Designing robust electronic surveys in marketing research

While electronic surveys are popular methods among marketing researchers, limited work surrounds how they can be effectively developed. Consequently, this article provides editorial guidance on designing robust electronic surveys to help marketing academics and graduate students to overcome notable pitfalls. Several best practices are outlined, commencing with initial issues, like formatting and interactivity. Then, some factors linked to measures and robustness checks are evaluated, including capturing instruments to test for common method variance and endogeneity bias, plus accounting for reliability and validity. Afterwards, key methodological benefits of pre-testing, conducting field interviews, pre-registration activities, and underpinning electronic surveys with appropriate theoretical lenses are discussed. Next, the paper features some final considerations, such as selecting suitable empirical contexts and respondents, adhering to ethical procedures, and managing expenses. This article ends with various summary points, alongside a checklist to minimize poor-quality survey data being collected and analyzed, facilitating advancements to marketing theory and practice.