We're not usually big fans of marketing data collected from surveys. We've written about it several times. We often find the methodologies flawed, the questions suspect and the respondents even more suspect.
AdAge just published an article that confirms what we've been saying. Jack Neff wrote about it in "Consumers Rebel Against Marketers' Endless Surveys: 30 Top Industry Execs Gather to Discuss 'Opinion Fatigue' Crisis". The article is disturbing especially the following:
"VNU's Nielsen Media Research has actually seen respondent rates rise from 36% to 45% the past five years, said Paul Donato, chief research officer. That's largely because it pays respondents handsomely for their two-year commitments -- so handsomely that Mr. Donato acknowledged that some on the Media Research Council think it may bias results -- allowing panelists to buy cable subscriptions and DVRs.
Ironically, no one in a roomful of market researchers suggested researching what might best persuade nonrespondents to participate, though Dennis Murphy, VP of the technology practice at Directions Research, said it's time to find out how different nonresponders really are from responders -- something largely neglected since the 1970s."
What's involved in the 2 year commitments? It seems as though whatever they're doing they getting some great results.
Posted by: paid surveys | May 18, 2007 at 11:06 AM
Hi, Sid here.
You have a really great website…
Dose anyone happen to know where I can find more free paid survey sites that are like this one? http://SurveyFinder.BlogSpot.com
Posted by: sid | January 18, 2008 at 10:42 PM