The Importance of Filling out Profilers

Completing more surveys is obviously going to mean more rewards for those who take them. So how does a panelist receive more relevant surveys in the first place?

One of the easiest ways for a panelist to ensure a higher number of surveys are delivered to their inbox is to fill out the profilers available on the survey company’s website. Profilers are short questionnaires used to gather information on respondents so that more relevant surveys are sent out.

Why Survey Profilers Should Matter to Survey Takers

Some panelists choose not to complete these questionnaires as they don’t offer rewards like online surveys. However, the more a survey company knows about each panelist, the more surveys they can offer that person.

For example, if a dog food company is doing market research on introducing a new product, the survey company will search their database specifically for dog owners. If a panelist has a dog but has failed to complete their profiler on pets, they may not get the survey invitation and will therefore miss out on earning more rewards.

Types of Profile Surveys

They can cover a wide range of subjects, and each survey company will have their own questionnaires depending on what business their clients need market research done for.

There are some common topics however, and keeping an eye out for these can help profilers get chosen for more surveys. Some of the usual ones include employment, health, household and daily activities, products, technology and services and even politics. Some are quite specific, such as topics on cell phones or digital cameras while others are more general. All are important and help panelist receive more relevant survey invitations.

Survey companies may email out profilers once in a while, or in a whole group. They may send a notification that a selection of questionnaires is available on their website ready to be completed. They may occasionally send out a reminder asking panelists to review their current information in case there have been changes in their household. Be sure to watch for these notifications, and keep your information updated for a better chance of receiving more surveys.

Additional Screening Questions

After receiving a survey invitation and following the link, panelists will once again be asked to answer some additional questions. Why does someone have to fill out the same answers again after already filling out the profilers?

One reason is that circumstances can change and a panelist has neglected to update in their account. For instance, a food manufacturer coming out with a new line of flavoured bacon wants to conduct research to see how popular their new product would be. A panelist who filled out a profiler stating they consumed bacon twice a week gets invited to participate in the survey but have since become a vegetarian. These extra questions help screen participants out before they start the survey so the panelist doesn’t invest time in the survey and then find out none of the questions apply to them.

Another reason for repeating questions is that the survey company wants participants to answer honestly, and unfortunately some people race through surveys without reading them carefully or answering truthfully. By asking similar questions before the survey starts and then again at the start of the survey, the market research company can determine if someone is lying and eliminate their data from the survey results.