Revisiting Dillman: Does the Design and Personalization of Mailed Invitations influence Online Survey Response Rates?

• In Event: 4464 - Regular Session on Methodology: Progress and New Approaches

Abstract

Nonresponse to online surveys has been a notable concern of survey methodologists, who continue to implement strategies and incentives to boost returns. Don Dillman’s methods emphasize tailored designs to maximize response rates, and this paper assesses how mailed notification designs and requested timelines for completion influences online survey response rates. Using a target population of rural Kansans, I assess how minor changes in mailed notifications are connected to participation in an online survey. I mailed postcards to private water well owners in Kansas inviting recipients to complete a 40-item online survey about their water usage; postcards varied in their personalization of the mailing label, the timeline put forth to complete the survey, and the color of ink used in my signature. Return rates across notifications were quite similar (around 3 percent), although notifications with blue signatures, shorter deadlines, and the phrase “or current resident” in the recipients’ addresses received better responses than those with red signatures, longer deadlines, and personalized addresses. Overall, each questionnaire was about 80 to 90 percent complete, regardless of the activation in the request response function in the online survey. Strategies for surveying older, rural populations which are less familiar with the internet could improve the returns of online questionnaires, and understanding how invitations’ stylistic variations influence response rates can inform researchers how to minimize nonresponse for online surveys among populations with relatively low levels of internet access. This study also recommends using planned missing data designs to improve return rates in lengthy online surveys.

Authors

• Brock Ternes, SUNY Cortland

• Todd D. Little, Texas Tech University