by Tora

Created on: November 13, 2009

Pinecone Research is one of the most reputable consumer opinion panels conducting online research today. It's also one of the most difficult to join, but becoming a member of Pinecone Research's consumer opinion panel can be an extremely rewarding experience. Members can expect to be invited to participate in product evaluation surveys once or twice a month, and will receive a guaranteed payment as well as a sweepstakes entry upon successfully completing each survey.

Getting onto the Pinecone Research consumer opinion panel can be extremely difficult. Unlike many other consumer opinion panels, Pinecone Research does not have an ongoing open registration. They accept new members from time to time, but they don't announce it or make the sign up link readily available on their website.

To sign up for the Pinecone Research panel, you have to be lucky enough to find one of their banner advertisements on another website. Clicking on one of the banners will take you directly to the sign up page. Occasionally, helpful folks may post direct links to Pinecone Research's sign up page on forums or blogs. Unfortunately, these will not work; Pinecone Research's banner advertisements use redirections to activate the sign up form, so you must click through a banner advertisement to join.

One of the best things about belonging to the Pinecone Research opinion panel is knowing that you've already been pre-qualified for every survey you're invited to take. There are no screening questions at the beginning of Pinecone Research's surveys; they rely exclusively on periodic household questionnaires to collect demographic information from their panelists, and select panelists for specific survey opportunities based on that.

Payments for surveys completed through Pinecone Research are extremely fair. The currently advertised rate is $3 per survey, considerably higher than the standard rewards of $0.50 to $1 that some other consumer opinion panels offer. Respondents also get one sweepstakes entry for every survey they complete; these may be one of Pinecone Research's biweekly sweepstakes, or survey-specific sweepstakes.

Panelists may choose to receive their payments for completed surveys by either check or PayPal. Unlike some other consumer opinion panels, Pinecone Research pays members within a few days of completing the survey. They do not wait for the surveys to close by reaching the maximum number of participants before compensating those who took the time to complete them.

Compared to other online consumer opinion panels, it's easy to see why Pinecone Research stands out above the rest. It may be difficult to join, but the rewards this panel offers definitely make it worth the hassle of finding a sign up banner.

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