Background
Venmo is a popular peer-to-peer payment app for those looking to immediately send money to others. The app launched just over a decade ago and has streamlined the act of spotting your friends (or even strangers) cash in an instant.
Challenge
Venmo reached out to the research experts at Atomik Research to better understand the current rules of social etiquette Venmo users naturally established since the launch of the peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app. Venmo hoped to unwrap new findings that garnered organic, earned media coverage around these understandings.
Venmo initially developed 20 solid survey items prior to enlisting the help of Atomik Research, but the client still needed additional survey items to help identify emerging and existing trends of social etiquette among app users.
Solution
The team of experts at Atomik Research began identifying thematic elements and brainstorming additional survey items that would fit under each theme outlined in Venmo’s overall communication objectives. Themes included etiquette for splitting the bill, roommate etiquette, etiquette for using Venmo during travel or special events, gifting etiquette and dating etiquette. Researchers then developed appropriate segmentation questions to reach Venmo’s desired target sample.
The final version of the survey was approved with a total of seven segmentation/demographic questions and 40 survey questions.
Result
Atomik Research leveraged its network of panel partners in order to reach the desired sample and collect enough data to achieve an acceptable margin of error: +/- 3 percent with a confidence interval of 95 percent. Shortly after, Atomik Research delivered final results and an in-depth analysis of the data and findings to Venmo.
The survey’s findings were helpful for the client in two ways. First, the findings helped Venmo better understand how their users engaged with the app as well as users’ expectations of others when using the P2P app. Secondly, the finings uncovered interesting data points that attracted positive, earned media coverage for the Venmo brand.
The survey earned coverage in the following publications:
- Gizmodo
- Market Watch
- Southern Living
- The Knot News (A popular publication focused on wedding tips and ideas)
- Town and Country Magazine
- Refinery 29
DATA HIGHLIGHTS
Here are several notable findings the research team uncovered during the research process that later fueled mediagenic content:
72% of Venmo users think it is appropriate to issue a request within 24 hours of footing the bill for a shared expense
Nearly two-thirds (66%) of Venmo users surveyed do not think it is appropriate to take someone on a date and then Venmo request them for half the bill afterwards
If a Venmo request for a shared meal is $20+ larger than they expected, users said they would just send the payment because they don’t want to seem cheap
41% of male Venmo users said it is appropriate to take someone on a date and then Venmo request them for half the bill afterwards, while 26% of female Venmo users shared the same opinion
47% of users would use Venmo to send money for a wedding gift, and 65% of users would use Venmo to send money for a birthday present
Nearly a quarter (24%) of Venmo users believe a request in the amount between $1 and $5 is the minimum amount one should request from someone for a shared expense
