Learn how the MR industry can re-build respondent relationships and fight disengagement in a time of fierce online competition. Read Rules of Engagement by Kees de Jong, SSI CEO, in Research World.
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Phillip Garland
Survey Sampling
Member
August 25, 2009 / Read/Post Comments
How many people want to take surveys? Everyone? A few? Probably somewhere in between. What we do know is that people can be pulled in AND pushed away. The question, then, is whether they come back when pushed away. Some do, many don't. Is it possible to doom our entire industry? It depends on a) the number of willing people currently available, and b) the rate at which we push them away for good.
What are the real numbers behind these two factors?
Jul 14, 2010
Rules of Engagement
May 7, 2010
Slider Scales in Online Surveys
Mar 30, 2010
Questionnaire Length, Fatigue Effects and Response Quality Revisited
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Comments
While I don't have numbers, Phil, I do have my opinion here. Respondent recruitment comes in two flavors... one is adhoc survey recruitment (let's say for a phone survey, or intercept) and the other is for ongoing respondent engagement (let's say for online panels). Either way, there is one similarity - we turn a lot of willing people away while or after recruiting them - those who have not slammed the door or phone on us -- and as an industry we don't always make sure that their recruitment/turn-away process is attractive enough to make them want to come back for more.
Imagine if when you were buying a car you had this experience: You head to the dealership, the dealer lets you take a quick spin in the car and then the dealer turns your down from buying the car you wanted... either its not available, or you just didn't have the right credentials, or some other reason (and maybe they don't tell you why). The dealer has made the decision for you, a willing buyer, and that car is no longer an option. Not only does it leave a bad taste in your mouth as to that specific dealer, but the entire car dealership industry.
So what's my point here? Market Researchers are car dealers; respondents are potential buyers; their buying the car equates to them taking a survey. Sure, we have to turn down many willing respondents who are not eligible for surveys, but we want them to return --- nay, we need them to return. I don't have the silver-bullet here, but I do believe that adhoc and community recruitment processes directly impact retention and future survey participation. I do believe that our industry & research driven need to turn away respondents due to qualification leaves a bad taste in some (many) respondents' mouths... how can we either change this paradigm, or assure that terminating them in a survey (or community because they don't fit in) does deter those willing respondents from being willing again (and again and again)?
.... i don't think the answer can only come from panel companies, phone rooms, etc. its not only about how we engage, but how we communicate through q're wording too...
As a Respondent to many of surveys from different sites, I would like to speak up here. I do enjoy taking surveys. I have taken many that are fun to take. However, this does not mean that I don't want the incentive. Usually the best incentive is the cash one. The sweepstakes incentive is , (well to me ) a bunch of crap. I have never won anything from sites like this. Their are few sites that I joined that actually pay and come through. I have been to one or 2 that let me go all the way through the survey only to tell me that I dont qualify for that survey, so they dont have to pay me for my time and input. Questionairres just arent that long. The do not qualify does get to me , whos to say I cant qualify for a survey about babies because I dont have one right now that age. Mine are much older. I am still a mom and I still remember what it was like when they were babies. This of course is the best example I could think of for the "do not qualify" thing.
Some sites also have a limit to how many surveys you can take,. I dont understand this either. I would take surveys all day if I could and get paid for it too. As lomg as its not the same survey it shouldnt matter how many I take.
Like I said I enjoy taking surveys and I look forward to the invitations I receive to come take one. I hope that in the future very soon, changes are made, to attract more people to take them , and to keep them going. Also to weed out the bad sites or the ones that try to charge you to take them.