STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING DATA RELIABILITY FOR ONLINE SURVEYS: A CASE STUDY

Due to the wide availability of the Internet, online surveys have become a mainstream data collection method and offer new-found opportunities in market research. However, there are inherent weaknesses associated with online surveys. A case study is used to illustrate how a carefully devised strategy in sample specification and selection, data processing, screening, and editing can boost the quality of online survey data. Reliability measures are compared between the paper and online versions of a newly developed scale of consumer attitudes toward environmental friendly household cleaners and an established scale on materialism. The results show that with a carefully developed strategy, planning, and execution, online survey data can be equal or superior to that of equivalent paper survey data. This provides important applications and implications to researchers and practitioners who are interested in taking advantage of the new data collection medium.