Part IV - Why Contest Entries Have Become More Common Than Cash
The professional survey takers are really the ones to blame for this. A common tactic used by those with paid survey jobs is to re-register with the same survey panel multiple times, using different e-mail addresses, physical addresses, etc. Although this problem is now largely controlled by filters online research companies have in place, there will always be those able to find loopholes, and bypass these controls.
Another reason why online survey companies offer chances to win large amounts of money versus paying each panelist a small sum, is because the people who think they've "beat the system" by registering for the same survey panel multiple times, are unlikely to take the same survey more than once if they are simply rewarded by an additional contest entry, versus actual cash.
The logic is simple: take the same $20 survey 5 times, and you've pocketed $100. Take the same survey 5 times and receive 5 entries to win let's say $5000, and you have no guaranteed reward unlike the $100 which is a sure-thing.
That being said, marketing research companies often prefer providing a large sum of cash to one, or a few panelists versus paying a small amount to all survey respondents because it is simply less work.
A $10 survey multiplied by 500 respondents requires administering, cutting, and mailing 500 checks. Providing each survey participant with a contest entry for $5000 is much simpler, and eliminates the possibility of a cheater receiving payment for the same survey, multiple times.
In the end, with legal fees to administer survey contests, it costs the research company approximately the same amount using either method, however the latter method is simpler and does tend to reduce the amount of abuse.
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