"even if you've only heard the name"

[beavinator]

I hate, hate, HATE these questions. "Please tell us which of the following brands you are familiar with, even if you've only heard the name before." The second part of the sentence is frequently bolded and underlined.

We live in a society where we are completely inundated with advertising everywhere we go. It is virtually impossible to not have at least heard the name of nearly every even remotely popular brand in existence. So naturally, in order to be honest I almost invariably have to check every option on the list (except the made-up red herrings they use to trap people who are just checking every box, apparently). Then for the rest of the survey, I am inundated with HUNDREDS of questions about each brand I checked...questions that I would have NO answers for in regards to brands with which I genuinely have no experience apart from "only hearing the name". So of course then I am forced to "straightline" my opinions of these brands, as that is in fact the closest I can get to accurately answering the questions, but that of course is certain to get me disqualified, just after having taken far longer than it should have.

Why do they do this? Do they really think there is anyone outside of a third world country who has never even HEARD of Coca-Cola or Nike? What is the point of these questions, other than making surveys take far longer to disqualify us than they should, wasting gobs and gobs of our time for nothing?

[JulieDB]

Oh yes! I do hate that. Seems you are better off in terms of finishing the survey if you don't check every brand that you've heard of. I have no clue which one I like best or really anything about them if they are not something I have ever bought or used. Generally I don't buy or use them because I have no interest. Especially annoying are the ones about investments. If I had money to invest, would I be taking the time to do surveys? I doubt it.

The one I did last night was especially frustrating. I had to check off a ton of beverages that I have heard of but... I couldn't say anything more about them because they were laden with sugar or more likely, high fructose corn syrup and being diabetic, are not anything I would ever consume. But just because I had heard of them, they made me answer all sorts of questions about them. At least I will get paid for it but still... Big old waste of my time and theirs.