Sugging: Selling Under the Guise of Research
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Sun, Jan 10, 2010
Tonight as I was sitting playing cards with my youngest, the phone rang with a survey researcher on the line. Having inflicted more than my fair share of surveys on the world at large, I always take survey calls, even if it means interrupting family life.
The first question was if I'm a registered voter. I am. Since here in Massachusetts we have an upcoming election to permanently fill the late Senator Kennedy's seat, I knew subsequent questions would be about that race. Nor was I wrong.
But I completely couldn't have predicted what would happen next. After I answered the question about which candidate I was planning to vote for, I was thanked for my support, given a spiel about the candidate and then invited to make a financial contribution. At that point, I hung up in disgust and shock.
This is a bait-and-switch technique. It's a violation of the survey research process. It's completely unethical and banned by the market research codes of CASRO, the MRA and the MRS. When companies do it, it's called SUGging (Selling Under the Guise of research), and when nonprofits do it, it's called FRUGging (Fund Raising Under the Guise of research).
Now, this call was not actually from the candidate's campaign, but from a PAC (Political Action Committee). PACs are not members of an organization that would forbid them from frugging. As far as I know, it is not illegal for them to engage in this practice.
Your company is most likely not a member in a market-research association either. You can most likely legally use surveys for lead-generation purposes. Your marketing department might even think this is a great idea: you ask a bunch of questions that can help determine whether someone is a high-value lead for your company with a legitimate interest in your products and services. Sounds like a great way to produce targeted leads.
So why I am so against this practice? Why is the research industry against this practice?
People like to take surveys; they do not like to be sold to. If consumers are recruited to enough surveys under false pretenses, it will poison them against taking surveys in general. Like many things in our society, sugging and frugging provide short-term benefits to those who practice them but cause long-term harm. I have no doubt this PAC raised tens of thousands of dollars tonight. I also expect that they angered hundreds of other citizens with their false and deceptive practices. And those citizens are going to be less likely to take a survey the next time they are invited to.
A bit more sugging could discourage consumers from taking telephone surveys altogether. Refusal rates have soared, cell phones have eroded random sampling, and consumers prefer online surveys. As I returned to my game, it occurred to me that telephone survey research is now a house of cards, and sugging and frugging could tip it over.