Smartphone or Laptop? Device Type Choice and Data Quality in Surveys of Commercial and Residential Utility Customers

In this study, we explore device type choice for residential and nonresidential (business/commercial) survey respondents and its relationship to data quality. We use data from a survey of energy efficiency program participants administered each month, from August 2023 to September 2024. Findings suggest that nonresidential survey respondents more often opt to use desktop or laptop computers to respond, whereas residential survey respondents are more likely to choose to use smartphones. Neither response time nor tendency to provide non-substantive responses were related to device type choice for residential or nonresidential respondents. We did not find a relationship between device type and straightlining either. Residential respondents’ device type choice related to the length of open-ended responses, while nonresidential respondents’ device type choice did not. Thus overall, we found minimal evidence to support the hypothesis that respondents who choose to respond using a smartphone may provide lower data quality.