Instant Census Blog
By Elyse Desmarais on June 20, 2016
"I just bought an adult coloring book. Are you judging me?" a friend texted me a few months ago. I...
By Elyse Desmarais on June 15, 2016
Father's Day is this coming Sunday. So if you weren't already aware, you're welcome. According to...
By Elyse Desmarais on June 14, 2016
According to a recent Nielsen report, the first quarter of 2016 shows global consumer confidence...
By Elyse Desmarais on June 10, 2016
Want to give your opinions on world news, pop culture happenings, politics, and emerging social...
By Elyse Desmarais on June 8, 2016
Shopping for clothing isn't just a seasonal activity for Americans, it happens year round (I...
By Josh Zagorsky on June 1, 2016
Researchers worry a lot about respondents dropping out and failing to complete a survey. So for as...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 31, 2016
The Healthcare industry is becoming increasingly interested in using text message communications...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 25, 2016
In the Fall of 2015, High Point University's Associate Director of the Survey Research Center,...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 24, 2016
Graduation season is upon us and I'm sure many of you have been invited to a party (or are...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 20, 2016
Many American consumers are on the quest to shop and eat healthy. Unfortunately, finding healthy...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 17, 2016
How often do you find yourself surfing the web on your mobile phone or checking your email while...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 11, 2016
TCPA violations are a popular news topic lately, with many companies and brands not complying with...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 9, 2016
Chances are you've received at least one automated text message from a business. It may have been...
By Elyse Desmarais on May 2, 2016
Mobile surveys and mobile-optimized surveys are hot topics in the research world. While optimized...
By Elyse Desmarais on April 28, 2016
We've said it before and we'll say it again: complying with TCPA guidelines is an absolute must...
By Elyse Desmarais on April 26, 2016
To no one's surprise, mobile technology ownership in America is on the rise. Many Americans even...
By Elyse Desmarais on April 19, 2016
The CDC estimates nearly 40 million adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes....
By Elyse Desmarais on April 12, 2016
Customer Service is something many companies struggle to perfect. And, unfortunately, poor...
By Elyse Desmarais on April 5, 2016
A New Jersey lawmaker has had it with people texting and walking, and 1/3 of Americans stand with...
By Elyse Desmarais on March 28, 2016
Instant Census automated, two-way text messaging can be used for a variety of purposes, in a...
By Elyse Desmarais on March 21, 2016
n the start of 2016, Pew Research Center announced it would perform 75% of its research via...
By Elyse Desmarais on March 15, 2016
If appropriate for your survey or study, social media can be a powerful recruiting tool. Our...
By Miriam Farkas on March 8, 2016
If you constantly text message your friends, and even if you don’t, you’ve probably heard it from...
By Elyse Desmarais on March 1, 2016
Recruiting survey participants can seem like a daunting task. Here at Instant Census, we have...
By Elyse Desmarais on February 23, 2016
In July 2015, the FCC clarified U.S. regulations around automatic text messaging by releasing its...
By Elyse Desmarais on February 18, 2016
Everybody loves Chipotle. But what everyone loves more, is a free burrito from Chipotle. On...
By Elyse Desmarais on February 11, 2016
Facebook is improving users' newsfeeds, which is not anything new coming from a company who is...
By Josh Zagorsky on February 2, 2016
Survey research professionals often ask us how to build text message surveys using questions that...
By Elyse Desmarais on January 26, 2016
Instant Census has joined The 3% Conference and The Representation Project to co-host the 3rd...
By Elyse Desmarais on January 18, 2016
With every new year, brings a new set of "buzzwords." Not only in pop culture, but for a variety...
By Chris McCarthy on January 13, 2016
Let me start with a disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. None of this is, or should be construed as,...
By Chris McCarthy on January 4, 2016
SMS is a great way to interact quickly and reliably with a broad base of possible respondents, but...
By Elyse Desmarais on December 29, 2015
If you're like me, your smart phone screen is most likely covered in apps. From social media to...
By Elyse Desmarais on December 21, 2015
With the end of the year comes the seemingly endless "best of" lists. So we asked ourselves, what...
By Elyse Desmarais on December 17, 2015
Online shopping is convenient, easy, and a quick alternative to heading out of the house and into...
By Josh Zagorsky on December 8, 2015
When I had my first cellphone back in 2007, a friend texted me "sup." My mental reaction was,...
By Eli Jones on December 3, 2015
Each year when Thanksgiving rolls around, retailers work hard to keep consumers less focused on...
By Elyse Desmarais on November 23, 2015
For Americans, Thanksgiving celebrations have come to take on a variety of forms. In terms of...
By Elyse Desmarais on November 18, 2015
The 2015 holiday shopping season "officially" kicks off with quickly approaching Black Friday,...
By Elyse Desmarais on November 11, 2015
This past October, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was looking to give...
By Elyse Desmarais on November 5, 2015
We’re already aware Thanksgiving and Black Friday have become one in the same. With many retailers...
By Chris McCarthy on October 26, 2015
SMS is a great way to conduct a survey. It can help you reach normally difficult to contact...
By Elyse Desmarais on October 22, 2015
Today’s consumers are all too aware retailers will use any excuse to bombard them with...
By Elyse Desmarais on October 14, 2015
In just a few weeks, neighborhoods will be overrun with kids dressed as princesses and superheroes...
By Elyse Desmarais on October 7, 2015
Question and Answer Piping is a feature we often promote and talk about here at Instant Census....
By Elyse Desmarais on September 28, 2015
With Fall officially here, it’s hard not to notice the invasion of pumpkin-flavored products...
By Chris McCarthy on September 22, 2015
Instant Census just implemented a time zone feature, and it's really awesome. It allows you to...
By Elyse Desmarais on September 16, 2015
Here’s the roundup of our favorite survey and research related posts for the week of September 14,...
By Chris McCarthy on September 10, 2015
Much ink has been spilled lately over Donald Trump’s meteoric rise in the Republican primaries....
By Elyse Desmarais on September 9, 2015
Here’s the roundup of our favorite survey and research related posts for the week of September 7,...
By Josh Zagorsky on September 3, 2015
The Pew Research Center recently released a study on social media usage, which we compared with...
By Elyse Desmarais on September 2, 2015
Here’s the roundup of our favorite survey and research related posts out there this week....
By Elyse Desmarais on August 27, 2015
Happy employees are a large component to a businesses’ success. High turnover rates and general...
By Elyse Desmarais on August 26, 2015
Here’s the roundup of our favorite survey and research related posts out there this week....
By Josh Zagorsky on August 20, 2015
A US short code is a 5- or 6-digit number (shorter than the standard 10 digits) that only handles...
By Elyse Desmarais on August 19, 2015
Here's the roundup of our favorite survey and research related posts out there this week....
By Elyse Desmarais on August 13, 2015
In last week’s post, we discussed the beginning steps of survey design, which included developing...
By Chris McCarthy on August 6, 2015
Designing a survey is no small task, but there’s no need to be intimidated by the challenge. In...
By Elyse Desmarais on July 29, 2015
I needed a new cell phone. Unable to purchase a new phone online due to plan changes, I sacrificed...
By Josh Zagorsky on July 22, 2015
On July 10, 2015, the FCC clarified US regulations around automatic text messaging by releasing its...