Virtual cards were the preferred research participation reward among North American respondents in a study recapped by Virtual Incentives on August 10, 2017. The company said it had co-sponsored the research with Greenbook and other industry participants.
The recap says nearly half participated to earn a reward or prize, but the original GreenBook chart separates that answer from supplementing income: 36.6% chose rewards or prizes and 12.6% chose income as their main reason. These are stated motivations, not measured engagement gains from a particular incentive. The categories should not be silently combined into the recap's narrower claim.
GreenBook identifies the March 2017 study as 6,208 consumers in 15 countries, using eight languages and online, telephone and mobile-only surveys. Virtual Incentives' August release instead gives 6,750 consumers in 14 countries; that discrepancy remains unresolved. The chart uses the original graphic's stated base of 6,208. Country cell sizes, weighting and the complete questionnaire are not disclosed in the retained report addendum.
Main reason for participating in research
Original GRIT CPR main-reason question, March 2017, N=6,208 across 15 countries.
% of respondents
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Sources
Rounded categories total 99.7%. Stated main reasons, not measured effects of virtual cards. Country sizes and weighting are undisclosed. The co-sponsor release gives a conflicting sample of 6,750 in 14 countries; these bases are not merged.
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| Category | Main reason |
|---|---|
| Earn rewards or prizes | 36.6 % of respondents |
| Supplement income | 12.6 % of respondents |
| Enjoy surveys | 10.7 % of respondents |
| Find surveys interesting | 8.9 % of respondents |
| Shape important decisions | 7.4 % of respondents |
| Learn about new products | 7.4 % of respondents |
| Appreciate being asked | 6.3 % of respondents |
| Want views heard | 6.3 % of respondents |
| Like being in the know | 2.5 % of respondents |
| Other | 1.0 % of respondents |
Virtual Incentives argued that digital cards offered operational advantages over cash distribution, including faster delivery and flexibility for recipients. These were the company’s explanations of why the preference mattered to research programme operators.
Mobile access was another theme. The recap cited a separate statistic that 77% of Americans owned a smartphone in 2017 and said nearly one-third of the research participants preferred completing surveys on a mobile device. The smartphone statistic does not describe the GRIT sample.
The company described its rewards as optimised for mobile delivery, redemption and use. It said API integration could remove the delay between earning a reward and receiving it.
At the time of the recap, Virtual Incentives named Visa, Mastercard and Amazon among its reward partners and referred to nearly 600 other brands worldwide. It presented that selection as a way to offer research participants more choice.
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Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.