What's the incentive to tell the truth on surveys?
By @edent
· economics · 3 comments · 300 words
I recently received a survey from an event I'd attended. Look, I've read The Circle, so I know that I have to give individuals scores of 10 or they'll be fired. I also know Net Promoter Score is bullshit, but the people sending the survey have faith in it. So I filled it in as best I could.
But then I got to this question:
Putting aside whether I feel like something is good value for money - what's my incentive for being honest? I am homo economicus. As a rational self-interested agent, I want things to be better value for money than they currently are. I either want to pay less, or to get more for my money.
It simply doesn't make sense for me to tell the truth on this question. If enough people say they want a better deal, the market should take that as a signal, right?
My previous employer used to send round employee satisfaction surveys. You know the sort of thing "how well does leadership communicate?" and "have you experienced bullying in the workplace?" that sort of thing.
One of the questions was along the lines of "Do you think you are being paid fairly?"
Again, even if I thought I was overpaid why would I answer with anything other than "no"? If people answer yes, we are unlikely to get a pay rise. If we answer no, there is a chance the business will increase its wages.
Perhaps I am overly cynical? Maybe I'm missing something fundamental about how the results of the survey are used? It could be that most of the world is honest by default?
But I can't help wondering whether I'm the only person who deliberately tries to subvert these questionnaires?
@blog if the business is losing interest in that offering and the users think it's poor value for money they're more likely to can it entirely than reconfigure it, which would not be in your interest if you want to keep using that service.
Equally on salary if they're already over budget and nobody's satisfied they might accept higher staff turnover as a cost of doing business rather than raising salaries.
@Edent
The difference is between impartial polls, which want to know the truth, and employment relationships, in which both sides have an agenda.
Unfortunately, the surveyer has mistaken the one for the other; they should not have asked a question that admitted strategic answers.
Yes! This really bugs me! They’re used for multiple, incompatible purposes and the system just doesn’t work.
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