Stimulating response to market surveys of business professionals

Abstract This study presents results of an investigation into the effects of monetary reward, survey sponsorship, and type of appeal on overall response rate and response completeness in surveys of business professionals. It is concluded that: (1) as in surveys of the general public, university sponsorship is more effective than commercial sponsorship, (2) a help-the-sponsor appeal is significantly more effective than other appeals under university sponsorship but significantly less effective under commercial sponsorship, and (3) monetary rewards enhance response rates when used in conjunction with ego or social utility appeals but disenhance response rates when used in conjunction with a help-the-sponsor appeal. Thus, important interactions among these three response-inducing techniques are found and discussed. Finally, it is concluded that these effects do not extend to response completeness.

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