Experience management company Momentive has released the findings of its inaugural State of Surveys report. By analyzing millions of surveys taken on SurveyMonkey, from 2012 through 2022, Momentive has unveiled different trends and ways in which people asked and answered questions. Three trends that emerged from the surveys are the rise of non-binary gender options, the growth of mobile survey-taking, and the rise and fall of popular topics from recent years, such as DEI, COVID-19, and remote work.
“The questions people choose to ask can tell us so much more than you might expect. Our customers turn to surveys to answer tough questions about everything from customer experience to employee engagement to brand sentiment. In doing so, they reveal how our collective language, priorities, and expectations are continuously evolving. This report is our way of sharing the unique insights that piqued our curiosity through the years, with the hope that it inspires you to come up with new questions to gain deep insights,” said Laura Wronski, Director of Research at Momentive.
The growing inclusion of non-binary gender in the U.S.
With the growing awareness of gender diversity, gender options in surveys have undergone a radical change in the previous years. The percentage of surveys that offer more than two gender options has quadrupled from 16.4% to 64.0% in the past decade.
The labels have changed as well. The term “other” was the most common non-binary option until 2021, when “non-binary” took place. Currently, 21.1% of surveys that ask about gender include “non-binary” as an answer option, compared with 13.2% that use “other.”
Fading trends: COVID-19 and remote work fluctuate in U.S. surveys
The topic of COVID-19 and coronavirus soared at the beginning of the pandemic, reaching 22.9% of all U.S. surveys at its peak in May 2020. However, the mention of COVID-19 dramatically dropped, being in only 2% of surveys at the end of 2022.
When it comes to remote work and its rise because of shutdowns and restrictions, it became a hot topic in 2020. Remote work was mentioned in 10% of all surveys in May 2020.
When the restrictions began to lift, the topic of remote work declined to its pre-pandemic levels of 0.4% of surveys in January 2019 and 0.6% of surveys in November 2022.
The consistency of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) In U.S. surveys
The mention of DEI in surveys increased in June 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, from 1.8% in May 2020 to 3% in June 2020. This trend remains strong, as it is consistently mentioned in nearly 4% of all U.S. surveys on SurveyMonkey, from June 2020 to November 2022.
Mobile survey-taking is gaining momentum
Mobile survey-taking is growing popular by the day among survey respondents. Globally speaking, mobile survey-taking in Q4 2022 (56.6%) has already surpassed those taken on non-mobile devices (40.2%), and the trend is expected to grow even more. In the U.S., however, this is not the case, as 43.7% used mobile survey-taking in Q4 2022, as opposed to the rest of the world with 64%.
Meanwhile, Momentive has launched its new Price Optimization solution for SurveyMonkey that simplifies the product pricing process and maximizes revenue.
