# Does "scan me" text increase scans — the honest answer

> There is no rigorous public dataset proving how much a "scan me" label increases QR scans — vendor figures are unpublished and unverifiable. The mechanism is plausible, since a label that names the destination reduces hesitation. The reliable path is a two-code test with distinct UTM parameters on your own audience.

Source: https://useqr.app/docs/design/does-scan-me-text-increase-scans · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup.

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## What the evidence actually is

Search for a number and you will find plenty: paid QR platforms citing lifts of
30–80% from frames and CTA text. None that we can find publish their methodology,
sample sizes, or controls — the figures come from marketing pages, not studies, and are
not verifiable. There is no peer-reviewed or independently replicated dataset on QR
label lift that this page could honestly cite.

So the honest answer has two halves: the *direction* of the effect is well-supported by
ordinary reasoning about behaviour, and the *size* of the effect is unknown and almost
certainly varies enormously with context.

## Why the mechanism is plausible

A bare QR code asks a passer-by to spend effort on an unknown outcome. A label that
names the destination — "Scan for the menu", "Scan to pay" — changes the transaction:

- **It answers "what happens?"** before the reader commits, removing the main reason
  to walk past.
- **It filters honestly.** People who do not want the menu will not scan, which is
  fine — scans were never the goal, outcomes were. See
  [what scan rate to expect](/docs/marketing/what-scan-rate-should-you-expect) for
  base-rate honesty.
- **It addresses caution.** Awareness of [QR phishing](/docs/security/quishing-explained)
  is growing; a specific stated destination reads as more trustworthy than an unlabelled
  square, though a label is obviously not a security guarantee.

Note what the reasoning supports: naming the destination. It says nothing for the
literal text "scan me", which restates the mechanism while leaving the outcome unknown
— the distinction drawn in [frames and CTA labels](/docs/design/qr-code-frames-and-cta-labels).

## Run the test yourself

Context beats any published average, and the test is cheap:

1. **Two codes, one variable.** Same artwork, same size, same destination page; only
   the label differs (or label vs none).
2. **Distinct tracking.** Give each code the same URL with different
   [UTM parameters](/glossary/utm-parameter) — `utm_content=label-a` vs
   `utm_content=label-b` — following
   [adding UTM parameters](/docs/how-to/how-to-add-utm-parameters-to-a-qr-code).
   UseQR generates static codes and does no tracking of its own, so the measurement
   happens in your analytics; the
   [tracking guide](/docs/how-to/how-to-track-qr-code-scans) covers the setup.
3. **Control for position.** Placement effects swamp label effects, so alternate the
   two codes between locations weekly, or print both versions of the same poster and
   distribute them randomly.
4. **Wait for volume.** With typical scan counts, differences under a few dozen scans
   per variant are noise. Set a threshold before starting — for example, run until the
   combined total passes 200 scans — rather than stopping when the result looks
   pleasing.

Both variants should pass the [validator](/validate) before printing; a marginal code
that scans unreliably will corrupt the comparison in whichever position has worse
light.

## FAQ

### Does adding "scan me" to a QR code increase scans?

Probably a little, possibly a lot, and nobody has published rigorous evidence either
way. The reasoning favours labels that name the destination over the literal words
"scan me". If the number matters to you, run a two-code UTM test on your own audience.

### Why are vendor statistics about QR frames unreliable?

They come from marketing pages without published methodology, sample sizes or controls,
and they cannot be independently checked. That does not make them false — it makes them
unusable as evidence, especially for your specific context.

### What is the best text to put next to a QR code?

The destination and the benefit, in a few words: "Scan for the menu", "Scan to pay by
UPI", "Get the free guide". Adding a visible short URL beneath gives people who cannot
or will not scan a second path to the same place.

### How many scans do I need before an A/B result means anything?

More than intuition suggests. Differences of a handful of scans are noise; as a rough
floor, wait until the two variants together have a couple of hundred scans, and decide
the stopping rule before you start rather than when a result looks good.

## Try it

- https://useqr.app/url
- https://useqr.app/validate