As survey costs continue to rise and the number of willing respondents dwindles, finding cost-effective ways of gathering information from consumers is becoming a key concern among marketing researchers nationwide.

Americom Research , a Tennessee-based research technology company, has taken up the challenge with the introduction of a new piece of electronic interviewing technology called the OpinionPole. The OpinionPole houses a computer in a portable kiosk that can be placed attended or unattended in high-traffic locations such as malls or department stores to conduct surveys and gather respondent data.

OpinionPole uses a special software package called Poll-Maker that allows all types of survey questions to be formatted. The package offers color graphics, animation, and sound presentations designed to stimulate user interest. Results can be tabulated within a few days of interview completion.

"People like using OpinionPole, and sample sizes are generally large," says Gene Telser, Americom's senior vice president of research. "The system can be used by any business for collecting respondent data from virtually any site, for presenting information to consumers, or a combination of the two. It's also ideal for sub-group analysis to determine differences between different groups.

"OpinionPole puts you right where you want to be-at the time and place where people are shopping for the products about which the survey is being conducted. When you're trying to survey hard to reach people, like frequent airline travelers, the OpinionPole can be where they are-at the airports."

The system offers multilingual options, touch-screen as well as standard keyboard formats, and can edit and present digital maps, using Census Bureau 1990 cartographic data, that can determine within a block where a respondent lives.

Mike McClain, operations vice president of Low Country, Inc., a Burger King franchisee with six locations in middle Tennessee, found the mapping capability helpful in a recent customer survey, which placed OpinionPoles for one week in three of Low Country's Burger Kings. The study received a 20 percent customer response rate.

"I found the results to be very informative, accurate and something I feel I can be used to evaluate our operation," McClain wrote in a letter to Americom shortly after the survey's completion. The device's 24-hour capability was helpful, since more than 40 percent of respondents completed the poll before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m., hours generally considered off-hours and more costly using conventional surveying techniques.

A recent article in Campaigns & Elections, a national political trade magazine, cited the OpinionPole as a promising political tool of the 90s, based on the results of an OpinionPole survey conducted by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., and a Gallatin, Tenn. newspaper, The News Examiner.

Gordon's office used the OpinionPole to gather constituent input during one week last fall. Kiosks were placed in three locations-two in grocery stores and one in a discount store-in one of Gordon's county districts. Results, according to Kent Syler, Gordon's administrative assistant and former campaign manager, exceeded expectations.

"With three machines in Sumner County, we got over 1,100 responses. Our office averages about 500 constituent letters per week from our 17-county area. So, in just one week, we received over twice as many responses from the machines," says Syler, noting that over 85 percent of respondents said "yes" when asked if the OpinionPole was a good way of keeping in touch with their congressman.

Steve Rogers, executive editor of The News Examiner, expressed surprise at the high response rate and quality of data garnered by the survey. "We just wanted to see if, and how, people would respond to this kind of polling," Rogers explains as the reason the newspaper co-authored the survey with Gordon's office. "From our analysis, we got a pretty good perspective, which surprised me until I actually thought about it. We didn't choose country clubs-everybody buys groceries. So, we got a good cross-section of people. We also got information we could use for our own marketing purposes and could pass on to some of the retailers in the area."

The device's video capabilities were a major attraction, according to Rogers. "Everybody is attuned to video," he says. "People weren't scared to walk up and use it. I think you're going to see businesses use this type of device more and more. It's a good marketing tool."

Syler also views OpinionPole as a "great campaign tool" for quickly determining how a candidate is doing or how constituents are responding to specific ad campaigns. "Its graphic abilities can give you an edge over telephone interviews," he adds. "You can actually throw a graphic of the ad up on the screen with a question underneath. The whole idea is to jog the constituents' memories, so they know exactly what you're talking about." Gordon's office is currently developing a second OpinionPole survey and has expressed interest in using the device during the congressman's next political campaign.

The Tennessee State Museum is another recent beneficiary of the new technology. "We wanted to find out who was coming to the museum, where they were coming from, and why they were coming," explains the museum's public relations officer, Paulette Fox. Survey results, which garnered a 10 percent response rate over a two-week period, provided that information, while enhancing the museum's mailing list. "People seemed willing to give their names and addresses, which gives us an ideal mailing source for our membership solicitation, a list of people we know are interested in the museum."

The OpinionPole is new methodology, and even Americom is learning from each new application. "What we're learning from the data already accumulated is that there is clearly a consistency over many environments," says Telser.

One client who would like to experiment more with the medium itself is Northern Electric, a national electronic appliance manufacturer, which recently used the OpinionPole to test consumer reaction to two new product ideas.

For this study, OpinionPoles were placed for a two-week period in two K-Mart stores-one in Chicago, one in Johnson City, Tenn.-where Northern Electric appliances are sold. George Rissmann, Northern Electric marketing research manager, was impressed with the "lightning speed" at which results were obtained, the large sample size and low cost. But added one reservation-OpinionPole's self-selection, which refers to the type of person that responds to a specific type of survey method.

"All surveys, i.e., telephone, mail, or mall, have self-selection. The OpinionPole is not different," says Rissmann. "I'd like to experiment more with the OpinionPole, to find out what type of person responds to its methodology. Overall, however, I think it holds real promise for the future.

K-mart officials were less reserved in their enthusiasm of OpinionPole's potential. In return for allowing the OpinionPole to be placed in its stores, K-Mart was allowed to conduct its own survey at the end of Northern Electric's survey. More than 850 completed responses were gathered during the two-week period.

"We were very impressed with the response rate for that period of time," says Christal Renaud, K-Mart Corp. consumer research project manager. "The customer reactions were very positive and our employees weren't irritated by (OpinionPole's) presence." K-Mart is currently considering using the OpinionPole again for further consumer polling, says Renaud.