Did you know that IMPRINT is using a pioneering new technique to reach immigrant professionals for our survey?

It's true! In addition to our online survey, we are partnering with the Washington, DC-based AudioNow to conduct a survey of immigrant radio listeners in five languages: Amharic, English, Haitian Creole, Punjabi and Swahili.

Here's the intriguing part: We don't have to run ads to try to generate listener response. Rather, each listener is individually invited to participate in the survey when they begin listening to their favorite radio show.

This works because listeners aren't just passively tuning a radio. They are calling in to listen to the broadcast via their mobile phones.

Natalie White,
Manager of Market Research and Regional Specialist,
AudioNow

AudioNow is the leading provider of this "radio-by-phone" technology. It hosts broadcasts from more than 2,500 different radio stations, resulting in more than 2.5 billion listening minutes in 2014. Among its broadcast partners are the United Nations, the Voice of America, BBC, Haiti's Radio Kiskeya, and Ethiopian Satellite Television.

IMPRINT is delighted to be working with AudioNow to implement this new approach to data-gathering. Early signs are promising: AudioNow has previously used this tool in successful research on Haitian and Somalian listeners' remittance practices. Learn more about AudioNow Research Services.

Stay tuned for more updates about this exciting facet of our research!

Stacey Simon headshot

Stacey Simon
Director, IMPRINT

How the Survey Works

Each survey has been pre-recorded by a radio station DJ, so that listeners hear a familiar voice.

When listeners call in to listen to their radio station -- such as Radio Punjabi USA -- a short recorded prompt asks them if they are willing to participate in the survey. Listeners use the buttons on their phone to select an answer, such as 1 for Yes, 2 for No, and 3 for Maybe Next Time.

Listeners who agree to take the survey will be Image of radio microphone

prompted to answer approximately 12 short, multiple-choice questions. Listeners respond by selecting the button that corresponds to their answer, or pressing a different button to hear the question repeated.

At the conclusion, listeners are invited to "opt-in" to receiving a call back to discuss their answers in more detail. This function allows us to gather some qualitative data to supplement the quantitative data produced by the automated survey.

Once a listener has completed the survey (or if they have declined to take it), they will never hear the survey request again, unless they call into the radio station from a different phone number.