Why can't I get people to participate in this market research? | Hacker News Reader

Why can't I get people to participate in this market research?

3 pointsestherschindler9 comments

I've been an online community grrrl for a long time, and I've been a software development person (in one role or another) for even longer. So when I told a client I'd help out with a market research study examining the tech adoption trends for PHP developers, I was sure that the community would cheerfully participate. Especially since anyone who did the 30-minute phone survey would get a $25 Amazon gift certificate AND a summary of the results; that's worth somethin', I figured.<p>I was wrong.<p>Despite posting a "help on a survey" message on several forums, people have stayed away in droves.<p>To some degree, I'm sure, it's because I'm looking for people with a specific background: in the US or Canada; regularly using one of {Joomla, SugarCRM, Drupal, WordPress, phpBB} for paying/outside work (not the company's own intranet); willing to talk to a charming geeky person on the phone. But I expected that the number of people meeting that criteria is far higher than the results would imply.<p>I realize that some people don't want to give out their email ID to ANYone, but if you're going to be interviewed by phone, how else can you be reached to say, "How about Tuesday at 2pm?" This isn't spam, dammit; it's real live market research asking about the tools and platforms you use and how you choose them.<p>If YOU are not shy, of course, I hope you'll participate in the survey ( http://www.marketsurveys.com/sb/sb_s.php?s=120&p=100121&g=4d4502a838 ). But really, I'm looking for input on why I've gotten such lousy response.

People are not, generally, reachable when and where you need them. A bitter fact of business life is that, usually, the rest of the world works at a different pace than you.

I suggest you drop the phone interview requirement and conduct your research online; a secure, well-tracked form will do. If it's good enough for Nielsen and Price WaterHouse Coopers, it should be good enough for you.

P.S. Professionals might not be too thrilled about the $25 reward as well.

[Edit: Also try not to pester web-savvy communities too much, or someone might decide to feed your link to 4chan and you will get all the high-quality TIME Magazine-esque data your heart desires.]

There's also an online survey -- THAT we had no trouble filling. You can collect facts in an online survey when you know all reasonable/possible multiple-choice answers ("Which IDE do you use?") but they are useless for asking, "Why?" or "What would make you change your mind?" Those do need a conversation.

I do try to avoid pestering communities, truly I do. Mostly I'm an ordinary participant!

Maybe you've already answered your own question. When I hear "market research survey" in 2009, two words come to mind: "spam" and "work".

Really its simple math:

The people you want to interview charge around $100/hour (or more). You're asking to buy >$50 worth of time for a $25 gift card.

Change the offer to $50 payable via Paypal, commit to it taking 30 minutes or less, and you'll probably get some responses.

Out of curiosity -- would you be more willing if it was a chance for a single participant to get $500?

Not really, given the odds it would be worth less than the Amazon card.

Pretty simple - a 30 minute phone survey for a $25 Amazon gift certificate is a lousy deal. Do you really need 30 minutes of questions? You are going to restrict yourself to developers who have a high tolerance for boredom.

Actually the first two I did took closer to an hour. And neither of the guys were bored.

I did say I was charming... or maybe I just have interesting questions to ask.

I struggle to talk to my mother for 30 minutes on the phone, I doubt I'd have the patience to do a 30 minute survey.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com