the bACk StoRY WhY PARtICIPAnt enGAGeMent IS So IMPoRtAnt Fortunately, the research came up with one unexpected nugget of insight, ReACtIonS to bAd SuRVeY eXPeRIenCeS which was pivotal in getting the industry to act. In the US, the research told us that thinking badly about the companies or brands mentioned in the survey was the number one thing survey-takers did when getting a bad survey experience. So, the lightbulb went on: Survey-takers are savvy. They know there is an end-client behind most projects. They are participating in research to try and help those clients. They feel betrayed when in return they are given a Thought negatively bad experience. 35% about companies or brands mentioned in the survey One could argue that this doesn’t matter, especially since the general prac- tice today tends to hide the end-client if possible, but we would argue oth- erwise. Firstly, even if you hide the actual client, this does not prevent the survey-takers from feeling negatively about the brands in the survey and therefore the category. This does not help anyone trying to market prod- ucts in that category, so in this case, research is creating negative brand equity and making marketers’ jobs harder than they need to be. ENGAGE 2.0 - 30 TIPS TO IMPROVE THE RESEARCH PARTICIPANT USER EXPERIENCE – A GRBN Handbook © 2020 GRBN 14