User Survey -- Which incentive works best?

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User Survey -- Which incentive works best?

zett

3:55 pm on Aug 29, 2007 (gmt 0)

OK, so I would like to conduct a user survey, a real one with a number of questions (not just a single question). It will take about 15 minutes to fill in, and I want to put out an incentive for those participating in the survey.

My options (as I see them):

1) Fixed payment per completed survey

Pro: Users are being rewarded for their time answering the survey questions.

Cons: People might be biased, potential fraud (the same people completing the survey again and again)

My questions: What would be a fair reward? Is US$ 10.00 too much? Paid to Paypal account?

2) One big prize

Pros: Less potential of fraudulent participants, fixed sum

Con: Not everyone will be rewarded, which might be a turn-off for some participants

My questions: Is a prize worth US$500 OK? (The prize would be matching the topic of my niche, so the incentive would be definitely there.) Or would you recommending one big prize plus, like, 9 small prizes?

What are your experiences conducting surveys?

caveman

7:58 am on Aug 30, 2007 (gmt 0)

IMO it depends so much on the category you're in, the age and mentality of your target audience, the topic within your category, the specific site, user involvement on the site, etc, that it's impossible to say with certainty.

All those caveats registered, my personal experience is that when in doubt, the Big Prize captures more attention, and more people's imagination.

Which headline gets you most:

- "Get $10!"

- "Win $500!"

- "Win a new plasma HDTV?"

zett

8:46 am on Aug 30, 2007 (gmt 0)

Hi caveman,

thanks for the speedy reply.

I thought a bit more about this and came to the same conclusion. On that site, I am seeing about 50,000 uniques each month, and I would like to get as much participants in the survey as possible. By putting out one big prize I am limiting the financial exposure...

Now let's see whether I can find a sponsor in my niche. *grin*