Survey Results Spotlight: Toluna

Toluna: A Worldwide Panel and Community

Toluna is a unique online research website. Besides having traditional surveys available, they allow members to poll each other and create their own surveys. Panelists can ask each other questions such as determining favourite foods, while companies can submit a sponsored poll to get a quick opinion from the large group of panelists.

Anyone can sign up to participate in Toluna surveys and polls and receive points to trade in for prizes or even cash through PayPal. Each panelist can choose to simply answer available surveys or publish their own. Toluna is a fun and interactive site that is easy to use. Learn more by following this link.

Example of a Survey Result

The following link demonstrates a sponsored poll on the Toluna website.

The question asks, “What financial institution do you MOST associate with hockey in Canada?”. A choice of six answers is listed, and a graph is shown underneath with the answers. A more detailed analysis is available for those who are interested by simply clicking on any of the tabs.

Results Explained

In answer to the question above, the colour graph shows the most popular response to be Scotia Bank with over 30% of panelists choosing this option. After clicking on the “View By Age” link for more information, the graph changes to display the responses grouped by ages. In this case, it appears the younger generation chose this response more frequently than those age 55 and up. The second most popular answer was Royal Bank across all of the age groups as well. Viewing the results by sex shows almost 500 males chose Scotia Bank as the financial institution most associated with hockey, and over six females said the same, with Royal Bank again coming in second in both categories.

As this is a more informal survey than traditional types usually administered online there is also room for respondents to leave their opinion for others to read. Although in this case no one commented on the poll, it is interesting to note that this option is available. The “Facts” tab shows panelists other statistics of the poll, including how many people participated, the category it falls under and the target Country. Clicking on “Related” shows other polls in the same category or having generally related content.

How Results Are Used

With the option of anyone being able to create a quick survey with Toluna, the results of these polls can be used in many different ways. We can guess that in the example above, the question was asked by a financial institution. Their target audience was Canada, so perhaps they were reviewing their marketing strategy and wanted to get a general idea if their commercials were working or if fans paid attention to signage at the hockey arenas. If the administrator of that poll was Scotia Bank, they would have gotten quick feedback that their advertising seemed to be working.

Other quick polls asked by Toluna panelists may have been fueled by simple curiosity. Some examples of past polls include asking about favourite stores, foods and types of pets. Since Toluna is more of a social website than some of the other survey companies, the topics may be more “getting-to-know-you” type questions. A few panelists may have a specific motive for conducting a quick poll, such as requiring data for a university paper.

Sign up here to join Toluna today and find out what topics people in Canada and around the world are talking about.