The effect of visual stimuli on mail survey response rates
Article Abstract:
This study examines the impact of two considerations of a questionnaire's appearance on response rates. Factors of questionnaire color and a user-friendly format are evaluated as part of a follow-up mail survey to a corporate-sponsored incentive program. In response to a mailing of more than 3,500 questionnaires, it was found that appearance variations of the questionnaire resulted in significantly higher response rates. The content and questions asked in the survey did not vary. In a review of past literature dealing with questionnaire response rates, it was determined that past studies addressed structural, functional, and incentive characteristics that impact on changing response rates. Whereas the literature has not previously addressed the concept of a user-friendly format, there is some research exploring the response rates to color questionnaires versus black and white questionnaires. Previous studies have not found an increase in response rate as a result of the use of color in questionnaire design. This study, however, found color and or a user-friendly format to be of significant value for increasing mail survey response rates. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Industrial Marketing Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0019-8501
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Improving response rates in cross-cultural mail surveys
Article Abstract:
How to achieve good response rates from domestic and international mailings continues to be a perplexing problem for researchers. Studies abound that test the effects of adjustments to specific elements of the survey package. This study advocates the adoption of a more theoretically grounded and integrated approach rather than the random adjustment of specific elements. One such approach, the total design method (TDM) is reviewed and its normative guidelines documented. A study using the approach in a commercial context was conducted in three countries with positive results. The approach was seen to have a positive effect on response rates and to minimize the problem of source country effects. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Industrial Marketing Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0019-8501
Year: 1998
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Cost-effectiveness of follow-up strategies in improving the response rate of mail surveys. What happens when new competitors enter an industry
- Abstracts: Generic marketing strategies. The effects of privatization on marketing capability and activity in Poland. Evolutionary preference segmentation with panel survey data: an application to new products
- Abstracts: Some new algorithms for location problems on networks. Linear programming approaches for multicategory support vector machines
- Abstracts: Using certified mail in industrial research. Facsimile transmission versus mail delivery of self-administered questionnaires in industrial surveys