Marketing Research is consumer and business opinion research and is the main way that you can tell corporations what you think about their products, concepts, and advertising.

We contact people from our data bank, from special lists provided by our clients, and at random. Our clients want a variety of opinions from people with different socio-economic backgrounds and from different geographic areas. We have gender, age, income, ethnicity, and other quotas so we can accurately represent the population and the client’s core audience.

Participating in a research study is a fun and interesting way to learn about new products, concepts, and services and to help influence their development. It gives you the opportunity to influence the direction of the marketplace. All of our studies pay you cash for your participation.

To be considered for studies, you must register with us. Registration is free and information is kept confidential - please see our privacy statement for more information. We can register you more quickly and efficiently if you enter your data online. However, if you feel more comfortable completing a paper form and mailing it, click here to print the form.

Yes. When corporations hire us, they want opinions from people in Charlotte and the surrounding areas including Concord, Huntersville, Gastonia, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, etc. Most studies are held at our office near the Carolinas Medical Center in Pineville.

AOC accepts registrations for people age 18 and older. If you have kids over the age of 18, please ask them to register separately. If you have children under the age of 18 and would like them to be considered for studies, be sure to enter their birth dates and genders when you register. When we have studies for children, we call parents to ask for permission for the child to participate. Children’s studies are always fun and kids are so enthusiastic about giving their opinions!

Like age, race, or household income? It is because we must have representation in our surveys of certain demographic segments of the population. The only way we know if we have this representation is to ask you and other participants these questions. This information is kept confidential and is asked for statistical purposes only. Survey responses are viewed only in aggregate with the responses of other participants.

No. There are only a few basic fields that are required. However, keep in mind that the more questions you answer the greater the likelihood we will contact you. For example, if we are currently doing a project with people who listen to certain types of music or who use a particular grocery store, we will always start by contacting those people who have answered those questions.

Thank you for registering with us! As soon as you submitted your registration, your information went into our secure database and you are now considered for all our studies. When we begin working on a project that matches your profile, we will call you to ask some questions to see if you meet the criteria of the study. If you do, we will confirm the date and time with you and send a reminder by mail or email. If you don’t, you will be considered for other studies.

No. AOC typically calls from randomly generated lists of registered people that match the basic criteria of our studies. Occasionally, we will send emails to alert you about certain studies. We contact you to participate in studies; we do not accept call-ins.

We are always doing research, but everyone does not qualify for every project. Our current topics of study may be for people of a different age, gender, occupation, medical condition, etc. We also track your past participation and will call you when you qualify. Remember, we can only include you in our studies if we can reach you via phone. So, please let us know if your contact information has changed.

Visit our online registration form and complete the required (*) fields. You can then add just your updated information without completing the entire form. When you click submit at the end of the form, the new information you provide will automatically override the old information in our system.

Yes, you will receive a cash gift of appreciation for your participation upon completion of the study.

The amount you receive depends on the topic and the length of the survey. A short, simple study could pay $35; a longer, more complex study could pay $175 or more.

Our clients require that we do not interview the same people often. Depending on the study, there could be a waiting period of three months, six months, or one year before you can participate in another survey. Our database software tracks your participation and we will call you after you meet our past participation requirements. We rely on you to be honest when answering questions about your participation with other research companies.

We make every effort not to call you again about a survey that you have completed. However, there are some exceptions. The interviewer may have skipped a question or incorrectly recorded an answer and we need to get the correct information, or sometimes our clients spot check our work. In this case, they will call a few people who participated in the survey to make sure that our employees completed everything correctly and courteously. This is a check on us (not you). In rare instances, a research client may want to contact respondents directly for additional information, which we allow only with express consent of the participant.

AOC uses strict measures to ensure that every aspect of your information is held highly confidential and secure. The information we gather such as your name, address, gender, birthday, and employment status is used to match you with the appropriate research studies. Access to personal information is restricted and limited to key personnel on a need-to-know basis. AOC will never ask you for private information such as your credit card or social security number. We do not share your information with third parties. The input you provide in research projects is used only in aggregate to fulfill the statistical needs of our clients. See our privacy statement for complete details.

No! You should never be asked for any money to participate in a research study. If ever you are asked, it's a sure sign you're dealing with an unethical company and you should report them to the Marketing Research Association. Unfortunately, there are some companies that promise "paid surveys" if you join for a fee. No one who charges you money for research or who asks for your credit card or social security number is running a legitimate business. These companies make it tough for the many legitimate opinion and marketing research companies like ours. You know we are legitimate because we are members of the Marketing Research Association, our contact information is publicly available, and we ask you for your opinions and nothing else.

Absolutely! We appreciate referrals of friends, family members, and business associates. To make it easy for you, select Refer a friend to send an email to them that will provide a pre-written note briefly explaining what we do. You can modify this note and forward it to anyone you think might be interested. If your friends do not have internet access, they can call our registration department at 704-341-9189 to give us their mailing address and we'll mail them a form to complete and return to us.

You may opt out any time by sending an email requesting removal to info@aocresearch.com or by calling us at 704-341-0232. Please allow two or three business days for processing.

Please feel free to send us an email at info@aocresearch.com, or call us at 704-341-0232.