Research and analysis

Tax credits communications campaign tracking 2021

Published 29 September 2022

Quantitative research with tax credits customers.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Research Report 676.

Research conducted by Ipsos between June and September 2021 the findings in this report reflect the attitudes of participants at the time it was conducted. Prepared by Ipsos (Juliette Albone, Tom Cooper, Kyle Morris) for HMRC.

Disclaimer: The views in this report are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of HMRC.

1. Summary of findings

The annual tax credits campaign is aimed at customers who must renew their tax credits by 31 July each year, to remain in receipt of the correct tax credits payment. Other customers are renewed automatically. The exception was in 2020, where in response to COVID-19, the majority of claimants had their tax credits award auto-renewed.

In 2021 some customers had to again renew their award by 31 July. Throughout this report, where relevant, results from the pre and post-wave surveys of the 2021 campaign are split by reply required claimants and auto-renew claimants.

Campaign recognition is significantly higher amongst the primary audience of reply required claimants (68%) than auto-renew (37%) suggesting successful targeting. Unprompted, information about the deadline date was the most cited message from the adverts amongst reply required claimants.

After seeing the ads, reply required claimants were more likely than auto-renew claimants to take any action (77% vs 63%). The most cited follow-up action for both audience groups was renewing online (32% amongst reply required and 37% amongst auto-renew).

Renewing online was the most popular method of renewal for all claimants (67%). This method was largely chosen because of the perceived ease (56%) and convenience (56%) followed by speed (50%).

In the post-wave, just under half (46%) of reply required claimants prioritised renewing tax credits differently this year. Amongst this group, COVID-19 remains the most cited reason (92%) for prioritising tax credits differently. 63% of reply required claimants who could recall why they were prioritising differently, said that they submitted earlier than usual.

Research was conducted online via the Ipsos MORI online panel. 701 claimants were surveyed in the pre-wave and 700 in the post-wave. Due to the campaign objectives this year, quotas were set on the number of claimants who are required to reply to HMRC in order to renew their claim (‘reply required’ claimants) and on those who are renewed automatically. This is a new quota measure for tax credits campaign tracking, and therefore means that no direct comparisons with prior waves of tracking research have been made.

2. Introduction

2.1 Background and objectives

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) administers tax credits to provide financial support to vulnerable and, low-income families. Each year, HMRC runs a national tax credits renewals advertising campaign, targeting reply required customers. Historically this has included TV, radio, video on demand, digital display, social media and sponsored search results. This year, advertising ran on broadcast video on demand, radio, online and social media, reflecting a smaller number of customers to reach in 2021.

The 2021 campaign was aimed at reply required customers, as opposed to those who are renewed automatically. This differs from the 2020 campaign, which aimed to prompt all claimants to contact HMRC only if they had a change in their circumstances to report.

The research explores the effectiveness of the campaign by measuring:

• spontaneous and prompted awareness of the campaign and sources of awareness among tax credit claimants

• response to the campaign elements in terms of engagement, message take-out and call to action

• pre and post-shifts in knowledge and attitudes as a result of exposure to the campaign

2.2 Methodology and sample

Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute carried out the research, using an online panel to complete surveys.

Two waves of research were conducted to evaluate the 2021 campaign: a pre-wave, which acted as a baseline prior to the campaign running, followed by a post-wave after the campaign ended. 701 tax credits claimants were surveyed in the 2021 pre-wave, and another separate 700 tax credit claimants were surveyed in the post-wave.

Interviewing for the 2021 pre-wave took place between 14 June and 2 July 2021. For the 2021 post-wave, interviews took place between 3 August and 18 August 2021. Claimants were sampled from across the UK from the Ipsos MORI online panel. In order to conduct further analysis following the post-wave, an additional re-contact sample was carried out between 17 and 23 September.

Due to the campaign objectives this year, quotas were set on the number of claimants who are required to reply to HMRC in order to renew their claim (‘reply required’ claimants) and on those who are renewed automatically. This is a new quota measure to tax credits campaign tracking, and therefore means that no direct comparisons with prior waves of tracking research have been made.

In the post-wave research, each respondent was shown and played examples of the following campaign materials:

• the social media ads (static)

• online and social video ad

• broadcast video on demand ad

• radio

There were 2 iterations of each campaign asset, called ‘Remind’ and ‘Reassert’. Claimants were only shown either ‘Remind’ or ‘Reassert’ versions of the stimulus, and the number seeing each was equal. The ‘Remind’ and ‘Reassert’ campaign assets featured subtle differences, with the latter using slightly firmer and more urgent messaging cues.

In this report, comparisons are made between the pre and post-waves of the survey. Differences in response between groups or across waves have been significance tested at a 95% level of significance. Statistically significant differences in responses are explicitly indicated in the findings.

2.3 Sample profile

Quotas were set to achieve a robust sample size for each key subgroup (gender, age, employment status) as shown below.

2.4 Figure 1: Sample profile of reply required claimants

Reply Required	Total	Men	Women	16 to 34	35+	In work	Out of work
Pre-wave – number of interviews	291	89	200	91	200	240	35
Pre-wave – percentage of completes	42%	13%	29%	13%	29%	34%	5%
Post-wave – number of interviews	290	139	151	90	200	260	18
Post-wave percentage of completes	42%	20%	22%	13%	28%	37%	3%
Overall tax credit claimant population profile		31%	69%	21%	79%	72%	28%

2.5 Figure 2: Sample profile of auto-renew claimants

Auto-renew	Total	Men	Women	16-34	35+	In work	Out of work
Pre-wave – number of interviews	410	132	277	87	323	289	81
Pre-wave – percentage of completes	58%	19%	40%	12%	46%	41%	12%
Post-wave – number of interviews	410	112	297	82	328	297	76
Post-wave – percentage of completes	58%	16%	42%	12%	47%	42%	11%
Overall tax credit claimant population profile		31%	69%	21%	79%	72%	28%

Please note, due to non-responses percentages will not always add up to 100%

3. Ad recognition

3.1 Recognition and channel recall

In the post-wave survey, claimants were shown the campaign materials in different forms and asked whether they recognised them. Half (50%) of tax credit claimants recognised at least one of either the online and social video ads, radio ad, social image ad or broadcast video on demand.

Recognition of any ad was significantly higher amongst reply required claimants (68%) than auto-renew claimants (37%). Radio was the most highly recognised form of campaign material recognised by reply required claimants (55%), followed by broadcast VOD (52%), social image (49%) and online and social video (44%).

The ‘Reassert’ versions of campaign assets were more likely to prompt recall of ads amongst reply required claimants. Just over half (54%) of reply required claimants (who were shown the Reassert version of the online and social video) said they had seen it before compared to 46% of those who were shown the Remind version of the ad.

Recognition was also higher for the Reassert version of the Radio ad (52% compared to 48% who had heard the Remind ad) and broadcast video on demand (55% compared to 45% Remind). For the social image ad recognition was equal (50% for each).

Amongst those reply required claimants who remembered seeing the ads online, recall was strongest for the ads on social media (59%). Just under half (45%) recalled seeing the ads on a website, and one tenth (10%) remembered seeing them somewhere else online. Just under one tenth (9%) could not recall where they saw the ads, which was significantly lower that the proportion of auto-renew claimants who could not recall where they saw the ads (21%). This suggests that the ads are being correctly attributed, as these answers reflect where the campaign was being targeted.

Claimants were asked to name any place they had seen or heard advertising or media coverage concerning tax credits in the last few months, without any prompts. In both pre and post-waves this spontaneous recall was low, but increased for the reply required audience, from one in 10 in the pre-wave (10%) to one in 5 (20%) in the post-wave. In the post-wave, just under 6 in 10 reply required claimants (59%) and 7 in 10 auto-renew claimants (70%) had not seen or heard any advertising or media coverage concerning tax credits.

Claimants were then prompted with a list of sources of coverage, and were asked to select any which they had seen. Of the sources listed, the reminder letter from HMRC was the most commonly selected, with just under a quarter of reply required claimants (24%) reporting they had seen this. This was followed by the TV ad (19%) and social media (17%). Overall, when prompted, half of reply required claimants (51%) in the post-wave recalled seeing or hearing some form of tax credits advertising.

4. Message recall and attitudinal impact

In the post-wave survey, after being shown advertising materials from the campaign, claimants were asked a series of questions relating to the messages of the adverts, how the adverts made them feel and what actions the adverts might prompt them to do.

4.1 Understanding of ad messaging

Having been shown the advertising materials, claimants were asked an unprompted question about what they thought the main messages of the adverts were. The most cited message, given by 3 in 10 reply required claimants (28%), was the deadline date / the request to renew before 31 July. Fewer claimants (15%) believed that the main message of the adverts was that payments will stop (if not renewed in time).

After they had seen the adverts, claimants were asked to reflect on a series of statements relating to the key messages of the adverts. Overall, claimants agreed with these messages: a large majority of both reply required claimants (93%) and auto-renew claimants (96%) agreed that renewing their tax credits is too important to forget.

Nine in 10 reply required claimants (90%) agreed that they needed to renew their tax credits by 31 July or their payments will stop, 84% of reply required claimants agreed that they should renew now, and 84% agreed they should go to gov.uk/manageyourtaxcredits to renew.

Overall, the adverts were clear and useful for both auto-renew and reply required claimants. In particular, the renewal deadline was clearly conveyed by the advert, with just under 9 in 10 reply required claimants (89%) agreeing that the adverts clearly told them the deadline for renewal. Nine in 10 reply required claimants (87%) agreed that the adverts were a useful reminder to renew.

However, there was a significant difference between reply required claimants and auto-renew claimants on the issue of how the adverts made them feel: 3 quarters of reply required claimants (75%) thought that the adverts made them feel more positively about tax credits, while fewer than 6 in 10 auto-renew claimants (56%) agreed with this statement.

Significantly fewer auto-renew claimants (48%) thought that the adverts told them something new compared to reply required claimants (63%). This perhaps reflects the fact that, unlike reply required claimants, auto-renew claimants did not need to take notice of the renewal deadline date as they were not required to take any action.

4.2 Attitudinal impact of the ads

Claimants were asked a prompted question on how they felt after seeing or hearing the adverts. Amongst reply required claimants, thinking about the 31 July deadline was the most cited statement in response to this question, with 4 in 10 (40%) choosing this statement. This supports other data from the post-wave survey that suggests that the deadline date was a key takeaway from the adverts for claimants.

A quarter of reply required claimants (25%) felt more positive about HMRC after seeing/hearing the adverts. Around one quarter of reply required claimants (23%) felt anxious about not renewing on time after seeing/hearing the adverts, and 15% of reply required claimants felt under pressure after seeing/hearing the adverts.

The post-wave survey data indicates that the adverts were largely effective in motivating claimants to take-action, with just under 8 in 10 reply required claimants (77%) stating that they would take any action after seeing/hearing the adverts.

Successful targeting of the adverts is also indicated by the fact that a significantly higher proportion of reply required claimants (77%) said that they would take-action compared to auto-renew claimants (63%). Being motivated to renew online was the most cited action amongst both reply required (32%) and auto-renew (37%) claimants.

Claimants were generally positive about the adverts themselves, with 8 in 10 reply required claimants (82%) agreeing that the adverts were for people like them, and a similar proportion (79%) agreeing that the adverts were supportive and encouraging. However, reply required claimants were significantly more likely to think the adverts were patronising (49%) and irritating (44%) compared to auto-renew claimants (both 23%).

4.3 The renewals experience and attitudes towards HMRC

5. Deadline awareness

There was an increase in the proportion of claimants who correctly identified the renewal deadline date between pre-wave and post-wave. Overall, a third of pre-wave claimants (33%) gave the right renewal deadline date of 31 July, and 36% of post-wave claimants gave the correct renewal deadline date.

Ad recognisers in the post-wave were less likely to be able to identify the correct deadline date than non-recognisers. Just over one quarter (26%) of recognisers identified the correct deadline compared to just under half (47%) non-recognisers. Similarly, unprompted ad recognisers were less likely to identify the correct deadline (35%) compared to unprompted non-recognisers (40%).

These findings may seem counter-intuitive at first glance. The differences between ad-recognisers and non-recognisers are likely explained in part by the link between length of time claiming tax credits and deadline recall. Unsurprisingly, those who reported claiming tax credits for longer are significantly more likely to remember the correct deadline date, with almost half (48%) of long-term claimants correctly identifying the deadline compared with just one in 10 (10%) of those who said they started claiming their tax credits more recently.

At the same time, these longer-term claimants were also more likely be non-recognisers (63%) than recent claimants (19%). In addition, these results could reflect the fact that some customers may forget or deprioritise tax credits once the campaign has run and they have renewed.

There was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of claimants who gave the incorrect date and month between the pre-wave and post-wave surveys. Half of claimants (50%) in the pre-wave gave the wrong date and the wrong month when asked to name this year’s renewal deadline.

This increased to 56% of claimants in the post-wave. This increase in the incorrect identification of the deadline month was driven, in part, by male claimants: 7 in 10 male claimants (71%) gave the wrong date and month in the pre-wave, increasing to 76% of male claimants in the post-wave. Reply required claimants were also more likely to give the wrong date (62%) in the post-wave compared to auto-renew claimants (52%).

These results may initially seem surprising. However, they may be explained by sample variation among males between waves and that male claimants were less likely to recall the correct deadline. Around 3 in 10 (31%) of reply-required pre-wave respondents were male, rising to almost half (48%) in the post wave.

5.1 Renewal method

Over 3 quarters of claimants (77%) renewed their tax credits themselves. More than one in 10 claimants (13%) renewed their tax credits with their partner, and fewer than one in 10 claimants (8%) stated that their partner renewed.

The renewals pack and letter from HMRC were the most effective prompts for renewal. Of those who could remember contacting HMRC, just over half of these claimants (52%) were prompted to renew by the renewals pack, and around a third (35%) were prompted to renew by the letter from HMRC. Just under one in 5 (18%) of these claimants were prompted into renewing by the advertising campaign.

Online remained the most popular method of renewing tax credits, with just over 2 thirds of claimants (67%) choosing to renew their claim this way in 2021. On paper and by telephone were less popular methods of renewal compared to online, with 15% and 12% renewing by these ways respectively.

Of those who renewed online, ease and convenience “I could do it at a time that suited me” were the most cited reasons for renewing that way, with 56% of the online renewal group stating that they renewed online for these reasons. Furthermore, half of those who renewed online (50%) chose this renewal method because they ‘thought it was the quickest way to do it’.

Over a third of claimants reported that they renewed in either June or July (20% in June and 16% in July). Reply required claimants were more likely to leave it until June or July to renew compared to auto-renew claimants who were more likely to renew earlier (such as in the months of March or April). One in 5 claimants (20%) either did not know or could not remember the month in which they renewed their tax credits.

5.2 Renewal experience

Overall, claimants were largely positive about the experience of renewing their tax credits, with more than 9 in 10 claimants (94%) finding the renewals process easy. Nearly all of those who renewed online (97%) found the process easy.

Claimants were given a series of statements relating to tax credits and were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with each statement. Amongst reply required claimants, ensuring all the information is complete and accurate, and renewing by the deadline were the 2 most agreed upon statements, with nearly 9 in 10 (87%) reply required claimants agreeing with these statements in the post-wave survey.

Reply required claimants were also in wide agreement that it was important to renew, even if there were not any changes in circumstances “to ensure I receive the right money”, with nearly 9 in 10 reply required claimants (86%) agreeing with this statement in the post-wave.

Over half of reply required claimants in the pre-wave (56%) and post-wave (54%) stated that they placed the same priority on renewing their tax credits this year as they did in previous years. Auto-renew claimants were more likely to say that renewing their tax credits was the same priority as previous years, with just under 3 quarters (73%) in the post-wave stating that they prioritised renewal the same compared to previous years.

Amongst those reply required claimants who prioritised submitting their tax credits renewal differently this year, a significant majority (92%) of these claimants prioritised renewal differently because of the impact of COVID-19. Of those reply required claimants who knew why they prioritised their tax credit renewal differently this year, 2 thirds (66% in pre-wave and 63% in post-wave) were likely to renew earlier than usual.

Awareness of the consequences of not renewing tax credits was tested amongst claimants. This was done by asking claimants to select which statements they thought were true, from a series of statements regarding the consequences of not renewing on time. The most cited consequence amongst reply required claimants was that they would no longer receive tax credits money if they failed to renew; half of reply required claimants in both the pre-wave (48%) and post-wave (50%) cited this, with a significantly higher proportion of auto-renew claimants (60%) citing this factor in the post-wave compared to the reply required audience (50%).

The second most cited consequence was that they would receive the wrong amount of money if they did not renew by the deadline, with over a third of reply required claimants in the pre-wave (37%) and post-wave (36%) citing this consequence.