How to incentivize Gen Z for Qualitative Research participation?

Quick answer: To incentivize Gen Z for qualitative research, offer more than money: show the impact of their input, give creative choices such as donating part of the reward to a cause, align the incentive with the topic, meet them where they are, and pay quickly through transparent digital payouts.

Qualitative research participation is not tricky, and much human intervention is added to ensure respondents don't slip through. Even regular research participation is a struggle, but bringing in the newer generations like Gen Z makes it even more challenging.

A widespread belief is that we can get all kinds of respondents with the right amount of money. While that may not be untrue, research practitioners (field agencies and research agencies) should try to become more creative around participation incentivization.

Traditional incentivization methods may not have the same effect anymore, and research companies need to shift their focus toward incentives more suited to the younger generation.

Gen Z is a term given to people born in the broad range of the mid to late 90s to early 2010s. The generation has taken the world by storm, with industries changing to fit current trends, and qualitative research is no different. The generation has shown high affiliation towards technology, which industries, including research, must move towards. It is this technology itself that makes it easier to reach the population.

Here are the things to keep in mind as you target Gen Z respondents:

1. Show me, but don't show me just money

Direct money or vouchers are important. A lot of the Gen Z crowd comprises college and school students. Being in that category, they are generally pressed for money, and thus it becomes a great drive in getting them to participate in your research. Vouchers for food or other services also become effective incentives for this sample.

But money is not the only motivation that works. Rather it's just a mere hygiene factor.

2. How can I make a difference?

Another important factor for the generation is knowing how much of an impact their participation could be. Gen Z is active in affecting change, and knowing their contribution can affect research and influence decision-making becomes an incentive geared specifically toward them. Categories that are exciting, like Gaming, Bikes, and sports, might have it easy in this regard, vs. relatively dry categories like finance and telecom might need to put some more effort in this regard. Perhaps telling respondents about broad research objectives may not be bad if the objectives permit.

3. Be interesting and creative with incentive choices

The generation of students and collegegoers have specific interests, goals, social values, and ethos. Gearing your research participation incentives might have some positive participation effects. How about providing choices to respondents to donate a partial amount of their incentives to their favorite charity or cause they care about? We can combine different incentives and relate them with larger causes to attract participation and involve purpose.

4. Alignment

Don't provide incentives just for the sake of it. Align your offer with the field of work you're going into. The participant needs to come in due to genuine interest and want to help you with your findings. It shouldn't be that the respondent only comes for the incentive and half-heartedly participates in the research, proving your hard work futile. Providing small accessories while doing bike or car research, providing career guidance for tech categories, or consulting on credit rating counseling can be interesting ways of attracting participation. Respondents have to see the value in the offer, so that should remain your guiding principle in designing incentives.

5. Go to campuses and organize research

Though not an incentive, increasing Gen Z participation is also by going to campuses and directly interacting with passers-by. Engage them in interesting conversations and link them to your area of research. Once you have established a rapport, you can offer them incentives or ask them to participate directly in your study.

6. Go digital

For a technologically dependent society, it also becomes imperative to create a system of incentivization that is more transparent, robust, and digitized. When you can assure the respondent that incentives are automatically processed, respondents will feel more assured about receiving incentives and will be more motivated to participate.

To see what automated payouts look like, visit incentive distribution on flowres or read our guide to incentive distribution strategies.

Summary

To summarize, as research practitioners, we need to find more ways to touch and address deeper and more intrinsic ways to ensure participation and move beyond using human intervention and money as key levers. Gen Z is a difficult target audience, and we might need to introspect and revisit our processes. After all, we are in a consumer intimacy business. And as consumer intimacy practitioners, we must apply our consumer intimacy learnings while designing processes for the research industry.

About flowres

flowres is an online qualitative research platform built to make qualitative research execution more efficient. Our incentive distribution tool lets you compensate research participants in a few clicks, which makes payouts digital, process-driven, transparent and assured. Book a demo to see it in action.

Related guides

• Incentive distribution strategies for qualitative research

• Qualitative research participant recruitment

• Online focus group recruitment

FAQs

What incentives work best for Gen Z research participants?

A mix works best. Cash or digital vouchers matter, especially for students, but so do a sense of impact, creative options such as donating part of the reward to a cause, and a reward that fits the topic.

Is money enough to motivate Gen Z participants?

Money is a baseline, not the whole motivation. Many Gen Z participants also want to know their input will change something, so tell them how the research will be used.

How should you pay Gen Z participants?

Digitally and quickly. Automated payouts to digital vouchers or wallets reassure participants that the reward will arrive. For typical amounts, see our guide to participant recruitment.