Industrial Mail Survey Response: An Experimental Approach

Abstract There is concern about the non-response rate in mail surveys. Many studies indicate respondents’ reluctance to participate, which may influence the validity, cost effectiveness, and practicality of conducting surveys. The issue has particular relevance in industrial surveys. This paper reviews some elements of this issue, and reports on the conduct of a national mail survey which tested the responsiveness of businesses to different incentive levels (no incentive, or a $2 “scratch and reveal” lottery ticket) and questionnaire lengths (produced by printing singlesided and double-sided). The results indicated no influence of either the incentive variation or the questionnaire format variation. It was found that some companies have a policy of refusing to participate due to the growing number of requests they receive. A detailed review of the response rate and potential non-response bias is included, with the conclusion that the self-selection process resulted in low response bias.