Paying participants
What a study pays, how that number is arrived at, and why the hourly rate is the only figure worth comparing. Panel economics decide who is still answering surveys in two years.
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01
The hourly rate is the only honest number
Per-survey pricing makes a worse study look better than a good one, and the panels that lean on it are the ones with the worst data.
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02
Participation limits and the professional respondent
Caps are sold as a fraud control. They are really a control on how much one person shapes your category data.
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03
What a screen-out actually costs
The line buyers negotiate down is the one participants feel first — and it is also the clearest measurement you have of how well your targeting matches the panel.