Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from MarketingCharts, a Watershed Publishing publication providing up-to-to-minute data and research to marketers.
The magic number is $25, says Parago, an incentives and engagement company, in a new research study that asked consumers what their time is worth when providing feedback on products or services, listening to sales pitches and providing personal information to companies and marketers via various methods of interaction.
For $25, a significant majority would demo a product or service if approached in a public setting (96 percent), take a 10-minute survey via smartphone (91 percent), get a quote online (78 percent), participate in a one-hour in-store sales presentation (77 percent) or get an in-home quote (74 percent).
Of those surveyed, 54 percent would also participate in a two-hour focus group for $25, with women slightly more likely to do so than men (56 percent vs. 53 percent). For $50, 75 percent of female respondents and 70 percent of males would participate in a focus group of that length.
Respondents were 35 percent more likely to participate for free with an in-person sales pitch rather than a sales pitch by phone (65 percent vs. 48 percent).
The study also found Millennials more open to participating than Boomers:
- Millennials are more than twice as likely as Boomers (51+) to say they would participate in a smartphone survey for free (57 percent vs. 23.2 percent);
- While Millennials are about 21 percent more likely than Boomers to take a phone survey for free (52 percent vs. 43 percent), a payment of $5 narrows the gap to 81 percent of Millennials and 80 percent of Boomers;
- Sixty-one percent of Boomers and 70 percent of Millennials would participate for free if approached in a public setting to sample or demonstrate a product or service.
- Seventy-three percent of Boomers would participate in an in-store demo for $25, while only 27 percent would do it for free.
"Every consumer has a price, which is good news for marketers," said Rodney Mason, CMO of Parago, in a press release. "The big headline: marketers spend millions on media for recruiting to change behavior. Given these findings, we conclude that many would be better off reallocating a portion of their budgets to direct behavioral rewards for higher conversions on total spend."
The data came from a 50-question online survey of 1,672 consumers based on the central theme: "What is your time worth in different marketing scenarios?"