Enhancing Participation in Web Tracking Studies Through Monetary Incentives

Experimental Evidence from an Academic Data Collection Infrastructure

Bibliographic Data

ID22763569
AuthorsJudith Gilsbach (0009-0006-5717-0758, Doctoral Candidate, Computational Social Science Department, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany; and Doctoral Candidate, Graduate School of the Social and Behavioural Sciences (GSBS), University of Konstanz , Konstanz,), Joachim G Piepenburg (0000-0003-3354-447X, Postdoctoral Researcher, Survey Design and Methodology Department, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany; and Postdoctoral Researcher, DIE Leibniz Center for Lifelong Learning, Research Sector Teaching and Learning , Bonn,), Frank Mangold (0000-0002-9776-3113, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Sebastian Stier (0000-0002-1217-5778, Department Head, Computational Social Science Department, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany; and Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim , Mannheim,), Bernd Weiß (0000-0002-1176-8408, Team Lead, Survey Design and Methodology Department, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany; and Professor, Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Duisburg-Essen , Duisburg and Essen,)
Year2026
Publication date2026-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Opinion Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-362X • E-ISSN: 1537-5331
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/poq/nfag032
OpenAlexW7165691876
LanguageEN
References cited55

Web tracking studies provide unique insights into digital behavior but face challenges related to participant recruitment and attrition. This study examines how different monetary incentive structures—unconditional and conditional—and incentive amounts affect key recruitment stages: consent to participate in web tracking, installation of tracking software, and attrition after installation. To assess the effectiveness of monetary incentives across probabilistic and nonprobabilistic recruitment methods, we implement a preregistered experiment with 1,862 participants in the GESIS Panel.dbd—an academic infrastructure for collecting and linking digital behavioral data with survey data in Germany. Results show that unconditional incentives increase consent rates, whereas conditional incentives more effectively foster installation and, in particular, sustain participation after installation. While probabilistic recruitment poses challenges for initial consent, participation levels hereafter remain comparable across recruitment methods. These findings contribute to the development of cost-effective incentive strategies aimed at enhancing participation in web tracking studies.

Affect (linguistics) · Attrition · Data collection · Incentive · Probabilistic logic · Survey data collection · Tracking (education) · Mobile Crowdsensing and Crowdsourcing · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse