••• shopper insights
Consumers not so charitable toward
in-store donation asks
As shoppers, we’ve all been asked some variation of “Would you like to round up for charity today?” at checkout. Beyond being awkward, new research from Adelaide University suggests this practice may have unintended consequences for retailers.
The research analyzed the experiences of U.S. consumers and explored how these requests influence both donation behavior and perceptions of retailers. The study, “Doing good but feeling bad: How checkout donation requests might backfire for retailers by eliciting negative emotional and cognitive consumer response,” published in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, found that asking customers to donate money while they are paying for their own purchases can trigger negative consumer reactions.
“Many participants reported feelings of anxiety and perceived the requests as intrusive, largely due to time pressure and social pressure at the checkout. Consumers frequently felt rushed and worried about being judged by others,” says Ying Zou of the School of Marketing at Adelaide University.
“As we expected, these negative reactions may backfire on retailers. While checkout charity is intended to enhance brand image, uncomfortable experiences can lead consumers to be less willing to donate and to form more critical evaluations of the retailer.”
Providing information about donation requests earlier in the shopping journey, such as through posters or in-store messaging, may reduce surprise and time pressure at checkout. “Most importantly, retailers should communicate clearly and transparently about how donations are collected, where the money goes and the impact those donations make,” Zou says.
••• respondent cooperation
Do incentive bumps increase survey response rates?
A recent study from scholars in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Bureau of Sociological Research shows that a sequential incentive can help survey response rates – but less might be more.
As explained in their article, “Will one more dollar help? The effect of sequential incentives on survey participation and costs in a concurrent mixed-mode survey,” the researchers performed an experiment using a general-population survey mailed to Nebraska households in which the initial mailing included a $1 incentive. Nonrespondents then received an additional $0, $1, $2 or $5 in a subsequent mailing.
Sequential incentives increased response rates overall and offering another $2 or $5 increased response rates but were statistically the same. The data suggests that more than doubling the incentive – to more than $2 – likely won’t help response rates and is a higher expense for researchers.
The most cost-effective sequential incentive, the authors write, is likely around $2, and $1 may be sufficient. Additionally, offering another incentive did not speed up data collection or change the composition of the survey sample.
The researchers note that the sequential incentives in the experiment were small, capped at $5, and that the initial offering was $1. Future research could explore whether higher incentives would boost response rates.