A SURVEY THAT PAYS PARTICIPANTS, DO THEY EXIST?

We all believe that money does not come to us; it has to be chased after or worked hard for. So it is quite natural when one gets confused when corporates handout their paid surveys for the consumers to make money. Before making a hassle over it, let us first understand what a paid survey actually is. Wikipedia defines a paid survey as a statistical survey where the participants are rewarded with money in exchange for information. This means that in order to collect information from the public or customers, the companies have designed a system that promotes maximum participation from the masses. This system is made up of surveys and participants. Whoever volunteers or agrees to fill out completely is rewarded with money and other prizes such as coupons etc.

WHY WOULD A COMPANY GIVE US MONEY?

So we have understood what a paid survey is, let us examine why they are distributed. It is a logical question to ask; why would a company simply give out money to the masses for just information? Taking a practical example, when we see or hear a company requiring feedback from customers to enhance their products, we never oblige. We all have observed a small print at the back of our products to contact a particular number or website to contribute our feedback. Now I ask how many of us actually call up those numbers or log on to those websites to answer these questions? Hardly a few people actually do that, am I right? We do not answer for our experience with a product with the manufacturer and yet expect them to deliver quality or even surpass current quality. When the company does not know where their weakness lies, they cannot improve their products. The basic reason and foundation of any and every company is to make more money. It should be noted that a company selling consumer oriented products cannot make or increase profits, if the product does not sale more. Product sales need to be higher in order to achieve bundles of profits. A company can enhance their product only so much on their own assumptions, without consumer feedback. Therefore to stimulate the consumers, companies make a way to ensure maximum customer response. After all, we are all looking more and more ways to increase income, more money and keep on making money somehow.

It is not always the same type of survey; companies do not always conduct details collection regarding their own product only, they also collect information regarding competitors’ products against their own. This is to analyze why a competitor is progressing more with higher market share and research to steal that market share from the competitors. Only the manufacturer understands what a product is actually designed for and only a consumer knows how the products actually perform. For example, a manufacturer designs a product determining to deliver highest quality and the consumer knows with every use of that product, whether the quality delivered is as promised. Therefore companies aim at combining these two types of information, internal and external. For accumulating the external information from consumers and potential customers, corporates design an elaborate way of conducting paid surveys.

SO WE CAN TRUST ALL SURVEYS, RIGHT?

Wrong. Now that we know why surveys for money are conducted, we have to understand that there are always those people who use a good idea and misuse it to scam others. We must know how to discriminate whether a paid survey is reliable; is a particular paid survey legitimate? Here are a few tips to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate ones. The first and foremost identification of a fake websites is the fact that they ask you for money. This can be in many ways such as administration fee or membership fee or a one-time-only fee. When you encounter such a website, turn back and do not return! Even if it is a representative handing out a survey to you and asks money from you in return, politely refuse and do not think again. These are simply an elaborate scheme to scam money out of you. Another way to detect a fake website is the condition of it. A scam website will have a poor maintenance. Anything that looks fake, probably is. The third identification is they, the survey conductors, will ask your credit card information. Do not take candy from strangers and do not give them your personal information in return. The last and sometimes overlooked identification of a scam paid survey is the income facts and figures they illustrate. In order to pursue a participant, surveyors will display unrealistic income figures, charts and graphs. They will manipulate you into believing that volunteering in the survey will boost your income through the roof. Before participating in any paid research, one must know that these sites are to help you gain a little extra cash and not to be the basis of your livelihood. Scammers will make you believe that participating in their questions will help you make a bundle however, legit paid surveys only gives you a small sum of money.

A FEW WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Now that you are well aware of the paid survey world, you need to know just one more thing: how to answer the survey. Once you have carefully selected a paid survey, simply give your feedback and tell them what actually you think. Companies need genuine review from you whether positive or negative so do not misunderstand that giving a wrong but positive review will get you more reward than promised. Understand these essentials and go ahead and participate in authentic companies to make an extra few bucks because we all know that no matter how much money we have, it is never enough.