The Tasteocracy Experience

How to join

Joining the Tasteocracy community is easy! Using our online sign up form, provide your contact information and a small amount of demographic information

Minutes after you submit, you will receive an email welcoming you to the Tasteocracy community. Each tester may have only one account.

How to find testing opportunities

The best way to find out about testing opportunities is to log in to your Tasteocracy account and click on AVAILABLE STUDIES on your account page. Also, make sure we have your mobile number to hear about testing opportunities via text.

• We will also announce tests on social media. It’s good to remember, however, that not all tests you see on social media will be available to you based on the specific demographic requirements of each test.
• We may contact you directly via email, text message (if you have opted in to receive text messages), computerized phone call or one of our Customer Care representatives, but this will not occur for every test for which you are eligible.

Qualifying for Tests

Each testing opportunity requires a slightly different tester composition. When you find a test that interests you, the first step towards participation is to take the online qualifying survey.

Sometimes the tester population that we are looking for is very broad and general. Sometimes it is very narrow and specific. Sometimes we are looking for users of a product, and sometimes we are looking for non-users of a product.

The best way to approach our screening surveys is to read the questions carefully and answer honestly. We have many testing opportunities, and there will be tests that are right for you! If your answers do not match the profile needed for a specific test, you will be notified immediately and be eligible to try to qualify for one of the other testing options available.

Scheduling and reminders

If your responses to the qualification survey indicate that you fit the profile for a testing opportunity, you will be presented with a list of available testing times. If one of these times works for you, click to accept. Now you are scheduled!

• A confirmation email and/or text with the day, date, time and location of the test will be sent immediately to the contact information associated with your account.
• You will receive an email/text reminder 48 hours prior to your scheduled test and a reminder phone message 24 hours prior to your scheduled test.

Cancellations

Once scheduled, the success of the test depends on your participation. We understand that schedules change. If you are no longer able to participate and it is more than 24 hours prior to your scheduled time, please cancel by logging into your account. If it is less than 24 hours prior to your test, you must call in to our customer care department:

• California: 925-551-4214
• Minnesota: 763-354-2776

If you do not attend a test for which you are scheduled, you will be counted as a “no show.” Over your lifetime as a Tasteocracy member, you are given three passes where a “no show” will not adversely affect you. Use these passes wisely. After the fourth “no show,” your account will be inactivated, and you will no longer be able to test with Tasteocracy.

Testing

It is test day! Please read our test day requirements for specific guidelines to follow.

Upon check in, you will be asked to answer a few re-screening questions. The questions will be similar to those asked in the online qualification survey. This is our last chance to ensure that testers fit the profile required for the test. Just answer truthfully on the initial online questions and the questions presented on test day.

The last step is to indicate your agreement to keep the specifics of the test confidential. This includes the product and the name of the manufacturer of the product. If the test you are signed up for is a taste test or a discussion group, you will be escorted into the testing room, and a moderator will give you your next instructions. If the test you are signed up for is a home-use test, you will be given your product and instructions and then go on your way.

Getting paid

Tasteocracy and the clients who work with us value your participation and compensate you for your time and opinions. The amount of compensation is related to the length of the test. Tests that have a longer time commitment have a higher compensation amount. All tests average at $40 per hour of participation.

When participating in a single-day taste test or focus group, at the completion of the test, you will be given a check made out to you for the amount specified during the qualifying and scheduling process.

Occasionally, we have more testers than the test can accommodate, and testers are paid in appreciation for their time and efforts to come to the test on time, even if they do not participate in the test. This payment amount is typically a portion of that received by those who participate in the test, but never less than half. Anyone who is paid and not able to test will be immediately eligible to screen for other tests.

It’s important to note that those who arrive first will not automatically be chosen to participate. Since each test needs to have testers from various demographic backgrounds, someone who arrives later may sometimes be allowed to test because they fit into a quota group we need for that session.

If you are tardy and the test has already started or if you do not provide the same responses during check in that you did when answering the screening question online, you will not be paid. Plan your drive time and answer carefully and honestly, and you won’t have any issues!

W9's and 1099's

It is possible to earn several hundreds of dollars in a year of testing with Tasteocracy. By law, if your earnings are over $600, we need to report these earnings to the IRS. As a tester, once your earnings hit $400, we will request a W9 to be completed. If you end up earning $600+ by the end of the year, your 1099 tax form will be mailed to you in a timely manner.

Multi-day taste tests and focus groups

Some of our tests require participation over two or three consecutive days, or testers are asked to participate in follow-up tests over the course of a month or two. Usually, the larger compensation that this level of commitment requires is made by check at the end of the final test date.

Home-use tests

Participants in home-use tests are paid via check upon the completion of the online questionnaire that accompanies the product they are testing. Only those who complete the questionnaire by the identified deadline will be paid. These checks are sent by mail no later than two weeks after the questionnaire deadline.

Online-only tests

Tasteocracy provides a limited number of online-only tests. Testers can consider these bonus tests — extra opportunities beyond our product testing events. Compensation for these quick online surveys are by drawing. A previously specified number of randomly picked survey completions will be awarded a previously specified dollar amount.

After being randomly drawn from the pool of survey completes, the winners will be contacted by phone to verify their address, and checks will be sent to them by mail.