surveyvillage

FAQ

What is market and social research?

Market and social research provides accurate and timely information about the behaviour, needs, attitudes, opinions and motivations of a population. With this knowledge, businesses are able to develop products and services to meet the desires of their customers and governments can tailor policies and programs to the needs of citizens. Also, important national statistics such as tobacco use, television ratings, tourism movements and unemployment can be reliably determined.

Who are we?

We are a Market Research agency specialising in online surveys. We have years of experience in the Market Research industry. You can check our credentials by contacting AMSRS (Australian Market and Social Research Society) on 1300 364 830.

What kind of research can I be expected to take part in?

Online surveys   - These will be the standard surveys you receive which you complete online using your standard web browser; you must have an Internet connection available to complete these surveys. Occasionally you may be required to have sound and the ability to play video. It is also recommended that you have the latest version of Flash installed as many of the surveys require this application.
  Telephone Research (would require a valid land line number)   - Telephone research requires a telephone interviewer to call you at a time and at a number convenient to you. Telephone interviews can last any duration between 2 and 30 mins and your account will be credited with the appropriate amount of points.  
Group discussions   - You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you would be required to attend a group discussion at a venue in your local area. Group discussions generally have 7-8 other people present along with a moderator. Group discussions are like an informal chat around a table. Usually drinks and snack are supplied. In some cases group discussion may be recorded on video and/or audio. Payment can vary but are often between $60 and $120 for 1-2 hours of your time.
  In-depth personal interview -   You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you will then be required to have an interviewer meet with you at your home or another arranged meeting point. In-depth personal interviews are like an informal chat lasting from 20 mins – 1.5 hours. In some cases these interviews may be recorded on video and/or audio. Payment can vary but are often between $30 and $150 depending on the length of the interview.   
Mystery Shopping   - You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you may be required to take part in a variety of different tasks. In some cases it could be making a call to a call centre and then completing a short survey about how you found the service and/or the manner of the call centre staff. It may also involve you purchasing a product or service from a store and again reporting back through a survey your experience. In all cases you will be refunded the cost of any purchase/phone call etc as well as receiving an incentive. In most cases you will also be allowed to keep any product you have purchased where relevant.  
Accompanied Shopping Trip   - You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you will be required to have an interviewer meet with you at a shopping destination. The interviewer will simply accompany you on a shopping trip such as grocery shopping at Coles, and will ask you questions about your purchasing decisions. In some cases these interviews may be recorded on video and/or audio. Payment can be between $30 and $150 depending on the length of the interview.   
Postal diary study   - You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you will be required to complete a paper diary over a period of time (usually 7-14 days). For example if the research was about cleaning products, we may ask you to make an entry each day to determine if you cleaned an area of the house, which area it was and what products you used. In most cases each diary entry may only take a few minutes of your time. You may be required to make 2-3 entries per day over 7-14 days. Your account will be credited with the appropriate amount of points.  
In home Product Testing -   You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify we would send you a product to use in your home. This could be anything such as food, drink, cleaning products or electrical equipment. We would send you instructions and when and how to use the products and in most cases you will be required to complete 2 surveys, most probably online. Your account will be credited with the appropriate amount of points.  
Venue Product Testing   - You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you would be required to attend a Product Testing at a venue in your local area. Product Testing may involve you tasting various food or drink. You would be required to complete a short paper survey while testing the products. In some cases these may be recorded on video and/or audio. Payment can be between $10 and $100 depending on the time and involvement.  
Online Forums/Blogs -   You will first receive a short online survey to assess your eligibility. If you qualify you would be invited to an online forum, where, for the period of the project questions will be posted to the forum and you would be required to participate in discussions. Usually the amount of incentive paid is relative to the amount of participation and contribution. In cases where you are invited to “blog” you will be given access to a website where you can record your feelings about a subject using words, images and posting links to other websites. With both of these exercises, the information you supply will not be made publicly available.

Why participate?

Participating in surveys:

Is fun! You often are asked to give opinions about things that you otherwise don't get a chance to.
Is interesting - it gets you thinking about things that you might not otherwise think about.
Helps companies improve products and services for you as their customer.
Helps formulate public policy so that better services can be provided for you.

How do I know you won’t sell me anything?

It is illegal to pretend to be doing market research if the real purpose of the contact is marketing. Anyone caught doing this can be penalised under the Trade Practices Act.

Won’t I get lots of pesky marketing emails or things in the mail if I answer surveys?

No, market and social research companies are not permitted to sell anything or pass your information on to their clients or other organisations - in fact they are not even permitted to tell their clients whether or not they interviewed you - unless you are already listed with their client for some other reason.

How secure is the information I give you?

Absolutely confidential! The Privacy Act binds market and social research companies and there are severe penalties for breaching your privacy. Although surveys are likely to ask personal questions such as your age category or your income, research companies are only allowed to keep and use this data as overall statistics. Once quality control checks are completed they delete the information that associates the statistics with individual respondents.

Where can I view your Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy?

Both our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions are available for you to view at any time. You can do this a number of ways:

As a non-member you can view them by going to www.surveyvillage.com. You will find them at the top of the screen under the SurveyVillage logo and you can view them by clicking on them.
When you 'sign up' to surveyvillage you have to agree to both policies. Where it asks you to do so you can click on either of these to view their contents.
As a member you can also additionally view them under the Legal Information tab at the top of your profile page or in any online survey invite you receive.

So how does it all work?

Sign up is quick and easy and should take at most two minutes. Once you have signed up we ask that you complete your profile. This provides us with information to match you to relevant surveys. We email you directly when we have a survey to save you the hassle of checking your account.

How often will I receive surveys?

This can depend on how up-to-date and accurate your profile information is. To ensure you are selected for the most amount of surveys please maintain and update where relevant your profile information to ensure you are included on all surveys that may be relevant to you.

How does the reward system work?

At surveyvillage, we will email you when survey opportunities arise and depending on the length of the survey you could earn between 100 and 2000 points for those you qualify for. If you attempt a survey and don't qualify you will be rewarded with 10 points.

We award 100 points (which is equivalent to $1) for every 5 minutes of a survey you qualify for and complete. For example, if it’s a 25-minute survey you receive 500 points. Once you get to around $20 (or keep going up as much as you want!) you can begin redeeming for gift vouchers. The survey invite will contain how many points the survey is worth.

It is also important to remember that genuine market research participation should not be a form of income, but merely a ‘hobby’ for which we thank you with a variety of incentives.

What are the incentives?

When you have enough points to redeem we have a variety of different gift cards you may cash your points in for. Details of these are found either on the main homepage of www.surveyvillage.com or otherwise you can look under ‘View Offers’ on your member profile page.

We are always looking to add to our rewards scheme so our range may increase over time.

How does the referral system work?

It’s easy. If you are enjoying us here at surveyvillage we just ask that you tell your friends and get them on board. As a thank you we will reward you when they join up and start taking part in surveys. For full details regarding how this system works you can view the ‘Refer a Friend’ box on your homepage.

How do I update my details/profile?

Completing your profile is easy and you can always update the information anytime you want by logging into your account.
You can change your address, email address or contact numbers by logging into your account and clicking on the ‘Settings’ tab at the top of your homepage.

Can I leave the panel?

You can leave surveyvillage at anytime. Due to privacy and security regulations we require you to unsubscribe yourself. This is easy and can be done two ways:

Login to surveyvillage and on your profile homepage click on 'Settings' - here you will find how to unsubscribe.
If you have received a survey the message invite will also provide you an option to unsubscribe. Simply click and follow the steps.

If you have forgotten your password then you will need to click on the Forgotten Password link next to the login boxes. This will then generate an email - simply follow those instructions and this will allow you to login to your account and then unsubscribe.

How do I complain?

It is best to complain directly to us here at surveyvillage if you are still not satisfied you can always call the industry surveyline on 1300 364 830.

Not answered your question here? Please feel free to contact me at Penny@surveyvillage.com and I will endeavour to get back to you.

Please note that it is our policy to respond within 2 business days.