Care needed when selecting response inducements in mail surveys of commercial populations
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 1978 · Volume 6 · Issue 4
Abstract
A number of studies have shown that return deadlines and handwritten postscripts have increased returns in mail surveys of the general public. These two techniques have not previously been tested in mail surveys of commercial populations. However, evidence exists to support the hypothesis that the techniques which influence returns to mail surveys of general public populations may not necessarily do so in surveys of commercial populations. Thus, two essentially similar, yet separate, experiments were designed to determine whether a return deadline and/or a handwritten P. S. would increase response in a mail survey of commercial populations. The results of this investigation revealed that neither a handwritten postscript nor the addition of a return time limit significantly increased returns in two mail surveys of commercial populations. Further, no significant interactions were detected. To the extent that the results may be generalized, mail surveyors of commercial populations would be well advised not to waste scarce resources by relying on either of these two techniques to increase returns. Contrasting these results with earlier investigations supports the hypothesis that the response rates to mail surveys of commercial populations are not necessarily increased by the same methods that increase returns from the general public. In order to avoid wasted resources, surveyors of commercial populations should not assume that the techniques which increase response from the general public will necessarily do so among commercial populations.
Keywords
Mail Survey, Cover Letter, Potential Respondent, Mail Questionnaire, Advertising Research
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