{"id":1097,"date":"2010-02-01T07:47:30","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T07:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2010-02-01T07:47:30","modified_gmt":"2010-02-01T07:47:30","slug":"the-frequent-responder-paradox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/","title":{"rendered":"The frequent responder paradox"},"content":{"rendered":"

All about the professional respondents<\/h2>\n

There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince people to take our surveys.\u00a0 When they respond enthusiastically to our pleas and become frequent responders, however, we tend to deride them as \u201cprofessional respondents,\u201d accuse them of \u201cgaming the system\u201d and doubt the accuracy of their answers. This contradiction can hurt our credibility with the public we are seeking to engage in our research.<\/p>\n

Moreover, our distrust of frequent responders has been proven to be unfounded.\u00a0 Studies that Survey Sampling International (SSI) and our clients have conducted examining responses of frequent vs. less frequent responders show little if any, the correlation between response frequency and quality.<\/p>\n

Frequent responders are not speeders<\/h2>\n

For instance, our research reveals no evidence that frequent responders try to speed through surveys<\/a>. They are no more likely than less frequent responders, for example, to select \u201cnone of the above\u201d on questions such as what brands they have purchased in a category over the last three months.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In fact, they make a relatively high number of marks on \u201ccheck all that apply\u201d questions.<\/p>\n

To illustrate that point, consider a section of one survey that presented a \u201cbrand imagery\u201d grid question that asked respondents to indicate which of the 17 \u2013 19 statements (depending on the category) exemplified each brand of which they were aware.\u00a0 The frequent responder group indicated, on average, that 46% of the statements applied to a brand included in three categories.\u00a0 Among the entire group, respondents, on average, associated only 40% of the statements with a brand.<\/p>\n

A second survey, which focused specifically on the effects of panel tenure and response frequency, reinforced that frequent responders do not rush through surveys.\u00a0 The data revealed response integrity among heavy responders. As would be expected, the very experienced panelists moved through the survey somewhat more quickly than new panelists.\u00a0 Their shorter completion times, however, appear to be the result of their greater experience and dexterity in navigating the survey page and instructions, not of speeding.<\/p>\n

Frequent responders may be more in sync with actual consumer behavior<\/h2>\n

Our research shows some evidence that responses from frequent responders actually maybe more in line with real-world consumer behavior than responses from less frequent responders.\u00a0 Intent-to-buy scores are often overinflated in consumer survey research. Our research shows, however, that very experienced panelists have scores that are not as overinflated.\u00a0 Therefore, they appear to be more in synch with actual behavior.<\/p>\n

This finding contradicts conventional wisdom that past participation is not desirable.\u00a0 That contradiction raises a key question. Are the scores from very experienced panelists more in line with reality for a good reason\u2014they don\u2019t have a desire to answer in an expected way, so they are more truthful?\u00a0 Or are their scores different for a bad reason\u2014respondents want to get through the survey quickly and have discovered from their experience that answers indicating heavier usage and greater enthusiasm to buy often result in more follow up questions?<\/p>\n

Our results indicate that the latter is not true.\u00a0 Experienced respondents are not trying to rush through the survey by under-reporting usage and intent-to-buy.<\/p>\n

Gotta dig a bit more<\/h2>\n

In today\u2019s environment, when consumers are faced with a daily barrage of hundreds or even thousands of marketing messages and survey opportunities, it may be time to re-think traditional ideas about what it means to be a frequent responder \u2014 and what effect past survey participation has on research results. Before \u201cblacklisting\u201d frequent survey takers, the industry needs to undertake further research and revise some potentially outdated assumptions about survey frequency, if the evidence continues to show it doesn\u2019t affect quality.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s important to be vigilant against fraud, research shows that real survey \u201ccheaters\u201d are a tiny minority of survey takers. In fact, the major causes of poor quality responses are fatigue, boredom, and ineffective survey design.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in Customer Experience topics, we think you might enjoy reading: Fit the product to the customer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

There is much the industry can do to engage respondents<\/h2>\n

At SSI, for example, we\u2019ve formed a focused respondent-experienced team that is dedicated to engaging and serving respondents, checking surveys from the point of view of the people taking them. Research proves that better survey design and keeping respondents happier directly improve data quality.<\/p>\n

Respondents should be viewed as customers, just as companies who commission research are.\u00a0 They should be encouraged, consulted, engaged, and valued\u2014not locked out for frequent participation.<\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/strong> Chris DeAngelis is the Vice President of North American Sales for Survey Sampling International. \u00a0SSI provides access to more than 6 million research respondents in 54 countries. Sources include SSI proprietary panel communities in 27 countries, a growing portfolio of managed affiliates, and our extensive global partner network.<\/p>\n

At QuestionPro, we work on what we believe in.\u00a0<\/b>Schedule a demo<\/span><\/a> and discover how to boost customer loyalty and collect valuable consumer insights through our CX survey and analytics management platform.<\/p>\n

What is QuestionPro CX?<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":109221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[252,169,271],"tags":[284],"yoast_head":"\nThe frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"QuestionPro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/questionpro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Why-is-QuestionPro-the-best-software-in-Middle-East-for-online-surveys-customer-experience-management-and-market-research.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"992\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"594\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ivana Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@questionpro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@questionpro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ivana Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ivana Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a547e9ba0ad62a9ffa6f12466a7a244\"},\"headline\":\"The frequent responder paradox\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\"},\"wordCount\":840,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Best Practice\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Customer Engagement\",\"Customer Experience\",\"VOC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\",\"name\":\"The frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CX\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/category\/cx-2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Customer Engagement\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/category\/cx-2\/customer-engagement\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"The frequent responder paradox\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"QuestionPro\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"QuestionPro\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/questionpro-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/questionpro-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"QuestionPro\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/questionpro\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/questionpro\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/questionpro\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a547e9ba0ad62a9ffa6f12466a7a244\",\"name\":\"Ivana Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d23fe73ba92b9a95ce057e280755df6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d23fe73ba92b9a95ce057e280755df6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ivana Taylor\"},\"description\":\"Ivana Taylor provides DIY Marketing advice, marketing trends and marketing how-to tips and strategies for small business owners and CEOs.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/author\/thirdforce\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro","description":"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro","og_description":"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince","og_url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/","og_site_name":"QuestionPro","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/questionpro","article_published_time":"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":992,"height":594,"url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Why-is-QuestionPro-the-best-software-in-Middle-East-for-online-surveys-customer-experience-management-and-market-research.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ivana Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@questionpro","twitter_site":"@questionpro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ivana Taylor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/"},"author":{"name":"Ivana Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a547e9ba0ad62a9ffa6f12466a7a244"},"headline":"The frequent responder paradox","datePublished":"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00","dateModified":"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/"},"wordCount":840,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Best Practice"],"articleSection":["Customer Engagement","Customer Experience","VOC"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/","url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/","name":"The frequent responder paradox | QuestionPro","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00","dateModified":"2010-02-01T07:47:30+00:00","description":"All about the professional respondents There is a paradox in the market research industry around respondents.\u00a0 We do all we can think of to convince","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/the-frequent-responder-paradox\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CX","item":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/category\/cx-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Customer Engagement","item":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/category\/cx-2\/customer-engagement\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The frequent responder paradox"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/","name":"QuestionPro","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"QuestionPro","url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/questionpro-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/questionpro-logo.svg","caption":"QuestionPro"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/questionpro","https:\/\/twitter.com\/questionpro","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/questionpro\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a547e9ba0ad62a9ffa6f12466a7a244","name":"Ivana Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d23fe73ba92b9a95ce057e280755df6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d23fe73ba92b9a95ce057e280755df6b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ivana Taylor"},"description":"Ivana Taylor provides DIY Marketing advice, marketing trends and marketing how-to tips and strategies for small business owners and CEOs.","url":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/author\/thirdforce\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Why-is-QuestionPro-the-best-software-in-Middle-East-for-online-surveys-customer-experience-management-and-market-research.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Why-is-QuestionPro-the-best-software-in-Middle-East-for-online-surveys-customer-experience-management-and-market-research.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Ivana Taylor","author_link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/author\/thirdforce\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}