Since 2005, the AGOF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Online Forschung) has quarterly been publishing the internet facts – core data on internet use and e-commerce in Germany. The internet facts are a central planning criterion in the area of online advertising. Part of its methodological basis is an onsite-survey for the collection of socio-demographic data and information on PC usage.

As the response rate of this onsite-survey proved to be rather low, the AGOF commissioned YouGovPsychonomics with the conduction of a market research study. The aim of this study was to identify possibilities for increasing the response rate and minimising the total dropout rate.

A two-stage process constituted the survey design:

1st stage: qualitative usability tests incl. eye-tracking for the evaluation of advertising medium and questionnaire

2nd stage: qualitative ‘creative workshop’ for optimising the advertising medium from the users’ perspective

In the first stage, individual interviews were conducted with n=30 respondents. The advertisement for the survey was shown as a layer. The perception-process was observed by the interviewer. Simultaneously, the participants’ eye movements were recorded by a non-contact eye-tracking-system. Subsequently, the respondents were asked for their reaction to the advertising medium in detail, and their underlying experiences and attitudes were surveyed. In the second part of the interviews, the survey process was evaluated in detail.

The creative workshop with n=18 participants in the second stage of the research study was based on the findings of the interviews. Initially, the participants were informed about the problem. The participants then creatively drafted possible redesigns for the advertising medium in individual work, which were subsequently discussed and further developed together with the whole group. Three layouts with evaluated ideas for a redesign of the advertising medium were the final result of the workshop.

This study provided the AGOF with important information about the perception of the invitation-process as well as emotional and cognitive reactions to it. The study’s results also proved of value in practice, as they contributed to increase the response rate to the internet facts significantly.