Allow single or multiple responses

Choose whether participants can be invited to respond to a survey once, or multiple times.

The option you choose depends on your research objective:

• Choose Single response for surveys that collect feedback during a finite period. Participants are invited to respond once.
• Choose Multiple responses for surveys that collect feedback over an indeterminate period of time. Participants are invited to respond to the same survey multiple times, to see if their sentiments change over time.

• Choose a response option when you create the survey.
  Note: Power surveys and recruitment surveys do not allow multiple responses.
  1. In the Create Survey dialog, click Single response or Multiple responses, and then click Create.
     The response option for the survey is set. However, you can still change it on the Distribute page if you have not created a distribution or communication.
• Choose a response option on the Distribute page.
  Note: Hub invitations and external invitations allow single responses only.
  1. On the toolbar, click the Single Response or Multiple Responses button.
  2. In the Survey Response Type dialog, choose a response option.
  3. Click Confirm.
     The updated response option appears on the toolbar.

The Multiple responses option allows the same member ID to receive multiple invitations for the same survey. When members complete the survey the first time, they cannot use the activity link from the first invitation again. However, they can be invited a second time, a third time, and so on. Members do not have to complete the first invitation to be able to start the second or third.

Each time the same member completes the survey, a new entry is created in the system under the same member ID. All responses are aggregated in reporting. You can sort your CSV export by member ID to view multiple responses from one member, and then filter by completion date.

To view multiple responses by completion date, you can use the following workflow. Ideally, you should perform these steps before distributing the survey:

1. Create a hidden Single Choice question that will help you identify which wave a member responded to.

   This is the question that will serve as the basis for report filtering later. For example, you can create a Single Choice question that lists all the months, quarters, waves (Wave 1, Wave 2, and so on), or years that mark each response wave.

   
2. When you create the invitation or activity link, append the hidden Single Choice's answer value to the activity link.
   Repeat this step for each response wave. For more information, see:

   • Append answer values to the ActivityLink pipe
     Note:

     • Ensure Month is appended to the Click here to start link and the full URL.
     • Question and answer values are case-sensitive.
   • Append answer values to an activity link
   Important: Do not duplicate your invitation or activity link. Instead, create a new invitation or activity link each time and append the value to the link manually.
   
3. When responses are collected, use the hidden Single Choice question as a filter or subgroup option in reporting.

Example

These types of surveys and activities may be good candidates for the Multiple responses option:

• Brand tracker: Track how participants' feelings about your brand change over time.
• Customer satisfaction: Track whether customer satisfaction trends upwards or downwards.
• Customer experience: Track changes in customer experience.
• Diary studies: For consumer In Home Use Tests (IHUTs), ask participants to test a product over a specific time period and log each time they use it.
• Net Promoter Score℠¹: Track customer loyalty over time.
• Passive data collection: Collect data over time with minimal effort by scheduling invitations at regular intervals for the same activity.
• Pre/post studies: Commonly used for brand perception and awareness, ask participants how they feel before and after viewing something.

Note: Multiple-response surveys are excluded from the list when creating or editing member filters.

¹ Net Promoter, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered U.S. trademarks, and Net Promoter Score and Net Promoter System are service marks, of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.