Tracking Germs Via Mobile

Cleaning products company Clorox has deployed mobile research technology from Egg Strategy to find out when and where consumers are most concerned about the spread of germs. 

Clorox tasked Egg with identifying the fleeting moments when the 'Generation Y' population felt most at risk of catching or spreading germs. Egg used its 'Over The Shoulder' research app to acquire pictures and feedback from consumers running the app. As a result, Clorox's research team was sent pictures from all kinds of places consumers perceived to be bacteria-infested, such as the inside of taxis, restaurants, clubs, and public toilets. 

"Over the Shoulder got us insights into real-life moments that we've found challenging to fully explore with certain target groups," says Staci Ball, director of corporate innovation and discovery at The Clorox Company. "The level of candour we got from our audience through the app rather than through having a live person there was pretty stunning."

The Over the Shoulder model recruits and pays consumers to download the Over the Shoulder app from the iTunes store or Android Market to their smartphone. They then use the app to answer questions and prompts to document their lives and activities from market researchers seeking insight to how they live, think, and buy.

"Over the Shoulder has been extremely well received in the marketplace so far because it allows us to turn our participants' smartphones into amazing portals to their world and their experiences. With smartphone penetration projected to pass 50 per cent before the end of 2011, there's now an opportunity to get insight into their lives, beliefs and behaviors that's simply never existed before," says Ross McLean, director of Over the Shoulder with Egg Strategy in Chicago.