Have you been walking down the street, driving into work, or on a daily commute and noticed a black and white symbol placed strategically on various signs, billboards, and advertisements? I certainly have noticed this trend becoming more and more frequent, and finally figured out exactly what this symbol was: a QR code.
A QR code, short for quick response code, is a picture barcode that is readable by both barcode readers and camera phones. The code typically consists of black and white patterns that are actually text, URLs, or data that has been encoded and is arranged in a way that is scannable by various electronic devices. QR codes can be used to display text to the user, allow them to compose an email or text message, used as artwork, and are primarily used as marketing tools.
As of late, QR codes have become heavily ingrained into marketing campaigns, offering customers the opportunity to gain additional brand insight, have access to special deals, and exclusive content, all via their mobile phones.
Additionally, QR codes can be used to collect marketing research virally and on-the-go. Marketers can quickly gather data and measure response rates from users who engage with their codes.
QR codes could be integrated with interactive voice response systems in order to allow market researchers to appeal to users and collect relevant information telephonically, on-the-go, and virtually from anywhere.
QR codes are embedded with information that consists of coded text, URLs, or data. Integration with an IVR system would mean that QR codes would be embedded with phone numbers that could then be called immediately from a mobile phone. QR codes could route users to surveys, mobile focus groups, or even mobile critiques.
Marketing researchers could utilize the easy accessibility and prevalent social presence of QR codes to gather data from disparate, often hard to reach survey populations. By offering certain incentives and integrating QR codes with an interactive voice response system, researchers may secure a higher response rate from a more diverse range of individuals.
