Runa research published in May 2023 found consumer interest in receiving digital gift cards for activities such as research participation, product trials and referrals. The findings came from its State of Loyalty and HR Recognition Rewards survey covering the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

Across the surveyed countries, 76% expressed interest in gift card payments for survey participation. The figure was 85% in the United States, 73% in Germany and 69% in the United Kingdom. Runa identified this as the strongest of the highlighted use cases.

The data behind the story

Interest in gift-card payment for survey participation

Runa’s May 2023 publication reports interest in gift-card payouts compared with bank or cheque payment within each country.

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Source
Runa original article and cross-country chart

Sponsor-reported stated interest. The public payout chart does not disclose sample size, country cell sizes, field dates, weights, exact question wording or the interest-scale aggregation. Sample sizes from separate Runa loyalty and employee reports cannot be assigned to this table. No actual uptake or payment performance is measured.

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Interest in gift-card payment for survey participation (%)
CategoryReported interest
United States85%
Germany73%
United Kingdom69%

For trying a product or service, interest averaged 67%. Both the UK and US were at 71%, while Germany was at 58%. These are stated preferences about a payout option, not measured changes in trial conversion after an incentive was introduced.

Referral bonuses drew interest from 65% overall, including 71% in the US, 68% in the UK and 57% in Germany. Runa discussed the findings as input for businesses deciding which reward methods to offer in referral programmes.

The report also identified differences beyond the leading three uses. In Germany, 59% expressed interest in gift card payments for refunds. The company framed that as an optional form of value consumers might choose, alongside the need for clear communication about the refund process.

US respondents showed 69% average interest across the occasions discussed, compared with the survey-wide 60% average. Runa also reported interest from 63% of US participants in digital value for gig work, while noting that this ranked ninth among the ten US use cases considered.

German respondents were more often neutral than strongly interested in several categories, according to the company's account. The differences caution against treating the three markets as one uniform audience when designing payout choices.

Runa's analysis focused on interest in digital gift cards compared with bank transfers and cheques. It provides consumer preference information for programme design, rather than evidence that gift cards should replace every other payment method or that a particular programme will achieve the same response.