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There's widespread misconception about using touch-screen computers for quantitative marketing research surveys. Although the methodology has proven to be a viable research tool during the last several years, little or nothing has been written about its merits.
The first myth is that all CASI (computer-assisted self-interviewing) is seriously flawed due to self-selection and bias inherent in the sample. The assumption is automatically drawn that unattended kiosks are placed in locations with little or no thought given to demographics or scientific sampling procedures.
It's easy to understand how the myth has been born. Many touchscreen kiosks in malls and stores are freestanding and unattended. Because most are used only to provide interactive information to passersby, there is no need to control access to the kiosks.
The image of children huddled around a touch-screen kiosk is ingrained in the minds of many marketing executives who cannot conceive of them being used for anything other than an entertaining diversion.
This has led them to believe in the second myth: Only certain demographics are attracted to such technology, principally computer techies, teenagers, and children. Experience, however, has shown just the opposite to be true. Receptivity to touchscreens is universal among all demographic and socioeconomic segments of...