Questionnaire Design

As mentioned earlier (section 4.6), a Web-based via email questionnaire as a self-completed questionnaire survey was adopted because it was assumed the most relevant, convenient, and efficient data collection mode for answering the current study’s questions and achieving its aim and objectives.

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In order to design the online questionnaire survey for the current study, an affordable, effective, user-friendly, and popular online-survey tool/software for academics and managers, namely SurveyMonkey^TM, was utilised by subscribing to a Gold account plan. In this sense, using SurveyMonkey^TM allowed for a proficient creation and deployment of the online questionnaire survey, and facilitated/automated data’s collection, entry, coding, SPSS file generation/download, and descriptive statistics (Creswell, 2014; de Vaus, 2014; Rudestam & Newton, 2015; Sue & Ritter, 2012;

Saunders et al., 2012; Zikmund et al., 2013).

Drawing from the relevant literature, considerable efforts were devoted to ensure the, as far as possible, attainment of the following main guidelines regarding the design of the current study’s online questionnaire survey:

 To ensure coherence, as well as avoiding needless lengthiness and respondents confusion and fatigue: (1) only the relevant questions that can aid in accomplishing the research aim and objectives were included; (2) a multi-page questionnaire format was adopted alongside the navigation guides (current part number in relation to the total parts, and “Next”, “Back”, and “Done” buttons);

and (3) questions relating to a similar topic were grouped together in their designated windows and progressed in a logical order (Dillman et al., 2014;

Fink, 2013; Rea & Parker, 2014; Sue & Ritter, 2012).

 For the sake of simplicity and consistency that can facilitate data’s collection, coding, entry and analysis, as well as minimise the space and cognitive complexity of questions, a matrix-question style was utilised throughout the questionnaire (section 4.9.4) in which a labelled, five-point Likert scale (ranging from very negative, with mid-point, to very positive attitudes towards each statement) was associated with the main constructs questions groups in their designated windows (Neuman, 2014; Rea & Parker, 2014).

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 To check and enhance the validity, usefulness, and prober technical functioning of the questionnaire and its items, and based on the questionnaire pre-testing and piloting (section 4.9.3), the questionnaire was established to be valid, technically well-functioning, and its items were considered valid, relevant to their associated constructs, unambiguous, and meaningful to the potential respondents (Rea & Parker, 2014; Saunders et al., 2012; Zikmund et al., 2013).

 For attaining collected data’s accuracy and validity, questionnaire questions response options were ensured to be exhaustive (including “other, please specify” when necessary), mutually exclusive, and included radio buttons, whereby respondents were not able to select more than one answer for a specific question (de Vaus, 2014; Fink, 2013; Sue & Ritter, 2012).

 In an endeavour to enhance the response rate, forcing (mandatory for survey’s continuation) questions were avoided, as such unescapable questions can lead respondents to abandon the whole survey (Sue & Ritter, 2012; Zikmund et al., 2013). Additionally, questionnaire questions were accompanied by clear instructions, and ensured to be self-explanatory, specific, short, visually appealing, and free from double negatives, as well as easy to read, understand, answer, and follow (de Vaus, 2014; Neuman, 2014).

 In order to eliminate, or at least minimise, social desirability bias (i.e., respondents incline to give what they perceive the “favourable or acceptable”

answer to a specific question instead of the real or valid one), the following procedural remedies were ensured: (1) respondents were assured full anonymity and confidentiality (the survey was free from any questions about respondents and their firms names or contact details); (2) leading questions were avoided and respondents clearly instructed to base their answers on a specific new product in

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terms of what was actually done rather than what should have been done; and (3) the adopted questions grouping and order disallowed respondents from identifying the specific investigated variables and their interrelationships (Fowler, 2014; Podsakoff et al., 2003).

 In an attempt to enhance the response rate, ensure that the collected data were accurate and valid, and that the survey participants would fit-well-with the target respondents selection criteria (section 4.7), the online questionnaire survey (section 4.9.4): (1) was preceded by an invitation email, sent exclusively to the potential target respondents (prohibiting more than one response from the same respondent), including the survey participation’s invitation, hyperlink, importance, conditions/terms, and benefits; and the researcher’s contact details alongside the logo of the Faculty of Business, Plymouth University; (2) started by three sequential windows contained three screening/qualification questions;

(3) followed by a window that provided a brief survey introduction to remind the participants with the survey participation’s purpose and conditions; and (4) concluded by a window comprised relevant (multiple-choice) questions about the sample and respondents characteristics (Dillman et al., 2014; Fink, 2013;

Rea & Parker, 2014).

Although, a questionnaire can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured questionnaire, a structured questionnaire is more suitable for quantitative studies (Hague, 2002). In this sense, as survey questions could be closed-ended, open-ended, or contingency questions; however, utilising closed-ended (multiple-choice/rating scale) questions, enables researchers to ask their respondents to select a choice/rating amongst predefined set of answers/ratings.

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Whether yes/no questions, positive to negative responses; represented in three, five or more answers (Siniscalco & Auriat, 2005), closed-ended questions provide a number of predefined alternative answers from which respondents are instructed to choose one of them (de Vaus, 2014; Fink, 2013).

Compared to open-ended questions, closed-ended questions have several advantages:

(1) require less interviewer skills; (2) yield more accurate, bias-free, and comparable data; (3) take less time and are easier for respondents to answer; and (4) are quicker, cheaper, and easier for surveyors to code, analyse and interpret (Bryman, 2012;

Oppenheim, 1992; Rea & Parker, 2014; Zikmund, 2013).

Accordingly, beside three screening/qualification (contingency) questions, a structured questionnaire, with mainly closed-ended (multiple-choice/rating scale) questions, was utilised for the current study. Additionally, there are three types of questions: opinion, behaviour, and attribute questions (Dillman et al., 2014; Saunders et al., 2012), as detailed next.

Opinion-questions capture how respondents feel about something or what they think or believe is true or false, while questions on behaviours and attributes acquire what respondents actually do and are. When asking respondents about what they do, surveyors are attaining the respondents behaviour. This differs from respondents opinions, as surveyors, in the former, are seeking a concrete experience.

Behavioural-questions seek what respondents and/or their firms did in the past, do now or will do in the future. Hence, rating-questions were utilised in this study by asking each respondent about how strongly he/she disagreed/agreed with a series of behavioural statements covering the study’s main constructs, on a five-point Likert-style rating scale.

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Contrarily, attribute-questions ask about the characteristics of respondents and/or their firms (i.e., things that respondents and/or their firms possess rather than do). They are used to explore how certain behaviours differ among respondents, and to verify sample’s representativeness of the total population. Attributes include characteristics such as respondent’s occupation, experience, and/or a firm’s type, age, size, etc.

Accordingly, both the behavioural and attribute questions were utilised in the current study’s online questionnaire survey.