Where is My Survey Reward?!

Instant Gratification Disrupted!

These days we are all used to receiving things in an instant. We can purchase items immediately online when we decide we want them instead of having to go to a number of stores to find the correct product first, and can contact friends and family immediately via cell phones and text messaging. The same can be said for taking online surveys. Panelists who are in possession of a smart phone can begin completing a survey within seconds of being notified by email instead of waiting until they return home at the end of the day.

Why then does it sometimes take weeks to receive survey rewards? There are different factors that come into play when market research companies receive completed surveys and award points to their panelists.

Getting from Taking Surveys to Rewards

The entire process from a company deciding they need to create a survey to collect opinions on a new product or service to the moment a panelist receives their prize or cash reward for participating can seem like a long one. Once the actual survey is created, the business has to decide which demographic they want opinions from. While the survey companies attempt to send each survey solely to panelists who would find the topic relevant, sometimes situations change and a once-single female is now a first-time mother and is now screened out of the survey.

What does this have to do with the time it takes to receive rewards? A person who receives a survey, qualifies, then completes the entire survey may have to wait until all responses are turned in, and if the survey is having trouble meeting their quota of a certain demographic it may be weeks until this need is met. After the survey closes and the last person needed submits their completed survey, the researchers begin their jobs of compiling all of the data and also ensuring that panelists have taken the time to read the questions thoroughly and answered truthfully. Only then will they deposit reward points into each account that followed the instructions for that particular survey.

Allocating Points

Reward points aren’t automatically generated as soon as a panelist submits their completed survey. The reason for this is to ensure each survey is as accurate as possible, and that people aren’t rewarded if they don’t complete a survey or rush through it simply to receive points. Survey results are incredibly important to businesses and services, and they want to reward panelists who put in the time and thought to provide their honest opinions. If points were given out without processing the surveys first, it would be like rewarding bad behavior to those who did not complete them properly. Some survey companies do post the amount of points “pending” so that panelists can see how much they will receive once the surveys are processed.

Although it can seem to take a long time to receive the rewards, panelists should consider the influence they have on new products and how much their opinions matter. Panelists will find as they complete each survey with care and precision, they will most likely receive more surveys that award higher point values, since market researchers want to keep good people on their team, just like any other business. With a little patience, panelists can soon be enjoying the rewards they have earned simply for sharing their opinions!