A Decade of Experimentation: Monetary Incentives for the Survey of Consumer Finances

Music City Center 

Monetary payments and other incentives are used by researchers to encourage survey participation and ensure high response rates. Incentives are particularly helpful for mitigating the perceived burden associated with lengthy and/or complex surveys. In this paper we trace the expanding role of monetary incentives over the past two decades in gaining cooperation for the Survey of Consumer Finances. Important shifts have involved higher dollar amounts for post-incentives (from $50 to $300or higher) and the inclusion of pre-incentives ranging from $5 to $15. We highlight key findings from experiments involving incentives for the SCF over the past decade. We punctuate attempts to retain operational efficiency while boosting survey response, offering insights that may help inform data collection designs for other largescale surveys. We also share early results gauging the efficacy of cash pre-incentives and sequential post-incentives for the 2025 SCF.

surveys

response rate

incentives

experiment