Surveys - How True Are They?

Well, market surveys are really important. They give detailed analysis of the consumers' wants and needs.

Basically surveying a market is like spying the enemy in war. One simple survey can provide information so vital that determines the winner.

Well, I guess you've all watched enough Hollywood films to know the significance of spying.

The point is, recently, I've been contacted by an ex-schoolmate, let's call him John. He told me he's working for, say, TV3. And he politely invited me to take a survey.

Well, a survey wouldn't kill, I guess. I mean, people do those things so often. The only time my sister came back from Singapore, well, the first thing she did upon arriving home is to give out survey forms to my mother and me. And then on the way out to lunch, we stopped by a friend's house, where she passed out more forms.

Well, one may think she only came back to do the survey.

Anyway, let's go back to John's case. So I agreed to take the survey. But it came with something else.

John actually asked me to give a specific answer for a question. Let's say the question was "which TV channel do you watch the most?", and he requested that I answer "TV3". I was like, uh? Isn't this rather dishonest?

He called back seconds later, using presumably his company phone, and the survey begun.

Of course, John wasn't his real name. And the company he's working for isn't TV3. But I was shocked at how far people would go to boost the profitability for the company.

I also took another survey the very same day. It was an evaluation for the cashier of Jusco, and I was given the courtesy to fill the form up for buying a RM0.83 bottle of mineral water. I handed out RM50 to her, and she passed the small piece of paper along with a pen to me.

"How would you rate the service of the cashier?"

I glanced at the cashier. With her smiling menacingly and giving me the give-me-a-bad-review-and-I'll-keep-your-change look, I quickly ticked "excellent", filled in my name and contact number, and passed the form back to her.

Well, actually I handed her a RM10 note, but well, I'm willing to exaggerate for the sake of the dramatic effect.

And there are other obvious cases too. For example, Jay Chou recently advertised for the ellesse watch. But I doubt he uses them. And all those stick thin models on the posters of Osim may not even use Osim products at all. And you think all those long, silky, soft, and smooth hair of Sunsilk TV ad is a result of constant use of their products? If you think so, it's time for you to wake up.

So this is how the world go round?

I don't think I'd like be a spy in the future.