Media / Publication
October 14, 2025

Can tailored recruitment messaging increase digital trace data donation compliance?

Digital trace data donations offer valuable insights for social science research, but securing participants’ willingness to share their personal digital footprints remains a challenge. In this article, Ernesto de León, Fabio Votta, Stein Jongerius, Joris Mulder, Bella Struminskaya, Theo Araujo and Claes de Vreese investigate whether tailored recruitment messages can increase willingness to donate digital trace data.

Abstract

Digital data donations offer valuable insights for social science research but are difficult to secure. This paper tested tailored recruitment messages aimed at increasing willingness to donate digital trace data by addressing concerns about low digital skills and trust in science. Two strategies were evaluated: a priori tailoring, which tailors the invitation message based on participants’ profiles, and post-hoc tailoring, which addresses participants’ specific reasons for refusal. For the a-priori approach, two pre-registered survey experiments were conducted on participants with low digital skills and low trust in science, treating these groups with tailored recruitment messages addressing these concerns. Although statistically insignificant, these treatments resulted in a 6% and 11% increase in intention to donate. Out of an original sample of 5,595 participants asked to donate their data, the post-hoc strategy targeted those who initially refused, showing improved engagement, especially among those with concerns about their low digital skills. Collectively, these post-hoc messages led to 5% of participants who initially refused to agree to participation, and 28% to agree to be recontacted at a later stage. We conclude by discussing practical details for the implementation of these strategies.

To continue reading please visit:
https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2025.2568497

This open access article was published in the International Journal of Social Research Methodology,

de León, E., Votta, F., Jongerius, S., Mulder, J., Struminskaya, B., Araujo, T., & de Vreese, C. (2026). Can tailored recruitment messaging increase digital trace data donation compliance? International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 29(4), 503–519.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2025.2568497

Keywords: Data donation, Survey Tailoring, Digital Trace Data, Survey Experiment, Participant Compliance