Guilt as Motivator
All the way from Van Nuys, California comes this that I just got in the mail. (or "post" as our Brit friends say. Cheers!) It's a plea to fill out a survey, with the promise that they won't sell my info or try to sell me anything.Direct Mail or Direct Response is one of the toughest sells in marketing, so these guys included a crisp $1 bill to entice me to fill out their 45 question survey all about household income, ethnicity, square footage of home, what kind of garage I'd rather have, etc. I can tell by the questions that there is either a lending institution, mortage company or home builder behind this survey. Maybe an association of all three.
Now I'm faced with, "Wow - they paid me already. I'll feel bad if I don't fill this out."
Labels: CS Research, direct mail, surveys
Sent into orbit at
1:55 PM
21 Comments:
“Dollar in wallet. Survey in trash.”
Guilt embedded in conscience.
By
Anonymous, at April 10, 2007 at 3:16 PM
No, sir. Guilt tossed in trash with survey. If you're dumb enough to go throwing dollar bills into your direct mail, further driving up the costs of your piece by a WHOLE DOLLAR. then you are not going to appeal to my sense of duty. You threw away a dollar. I threw away your survey. We're even.
By
RFB, at April 10, 2007 at 3:32 PM
Plus, direct response practitioners always say that getting people to open the letter is the biggest hurdle. So they should be happy to know they succeeded on that end. Plus, you actually read part of the letter, so that’s another major victory.
Remember, most focus group participants receive $50 for their time. You actually saved the advertiser $49. Plus, you gave them free advertising by posting the letter. The way I see it, they owe you more money. Demand that they mail more bills pronto.
By
HighJive, at April 10, 2007 at 4:42 PM
I'm thinking of investing their dollar in the Florida Lottery.
By
RFB, at April 10, 2007 at 4:56 PM
We got a letter with a dollar once. It was addressed to the dog. My dad subscribes to the Wall Street Journal in his name
By
Maulleigh, at April 10, 2007 at 8:56 PM
Uh...thanks, Ramsey.
By
RFB, at April 11, 2007 at 7:59 AM
I open all DM that falls through my post box. At the end of each week I find the largest postage-paid return envelope, cram all the DM shit into it, and mail it.
It's nice to feel that I'm contributing to the world's pain in a small way.
By
SchizoFishNChimps, at April 11, 2007 at 9:48 AM
I got the exact same CS Research survey in the mail, and it came with a $2 bill.
I did start to feel guilty about not returning the survey, but I felt weary to return the questionnaire. I am sure glad I read your comments when I googled the sender, as I can now spend my $2 dollar bill guilt-free.
Thanks guys.
By
Anonymous, at May 15, 2008 at 11:01 PM
I too just got the CS Research letter and a crisp one dollar bill. I goggled to see the validity of their website. I was glad to find you. I think I too share buy a lotto ticket with the dollar, thanks for the idea.
Lisa
California
By
Anonymous, at November 9, 2008 at 12:08 AM
Here's another reader who Googled to find out more about CS Research. I'll put the $1 towards my Starbucks fund...now it'll just take a few more surveys before I can buy a latte.
By
Anonymous, at November 11, 2008 at 7:26 PM
I got one today, but it didn't have a crisp bill, just a well-used one. Yeah, I'll return the survey, since they paid for the envelope, but I can't guarantee it will have any useful info.
By
Jon & Ara, at February 20, 2010 at 5:22 PM
I got my survey today. I'm glad I didn't just trash it and actually opened it. Crisp dollar bill in my wallet now...little lonely in there.
I filled out the survey, then goggled CS Research. I don't feel bad that I'm not mailing it back. They should have provided more information of the company before I give them my information.
Charlotte, NC
By
Anonymous, at February 22, 2010 at 9:37 PM
I, too, received a survey. I felt inclined to fill out the survey because of the $1, but decided to Google the company before returning it to make sure it was lefitimate. I came across this site and not much else about them so the survey is going in the shred bin.
Also near Charlotte, NC
By
Anonymous, at February 24, 2010 at 9:29 AM
I think this is their web site: http://www.calsurvey.com/index.htm
By
Anonymous, at March 1, 2010 at 12:17 AM
Ahh...found what I need on their web site to make that final decision. So much for my answers not being associated w/ my name, address, or other personal info. Survey's going in the green bin.
"When appropriate, questionnaires can be personalized with either name and address or any client supplied information. Personalized cover letters can be prepared when desired. CSRS can also add a unique identification number that can be tied back to an individual and information previously known about this respondent. In addition, CSRS has resources available to handle “matched inserting” for both large and small scale jobs."
By
Anonymous, at March 1, 2010 at 12:26 AM
I just got one today, and I'm definitely not sending it back. Hell, even if it is legit, they would have to pay me more than a buck to take the time to fill it out! But I already get enough junk mail and spam to just be handing over my info like that. This bill is so crisp, I'm not so sure its not fake.....but I'm gonna spend it any way.
-Zebulon, NC
By
Anonymous, at March 2, 2010 at 6:09 PM
Mine was also a super wrinkled $1 bill. Guess their operations have gotten cheaper over the year. Blame the economy I suppose.
Thanks to one of the Anonymous comments, I'm not gonna send mine back too. Sounds like my privacy won't be entirely, well, private.
By
Anonymous, at March 22, 2010 at 12:54 PM
I just got this survey today and Googled to find out who the heck CS Research is. After reading the other comments, I'm definitely not sending it back!
By
Crimson Wife, at March 22, 2010 at 6:31 PM
Well, I got my survey, and I'm going to send it back. From the CS Research website, I can't tell who the client is- could be a lender, could be a homebuilder, could be a university. Either way, they already know my address and that I just bought a house, and they don't want my phone number or e-mail address.
Maybe as a result of this survey, some homebuilder, somewhere, someday, will actually build a home I would want to buy- because I sure don't like the way new homes are designed today. Maybe not. In the meantime, what are they gonna do, harass me with paper letters?
By
Anonymous, at March 25, 2010 at 11:36 PM
Awesome info. I did not know if this was legit...now I know.
By
Park Brees, at March 29, 2010 at 3:43 PM
My question is who is the client and why do they want this information about "housing and neighborhood preferences?"
I take it as a given that they are lying about their stated purpose, and I feel no compunction to cooperate.
I applaud everyone who didn't send in their survey and did whatever they wanted with their buck (I gave mine to a homeless guy).
Not returning the survey increases the sampling error, a critical part of the survey report, and makes the information less usable to the client (whoever they are and whatever their nefarious purpose is). That is, unless CS Research fudges those figures--but I'll leave their methodology to them.
I also encourage everyone who is not sending back their survey to send back the envelope, either empty or with 13 ounces of other (unidentifiable) junk mail that you want to recycle.
Think of it as making a contribution to the hard working men and women of the United States Postal Service, which is required to be self supporting. Every time you return junk mail in a pre-paid envelope, you’re supporting a great institution.
But for those of you who really resent this kind of snooping and presumptuousness, I urge another course of action:
Lie. I actually sent mine back in, but I lied about every question. There is an MMPI aspect to their questionnaire, in that they ask the same or similar question in several different ways to insure that you are being consistent, but I think I caught all of them.
I've taken the time and trouble to post this comment not so much to preach to the choir of the majority of commenter’s who didn't send their survey back, but to make sure that the people who are shelling out the big bucks for this information know that at least some of us are intentionally lying in order make surveys like this meaningless.
My lies have skewed the results, even if ever so slightly, so relying on those lies may this particular client to make bad financial decisions anticipating a market that isn't really there. Can you afford to make that kind of mistake? Is it really worth hiring CS Research when you know ther is an active campaign to encourage people to lie?
Why would I do such a thing, and encourage others to do the same? Because surveys have become just another tool for manipulation and control. From push polls that purport to ask questions but are designed to influence public opinion by asking leading and inaccurate questions, to innocuous polls like this, which may be used to justify some sort public policy change that you have no clue about, until your answers become the basis for why you wanted that new development built next to you.
The problem is, sampling does work, if it is done properly. If, however, enough people start intentionally lying, as I did, and the surveyors and their clients have to factor this in as well, the surveys become more and more meaningless.
On really hot topic wedge issues in the culture wars, they will have to develop an algorithm, or methodology, to find the people on both sides of a contentious issue who are both lying, and therefore cancelling each other out.
Anyway, to hell with surveys like this. To hell with SC Research, and to hell with their clients. If they want my real opinion, they can tell me why they really want the information and pay me more than a buck.
And I still wouldn't give them the time of day.
By
Anonymous, at April 5, 2010 at 4:44 AM
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