Nielsen updating viewer's incentives

Gift cards have been Nielsen's go-to for the past few years to incentivize PPM panelists and diary keepers to participate actively. For a service that once mailed crisp dollar bills in envelopes as an incentive, it has been seen as a better way to interact with consumers and to keep them involved. There are also games and birthday bonuses, and panelists typically accrue points, which then can be cashed in for a gift card from a retailer of their choice. In the case of homes with children, Nielsen has also offered a gift catalog for its television ratings service. But changes are afoot.

Nielsen has alerted customers that it has eliminated the gift catalog for kids, and during the next few months, it will be making additional changes to a number of the incentives used in the PPM and television panels. While it has not said what the specific changes are, the adjustments to how members are encouraged to participate began rolling out earlier this month, and Nielsen says it will make a series of adjustments through the second quarter. It says the changes will provide a “more modern, engaging and productive panelist experience,” and they are based on research into best practices in sample incentivization.

“While we do not expect these changes to have negative impacts to panel performance or data reported by Nielsen panels, we will be closely monitoring key metrics for any unexpected outcomes,” the company told customers in the announcement.

Nielsen says it has also created a monitoring framework that focuses on changes in panel installation counts, panel in-tabs, and panel representation and proportionality to monitor whether the incentive changes have any impact on panelist participation. “We will be prepared to take necessary remedial action should we see any significant degradation in these important metrics,” it tells users.