Dishonest Answers

Many people, when participating in surveys, give materially Dishonest Answers to the interviewers. They are especially likely to do this when they fear that their true opinion or situation is not "politically correct."

For example, one-half of American families own one or more firearms. But only one-quarter of American families will say they do. In other words, one-quarter of the population will routinely lie to an interviewer about this topic, to avoid being demonized.

You see the same reaction in matters of "class." Almost no one will admit to reading the tabloid newspapers, but those newspapers somehow manage to sell millions of copies every week.

People will also lie to avoid seeming old-fashioned, prudish, or uncool.

And many people lie out of annoyance with the interviewers or out of mischievous motives. They deliberately misstate their age, sex, race, employment status, income, ZIP code or other facts – just to sabotage the survey results.

So, if your marketing program includes the use of surveys, be aware that a significant slice of an audience sample thinks nothing of lying to your researcher (and indirectly to you).

That doesn't mean you should never take surveys; just be sure to use competent research specialists, and don't assume that the results are accurate to three decimal places.

Of course, when you have an affinity to the sample (for example, they are your customers), the truthfulness rises significantly.

If in doubt, discuss these matters with the firm that proposes to do the research.

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