Recruitment Tools for Reaching Millennials: The Digital Difference

Abstract

While some research has explored the use of Craigslist or other digital technologies to recruit research participants, little social science research has reflected on how digital technologies and Internet websites might be useful specifically for recruiting millennials. In this article, I discuss attempts to recruit millennial study participants through both digital and nondigital methods. Based on these attempts, I come to the conclusion that because U.S. millennials’ social worlds are increasingly intertwined with digital technologies, this group of young people search for a range of opportunities and experiences primarily using digital means. Therefore, in order to recruit millennial participants in the United States most successfully, social researchers should consider using digital technologies.