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Whether we are conducting focus groups or one-on-ones, surveys by mail or via the web, the conversation with clients inevitably leads to incentives. Are they appropriate? If so, what should the incentive be? And, perhaps sadly, but realistically, how little can we pay to generate participation?
Incentive Appropriateness
A good starting point in the determination of incentive appropriateness is to examine the respondent imposition factor. That is, what are we asking a research participant to do?
If I asked you to perform a 200-foot bungie jump, would you do it for nothing? Would you do it for say $100? How about for $1,000? While it sounds like I am asking for the price of your soul, the reality is, this is what we subtly do each and every time we impose on a study participant.
For the record, however, most research efforts modest in length and inconvenience do not require an incentive. So, how do you recognize when it is necessary and when it isn't? Here are some questions (and answers) to review when contemplating the appropriateness of an incentive.
Are we asking someone to spend an inordinate amount of time to participate in our research?
Generally speaking, across all projects, no matter the methodology, anything over 15 to 20 minutes in length has such a drop off in participation that you should consider an incentive. If for no other reason, you should be skeptical as to just how representative your survey would be without an incentive when requiring a lot of participant time.
How much effort is involved?
Simply put, the more effort required on the part of the participant, the greater the need for a commensurate incentive. What hoops are we asking a participant to go through? Are they requested to leave the comforts of home to go to a testing facility? Are they asked to participate when it is convenient for them or for us? Do they need to keep a diary? How long must they stand on their heads, anyway?
Who are we talking to?
Somewhere between the adages of "time is money" and Animal Farm's "We are all equal, it is just that some of us are more equal than others" is the reality that it will take more money to motivate some people than others. That is, incentives for research involving say a physician, an MIS Director, or Porsche owner will likely need to be larger than that for the average consumer.
But if they are really interested in the topic, is an incentive really necessary
 Clearly some research topics are of greater interest to some than others, but it is important to avoid the temptation to convince yourself that, just because you regard your company's new laundry stain removal system as fascinating, consumers will, too. Pay an incentive if it is typically warranted regardless of the topic. Again, you should be concerned about the representativeness of your research audience by avoiding those who might be exceptionally fanatical about the research topic.
All this having been said, am I not saving substantial money without an incentive
The answer to this question may not be quite as predictable as you might think. It really all depends on the value of the incentive and the impact it has on participation rate.
Take a mail survey for example. Without an incentive, a typical mail survey might yield a 15% to 25% response rate. A dollar incentive might raise that rate by some 10 to 20 percentage points. Effectively, then, you could offset some, perhaps even all, of the cost of an incentive with savings from reductions in printing, assembly and mailing costs by sending out fewer surveys. At the risk of repetitiveness, guess what also happens to the representativeness of your survey as the response rate goes up?
What type of incentive
Incentives typically fall into one of the following categories: cash, tangible gifts, information, or lotteries in which only a few "lucky winners" are chosen.
Cash is by far the most common. Its universal acceptance makes it the most logical and flexible alternative. When given the option between $100 in free software and $50 in cash recently, focus group participants overwhelmingly chose to take the money and run. Is that really a surprise?
Tangible gifts can include anything from software to a t-shirt. Quite often, when a client manufactures something, tangible gifts are suggested as incentives but, remember, not everybody wants a Popiel Pocket Fisherman.
Shared survey information can be quite effective in some circles, especially among traditionally non-competing professionals, like Human Resource Managers or College Admissions Officers. Such individuals are generally quite interested in knowing what others in a similar capacity think, feel and experience. Of course, the catch here is, you must be willing to share at least some of the data.
Lotteries can be effective incentives, as well. Large cash awards, color TVs and other high-ticket items are often a good lure, particularly as a way to reduce fulfillment. Say, for example, you wanted to complete 500 web surveys. If an incentive is warranted, you are faced with a huge fulfillment challenge if everyone is to receive something. It is considerably more hassle-free to have just a handful of winners.
Timing of the Incentive
For the most part, incentives are offered after the participant has completed his or her task. However, with mail surveys, often a small "token of appreciation" is offered upfront with the request to complete the survey, which, as mentioned earlier, can have a very positive impact on the response rate. In this scenario the "obligation factor" cannot be underestimated.
Final Comments
So, what is your incentive to learn about incentives? When used properly, incentives can save you time, and, yes, even money. What's more, knowing when they are appropriate or not can make the difference in the reliability of your data and whether a study succeeds or fails.
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