Getting Your Incentives Right

Summary

The thrust of this feature shows you how to use various monetary and non-monetary incentives to get the best research result. But first, a discussion on incentives wouldn’t be complete without a corollary as to whether incentives harm research. For the most part, the use of incentives to recruit and retain research subjects is innocuous. But there are some instances where it is not.

Specifically, incentives become problematic when conjoined with the following factors;
   • where the subject is financially stressed and needs to participate
   • where payment could be perceived as improper or political
   • where the research is degrading or sensitive – i.e. child payment defaults
   • where the participant will only consent if the incentive is relatively large
   • where the aversion is a principled one – such as stem cell ethics

Challenge

Incentives are a fact of life. Generally people will not be involved in any activity unless they see an advantage for them (WIIFM!). The same applies to research. Incentives vary widely according to the target group, the country in which the market research is being conducted, the time involved, travel involved and many other factors.

When do you definitely have to offer an incentive? When you have a only limited set of contacts and/or a short period of research, so you need to make each contact count. The other general circumstance is when you are taking up a significant and potentially costly amount of time – therefore focus groups and one-on-one business research carry an incentive to offset the cost incurred.

There are at least four key variables which you must consider when setting your incentive:

• Research Relevance – how relevant is the research topic to the respondent?
Will the respondent be able to talk with Authority on the topic and be interested?

• Sponsor Association – what is the relationship between the respondent and the sponsor, will it be disclosed, is there a tangible benefit that the respondent may receive

• Subject sensitivity – are you asking something that is perceived as confidential, emotionally involving or potentially difficult for the respondent to relay?

• Perceived Disruption – will it be 5 minutes on the phone or 1 hour face to face, will the respondent be expected to prepare or follow-up, travel?

As you can see, each study is likely to be somewhat different, however your best bell weather for incentives still your research history or that of your team and data collection partners.

To develop a coherent incentive strategy is to delve into the different options: some maybe more suitable for your client than others.

Business to Business

- Gift vouchers are perfect for this time of year, Myers or Dymocks vouchers can be purchased in bulk at below the marked value – approximately $20 - $50 for quantitative research

- % off next purchase discount is an excellent non-cash incentive which also assists customer sales, most coupons are rarely redeemed, so it’s financial impact is reduced

- Prize draws offer the opportunity to win greater amounts, say $2,000 but come with some interesting wrinkles, more on that later.

- Summary reports of the research findings are particularly attractive where the relevance is high, they also provide a handy marketing possibility for the research agency

Business/Government to Consumers
The above incentives options still apply normally at about 25% less, so $15 incentive will go a long way in most studies, and $40-$80 for most focus groups. Outside of the work environment people are somewhat more skeptical about research integrity, so lean toward a well known brand of incentives (if you’re not using cash.) Consumer incentives seem only to be effective when enclosed with the survey, so prize draws often fail to increase the response. Things may change with the current financial stresses.

Medical Professionals
This group is particular, as they are frequently researched and understand the “deal.” A good rule of thumb is a cash incentive or charitable donation equivalent to a consultation booking or hourly rate.

Prize Draws
There is strong pull to use prize draws as they are very effective in some circumstances, offering a $10 voucher to 200 people or a chance to win $1,000 (and two $500 second prizes) will make a difference. It particularly works well when the incentive costs are over $2,000. There are some issues to note – you need to get a permit in SA, NSW and in WA you are not able to offer a prize draw. Permits have a shelf life too, so ensure you know when the draw closes and when you need to run the draw – we’ve done this many times.

Conclusions

Start with nothing. I’m convinced that at least having an A/B/C test with a zero incentive is practical – for all your hard work, it might just be that respondents are willing to participate without an incentive. That said, have a B and C test waiting with different incentive levels and see where the results are taking you. The difference of a $20 incentive either way can be very significant, even for some general research, so test these first before relaxing your respondent specifications or your expectations.

Don't set yourself up for disappointment by playing cheap with incentives. Trust the recommendations given to you and watch the testing closely. If there's no compelling reason to reduce an incentive (not enough money in the budget is not often a compelling reason) then don't, if you get it wrong then recruiting will be slower and respondents may cancel at the last-minute; risking the entire project.