Online panel research based on nonprobability sampling and recruitment methods constitutes the vast majority of global survey research. However, a deeper understanding of the factors motivating individuals to join such panels and participate consistently in surveys, as well as the barriers and inhibitors leading to attrition, is sorely needed. This is especially true because past knowledge on these aspects is almost entirely based on probability-based panels. Therefore, we used data from a nonprobability online panel that was managed by a regional academic institution, with no monetary incentives offered for questionnaire completion. Our research, focusing on panel attrition, strives to identify the prevailing motivations and barriers, while also examining the interplay between them, and is guided by established theories of survey participation such as Leverage-Salience Theory (LST), Cost-Benefit Theory (CBT), and Social Exchange Theory (SET). Using a mixed-methods design, we demonstrate that the most common motivations in this type of online panel are primarily related to panel engagement and are associated with a desire to contribute, such as assisting survey research. In contrast, several of the most important barriers, as reported by active panelists, are primarily related to questionnaire completion and largely involve criticism of questionnaires, such as suggestions for improving response options. Furthermore, our study reveals a relatively weak yet noteworthy association between specific groups of motivations and barriers, such as contribution-focused motivations and lack-of-understanding barriers. This suggests that addressing barriers could potentially lead to increased motivation to cooperate, a perspective not widely explored within the frameworks of CBT, SET, and LST. Additionally, we demonstrate how panelists can be effectively categorized into various motivations-barriers groups, each with somewhat different socio-demographic characteristics. The classification of panelists, which was successfully linked to questionnaire completion, opens opportunities for targeted interventions to mitigate panel attrition and potential representation biases within a panel context.
Kočar et al. (Thu,) studied this question.