According to a report by Fast Company, between 15-30% of all market research data collected is fraudulent. Rampant survey fraud perpetrated by bots and survey farms has resulted in a significant drop in the quality and accuracy of survey data, and with the rise of Generative AI able to imitate respondents with uncanny accuracy, the issue is only set to get more problematic. This presents a significant threat not only to the credibility of the market research industry but to the success of businesses that rely on accurate market research data to guide important strategic and investment decisions.
The market research industry has skyrocketed in the last decade, with American companies alone spending over $62 billion a year on qualitative and quantitative research. With such large investments on the line, the market research industry must find effective ways to combat fraudulent responses.
The question is: how?
In this article, we take a closer look at the problem of fraudulent responses in market research surveys, as well as how the market research industry is attempting to address the prevalent issue of survey fraud.
Fraudulent responses cause a cascade of critical issues in the market research industry.
At the core of the issue is bad data. Fraudulent results generate inaccurate data, which compromises the validity of survey results. This has a knock-on effect all the way down the value chain.
If a dataset is infiltrated by responses generated by bots, survey farms, AI-based fraud, or other false response methods, results are unlikely to reflect reality, i.e., the true aggregated opinions, preferences, and thinking of the target market. Without a foundation of accurate data upon which to predicate market research insights, it’s impossible to accurately guide strategic decision-making, which directly undermines the core mission of insights teams and their agency partners.
In short, the ROI of a market research investment depends heavily on the validity of the survey’s respondents, and if this cannot be guaranteed, the results and recommendations have no value to decision-making.
The rise of prevalent market research fraud is going to require a cohesive, industry-wide response. But for businesses looking to conduct market research right now, it’s vital that you choose a research partner committed to addressing the issue of survey fraud, with robust measures in place to mitigate its impact.
Here are some important things to consider when choosing a market research provider:
It’s important that your research partner employs strict validation practices to ensure that respondents are genuine and meet the specified criteria for your survey. This includes measures like validating ZIP codes, phone numbers, and email addresses, and real-time survey monitoring.
Good data quality is mission-critical for the accuracy of your market research results. Choose a partner that implements robust quality control measures, such as regular audits and checks to ensure that the collected datasets are accurate, complete, and uncompromised by fraudulent respondents.
One of the most effective ways to detect fraudulent respondents is to include and monitor open-ended comment sections. Bots, survey farm workers, and AIs will often include irrelevant or repetitive feedback in these sections or copy and paste text from unrelated sources irrelevant to the survey in question.
Including in-survey “checks” – open-ended questions designed to invoke a particular kind of response from a human respondent – is also an effective way to detect fraudulent respondents in real time.