Red Five

I got an e-mail from starwars.com asking me to complete a survey. Usually, any solicitiation for survey input gets immediately junked, but I am sometimes willing to provide feedback if I feel invested in the subject, and I do so for starwars.com.

So I followed the link and started in. I dutifully answered the first several questions, especially pertaining to Hyperspace, because I was once a member and no longer am. I thought it would be a good opportunity to let them know why I quit. (It costs too much, and its only concrete benefit is to get discounts on stuff from shop.starwars.com, which is already overpriced anyway.)

Then I grew skeptical as they asked me questions about the ages of my kids and my household income, but I realize this is the cross-promotional demographic gold that marketers love to get their mitts on. (And let's face it, starwars.com is strictly a marketing vessel that I gleefully submit to.)

Then after filling out what video game platform I use, and telling them whether I've been to Facebook or YouTube or any number of other properties, I began to grow weary, and realized that I was barely a third of the way through the survey. At which time I promptly closed the browser window and went back to what I was doing.

Survey designers: Don't forget the lesson of Aesop's dog and his bone. You were able to convince a usually uninterested party to give you some precious feedback (and demographic information). But you threw it all away when you asked for way too much.