Impact report Younger people can put more value on their time and be less willing to trade hours for an incentive The bottom line is that, even if everyone is conscious of the importance of providing a good experience, respondents often end up with a discouraging one. She wants the industry to challenge the continuous push for lower cost per interview, because this has a direct impact on the rewards suppliers can offer their members. This will require a change in mindset, where respondents are viewed as more than data-generating commodities. Any brand that wishes to thrive must deliver personalised and relevant participant experience when it comes to research, says Hambly. The importance of profiling comes into play, he adds. This enables us to contact respondents at the right time, with the right message, and through the right channel. This ensures a yield of higher-quality insights. However, participant experience isnt merely a problem for online surveys. When it comes to qualitative research, it is also important to ensure that those taking part are fully engaged. After all, researchers like to feel that they are forging relationships with participants, and there are ethical obligations to take the experience of participants into account when planning and budgeting. With in-person research, there are a number of reasons why it is important to give people a good experience. Not only are the outcomes often linked to how engaged someone feels with the research process, but it helps researchers to understand a participants motivations for taking part. Younger people, for instance, can put more value on their time and be less willing to trade hours for an incentive. Another factor when it comes to good experience is ensuring the findings are shared with those who took part. If people feel they have some ownership, that will foster trust with the researchers. This could also reduce recruitment time and costs in future when hiring participants who are a good fit. It would also reduce the risk of a study being delayed because of no-shows. Data privacy According to Tolunas Hambly, many respondents whether online or face to face have increasing concerns about privacy, especially when they are asked for personally identifying information (PII). This is also having an impact on the participant experience. Respondents have a keen understanding of data privacy these days and the value of the insights they share. Accordingly, they are less willing to share it with third parties than in the past, he says. For surveys that do ask for PII, it is important to ensure the information is relevant to the research. 24 Impact ISSUE 36 2022_pp18-27_Report.indd 24 08/12/2021 10:00