Are prepaid monetary incentives sufficient for reducing panel attrition and optimizing the response rate? An experiment in the context of a multi-wave panel with a sequential mixed-mode design

Abstract

In this contribution, we evaluate the short- and long-term effects of a prepaid cash incentive on young people’s cooperation and response rate in the fourth and fifth wave of a panel with sequential mixed-mode design (online questionnaire, CATI). Analyses are based on a survey experiment of students from randomly selected school classes of equal shares, which have participated in the third wave. Findings show that a monetary incentive has a direct and positive effect on the response rate in the fourth but not in the subsequent wave. However, the effect of the incentive is not persistent, since the effect weakens and fades away during the field phase and cannot be directly transferred to the second survey mode. As emphasized in the tailored design method (TDM), a monetary incentive can contribute to a shorter field phase and hence lower costs, but it is an insufficient instrument against panel attrition and the optimization of the retention rate when other strategies are disregarded.