You’ve probably all seen some of these market research opportunities posted on iMommies, but many of you have never participated, outside of the online survey sites.  If you’re not familiar with the market research industry, hopefully this will provide some insight.

Paid market research events can be great opportunities for earning a little extra income, and are typically posted under the “Upcoming Income Events” category on iMommies.  While many online survey sites ‘pay’ participants with points that equate to prizes or cash, there’s another sector of this industry that rewards participation with a much higher return…usually no less than $50 per hour.

Market research is a systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of a market, product, service, or advertisement.  Through market research, companies are able to collect opinions and trends from past, present, and future consumers for the product or service that they have marketed, are marketing, or will market. 

A company seeking to gather consumer opinions hires an independent market research company to recruit panel/study members, and to develop the actual study - everything from the questions asked to the analysis of data collected from consumer responses.

Consumer feedback can be gathered in a wide variety of different formats, but we’ll highlight some of the main methods:

1.) Online Research Studies: Slightly different from the surveys offered from online survey sites, online studies are generally offered to the general public - not just to those who have registered with a specific research company.  Online studies typically require one or more hours of online participation, in exchange for money paid via mailed check, gift card, or in some cases, PayPal.  They can involve a one-time online survey, or multiple online sessions, where payment is made only at the end of successful completion of all study requirements.

2.) Telephone Research Studies:  Telephone studies typically involve one independent moderator, hired by the market research company, and one or more consumer participants.  Telephone studies are usually a one-time question-and-answering period, but can sometimes involve multiple participants on the same call.  These are very similar to in-person focus groups, but conducting them via phone allows participation, without regard to physical locale of those participants.

3.) Focus Group Research Studies: Some studies require face-to-face interaction between a moderator and study participants.  Focus groups are usually held at the office of the managing market research company, and participants are paid in cash or check at the end of the group.  Frequently, meals are also provided before or during the study group.

4.) Mock Trial/Juror Studies: Through mock trials, attorneys are able to collect feedback from a general juror population and, through your responses, important decisions can be made in outlining an actual case.  Mock trials are usually only incorporated into cases where much is at stake, and can be conducted online or in person.  While online juries are required to review the facts of the case before answering a set of questions, in-person mock trials resemble actual trials and typically last a full day.  As more time and effort is required of the mock trial participants, the honorarium is also higher than the online juror studies, and as with focus groups, meals are usually provided in addition to the monetary compensation.

5.) Product Test Panels: Many companies have assembled their own product test panels and may periodically send out products to members for the purpose of collecting usage feedback.  In other cases, one-time panels may be assembled to test a specific product.  Participation in a product test panel is usually rewarded with a smaller form of monetary compensation than the studies listed above, and a free product to test and keep. 

6.) Taste Test Research Studies: Many of you remember the Coke vs Pepsi taste challenge from the 80’s, but most taste tests do actually reward participants with cash or gift cards in exchange for their feedback.  Taste tests are usually conducted by food manufacturers or restaurants, and may take place at an actual restaurant, independent testing facility, or market research company office.

7.) Medical Research Studies: This is the one category of market research that you’ll never see posted on iMommies, unless it requires feedback only.  Many medical research studies involve testing investigational medicines or undergoing a medical procedure for results analysis.  While these studies have their place, we’ve all been given just one body…and no amount of money is worth the risk that you undertake by participating. 

As many of you know, my husband was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis five years ago, and has suffered a fairly quick rate of deterioration in the past two years.  While he’s tried several of the most popular, and FDA-approved, medications, he rejected his neurologist’s offer to try out a new medication being tested for MS patients.  Though the treatment offered payment (as opposed to us paying for his current treatment), there are no guarantees with any medication, FDA-approved or not, and the risk of loss of life, or even faster deterioration, is simply a risk that neither of us are willing to take.   

As I said, these medical studies DO have their place - I simply choose not to post them here.  Should you be offered the opportunity to participate in any form of medical research, don’t disregard the risk involved.  Something as seemingly insignificant as a flu vaccine CAN have devastating impact - again, I leave that to you. 

8.) In-Home Research Studies: If you’ve never participated in an in-home study, you may be a little wary of having complete strangers show up at your doorstep.  Because of this “sense of invasion” hesitation, most in-home studies pay $100 per hour, or more.  (I’ve never heard of an in-home study gone awry, though that’s not to say it couldn’t happen.)  To ease your hesitation, in-home moderators are typically sent in groups to the residences of pre-screened participants, and are sent for the purpose of gathering more information about how your household uses a specific product or service.

9.) Mystery Shopping: Mystery shoppers are hired by independent research companies for the purpose of collecting feedback about an establishment’s product, service, or staff.  Those who accept a mystery shopping assignment are generally required to make a small purchase in exchange for purchase reimbursement and additional monetary compensation.  The payment for mystery shopping is usually much lower than other forms of studies, but if you plan to make a purchase at an establishment anyway, it can be a great way to earn a little money and receive your purchased item(s) free.   (There are also opportunities, albeit rare, to mystery shop for the travel industry, in exchange for free airfare, cruise vacations, and ski trips.)

Each of the data collection methods above gather some form of personal information, but that information is maintained, and kept confidential, by the market research company.  Focus groups may be video-taped and telephone studies may be recorded, but they are used solely by the researcher.

Again, there are several methods for conducting market research, and I’ve listed only the main ones.  While each study can provide you, as a participant, with the opportunity to earn additional income, a researcher’s worst nightmare is a “professional study participant”.  As such, most market research companies allow participation no more frequently than once every six months.

For some of you, this is more information than you ever wanted to know, but for those of you who are new to the concept, it simply provides some background information on the variety of methods available for study participation.