Relevance & Research Question: As widely reported nowadays, also in the two Dutch online probability-based household panels, the CentERpanel and the LISS panel, we see that increasingly more people are using devices different from the PC to access web surveys. In this exploratory study we take a deeper look into the way respondents experience completing online questionnaires on such devices in terms of respondent burden.

Methods & Data: This study was administered through a web survey in the CentERpanel. We investigate whether the situational context –such as stimuli from surroundings, social situation, posture and multitasking– of spontaneous mobile respondents differs from that of respondents using a computer and whether the level of concentration differs between these respondent groups.

Results: The results show that online respondents are no longer confined to a computer-based, quiet, high-focus environment. When looking at the level of concentration while completing the survey, we found that age, multitasking, presence of others, and level of noise had a significant effect where the latter was the strongest predictor of focus.

Added Value: The type of device the respondent uses has as such no impact on the respondent’s concentration. The device is merely related indirectly, through the respondent’s location. Clearly, it is the context of use that matters. These findings show the changing respondent behavior in online panels and the need for a new online ‘survey etiquette’, especially for surveys requiring a high level of concentration.