1 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Incentives for the CE Survey: 

Past, Present, and Future

Ian J. Elkin

Consumer Expenditure Survey

Branch of Research and Program Development

2016 CE Survey Methods Symposium

07/12/2016
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

What are Incentives?

 Incentives are defined as a 

mechanism that motivates or 

encourages one to do something

 Incentives can be monetary (cash 

or check), nonmonetary (magnet, 

pen, etc.), or something inbetween (gift card)

 Incentives can be provided 

conditionally or unconditionally 
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Quarterly 

Survey

 Test Information and Conditions:

2005-2007 Experiment

Amount: $0(control/1st Class Mail), 

$0 (Priority Mail), $20 

(unconditional), and $40 

(unconditional)

Test Sample Size: 9,203
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Quarterly 

Survey Results

 Response rates were higher (3-5 percentage points)

 Refusals lower (3-4 percentage points) in the $40 

treatment group than when compared to the noincentive and $20 treatment groups

 The positive effects that resulted from providing a 

$40 incentive in Wave 1 remained through all five 

waves including a composite response rate at 

approximately 79%
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Diary 

Survey

 Test Information and 

Conditions:

2006 Experiment

Amount: $0(control/1st

Class Mail), $20 

(unconditional), and 

$40 (unconditional)

Test Sample Size: 6,500
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Diary 

Survey Results

 Incentive HHs were more likely to have entries in 

their diaries & complete the interview part of the 

survey in person

 Mean Diary expenditures for the incentive groups 

were about $60 more than the control group, 

although only about $30 of the increase was for 

expenditures that may not be potentially biased by 

the incentive
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Motivation for the 2016 CEQ 

Incentives Test

 Test and assess alternative incentive structures and amounts 

as part of the Gemini Survey Redesign Initiative

 Research Questions:

 Do token incentives affect response rates?

 Are conditional incentives, distributed prior to the fielding of a survey, 

effective tools of reciprocity? 

 Is a conditional incentive for record use effective in significantly 

increasing use of records and improving data quality?

 What is the cost effectiveness of using incentives to gain cooperation, 

reduce contact attempts, and encourage engagement?
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Additional Motivations for the 2016 

CEQ Incentives Test

 Falling response rates: early 1990’s, mid-80% range, mid2000’s, mid-70% range, and mid-2010’s, mid 60% range

 Incentives effective in raising response rates

 Singer et al. (1999) meta-analysis of interviewer 

mediated surveys:

Incentives still effective with interviewer involvement

The higher the initial response rate, the smaller the difference 

between no-incentive and incentive

Effects relatively modest after controlling for other variables
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2016 CEQ Incentives Test - Overview

 Project objectives include developing a plan for 

operationalizing & implementing incentives, researching &

recommending incentive amounts, proposing incentive 

distribution procedures including procedures to capture 

respondents that generally do not respond to classic 

incentives & analyze test data to make a recommendation 

regarding incentive implementation

 Test Information and Conditions:

July 2016 – March 2017 Experiment

Wave 1 Cases

Test Sample Size: 4,050 total (1,350 per treatment group)

Conditional and unconditional incentives
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

2016 CEQ Incentives Test –

Treatment Groups 1 - 3

 Treatment Group 1 Information and Conditions :

Amount: $40 (conditional) and $20 records use 

(conditional)

 Treatment Group 2 Information and Conditions:

Amount: $5 token (unconditional), $40 (conditional), 

and $20 records use (conditional)

 Treatment Group 3 Information and Conditions :

Amount: $5 token (unconditional) and $40 

(conditional)
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

2016 CEQ Incentives Test –

Challenges

 Debit Cards

 Distribution/Handling

 “Deactivated” Cards

 Denominations

 Charitable Contributions

 “One size fits all” incentives

 Nonmonetary Incentives

 Respondent Experience Package 

 Satisficing/Data Quality

 Nonresponse Bias
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Incentives: “To Infinity and Beyond”

 What part will incentives play in the 

Large Scale Feasibility Test and 

Gemini Redesign Project?

 Do the cost-benefit trade-offs warrant 

including incentives in production at 

an earlier date?

 Are debit cards the most cost 

effective and impactful delivery 

method for distributing incentives?

 Conditional or unconditional 

incentives?

 How much money is too much 

money?
Contact Information

13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Ian J. Elkin

Senior Economist

Consumer Expenditure Survey

www.bls.gov/cex

202-691-6865

elkin.ian@bls.gov