The magic number is $25, says Parago in a new research study that asked consumers what their time is worth when providing feedback on products or services, listening to sales pitches and providing personal information to companies and marketers via various methods of interaction. For $25, a significant majority would demo a product or service if approached in a public setting (96%), take a 10-minute survey via smartphone (91%), get a quote online (78%) or in-home (74%) for something like insurance or cable (78%), and participate in a 1-hour in-store sales presentation (77%). 54% would also participate in a 2-hour focus group, with women slightly more likely to do so than men (56% vs. 53%). For $50, 75% of female respondents and 70% of males would participate in a focus group of that length.
Breaking down the responses along a range of marketing scenarios, the survey reveals that:
- Consumers are 13% more likely to say they would get a free in-home quote over a free online quote (44% vs. 39%);
- Respondents are 35% more likely to participate for free with an in-person sales pitch rather than a sales pitch by phone (65% vs. 48%);
- 77% of Millennials (18-30) would drive 10-15 minutes to check out a new product for $20;
- A majority of respondents from each generation require some payment to listen to a quote for business products or services;
- Millennials are more than twice as likely as Boomers (51+) to say they would participate in a smartphone survey for free (57% vs. 23.2%);
- 93% of Millennials would take a smartphone survey for $10, while 87% of Boomers would take one for $25;
- While Millennials are about 21% more likely than Boomers to take a phone survey for free (52% vs. 43%), a payment of $5 narrows the gap to 81% of Millennials and 80% of Boomers;
- 61% of Boomers and 70% of Millennials would participate for free if approached in a public setting to sample or demonstrate a product or service;
- 49% of the total sample would provide personal info (such as an email address or phone number) as part of such a demo or sample;
- 73% of Boomers would participate in an in-store demo for $25, while only 27% would do it for free;
About the Data: The data is based on a national online survey in February 2013 of 1,672 consumers representative of the US population by education, income and sex. They responded to a 50-question online survey based on the central theme: “What is your time worth in different marketing scenarios?”