Alternative to Amazon gift card for incentives
Hello all, I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants. Any suggestions would be appreciated, Noriko ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
Amazon gift cards are one of many, many options for compensating study participants. Could you clarify what attributes of Amazon gift cards you would like to replicate in alternative compensation methods? Is it...no processing fees? General popularity of the business that the gift card is for? A fully digital form of financial compensation? I suggest looking into Visa gift cards, although they do have a processing fee. Depending on the size of your sample you could also ask each participant to designate a particular business they would like a gift card from. On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 11:23 AM Hara, Noriko <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
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-- Douglas Zytko, PhD Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction Director of Oakland HCI Lab Oakland University Department of Computer Science and Engineering dougzytko.com Engineering Center 544 115 Library Drive, <https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g> Rochester, MI 48309 <https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g>
Hi, Noriko, I know some market research companies provide Starbucks Coffee gift cards as survey incentives. Or, you can do “drawing” for any kind of gift cards. It also depends on the nature of the survey. If you are partnering with a company by surveying members in their customer panels in order to write a research report, you may email the survey participants the research report when it is available. Let them know in your survey invitation. No matter which method you use, please check with your university’s IRB officer to make sure that the survey incentives are distributed fairly and appropriately. Hope this helps! Best, Ming-Yi Ming-Yi Wu, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Northeastern University Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 5, 2021, at 11:30 AM, Douglas Zytko <zytko@oakland.edu> wrote:
Amazon gift cards are one of many, many options for compensating study participants. Could you clarify what attributes of Amazon gift cards you would like to replicate in alternative compensation methods? Is it...no processing fees? General popularity of the business that the gift card is for? A fully digital form of financial compensation?
I suggest looking into Visa gift cards, although they do have a processing fee. Depending on the size of your sample you could also ask each participant to designate a particular business they would like a gift card from.
On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 11:23 AM Hara, Noriko <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Douglas Zytko, PhD Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction Director of Oakland HCI Lab Oakland University Department of Computer Science and Engineering dougzytko.com
Engineering Center 544 115 Library Drive, <https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g> Rochester, MI 48309 <https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g> _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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I'm a freelance consultant and not working within a university IRB structure, for what that's worth. But I offer to pay focus group participants via CashApp or Venmo. Paypal is another option. On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 3:03 PM Ming-Yi Wu <mingyiwu@att.net> wrote:
Hi, Noriko,
I know some market research companies provide Starbucks Coffee gift cards as survey incentives. Or, you can do “drawing” for any kind of gift cards.
It also depends on the nature of the survey. If you are partnering with a company by surveying members in their customer panels in order to write a research report, you may email the survey participants the research report when it is available. Let them know in your survey invitation.
No matter which method you use, please check with your university’s IRB officer to make sure that the survey incentives are distributed fairly and appropriately.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Ming-Yi
Ming-Yi Wu, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Northeastern University
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 5, 2021, at 11:30 AM, Douglas Zytko <zytko@oakland.edu> wrote:
Amazon gift cards are one of many, many options for compensating study participants. Could you clarify what attributes of Amazon gift cards you would like to replicate in alternative compensation methods? Is it...no processing fees? General popularity of the business that the gift card is for? A fully digital form of financial compensation?
I suggest looking into Visa gift cards, although they do have a processing fee. Depending on the size of your sample you could also ask each participant to designate a particular business they would like a gift card from.
On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 11:23 AM Hara, Noriko <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<; https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Douglas Zytko, PhD Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction Director of Oakland HCI Lab Oakland University Department of Computer Science and Engineering dougzytko.com
Engineering Center 544 115 Library Drive, < https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entr...
Rochester, MI 48309 < https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entr...
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-- Fiona Morgan Branchhead Consulting Pronouns: she, her, hers branchhead.consulting@gmail.com 919-491-1901 mobile Branchhead.org
I've asked participants what they would like--and have given a range from Home Depot to a local charity donation at the participant's request. Sally
On Aug 5, 2021, at 8:23 AM, Hara, Noriko <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all. There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it. In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work. My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work. Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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My three cents: The simple and most appealing alternative is cash instead of vouchers! Some will of course find this or that voucher appealing but cash gives more freedom to the participants to spend the money as they please... Biases primarily exist because of ideologies not because of incentives... Best Chrsitan On 05/08/2021 22:48, Peter Timusk wrote:
Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all.
There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it.
In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work.
My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work.
Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada
On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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It isn’t always true that someone who is wealthy wouldn’t want to participate. Sometimes they do. Alternately, with no incentive, people for whom time is a by-the-hour-compensation issue, may be more willing to. I understand that for government it would be different. I’m glad there is more discussion in the list archives. When I did my dissertation, my research subjects were more interested in being heard than being compensated, and that was interesting in itself. Sally
On Aug 5, 2021, at 1:48 PM, Peter Timusk <peterotimusk@gmail.com> wrote:
Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all.
There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it.
In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work.
My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work.
Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada
On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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We try to compensate participants for their time if possible since we're asking them to do labor for us. It's true that incentives can bias who responds but the ethics of compensation outweighed our concern about that. Our challenge is that it needs to be something everyone can use so in-person retail stores don't always work (ex: not everyone has a WholeFoods nearby.) We also wanted something with a lot of options so that it was truly useful to everyone (ex: not just Barnes and Noble.) Economics studies suggest gift cards (or other tangible rewards that aren't just cash) often motivate more in short-term scenarios than cash. That includes VISA or MasterCard options so that's what we often used. Though like someone else noted it does come with a processing fee. We've also done Target gift cards, which have a decent online retail site. On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 5:01 PM S.A. Applin <sally@sally.com> wrote:
It isn’t always true that someone who is wealthy wouldn’t want to participate. Sometimes they do.
Alternately, with no incentive, people for whom time is a by-the-hour-compensation issue, may be more willing to.
I understand that for government it would be different.
I’m glad there is more discussion in the list archives.
When I did my dissertation, my research subjects were more interested in being heard than being compensated, and that was interesting in itself.
Sally
On Aug 5, 2021, at 1:48 PM, Peter Timusk <peterotimusk@gmail.com> wrote:
Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all.
There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it.
In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work.
My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work.
Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada
On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<; https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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How about specific conference tickets as a form of compensation? Some of them can be $100+ if the participants are students within a specific department. Happy to ask/liaise with the rest of the truth and trust online <http://truthandtrustonline.com> organizing team if we could allocate a number of sponsored tickets. Please feel free to reach out. A On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 5:58 PM Liz Crocker <lcrocker@bu.edu> wrote:
We try to compensate participants for their time if possible since we're asking them to do labor for us. It's true that incentives can bias who responds but the ethics of compensation outweighed our concern about that. Our challenge is that it needs to be something everyone can use so in-person retail stores don't always work (ex: not everyone has a WholeFoods nearby.) We also wanted something with a lot of options so that it was truly useful to everyone (ex: not just Barnes and Noble.) Economics studies suggest gift cards (or other tangible rewards that aren't just cash) often motivate more in short-term scenarios than cash. That includes VISA or MasterCard options so that's what we often used. Though like someone else noted it does come with a processing fee. We've also done Target gift cards, which have a decent online retail site.
On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 5:01 PM S.A. Applin <sally@sally.com> wrote:
It isn’t always true that someone who is wealthy wouldn’t want to participate. Sometimes they do.
Alternately, with no incentive, people for whom time is a by-the-hour-compensation issue, may be more willing to.
I understand that for government it would be different.
I’m glad there is more discussion in the list archives.
When I did my dissertation, my research subjects were more interested in being heard than being compensated, and that was interesting in itself.
Sally
On Aug 5, 2021, at 1:48 PM, Peter Timusk <peterotimusk@gmail.com> wrote:
Just mentioning again ( this topic is discussed in the list archives) the luxury of working in government surveys that while some of our surveys are legal mandatory to respond to many are voluntary and we offer no incentive at all.
There are possible biases introduced with incentives. Example: someone who is wealth will not reply because a 50$ Amazon gift card is not worth it.
In government surveys too, we can not favour any private businesses, so gift cards to businesses are not going to work.
My suggestions for more neutral unbiased survey work.
Peter not speaking for my employer Statistics Canada
On Thu., Aug. 5, 2021, 11:23 a.m. Hara, Noriko, <nhara@indiana.edu> wrote:
Hello all,
I am wondering if anyone can recommend any alternatives to Amazon gift cards for providing incentives for study participants.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Noriko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noriko Hara, Ph.D. | https://norikohara.org<; https://norikohara.org/> Professor Department of Information & Library Science Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering Indiana University
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
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participants (9)
-
Ahmed Medien -
Christian Fuchs -
Douglas Zytko -
Fiona Morgan -
Hara, Noriko -
Liz Crocker -
Ming-Yi Wu -
Peter Timusk -
S.A. Applin