Opinions wanted: Firms paying for product testers
PORTLAND, Ore. - St. Johns resident Pam Easterday has got a knack for giving straight-forward feedback, and she’s found a way to get paid for it.
By day she’s an HR manager at a Hillsboro tech company. On the side she gives her two cents on new products at Consumer Opinion Services in Portland’s Lloyd Center Mall.
In return she can earn as much as $200, which gives her some extra cash for things like new summer clothes. “It’s not bad to give your opinion for a couple of bills for a couple of hours,” she said.
Consumer Opinion Services is a qualitative researcher, which means they collect broad-based feedback from consumers. Increasingly, qualitative research firms like them are willing to pay for it.
"More and more, the surveys that don’t offer some kind of recompense are getting harder and harder [for qualitative researchers] to do," said Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets.
Opportunities abound for product testers
Each qualitative research firm keeps its own list of interested participants, matched to the needs of its clients. Interested participants just have to sign up, either online or with a phone call.
“We offer a test market for the manufacturers,” says Ann Colonna, sensory program manager at the Food Innovation Center in Portland. “Will a change in ingredient, (packaging or size) be accepted the way the original one was? We do the blind taste test for that. They’re looking to us to determine the quality of that (final) product.”
From a pool of testers, the center finds people who match manufacturer specifications, calls them, and, if they pass a phone survey, asks them to join the tasting focus group. Testers receive $25 to $75 for the tasting, held at Food Innovation’s Naito Parkway kitchen near downtown Portland.
Across town at the Lloyd Center Mall, another food testing center, Cunningham Research, samples snack foods, beverages ranging from juices to cream liqueurs, bakery foods, frozen foods, pastas and more. Cunningham has 25 offices nationwide.
“I usually only accept tests that pay more than $30, so it’s good money an hour,” said one tester – who asked not to be identified due to confidentiality agreements she’s signed. She nets herself two-or-so checks per year from the work. “Sometimes I need that little something extra to pay for school and to pay bills,” she said.
| In 2008, manufacturers spent $1.3 billion in the U.S. on focus groups, according to May’s Focus Group Index published by Inside Research. Product testers received between $2 for 5 minutes of their time up to $200 for a full day of work. |
Research firms may weed out people who complete surveys too often.
“We want people who are new into the process that would give a fresh approach,” said Jim Weaver, chief operating officer for Consumer Opinion Services. “This is something you could only do every few months if you add yourself to the local company databases. We welcome people to sign up for our database, but we don’t want to send the message that they can make a full-time living.”
With researchers cautious about too-frequent testers spoiling the “sample,” it's a challenge to get the diversity needed for focus group tests. Testers for the Institute for the Study of Business Markets estimate that every American is asked to complete a product survey of some kind at least once a month. Less than a fraction of one percent respond.
“We want people to know about us,” said Vikki McCall, director for CP Research in Oregon’s Clackamas Town Center. “I’m amazed at the number of people who don’t know that they can actually have a say in product size, product packaging, product flavors or ingredients.”
CP Research brings in testers to 10 kitchens from Baltimore to Los Angeles. Pay ranges from $2 for quick in-the-mall tests for things like candy and can go up to $100 for multi-contact food focus groups.
McCall credits these participants with sweeping changes even in how products are labeled.
“Thanks to food testers like ours, nut allergy information is now on every label,” McCall said. “It’s because someone in market research found out what the general public wants and needs.”
Jerry Brooks, a downtown Portland resident, got his start tasting new veggie burger options at the Food Innovations Center, an extension of Oregon State University. It tests everything from wines, fruits and vegetables for the Oregon Department of Agriculture to sports drinks, organic baby food and barbecue sauce produced by Northwest entrepreneurs.
“I was able to be at the forefront of the newest products, earned something like $25 and didn’t leave hungry,” Brooks said. “It was a great introduction to what everyone can do, as a consumer, to change the products that we buy.”
How can you get involved?