In an effort to encourage Portable People Meter panelists to carry their meters “every waking hour,” Arbitron has created a personal home page system for participants, called “My Meter and Me” – Spanish version “Mi Medidor y Yo.” The web site encourages panelists and secure and personalized way to check their earned reward points and see how they are doing toward earning bonuses and sweepstakes entries. The rewards and personal websites are part of the initiatives that Arbitron has undertaken to improve PPM sample performance.
“Giving PPM panelists reward points based on the amount of time they carry their meters is a patented means of motivating good survey compliance. You can’t reward respondents based on the number of entries they fill out, or on the number of buttons they push. Because the PPM is passive and portable, you can use motion as a measure of survey compliance. That’s what makes ‘My Meter and Me’ such a compelling idea,” said Arbitron chief Research Officer Bob Patchen.
