Daisy chained surveys: Forward Tags.

A daisy chain is one study split into several surveys, each with its own Universal Link channel, where finishing one survey sends the respondent straight into the next. Forward Tags carries the tags a respondent has earned along the chain, so the demographics asked once in the first survey can cut, route and quota every survey after it, even when those surveys sit in different accounts.

Forward Tags is set up by Glow's team on studies we field for you. It appears in the Universal Link channel's Advanced Options for Glow staff logins only.

When to use it

The typical case is an omnibus or SRS study: survey 1 holds the demographics and the shared questions, then one survey per client sits in that client's own account. Each client sees only their own questions and results, and every client survey can still be filtered by gender, age or region because those tags arrived with the respondent.

Only tags travel. Answers do not, so anything a later survey needs to know has to be a tag in survey 1's logic.

Before you start

• Survey 1 gives its tags with Action Logic, one rule per choice (for example Female, Age 25-34, VIC).
• Every survey in the chain has a Universal Link channel. A chain is built from redirect links, so the Integrated Consumer Panel channel cannot be part of one.
• Decide the order of the chain. It is easiest to set up from the last survey back, because each channel needs the next survey's link.

Set up each channel

Open the channel, click Advanced Options, then:

1. Redirects on. Paste the next survey's channel link into Submit Link. Put the panel's links in Exit, Quota and Quality Exit, or leave them blank to use Glow's own end pages.
2. Forward Tags on, and pick the channel's Place in the chain: First survey forwards tags and receives none, so any tags already on its own link are ignored. Middle survey receives the tags on its link and forwards them on. Last survey receives tags and forwards nothing, so a panel's complete link stays clean.
3. Tags to forward lists the tags this survey's own logic gives or checks. A First survey starts at All tags. A Middle survey starts at None: the tags that arrived on its link always go on, and you tick only the tags of this survey that the next survey should also receive. Leave it at None when the next survey belongs to a different client, so Client A's tags never land in Client B's account.
4. Save. Repeat for every channel in the chain.

Survey 1's channel, the first in the chain: Redirects send completes to survey 2's link, and Forward Tags is set to First survey with all of survey 1's tags forwarded.

A middle survey's channel: the tags that arrived on its link go on by themselves, and Tags to forward stays at None unless the next survey should also get this survey's own tags.

The last survey's channel receives tags and forwards nothing, so there is no picker.

The tags go on the Submit, Exit and Quota links as one tags     parameter. The Quality Exit link is never changed.

Using received tags in later surveys

A tag that arrives on the link is given to the respondent before the first question, exactly like a tag from Tag Injection. In the later survey it works in:

• Analysis filters. Received tags appear in the Tag filter once the first response has come through.
• Survey logic. The logic editor's tag list only knows this survey's own tags, so choose Custom and type the tag name exactly as survey 1's logic writes it ("Age 25-34", not "age 25-34"). A mistyped name never matches and gives no warning, so run one test respondent through the chain and check the branch.
• Quotas and Response Exports, where received tags count and export like any other tag.

Panels and respondent IDs

A panel's respondent ID travels the same way it does today, through Embed Data. Give every channel in the chain the same Embed Data row (Name, Template and Forward Name set to the panel's ID variable, Duplicate ID Check on) and the ID reaches every survey alongside the tags. See Embed Data in Universal Link.

For a panel study, keep all screening and quota logic in survey 1. On every channel, Exit, Quota and Quality Exit point at the panel; Submit points at the next survey, and the last survey's Submit points at the panel's complete link. The panel then sees one exit or over-quota from survey 1, or one complete from the last survey, and measures length of interview across the whole chain.

Rules and things to know

• Response Limit. A middle or last survey's Response Limit should be at least as high as survey 1's (e.g. n=1000 across all surveys in chain). Otherwise, a channel that has reached its limit shows Glow's closed page and the chain stops there.
• Tag names are exact. Do not rename tags in survey 1 once the chain is in field; later surveys match on the name.
• Intro pages. Untick Show Intro (Intro dialog, SSR Settings) on surveys 2 onward so the chain reads as one survey.
• Credits. Each survey charges its own hosting credit per complete. A respondent who drops out of survey 3 is still a complete in surveys 1 and 2, so reconcile a panel invoice against the last survey's completes, not the first.

Checking it worked

Run one respondent through the whole chain, then open Capture > Responses on each survey. Every response from survey 2 on should show survey 1's tags, and the Respondent ID column where Embed Data is set. In Analyse, create a filter and confirm the received tags are listed under Tag.