Loyalty and Marketing News: Virtual incentives best for market research participation

If you’re undertaking market research you need to rely on great levels of participation – and what incentives work best. Is it cash? Gift cards? Virtual gifts? A cheque? Points?

On top of that, you have to design a market research survey that’s engaging. Even the greatest incentive will struggle if you can’t hold the attention of participants.

Luckily, help is at hand.

Research recently conducted by Virtual Incentives with Greenbook and other industry stakeholders as part of the bi-annual GRIT CPR (Consumer Participation in Research) study has taken a deep dive into insights surrounding respondent rewards and incentive preferences, revealing many useful strategies for approaching market research incentives which we will share a few of below. They also have a great whitepaper for more intel.

It was no small survey either – ‘Improving the Research Respondent Experience’ was conducted in 14 countries and 8 languages among 6,750 consumers so this is some good data. FYI – this is a North American study, but many of the results highlighted can indicate a definite trend, wherever you are based.

What incentives work?

The research found that almost half of all respondents participate to earn rewards or prizes. When it comes to the types of rewards respondents prefer, Virtual Cards (also known as instant rewards or eGifts) were the number one selection in North America. When combining data from all regions, cash was selected first. Across various age groups, Virtual Cards continued to have a strong appeal, especially among the Boomer demographic. Virtual Cards were even selected by seniors (age 64+) choosing them over cash.

How to design a survey 

More than half of all respondents agreed the design of a survey impacts their willingness to complete it, and respondents prefer shorter surveys — 10 minutes in length or less. Almost a third said more time meant lower quality responses.

“It’s clear that the respondent experience is of paramount importance when designing a research study, and when we looked closely at the findings of the CPR study, we found that incentives play a central role to respondent engagement, behaviors and overall satisfaction,” said Jonathan Price, CEO of Virtual Incentives.

Devices matter

Mobile continues to play a more important role when it comes to how respondents prefer to participate in research. In fact, according to the GRIT CPR study, almost a third reported that they usually participate via their mobile device.

Price continued, “It makes sense that our primary audience in North America prefers virtual cards, which provide instant rewards and endless choice to recipients. For market research companies, there are practical and operational advantages to virtual cards that eliminate the complexities of rewarding with cash or other options.”

All of these factors can be examined when looking at the specific study in order to tailor an incentive program that resonates the most with the target audiences. Taking a strategic approach like this can help boost engagement and, ultimately, market research outcomes.

The full white paper can be found here: http://www.virtualincentives.com/improving-research-respondent-experience/

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