Survey Incentive

In the last article, we discussed how, in lieu of cash, it’s possible to increase response rate by promising the results of your survey to the respondents. People like to know their participation matters, and providing them with the data (and an explanation of the data) of the survey is often a good incentive for improving response frequency. Still, there are a few things that companies and researchers will need to remember if they want this incentive to work successfully.

Some of these include: Unbiased Data – When you explain the data, it is important not to edit out information that may be interesting to the respondents. It’s possible that the people expecting information are looking for something particular, such as the results of a specific section or question they answered. If the data is interesting, even if it doesn’t speak highly to your research or your business, there is a moral obligation to still supply it to the respondents.

Promise of Action – For businesses that are supplying data to their employees or customers (depending on the type of survey), respondents want to see that their responses are leading to real action. You will need to show in a non-aloof way what you are changing to make your product or your employee satisfaction better, presumably using language that shows it’s really in action and not something you are promising but not delivering. Frustration from employees and customers can lead to lower satisfaction in the future.

Professional Display – Survey results as an incentive are also your opportunity to get back in touch with your respondents. In a way, it is like marketing yourself all over again. As such, you need to make sure that you take the time to craft an easy to read document that relates to the data, the results, what you’re doing to change it, etc., so that people can read and understand how their responses really mattered in the overall dataset.

The way you present your data should not be solely a marketing tool without redeeming value to the reader. Indeed, a lack of redeeming value could lower satisfaction, especially if you avoid or ignore key pieces of data. At the same time, it is still a representation of your research and everything your research represents, so providing a thorough and interesting summary is going to have to be an important part of the document.

Survey results work as an incentive, but it’s not as simple as giving them access to the dataset. Make sure you make the right decisions when it comes to the best way to present the data to respondents. Related Blog