The lowdown on survey comps

It's hardly a secret that a large amount of competitions featuring on Shoppers Bonus are based around surveys, and frequently I get emails from members concerned about what they mean or are trying to do. The most obvious concern is personal details, so there's a strong point to be made.

With survey comps, there are a few types, the main ones being those that will offer a prize as incentive, and then pay you for your opinions on various surveys. Your opinions are worth more than you may think, as companies genuinely want to know what the population wants.

Competitions that ask you to complete a survey to win a prize, and then simply email you offers (including other competitions) are a bit different. At Shoppers Bonus, we send out emails too (which we get paid for) but feel that a website has to offer something more than just a yearly competition to keep you interested.

Back to the safety of your information? Having been in this industry for some time, I've got to say that your details are in most cases used as intended. Even "list houses" that offer emailing services don't just give out your details, but instead will send emails on behalf of another business.

My main gripe is competitions that demand a mobile phone number as opposed to a standard phone number. Recently I asked one of the larger survey sites why this is the case, assuming that it was for SMS marketing purposes. My answer was that in fact, they didn't really have a reason at all, and didn't make use of the numbers in any way.

Caution is the key. We try to test out our advertisers, and will enter competitions with false email addresses to see what comes through. But, if you see something that looks dodgy, by all means drop us a line.

Take care,

Craig 18/6/09

Comments

$100 to Win Today
Re survey comps. They are so boring. I will never enter one no matter the prize.
Mandy

Survey Comps
I wouldn't mind filling out the surveys if I knew it was for a respectable company, but most of the survey competitions are run through companies I have never heard of, so I avoid them.
Kim

Always wary
I am always wary of surveys that ask too much personal information. How easy would it to be to put up a survey and gain enough information for identity theft. I wont join overseas companies for this reason, especially ones that ask for bank details. I only join the ones that send gift cards as they are the safest.
lynndi

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