Instant lottery at petrol stations: making a boring task fun or raising suspicions?

For this case study we tested a flyer from at a petrol station in Latvia (the contents have been translated into English). The offer is simple: if you manage to fill up your tank to either 22.22, 33.33 or 44.44 liters, you win an instant prize. To get quick consumer feedback we used our research solution Promo Test.

The General Perception score reflects the overall likeability of this promotion. It is also based on the KPIs that signal a person's readiness to ENGAGE with the tested material, such as desire to learn more about it and share it with others. The score is above average - a very good result, but not quite perfect, it hasn't reached the 25% of the best status. If the lottery promo pleased people, why didn't it get a higher score?

To understand what's behind this, let's take a look at the breakdown of 8 metrics that reflect the consumer attitude in detail.

The good news is that the most important metrics such as "desire to try" and "share with others" are hitting those high scores. People are eager to engage with this promo.

But then there is "likeability" which is jumping out at us. This one metric scored lower than others. In fact, it is below average. Although people found the promo to be both very relevant and unique, they didn't like it all that much. What happened there?

When a question like this pops up we turn to the open-ended section of our report where the respondents leave their comments.

In this case, the vast majority of people highlighted the fact that turning a boring task into a challenge makes it much more fun for them:

However, lots of issues came through. Many were discouraged by the slim chances of actually winning. Many also wished there was more information about the prize itself on the flyer. Others pondered if it even makes sense financially to participate, since the promo is perhaps tempting you to put more fuel in than you had planned.

All in all, the promo was well-received by the consumers. Gamifying a boring task is indeed a winning idea. However, little tweaks based on the feedback could make the promotion even more effective.