Effects of Changing the Incentive Strategy on Panel Performance: Experimental Evidence From a Probability-Based Online Panel of Refugees

Authors

  • Jean Philippe Décieux Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung
  • Sabine Zinn SOEP/DIW
  • Andreas Ette Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2025.v19i2.8437

Keywords:

Panel study, Experiment, Refugee study, Incentive Strategies

Abstract

This study investigated how changing the mode of incentive administration between two panel waves, spaced six months apart, affected longitudinal survey response. A split-ballot incentive experiment was used to compare shifting from an unconditional pre-paid incentive mode in the first wave to a conditional post-paid mode in the second wave, versus consistently using a conditional post-paid mode across both waves. Social Exchange Theory, Self-Perception Theory, and Leverage-Salience Theory form the theoretical framework for grasping response behavior. The main performance indicators for evaluating both incentive strategies were wave-specific and total panel participation, panel consent, and cumulative response. Results also sheds light on data quality, demographic composition, and survey costs. The experiment was implemented in the context of the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP survey “Refugees from Ukraine in Germany,” a probability-based register sample. Multivariate analysis indicated that unconditional pre-paid incentives were only superior within a single-wave perspective, and a constant conditional post-paid incentive strategy substantially outperformed the incentive strategy that changed the mode from initial pre-paid to post-paid. This was mainly the case in terms of participation and survey costs, while data quality and bias concerning demographics were similar across the groups. Based on these results, we derive practical implications.

Author Biographies

Jean Philippe Décieux, Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung

Jean Philippe Décieux is a senior researcher with a doctorate in sociology. He works mainly on survey methodology in the context of social science surveys, with a focus on migration.

Sabine Zinn, SOEP/DIW

Sabine Zinn is a senior researcher in statistical computing, survey statistics, and computational social science. She holds a professorship in social methods at Humboldt University and is the director of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). 

Andreas Ette, Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung

Andreas Ette is a recognized migration researcher with extensive expertise in the collection of migration surveys. He holds a doctorate in this field.

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Published

2025-08-08 — Updated on 2025-08-11

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How to Cite

Décieux, J. P., Zinn, S., & Ette, A. (2025). Effects of Changing the Incentive Strategy on Panel Performance: Experimental Evidence From a Probability-Based Online Panel of Refugees. Survey Research Methods, 19(2), 223–239. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2025.v19i2.8437 (Original work published August 8, 2025)

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