Consumer Research | Paid Surveys Online 101

Alright, here's a quick run-down on how all of this get paid for surveys stuff got started. There's way more to it than we can explain here. If this market research stuff really interests you, you can get lost for weeks on end learning about it. Here's a brief taken from CASRO.
 

Before then, there weren't enough consumer goods available for everyone. They just couldn't make enough. Most of what was being made could be sold easily if it wasn't complete snake-oil. No one was concerned about "marketing." You got what you got, because that's all there was. And you were grateful for it. Like shampoo. There was no variety in color, fragrance, or performance. Shampoo was just shampoo.

After World War II, America had greatly increased it's manufacturing capacity. Consumers had more and better products to buy. Which meant manufacturers had to pay attention to their customers. Shampoo makers, holding unsold batches of "just shampoo," began to respond to demands for better cleaning shampoo and more fragrant shampoo.

So now, a consumer had options. Which meant they had a voice. With this change,  market research was born. Today, researchers gather and analyze public opinions for business, political, and social issues. These surveys are sponsored by government , academic , and business organizations. The growth of survey research has enabled these sponsors to develop specific strategies to satisfy what Americans really want and need. Your opinions do count. Polls are how your opinions are collected and trends predicted. With the introduction of the internet, researchers are able to reach more people with online surveys. Surveys with incentives (a.k.a. paid surveys) are often used to increase response rates.

So, before any company spends millions of dollars to manufacture the next greatest thing to buy, they spend a little time test marketing. This determines what kind of, and how many, consumers are willing to buy it. It may not even be worth their time. Then again, it may be worth millions of dollars. There are no exceptions, testing the market always always always happens first! Always!

Pretend someone figures out they may have invented the next greatest thing since sliced bread. A market research professional is contacted, and the TRUE potential of the product in the real world is tested through a variety of methods. Most research involves surveys among a typical sample of individuals. Carefully designed surveys and questions are used to guide the interview. They could be about attitudes, needs or preferences. The questions could be "closed-end" types (for example "yes" or "no") or they could be "open-ended" ("what do you think of _____ ?"). There are not right or wrong answers when you participate in consumer surveys. Just statistics.

Now read about the different methods used in consumer market research.