Promised Incentives in Media Research: A Look at Data Quality, Sample Representativeness, and Response Rate

Abstract

The authors examine the effects of using promised incentives to increase respondent compliance in media research. The impact of promised incentives on data quality, sample representativeness, and response rate is studied. The use of promised incentives is found to increase response rates without lessening sample representativeness or response quality. In fact, the data suggest that incentives heighten response quality because they increase the attention respondents devote to the task for which they are being paid.