| Most survey sites
are an extension of a Market Research company. They
first build a large pool of online panelists with
diverse interests. Then they start moving their
market research (survey) online. They also start
looking for new clients who are looking at market
research to get information from current or
prospective users. The more panelists a company has
is as important as the profiles of the panelists.
Companies who want to get the information through
surveys only want to conduct surveys with good
survey sites/companies which have the panelist
profile matching their needs. (A Profile of a
panelist is dependent upon factors like age,
location, gender, income, products used, profession,
interests, etc. There is no ideal profile as
different surveys require different profiles)
Then the survey site starts sending survey
invitations to all the eligible panelists based on
their profiles. Some surveys have a "screener".
Under a screener they are asked a few questions to
find out whether they are eligible for the survey.
These screeners are used because some information is
not present with these survey sites which is
necessary to be eligible for surveys. For example a
survey site is conducting a survey for Product X to
find out why it is not selling & why its competing
product (Product A) is selling very well. In the
screener you are asked if you use either product X
or A, all people who use either product X or A are
selected.
All surveys do not have a screener. If there is a
screener & you have cleared the screener, you are
taken to the actual survey. In the survey you are
asked questions like why you use product X or A
(from the previous example), what are your
expectations from this product, what you like &
dislike about product X or A, what price would you
be willing to pay for either product X or A, etc.
In other surveys you may be asked about other
products or services. The questions would be:
What you like, what you don't like, what are your
expectations, when do you use the product/service,
etc. Lately there have also been surveys asking
panelists what brand names will they like, what they
don't, what brand name is easier to remember, etc.
There are also surveys conducted for
products/services which will be launched in the
future. These surveys are aimed at finding out what
are the needs of potential users, what is the price
potential users are willing to pay, etc. Finally,
there are surveys aimed at certain professions
(doctors, IT professional, etc) & decision makers
(people who make the buying decisions of various
products & services).
Typically surveys take 15-45 minutes to complete.
Most surveys pay US$2-US$150 per survey. There
are also survey sites which will offer you gifts or
a chance to win a prize as incentive to complete
surveys. The longer the duration of the survey, the
better is the incentive. You can also earn a
referral income if the person you have referred has
completed a survey. The incentive may be cash, gifts
or additional entries for the draws.
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