What’s actually motivating people to complete surveys in 2025
Cindy Mielke
Businesses might want to send out surveys for many reasons. They may be seeking feedback from customers on recent purchases, conducting market research, or gauging employee sentiment regarding company policies.
However, while creating a survey is easy enough, getting people to actually complete it can often be a challenge. Even when offering a small incentive, without hitting on the actual needs or interests of the person on the other end of the survey, businesses might find they don’t get the engagement levels or the helpful data from them that they’re hoping for.
Below, we’ll go over different motivators that resonate with people the most in 2025.
Financial incentives
It doesn’t matter who is taking the survey – everyone appreciates a little financial incentive. When you offer a gift card or discount in exchange for taking part in a survey, it’s much more likely that you’ll receive at least some initial interest from survey participants.
The trick here, though, is finding the correct dollar value that doesn’t significantly impact your budget while still creating the level of motivation needed to sit down and complete the survey. Often, this number should be determined based on the time required to complete the task.
Freedom of choice
Although you may have a good idea of the types of rewards your survey participants would prefer, many times, providing them with more choices in their incentives can be quite effective.
For example, instead of offering individuals a discount on branded products or services, consider offering customizable gift cards that can be redeemed wherever the individuals prefer. This ensures that the incentive you’re offering will resonate with everyone and not limit them to using it a certain way.
Knowing they’re being heard
Depending on the purpose of the survey, many people are happy to simply share their ideas or opinions so long as they know someone on the other end is actually paying attention. The last thing someone wants is to spend 20-30 minutes giving insightful feedback to a brand only to see their comments shuffled away.
This isn’t just true for potential or current customers, but also for remote working employees that may not always have the ability to connect with company leadership on a day-to-day basis.
The principle of reciprocity
Another important motivator for many individuals is feelings of reciprocity. This is especially the case for customers who have had a great brand experience and are happy to return their time and effort to the business as a thank you.
Leveraging the principle of reciprocity can be a highly effective marketing strategy when applied correctly. Finding the perfect time to send a feedback survey or request an online review can help businesses gather more relevant data to use in improving their operations.
Desire to contribute to a group or purpose
No one likes being left out of the loop, and many people are just happy to contribute to a larger group or rally behind something they’re really passionate about. When you frame your survey in strategic ways, you can help to encourage these types of individuals to get involved with important objectives your brand is trying to achieve.
If you build surveys in a way that people feel like they’re actually having a say in the direction of the business, you’ll absolutely gain more interest and be able to gather more useful information.
Competitive spirit
Another way to gather more interest in your surveys is by turning a boring survey into something that unlocks a competitive spirit. For example, offering participants the chance to enter a raffle for a much larger prize by completing a survey sometimes is more impactful than guaranteeing them a smaller monetary incentive.
Gamifying your surveys can also be done in other ways as well, such as making them part of a customer loyalty program and providing them with additional loyalty points for every one they complete.
Sense of urgency
Understanding human psychology can be highly advantageous when trying to create survey incentives. One of these elements is the impact that creating a sense of urgency can have. By combining a small incentive with a limited-time offer, it can help to engage an individual’s FOMO, or “Fear of Missing Out.”
This can help gather more interest from survey participants and the data in a reasonable amount of time so you can start analyzing responses right away.
Easy-to-follow instructions
How easy or difficult your survey is to complete will be another variable that can impact the amount of engagement you’re able to get from individuals. If your survey is clunky, confusing, or not optimized for mobile users, you’ll lose the interest of individuals fast.
No one wants to fight with a poorly designed survey that takes them more time to complete than it’s worth. The easier you make it for someone to respond, the more likely they are to do it. A clean, simple, and quick survey design is a form of respect. It tells the respondent you value their time, which usually makes them more willing to give it.
Brand reputation
Regardless of the type of incentives you choose to offer, the reputation of your brand can often make the difference in your response percentages. It’s important to keep in mind that many people don’t just hand over their personal information or thoughts and opinions to just anyone. You need to earn their trust first.
By spending more time on building a credible brand and establishing authority in your industry, it will be easier to get customers or employees to open up to you and share their thoughts.
Get more engagement with your surveys
There are many different ways you can offer the right incentives to get more engagement from your survey respondents. By following the strategies discussed, you’ll ensure you’re able to increase your response rates and gather more actionable data you can use to improve your brand.
Author Name: Cindy Mielke
Author bio: Cindy is passionate about the incentive industry. In addition to her role as vice president of strategic partners here at Tango, she is a Certified Professional of Incentive Management who proudly serves on two industry boards. When she’s not working, Cindy enjoys spending time with her family—including three cats, two dogs, and a horse—and sharing her love of nature as a Nebraska Master Naturalist.