Pinecone Research
Pinecone Review
Pinecone Research is a community for survey takers, owned and operated by NielsenIQ, a global market research firm headquartered in Chicago. As a member of Pinecone, you can expect to receive paid surveys and product testing opportunities. In this review, we are taking a detailed look at the user experience, privacy policy, reward system and user interface.
Andrew: Andrew is one of our reviewers who’s been with HuginX the longest. With a background in membership support at one of the largest survey companies, Andrew has a lot of inside knowledge of the Market Research industry and has helped us refine our reviewing criteria. When Andrew is not working with reviews, he likes to go hiking with his dog Charlie. 
What is NielsenIQ?
NielsenIQ is a data analytics and market research company. It provides insights and intelligence on consumer behavior and trends, media and technology usage, and consumer attitudes to help businesses make informed decisions. The company’s services cover various industries, including consumer packaged goods, retail, media and entertainment, and financial services. By recruiting participants to join Pinecone Research, they can secure their “own source” of high-quality survey takers, as opposed to buying data collection services from 3rd party market research providers.
What type of research can I expect to take part in?
You’ll get to participate in a wide range of research methods when signing up for Pinecone, including:
- Consumer Insights: Providing your opinion on consumer products and services
- Media Measurement: Measuring the impact of advertising campaigns
- Shopper Insights: Understanding shopping behavior and motivations in-store and online.
- Brand Health: Assessing the health and performance of a brand over time.
- Product Innovation: Evaluating the potential success of new product ideas and concepts.
Is Pinecone a legit survey site?
The owner of Pinecone Research, NielsenIQ, is considered one of the largest and most trusted market research companies in the world. Pinecone Research is also legit, but as normal for a panel site, you’ll also find many negative reviews on sites such as Trustpilot from disappointed members.
Pinecone research proof of payment
Pinecone scam attempts
Since Pinecone Research has such a good reputation, scammers have been known for using their logo and brand to trick people into providing private and financial information. Therefore, always check that you are using the official Pinecone website (pineconeresearch.com), and be suspicious if you receive a request for information which seems out of the ordinary.
Data Privacy: Any reason for concern?
When signing up for Pinecone, you can sleep save at night, knowing that your data is in the hands of one of the most professional market research companies. However, it makes sense to read through the privacy policy before signing up. The information you submit should be used for market research purposes only, which is usually based on aggregated statistical analysis with big data sets. In addition, your contact details, such as your email address and telephone number, will be shared in a very restricted way.
How to get started
Pinecone Research is a so-called “invitation-only” panel, which means that you cannot always just sign up through their website. In order to reduce the risk of fraud, they prefer to invite new members through other panels with verified respondents. If you don’t match their criteria you’ll receive a message saying “Unfortunately, there are no available openings for members with a household make-up that aligns with yours at this time.”. However, once you get accepted it’s easy to fill out the registration form. Then, check your email for a confirmation message to verify your email address, and click on the link confirming your registration. Soon, you will receive an email asking you to answer a profile survey, and once you complete the survey, you will receive a welcome email containing a link to your first survey. You must be at least 18 years old to join.
What about the survey experience?
Having reviewed hundreds of average survey sites, Pinecone is a site we genuinely enjoy taking surveys on. It’s easier to qualify compared to many other sites, and the pay is fair compared to the time spent. The only negative aspect is that you might not receive a high volume of surveys – perhaps only a couple per month. However, we prefer quality over quantity when it comes to surveys, so Pinecone gets an excellent score from us on this point.
Pinecone also has an excellent FAQ section, answering every possible question in a very detailed way. It’s easy to see that this site takes respondents seriously. The rewards policy is also very transparent and predictable, making it easy for new users to know what to expect. The only negative aspect we experiences was some technical glitches when filling out screening questions on the app. Sometimes it takes a very long time to get redirected to the real survey.
How much can you make on Pinecone Research?
As with most other panels, you’ll earn virtual points, which can later be exchanged into real cash. One hundred virtual points are worth $1, which makes it easy to calculate the value of your rewards. Great job from Pinecone when it comes to transparency. You can earn up to $3 per survey, higher than most panels.
Your first survey will be rewarded with 300 points with a payout through cheque or bank transfer, which serves as a security measure to confirm that your account details and ID are correct. After receiving your first cheque, you can choose how you want to claim your future rewards. Regarding bank transfers, you can select the dollar ($) amount you wish to redeem, $10, $5, or $3.
Other reward options available:
- Amazon e-Cards
- Other Gift Cards
- Merchandise
- Prepaid Virtual Visa
The low redemption level of only $3 is a great feature. Unfortunately, far too many survey sites have a sky-high redemption level of $15 or higher, sneakily speculating in respondents giving up before cashing out. Great job, Pinecone Research!
Here are some examples of rewards we earned with Pinecone:
- Survey on canned soda brands – 300 points/$3 – 16 minutes
- Survey on online video viewing habits – 300 points/$3 – 18 minutes
- Survey on purchasing insurance – 300 points/$3 – 12 minutes
It’s quite safe to say that Pinecone is paying out 300 points/$3 on a very consistent basis, which makes the process of taking surveys predictable and transparent for participants.
What can prevent me from cashing out?
First, ensure to fill in your profile honestly and correctly when registering. If your details don’t match when they send you the first payment through check or bank transfer, you’ll get flagged and risk account suspension.
PineCone Research also has checks to ensure that all your answers are attentive and honest. Responses that fail these checks will result in the rejection of your submissions.
This is how we review gigs
Disclosure: While HuginX is editorially independent, we may earn commissions on sign-up links.
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