Simplify to Succeed: How Overloading Market Research Screeners Backfires on Everyone

Screeners are a critical component of the market research process. When done well, they start things off on the right foot and ensure that the recruiters, respondents, and researchers walk away happy. If you’ve read our blog on writing a great screener, you know that keeping it concise and avoiding unnecessary complexity is key to creating one that benefits everyone. In today’s piece, we’ll dive into the pitfalls that can present themselves when screeners stray from simplicity and become too long.

The Pitfalls

For the Recruiting Company

Zintro recently conducted a study examining the relationship between screener length and completion rates, and the findings speak for themselves. For some B2B audiences, when a screener exceeds 12 questions, completion rates drop to less than 60%. This suggests screener fatigue. Many participants – potentially perfect fits for the research – drop out because the screener feels too time-consuming or complicated. This makes recruitment efforts significantly more challenging and can result in a less-than-ideal respondent pool.

For the Respondent

Recently, respondents have become more vocal and critical of instances where they encounter lengthy screeners. This is because, when taking part in research, the average respondent wants the process to be as seamless as possible and they hope their efforts will result in them taking part in the study. With lengthy screeners, respondents often feel they’re sharing too much information without any assurance of compensation or selection, leaving them frustrated and less likely to take part in screeners going forward. Worse, if they aren’t chosen for the study, they feel as though their time has been wasted entirely.

For the Researcher

The pitfalls of long screeners extend to researchers as well, directly impacting the quality of research that they are able to conduct. When screeners have unnecessary length and complexity, it can lead to an increased timeline that affects relationships with end clients, a limited pool of respondents, and the exclusion of ideal candidates who may have dropped out due to screener fatigue. Ultimately, this makes it harder for researchers to gather diverse insights, compromising the depth of their findings.

For the Reputation

When screeners become too long, a casualty that is often overlooked is the reputation of the market research industry. Lengthy and overcomplicated screeners can leave a negative impression on respondents, who may assume that the industry, and the overall research process, does not value their effort and time. This perception can lead to less respondents engaging in future research opportunities and negatively impact recruiters, researchers, and the industry as a whole.

Keeping screeners concise is not a preference, it is a necessity that benefits everyone and ultimately ensures the success of the research process. The negative implications of too many screener questions are undeniable – respondent pools, research timelines, and the quality of insights are all being adversely affected. It’s important to have an open dialogue surrounding screeners throughout the research process to ensure that it provides the best experience for the respondent while still extracting the necessary information. For the sake of recruiting companies, respondents, and researchers alike, a true recruiting partner can and should be expected to push back when it comes to screeners, and you can trust that Zintro will do just that.

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