Ethical Issues/ Marketing 3808

Ethical issues arise frequently when research companies offer consumer surveys online. Research firms do not have any way to tell if the respondent is giving out legitimate information about themselves. Firms also face a broad spectrum of respondents, anywhere from people who actually do care about the issue all the way to people who just want the incentives. There may also be people who are taking the survey over and over again. They need more accurate methods.
Recently, market and consumer researchers have come up with a few solutions. One firm is trying to remove personal gain by donating money to a charity that is preferred by the respondent. I agree with this method because then they will be able to tell who is filling out the survey and for the right reasons. Another foundation uses something called true sample to weed out and track people who take the survey more than once.
Overall, I think these research companies need to make their surveys a little more in depth so that respondents need to think about the answers and give opinions. They could use drop down boxes or open ended questions to get a more detailed response. This way they are not getting just a yes or no answer. If a person actually takes the time to take it and write real answers then they know that the person truly cares about the issues and not just the incentives. I also agree with using social networking because it still protects confidentitality but at the same time you can still confirm that the person is who they say they are.