The one-on-one interview done in-person at a central location is often called an intercept interview. This is because the interviewer actually "intercepts" shoppers as they move about a shopping mall or other location and asks them to take part in a survey. Matrix has access to intercept facilities located in dozens of mid- and major markets across the nation. When intercept interviewing is part of one of our custom studies, we screen and contract with these facilities and completely manage and quality control the entire project.

Are Most Effective When:

• Respondents must be customers of specific retail businesses, or audiences attending specific sites or events.


• Visual material -- concept boards or actual products -- must be seen.


• Strict control of the questionnaire sequence is required.


• Random cross-section sampling of the general population is not critical to study objectives.

Features That Make It Work:

• Typically a cash, or a coupon incentive, is offered to gain respondent cooperation, especially in busy or "fast-paced" areas or destinations.


• Comfortable or private areas are available for interviewing.


• The survey is sponsored by a known brand name or organization.


• Pre-recruiting of "hard-to-find" customer types by telephone is done by offering an incentive to come to a central location for the actual survey.

Quality Control:

• Random samples are achieved by instructing interviewers to select every nth party passing their station.


• No group interviews or couple interviews.


• No self-administering.


• Respondents do not fill out a survey and bring it back.


• All questions are asked by our interviewers, controlling quality.