Netflix made it fun to take a survey

I received an email from Netflix today. The email contained a survey with one simple question. When did I put the movie that they just received in the mail? But I didn’t have to login or enter a code to start the survey. Instead, Netflix included five or six links right in the email, one for each of the possible days I could have put my return DVD in the mail.

Now generally I don’t do well with surveys sent via email. I always think I’d like to help out by completing the survey but then that thought fades quickly and I go about reading the rest of my email, forgetting about and eventually deleting the survey email.

But something amazing happened with the Netflix email. I suddenly was intrigued by what they were trying to do. I thought to myself, they must be trying to substantiate their claims on how fast they send and receive DVDs through the mail. I suddenly felt like the Nielsen of Netflix. My vote is going to matter. My vote is going to prove something. I’M SOMEBODY!!

And boom, I clicked the link for Monday, February 18, 2008. A few minutes later, I realized I had just completed a survey.