Market Research Tips Based on Our Survey of Participants

The latest market research tips aren’t just for those new to the role — even the most seasoned of researchers can learn, especially as the motivations and preferences of their participants continue to change.

That’s why we partnered with Qualtrics to survey 2,000 research participants, collecting insights on how you can optimize your strategies and processes to enhance the participant experience and get the best data possible.

Here are three market research tips based on our findings.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: Learn more market research tips for maximizing participation and optimizing incentives

Adjust Promotional Strategy to Attract Younger Participants

Millennials and Generation Z remain an elusive audience in many industries, including research. In our study, these younger generations report participating in quantitative research less often, with only 54% of younger people doing online surveys daily, vs. 73% of those in older generations.

Promoting your research opportunities is just like promoting any product or service — you have to meet your target audience where they are. And those elusive younger generations are all about the digital world. When asked where they typically find out about research opportunities, the top two answers for Millennials and Gen Z were online ads and social media posts, which were far less common answers among Boomer and Gen X participants.

Certain Research Topics May Require More Recruiting Efforts

Not all market research tips are as easy to implement. Some topics are less appealing to participants and therefore require more recruitment effort — but that doesn’t mean those topics are any less important. The most popular research subjects cited by respondents include studies about their general preferences and shopping habits and those about new products or services. The least preferred: research about website or app usability and packaging designs or labels. To ensure that you can collect a proper sample during those projects, you should allow more time and more budget for both incentives and promotion.

Offer Effective Incentives Even Within a Tight Budget

Sometimes, raising budgets isn’t an option. But that doesn’t mean you can scrimp on incentives, since they are the top motivator for participants. Ninety-two percent of survey respondents and 86% of those who do qualitative studies cite the reward or compensation as their reason for participating.

When you need to limit the costs of incentives, here are some market research tips to consider.

• Put a limit on the number of incentives you will distribute. For instance, offer a reward only to the first 100 people to sign up or fill out the survey. Not only does this make your budget predictable, it also creates a sense of urgency so you recruit participants or collect survey responses faster.
• Switch to a points-to-rewards structure for long-term studies or when you need to combat screener fatigue. You don’t need to eat into your incentives budget as often, but participants are still motivated as they continue to collect points.
• Deliver incentives digitally, which not only saves on shipping and handling costs, it also means you can offer a smaller reward. According to our research, participants are willing to complete the same study for a lower-value reward if it arrives faster. For example, for an in-person focus group lasting 90-120 minutes, participants would accept $60 less if the incentive arrived within one business day instead of eight to 10 days.

Want more market research tips to inform your incentives strategy? Check out this roundup of our top seven recommendations.

about the author

Hannah Prince

Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.

Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.