Urvey Monetary Incentives: Digital Payments as an Alternative to Direct Mail

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of digital payment transactions in the United States, most survey participation incentives are still paid through cash or check and then distributed to respondents or potential sample members via direct mail. Though survey researchers have explored alternative incentives, such as e-gift cards, for online samples, there has been no study of electronic cash incentives—specifically paid through mobile pay applications—to date. In this article, we briefly review the literature on incentives used in online surveys and then examine survey incentive payment preferences among respondents using a small, web-based survey of younger adults. Our results suggest a greater preference for cash incentives paid through mobile applications than through direct mail, further highlighting the need for more research on the efficacy of electronically-delivered monetary incentives.