About Surveys
What Exactly Are Online Surveys?
Online surveys are a way for companies to understand their target audience. By hiring market research companies to conduct studies, or surveys on the people they would like to target their product or service toward, they can gain a competitive advantage by understanding exactly what it is their consumers want.
Online surveys are conducted over the internet through your regular web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.). You will first receive an email asking you to complete a survey. Simply click on the link within the email and you will be brought to the study. Simply follow the instructions, answer the questions, and you will successfully complete the survey. It’s as easy as that.
Do I Have to Pay Anything?
No. Market researchers want your opinions and are willing to compensate you for them, so why would they ask you for your money? They want you to join their survey panels so that they have a database of consumers to access when they are hired to conduct a survey so it is in their favour to make it as easy as possible to gain as many panellists as possible.
Some websites charge their users to access a list of online survey companies. Not us! All of the companies you see here are free to join.
What Do I Get for Taking Surveys?
This is up to the survey company’s discretion but usually this is anything from cash, merchandise, sweepstakes entries, or gift vouchers. Many survey companies also have their own point systems. This makes it easier for them to offer prizes to people from different countries who use different currencies, etc. It is easier for a company to offer say 50 “points” for completing a survey, rather than $3 AUS, $3.25 US, $3.20 Canadian, etc.
How Do Survey Companies Use My Survey Responses?
First they aggregate your answers with those of other consumers who have taken the same survey. Then they report their findings to the company who hired them to conduct the survey through reports and presentations. Market research companies have people who specialise in statistics and analysing data to sort through the numbers and be able to make recommendations to their clientele.
When you submit your answers via a survey, you are doing so anonymously. Market research companies have to adhere to strict standards set out by the industry so although they know that you completed a certain study, they don’t necessarily know exactly how you answered a survey. In any case, your privacy is always of utmost importance and your information will never be sold to third parties, as per the privacy policies listed on the websites of survey companies.
