Response Effects of Prenotification, Prepaid Cash, Prepaid Vouchers, and Postpaid Vouchers

Abstract

In a web-based experiment with 1,750 randomly sampled university students, we investigated the effect of mailed prenotification plus prepaid cash, mailed prenotification plus a prepaid voucher, mailed prenotification plus a postpaid voucher, and mailed prenotification on its own as compared to a control group without prenotification or incentives. Dependent measures were response, retention, and item nonresponse. Mailed prenotification over no prenotification increased response and retention and decreased item nonresponse. Prenotification plus prepaid cash maximized response and retention. Item nonresponse was lowest with prenotification plus postpaid vouchers and second lowest with prenotification plus prepaid cash. In addition, we compared the cost for all experimental groups. Total costs were highest for prenotification plus prepaid cash, but costs per respondent or per retainee were highest in the control group. In sum, this experiment shows ways of improving participation in web surveys.

Nonmedical use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement as response to chronic stress especially when social support is lacking

“…One week ahead of every survey, participants were informed about the content of the study, the conditions of participation, anonymity, and voluntariness with postal prenotification (see Detailed Ethics Statement in Appendix S1). To increase study participation and data quality, besides this prenotification, participants could choose an incentive (worth 5 EUR = approximately 4.45 USD) at the end of the survey (Lavrakas, 2008, Veen, Göritz, & Sattler, 2016. They could choose to receive monetary reimbursement via mail or PayPal, a voucher for an online retailer, or that the survey team donates to Amnesty International or UNICEF.…”

A Systematic Review of Online Response Rates in Four Counseling Journals

“…Using a three‐contact combination of mail and email combined is more effective than three email messages (Kaplowitz, Lupi, Couper, & Thorp, 2012). Mail and mixed‐method web/mail questionnaires with prenotification yield higher response rates when compared with single‐method web questionnaires (Dykema et al, 2013; Veen, Göritz, & Sattler, 2015). However, response rates to recruitment emails were lower when participants were given the option between mail‐based and web‐based surveys compared with when the recruitment emails provided a web link to participate (Lesser, Newton, Yang, & Sifneos, 2016).…”

Perceived risk of COVID‐19 exposure and poor COVID‐19 prognosis impair sleep: The mediating and moderating roles of COVID‐19‐related anxiety and knowledge

“…Due to missing data on the model variables, 4167 (85.8%) participants (women: 49.3%; average age: 45.8 years ± 15.5) comprise the analytical sample (only participants with complete responses on all scale items used for the analyses were included). Respondents who completed the survey received a small incentive (€0.40) to compensate for their time and to encourage participation (van Veen et al, 2016). Ethics approval was received from the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Cologne (ethics approval number: 200015DM_extension).…”