strategically. If the goal of the survey is to determine customer satisfaction with in-store retail experience, ask specific and probing questions about store layout, fitting rooms, atmosphere, and service. If the goal of the survey is to determine why purchases through the web are much lower than in-store, ask questions about awareness of the online store and the website user experience.

Only questions that will directly quantify customer perception on topics that the company would like to know more about should be included in the customer satisfaction survey.

Customer satisfaction surveys in emerging markets

GeoPoll is an expert in gathering survey data in emerging markets. When conducting customer satisfaction research in African countries and other regions which often speak multiple languages and dialects, survey designers must pay special attention to language, literacy rate, and cultural context. Background research should be conducted before survey design to ensure questions are clear for their intended audience, and any translations should be thoroughly vetted for clarity. In addition, researchers should consider the mode they will conduct the survey through (online, SMS, phone calls, etc) in relation to the audience they are looking to reach.

GeoPoll regularly works with leading brands to provide them with fast, high quality customer satisfaction survey data in niche markets around the world. Using our unique mobile survey methodology, GeoPoll can reach extremely targeted audiences and survey them weekly, monthly, or quarterly to demonstrate the health of your brand over time. Contact GeoPoll to set up a custom survey today.

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In the US and Europe, data collection methods are well-established and market research is a multi-billion dollar industry, but lack of infrastructure has prevented traditional research methods, such as face to face or phone interviews, from succeeding in emerging countries. However, over the past decade there has been a growing demand for better data from countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and new technologies such as the mobile phone have enabled more research to take place. Collecting data from around the world is now more possible than ever, but researchers must understand the fundamental differences in conducting research in emerging markets versus in the developed world.

Considerations for Collecting Data in Emerging Markets

While mobile penetration is high across many emerging markets and internet usage is growing, landlines are extremely scarce, and desktop computers are not used by a large portion of the population. In Africa, recent data indicates that mobile accounts for over 60% of total internet usage, while desktops account for only 34%. This statistic varies widely by country, and in less-developed countries in Africa or in rural areas, mobile accounts for even more of the total internet share.

Traditionally, market research in emerging markets has been scarce, and studies that are completed have been done so with face to face methods that can be costly and time-consuming. The growth in mobile phone and smartphone usage in the past decade has changed this by enabling mobile-first research methods such as remote text message surveys, automated or interviewer-led voice calls, and mobile web surveys. When collecting data through mobile surveys and other mobile methods, researchers must be aware of the following best practices for conducting research in emerging markets:

Language and Wording Considerations:
Many emerging markets have multiple official languages and hundreds of regional dialects. Make sure to research the most common languages in the specific area you are collecting data from, and be open to running your questionnaire into more than one language. Wording for each question is also important, and should be tested before the full project is started. For example, GeoPoll has found that the best way to obtain respondent age is to ask “In what year were you born?”

Questionnaire Length:
When collecting data via mobile phone, overall questionnaire length and the length of individual questions is imperative. Questionnaires should be kept short and simple, as many respondents will be completing surveys on basic feature phones. GeoPoll recommends a total questionnaire length of 15-20 questions, for a 10 minute survey. If being sent by text message, questions and answers should fit within 160 characters. It is recommended that longer surveys are split into multiple surveys that can be run as a panel over several days.

Mobile Data Usage:
While marketers are often interested in testing messaging via photo or video sharing, in emerging markets the high cost of mobile data/internet usage must be taken into consideration. Images should be optimized so they are low in size while still being high enough quality to view, and videos should be limited to no more than 2 per survey. GIFS are a good alternative to videos, as they are small in file sizes while still containing multiple frames of content.

Compensation:
Compensation should be considered for all respondents, both to demonstrate that researchers value the respondent’s time and to improve response rates. Mobile airtime credit and mobile money are common and well-received forms of compensation in many emerging markets, and compensation levels can start at around $0.50 for a short mobile-phone based survey. If you are running a mobile survey, check that your survey provider can provide a direct incentive quickly deposited into the respondent’s account.

New technologies have opened up many possibilities for conducting research in emerging markets, but you must be aware of the nuances around data collection in these areas. GeoPoll is a full-service market research company with an active panel of respondents in more than 60 countries, and a robust multi-modal mobile survey platform. To speak to a GeoPoll expert about your data collection needs, please contact us today.

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This short article attempts to highlight three key factors that market research and insights providers can use to get out from the shadows and carve out our fair share of sun: The how, the what, and the why.

How can market research companies innovate like the big platforms and their ecosystems?

While they have been buzzwords for some time, agile and incremental systems development remain just as key for market research innovators today as they do for the latest technology start-ups.  Being agile means prioritizing shipping products collaboratively with clients, and doing so in structured loops that are responsive to emergent challenges and opportunities.  It means rapid prototyping and continuous deployment and calculated risk-taking.  Incremental development also means starting with smaller budgets, and following with multi-client subscription projects.  The “how” might not be the most obvious place to start an article like this, but without the “how” there is no way to achieve a “what” that matters.

What can market research companies do to keep up with changing technology?

Today there are thousands of devices running hundreds of versions of dozens of operating systems, and they are all coming on and offline able to collect and transmit market research information.  What are market researchers to do?  The solution is stepping backward and stepping forward at the same time.  Let me explain.

What are the lowest common denominators still in mobile technology?  Voice and SMS.  Integrating solutions that can still reach every device are key to keeping up.  This is also key for minimizing selection biases when people can only be reached by conventional mobile methods. That’s stepping backward.

Simultaneously, market research must step forward by leveraging the new capabilities that modern communication technology brings, including the Internet, email, mobile applications, and over the top messaging (like Whatsapp), amid a myriad of nearly endless (although not all endlessly lucrative) sensor technology options.  Combining the old and the new in a credible and logical fashion so that everyone can be reached and results are comparable is key.

Why must market researchers differentiate themselves from platform companies and their ecosystems?

While platform companies like Facebook and Google have earned the wary trust of consumers through free products and services, the drawback is in individuals sharing deeply personal information and trusting these groups to be responsible with it.  There are some fissures in this implicit bargain which are starting to show, as demonstrated by the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, among other recent events.

This access to personal data is why it’s so critical that market research industry associations like ESOMAR continue to distinguish market research practices from platform practices. The market research industry, including companies like GeoPoll, abide by a set of ethics in the management of personal information. Not marketing or trying to sell services to survey respondents is critical for ongoing trust and honesty in market research.

The research we do is our How, What is the way we conduct research, and Why is to make sure we act responsibly with the personal information to which we are entrusted.  With the arrival of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May, it is not only morally critical but legally critical to make sure our ethical codes around data use remain strong and adhered to.

The post How Market Research Can Innovate with Integrity in 2018 appeared first on GeoPoll.

The campaign effort is a part of the 2016-2021 USAID/Liberia Revenue Generation for Growth and Governance (RG3) project led by implementing partner DAI. RG3 supports the Government of Liberia to address the challenges of improving its tax collection system and improve a sense of accountability among taxpayers.

Utilizing GeoPoll’s database of 2.1 million mobile subscribers in Liberia, GeoPoll also conducts mobile-based surveys to support tax benchmarking analysis on taxpayer services. These surveys enable the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and RG3 to understand the barriers to taxpayer registration, identify entry-points to mitigate or eliminate such barriers, and measure impact as a result of project interventions.

GeoPoll leverages the mobile phone to rapidly and cost-effectively target the taxpayer population in Liberia by conducting remote data collection and pushing out specific information to relevant constituents. GeoPoll will continue to conduct one-way messaging campaigns over the life of project, supporting the LRA in its outreach efforts to improve the efficiency and transparency of revenue administration.

GeoPoll’s support in Liberia builds off its Ebola-related work where one-way messaging and mobile surveying informed citizens about the epidemic, enabled them to report issues, and provided humanitarian and health officials critical information to make lifesaving decisions in real-time. During the epidemic, GeoPoll reached more than 100,000 individuals across Liberia. Our success in the region and through that work is providing the foundation for GeoPoll’s application in other governance areas that require dynamic information and engagement with citizens.

GeoPoll currently supports two other ongoing USAID projects in Liberia, the Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative and the Liberia Media Development program.

Image courtesy of  DAI

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How does it work?
GeoPoll On Demand lets you select a sample, targeted by age, gender, and location, write survey questions, and send your survey all through one, easy-to-use online platform. GeoPoll On Demand supports many question types and survey routing.  You can write as many questions as you like, although we recommend under 15 questions per survey.  Surveys are sent by SMS and are completely free to the respondent, which ensures any phone can receive our messages, even if it isn’t connected to the internet, is turned off, or doesn’t have any airtime credit.

Once you submit your survey, the GeoPoll team reviews your questions and may suggest edits to optimize your survey for mobile respondents. We then schedule and send the survey to your selected sample. As results come in, you can see them in real-time in your GeoPoll dashboard, and once we’ve reached your desired sample size we’ll send you an email. Results are automatically loaded into your GeoPoll account as both an interactive dashboard, and a raw data file for download.

How can I use it? 

Check out our case studies page to see how others have already used GeoPoll to collect robust data in Africa, on topics ranging from food security to identifying the top brands in the region. Here are some of the ways anyone can use GeoPoll On Demand:

• Nationally representative ad-hoc surveys
• Custom surveys targeted to respondents by age, gender, or location
• Needs assessment surveys
• Brand perception surveys
• Monitoring & Evaluation

What does it cost? 
GeoPoll On Demand pricing starts at just $3.00 per completed survey: cost varies based on the number of questions you’re asking and the sample size. You can fill out the form below to calculate the exact pricing of your survey project, and get a discount code for an extra 10% off.

What countries does GeoPoll On Demand work in?
GeoPoll On Demand is currently live in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa and will be launching in additional countries in the coming months. If you’re looking for research from other countries, GeoPoll Enterprise is live in 20+ countries in Africa and Asia.

More questions?
Feel free to contact us with questions and a GeoPoll representative will get back to you shortly.

How do I get started?
Click below to sign up for a free account and we’ll send you a promo code to get 10% off your first survey!

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GeoPoll collects data for everyone from global brands and media companies to governments and NGOs, and below we’ve highlighted some of our favorite projects of 2015. We’re excited to expand our country coverage, launch new product features, and work on more projects next year.  If you’re interested in learning more about GeoPoll’s data products or custom surveys, contact us today.

GeoPoll Top Five of 2015:

1. Kenya’s Analogue to Digital TV Migration: In 2015 Kenya underwent a transition from analogue to digital TV signal, meaning that all TV sets needed to acquire a set-top-box to access TV signal, when previously they were able to access stations through free-to-air analogue signals. The switch to digital gives Kenyans access to additional TV stations and better sound and picture quality, but there were also concerns over the cost of set-top-boxes being a barrier to access for many. GeoPoll covered this topic extensively: in January we reported on awareness of the switch and the percentage who had already switched to digital. We continued to run regular surveys on the topic and in March released our second report, finding that set-top-box penetration was still only 38% at a national level. Our final report demonstrated how set-top-box penetration has increased month-to-month through July 2015.
2. Assessing the Long-Term Impacts of Ebola: We began to conduct surveys surrounding the Ebola outbreak, its impact on food security, and perceptions of the response in 2014. Remote mobile surveys offer a unique solution for reaching those in areas which are difficult for on-the-ground researchers to access, and in 2015 we continued to send regular surveys to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea with partners including the World Food Programme, Keystone Accountability, and USAID. With USAID, we used weekly and bi-weekly surveys to track the economic impacts of the outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and we’ve made the full dataset and interactive dashboard available here.  You can also view data collected with Keystone Accountability on perceptions of the disease here, and our case study with FEWS NET on the ongoing impact of Ebola on market operability.
3. The African Entrepreneurship Survey: In July, President Obama traveled to Kenya for the Global entrepreneurship Summit. GeoPoll partnered with the organizers of the summit, the Global Entrepreneurship Network and the US State Department, to survey African entrepreneurs themselves on the challenges and opportunities faced by those looking to start a business in Africa. We found that in addition to financial resources, entrepreneurs were looking for better facilities and services, and more training programs to help them grow their businesses. You can view the full report here.
4. Access to Finance for Electricity in Kenya: With USAID’s Development Credit Authority, GeoPoll used mobile surveys to explore the ability of Kenyans to finance the costs associated with connecting to the electric grid. Findings show that the majority of Kenyans do not have electricity in their homes, with cost being the largest barrier: of the 80% of respondents who cited cost as reason for not obtaining electricity, 91% cited up-front installation costs, specifically, as a barrier to access. With this information USAID DCA can better understand and address the gap in financing for electricity in Kenya. Read the case study here.
5. Perceptions of South Africa’s State of the Nation: The 2015 State of the Nation address by President Zuma was much anticipated: during the speech Zuma was heckled by members of the EFF party, and later on all members of another opposition party walked out of the speech.  In collaboration with TNS, GeoPoll send a national survey the very next morning to assess viewership and perceptions of the speech. We found that a high percentage, 85%, reported watching or listening to the speech, with respondents split on their attitudes towards Zuma: only about half (52%) said they were satisfied with the speech, and 47% said they had confidence in the government to accomplish what Zuma promised. Read the case study here.

BONUS: Regular reports on TV and radio consumption: Kantar-GeoPoll Media Measurement is the largest provider of overnight TV and radio ratings in Africa, and in 2015 we released regular reports on TV and radio ratings in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. You can find GeoPoll’s blogs on audience measurement here.

GeoPoll works with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to governments and nonprofits.  If you’re looking for a fast, reliable, and cost-effective data solution for your project in 2016 please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Happy New Year from the GeoPoll Team!

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1. The Objective. With any research study, the most important first step is identifying the primary purpose. Clearly laying out the objectives and the information needed at the end of the study helps narrow in the focus. Keep it simple and targeted to start and build then from there.
2. The Audience. After identifying the “what” for your study, the next major thing to think about is who you are trying to reach. At GeoPoll, we have an existing database of more than 200 million users indexed by key demographics such as age, gender, and location. These mobile subscribers often serve as the sample for the research we conduct. However, some clients are looking to reach a more targeted group of people, such as project beneficiaries.  In these cases, clients can provide GeoPoll with the mobile numbers of a select group, provided they have permission to contact those individuals. Sometimes our partners find collecting the mobile numbers of beneficiaries or other groups is easy; other times, it is a time consuming process that needs to be accounted for when determining the timeline for launching mobile surveying activities.
3. The Frequency. The appropriate frequency for engaging the target audience in mobile surveys varies. Sometimes quick snapshots or needs assessments are all that is needed. Other times, on-going monitoring over several months better serves the overall objective. GeoPoll conducts thousands of mobile surveys each day, and we have learned that frequency matters. As far as respondents go, there is usually a learning curve at the onset of a data collection project – the more you engage in mobile surveying, the better respondents understand the process, expectations, and outcomes of the engagement. At the same time, there is a need to be mindful of the respondent experience and cognizant of potential user fatigue. We find that, with the right balance, conducting surveys on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis allows for more granular data which can be disaggregated to see specific points in times as changes occur. This long-term tracking has not traditionally been done in development projects and can add immense value to your research.
4. The Limitations. The goal of mobile surveying is not necessarily to replace face-to-face surveys, and mobile surveying and traditional surveying methodologies can often work together to overcome limitations of each method.  For example, GeoPoll recommends a mobile survey consist of 15-20 question per module. This means that keeping questions targeted and simple is critical, particularly since you will be reaching respondents of varying backgrounds. Despite this, complex survey instruments can be adapted to the mobile phone. We have worked with multiple partners on surveys with 80+ questions, breaking the survey instrument into modules and sending one module at a time. Whether you choose this method, or combine mobile surveys with face-to-face research, mobile is an incredibly useful tool to complement other forms of data collection, and additionally can serve as a valuable mechanism for data triangulation.
5. The Data. Last but not least, how the data will be used is perhaps the most important of all. This can be as simple as what format the data will be presented in – GeoPoll can provide raw datasets in several formats, or build an online dashboard which visualizes data and can be shared with donors and local project staff. Beyond the nuts and bolts of transmitting the data, thinking about how it will fit into the broader decision-making process is critical when launching mobile data collection activities. For example, is there already an existing process in place where decisions are made based on the data? Is there buy-in needed from government counterparts or local partners as data is collected? Regardless of the intricacies of your project, timing the data collection to coincide with reporting timelines and/or decision-making processes will ensure the data is used in a meaningful way, whether it be helping projects make course corrections, or conducting an evaluation after a project has concluded.

Interested in reading more about GeoPoll’s work with development organizations? View our case studies page, or click below to contact us.

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Together, GeoPoll and Control Union will utilize mobile surveys to engage and educate smallholder farmers in emerging economies in Africa and Asia, with the goal of reaching 1 million farmers by 2020 via SMS and voice messaging.  The partnership will allow commercial organizations such as global brands, exporters, and suppliers, as well as governments and non-profits to ensure social compliance in key value chains and to empower farmers to gain greater access to markets, ultimately adding value for both farmers and consumers.  

Together GeoPoll and Control Union will launch several mobile products aimed at non-profits, commercial organizations, exporters and suppliers:

• Certification Surveys: Mobile survey instruments which will monitor farmers’ compliance with programs such as Global GAP and Organic certifications.
• Value Chain Monitoring: Mobile survey instruments that will serve as a tool for sustainable value chain design and monitor social, economic and ecological impact.
• Compliance Messages: One-way push content messages promoting agricultural compliance. 
• Custom Surveys: Mobile survey instruments with customized questions and design, allowing clients to collect mobile data which will inform and enhance their operations in local markets. 

The partnership will initially focus on countries in Africa including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda, expanding to key markets in Asia including Indonesia and the Philippines.  With consumers demanding increased transparency, target value chains include coffee, cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rice, tea, tobacco, and fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Read the full press release here, and click below to contact GeoPoll for more information about our services: 

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A new report by the UN International Telecommunications Union found that while fixed-line telephone connections have been declining over the past five years, mobile penetration is growing fast, particularly in developing areas, and the number of mobile subscriptions is expected to surpass seven billion this year.  By taking advantage of these connections, we can reach people more quickly, to drive action on food security that is faster and more targeted.

In just the past few weeks, GeoPoll has been asking simple questions on important topics like health, energy, and food security to mobile users in six African nations: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.  On food security, defined as reliable access to affordable and nutritious food, users were asked “In the last 7 days, did any members of your household go to bed hungry? Reply 1) Yes 2) No.” This one-line question, asked every day to a sample of users, gives us vital information on not only how many people are suffering from hunger, but also where they are, what ages and genders are more likely to be affected, and how food security changes in a region over time.

The results from just two weeks of data collection can already provide high-level insights into the differences in food security across countries, and as the survey continues to run it will collect data that can be broken down by district, age, gender, and more, for a truly granular look into hunger in a country. From the data that has already been collected, we get a snapshot look into the lives of those living in hunger.  For example, it was found that 39% of respondents across Kenya reported that they or a member of their family had gone to bed hungry in the past week, and 34% of Ghanaians said the same.  This data allows us to more accurately identify which countries or regions are in need of immediate assistance, and enables aid organizations or governments to deliver supplies quickly.  

As this survey collects more data over the next months, it will demonstrate when food security changes suddenly: this can occur when a region enters its dry season, or if a conflict has decreased access to food.  This type of daily data provides us with an unprecedented, granular look into global hunger, and will drive faster, more effective action from organizations like the WFP, who GeoPoll has worked with in the Democratic Republic of Congo and now in Kenya and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.  We still have a long way to go in the fight against hunger, and the ultimate solution will include the alleviation of poverty through economic development, agricultural productivity, and policy reform.  Data is only a piece of this puzzle, but accurate information can play an important part in predicting trends on not only food security situations, but also poverty reduction, which will help us end hunger once and for all. 

 Amy Sweeney is the Director of Client Business Development at GeoPoll, where she collaborates with potential clients and partners such as the World Food Programme, USAID, and implementing partners on incorporating mobile data collection into projects and programs. She previously worked at Chemonics International and spent four years in Central and Southwest Asia, serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan and working in Afghanistan and Turkey.

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