Effects of source and paper color on response rates in mail surveys

Abstract The purpose of this research is to study the effect of four sponsors (honor society, university, marketing research firm, and an unidentified sponsor) on the response rates to a questionnaire sent to a commercial population. In addition, the main and interaction effects of color of stationery (pink, green, yellow, and white) are examined. This research expands on the previous use of limited types of questionnaire source by including the first use of two source types, an academic honor society and an unidentified sponsor. Also, this research for the first time studies the interaction of types of questionnaire source and paper color on survey response rates. The authors conclude that mean response rates for a university or academic honor society are significantly higher than those for a marketing research firm or an unidentified sponsor. However, they found no significant impact on response rates by the use of different colors of stationery and also found no source and color interaction effects.

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