Creating a Good Survey #13: Incentives for Survey Participation: How to Offer Them Effectively

Participating in a survey requires time and effort from respondents. Therefore, offering incentives (rewards) to encourage participation and express gratitude can be a very effective strategy for increasing survey response rates. In fact, studies show that offering incentives increases survey response rates by an average of 19%, and the probability of respondents who start a survey completing it is also higher at 31% compared to 26% for non-incentivized groups.

However, incentives are like a double-edged sword; if designed or offered incorrectly, they can actually lower data quality or introduce bias into responses. Therefore, marketers must understand the types and characteristics of incentives and carefully design them according to the survey purpose and target respondents to maximize their effectiveness without side effects.

Various Types of Survey Participation Incentives:

1. Monetary Incentives: Methods that provide direct monetary value, such as cash, gift certificates, gift cards, or discount coupons.
   • Individual Provision Method: Provides a small amount of money or benefit to all respondents who participate in the survey.
     • Example: "All participants who complete the survey will receive a OOO coffee coupon (KRW 5,000 value)."
   • Lottery Provision Method (Sweepstakes): Provides a relatively large prize or benefit to some participants selected by lottery from among survey participants.
   • Example: "Among survey participants, 10 people will be selected by lottery to receive a OOO department store gift certificate (KRW 100,000 value)."
   • Advantages: The incentive effect is relatively certain and immediate. Cash or universally usable gift certificates are attractive to most respondents.
   • Disadvantages: Budget burden can be large, and especially high-value individual rewards can attract 'incentive chasers,' potentially leading to insincere or false responses.
2. Non-Monetary Incentives: Methods that provide rewards in forms other than monetary value.
   • Prize Provision: Provides specific products or services as prizes. (Can utilize own company's products/services)
   • Free Content/Service Use Vouchers or Discounts: Provides an opportunity to experience or receive discounts on the company's services. (Effective for existing customers)
   • Sharing Survey Results: Provides informational value by sharing a summary of the survey results with respondents. (Useful for B2B surveys or surveys targeting experts)
   • Social Contribution (Donation): Donating to a specific organization in the respondent's name or donating a certain amount per survey participation. Can appeal to altruistic respondents.
   • Advantages: Can have a lower budget burden than monetary incentives, and brand-related incentives can contribute to strengthening customer loyalty. Also, the risk of data bias may be relatively lower.
   • Disadvantages: Attractiveness can vary greatly depending on respondent preferences, and the direct participation incentive effect may not be as large as monetary rewards.

Key Considerations When Designing Incentives:

• Budget: Realistically determine the proportion of the total survey budget allocated to incentives.
• Target Audience: Design customized incentives by understanding the characteristics of the respondent group (age, gender, interests, income level, etc.) and what motivates them. For example, a draw for the latest IT device might be more attractive to a younger demographic, while discounts on household goods might be more appealing to homemakers.
• Survey Purpose & Content: Determine the type and level of incentive by comprehensively considering the importance of the survey, the difficulty of responding, and the estimated time required. Excessive rewards for simple surveys are unnecessary, while inappropriate rewards for complex and time-consuming surveys will find it difficult to induce participation.
• Data Quality: Careful attention is needed to ensure that incentives do not lower response quality or introduce bias that guides responses in a particular direction.

Methods to Minimize Data Bias and Increase Effectiveness When Providing Incentives:

• Avoid Excessive Rewards: Too large monetary rewards can attract people interested only in the reward itself, rather than the quality of the response. This can lead to insincere or even manipulated answers, harming data reliability.
• Clarify the Purpose of Incentives: It's good to convey that incentives are a 'token of gratitude' for providing valuable opinions by taking the time to participate, not a 'payment' for survey participation. Differentially distributing incentives based on the quality of answers should absolutely be avoided.
• Ensure Transparency: Build trust with respondents by clearly and transparently informing them about incentive payment conditions, lottery methods, and payment timing.
• Actively Consider Non-Monetary Incentives: Sharing survey results, promising service improvements reflecting respondent opinions, and social contributions (donations) can stimulate respondents' intrinsic motivation, leading to more sincere participation.
• Utilize Screening Questions and Data Review: It's advisable to place screening questions at the beginning of the survey to filter out ineligible respondents or to identify and exclude insincere responses (e.g., same answer to all questions, very short response time) from analysis.
• Consider Pre-incentives: Some research suggests that providing a small incentive in advance when requesting survey participation can be more effective in increasing response rates. This can stimulate the principle of reciprocity in respondents.

Ethical Considerations:

Incentive provision should be a means of inducing voluntary participation from respondents and should never be coercive or deceptive. It is important to strictly adhere to the principles of protecting respondents' personal information and ensure transparency in the incentive payment process.

In conclusion, survey participation incentives are undoubtedly a powerful tool for increasing response rates. However, to properly exert their effect and maintain data quality, a careful and strategic approach that considers the survey's purpose, the characteristics of the target respondents, and potential side effects is essential.