I Get Mail Every Day, but What Happened to All of the Surveys?
The good old days, when you went to your mailbox with that excited look on your face and reached in and pulled out stacks of mail. From time to time you would get a survey–a mail survey to fill out with a crisp $1 or $2 dollar bill. Some respondents loved the experience; some filled it out because they felt obligated because of the crisp bills that were sent to them. While others filled it out because they had interest in the product or service.
In preparation for moderating the MRA end user group I was doing a little research for the moderators guide and a discussion started about mail surveys. A number of people chimed in and lo and behold it not only is a topic for the session next month, but I thought it should be a topic for a blog.
Mail surveys began in the 1970’s. Researchers began sending questionnaires via mail to either randomized samples of the U.S. population or a subset of a research panel.
What happened to them? Yes phone research took away some of the data collection pie from mail surveys and clearly online did the same.
I really want to hear from companies and staff that are conducting mail surveys.
- How are the response rates?
- When is it appropriate?
- Any best practices you can share?
I look forward to hearing from you.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Response rates, across-the-board, regardless of method have been on the decline for some time. This is not unique to mail survey research.
While potentially problematic, mail survey research continues to be a viable and staple form of consumer-generated data that we rely on for consumer insights, that our clients rely on for media ad buying, marketing and product development decisions. Where projectable, representative research is concerned, personal interviewing and mail often outdistance other methods.
If you have your target market’s US mail addresses as part of your database, customer file or subscription list, mail survey research is an ideal method to ensure representativeness and projectability, if sampled correctly. With the decline of landline telephones and increasing reliance on online panel research, mail is often the only way to reach all members of the population under scrutiny, as personal interviewing costs typically exceed most custom research budgets.
Yes, you still have the slow snail-mail thing to make this protracted process sometimes painful when quick answers are needed, but mail survey research still works. It works best when the surveys we ask prospective respondents to complete are interesting, well-written, and short.
Depending on the type of sample and the interest in the survey topic, incentives may not be required, but with few willing to risk no incentive, in a world where we have become too-accustomed to rewards, incentives of $1 or $2 continue to be our norm, although increasingly we try to be creative and push the envelope with both incentive type and level, believing that an incentive targeted to the specific population under study makes a difference, and sometimes it does.
Response rates with mail survey research can range all over the place; providing a norm is meaningless; it is specific to the topic, the audience, survey length, follow-up procedures and incentives. Mail survey research can be a winning method in the hands of researchers experienced with managing these variables for successful outcomes.
Mail survey research continues to be a staple of what we do at the MRI Market Solutions Division of Mediamark Research Inc. Mail survey research continues to be relied on by advertising agencies as a perferred method for delivering credible readership/subscriber profile data. Yes, we also do personal interviewing, online and telephone survey research. And, yes, sometimes these other methods are more expedient. Sometimes they are cheaper or more expensive.
But, if you are looking for quality research, have the appropriate situation and information about your audience, AND you know what you are doing, mail rocks. Yes, I did say that. Thank you Benjamin Franklin, who just about 232 years ago (July 26, 1775) created the US Postal Service. In the 21st century, good old-fashioned mail still going…
July 24th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Merrill, this is a little off the subject of mail surveys - many companies used to do focus/survey groups and would pay a participant $50 on up to participate. I belong to a woman’s club and they would make us an offer to bring in 10 or more members and they would make a donation to the charity of our choice or to our organization. In one year we made over $2,000 by participating - where have these opportunities gone. It was a win-win situation for everyone. Just another thought on a way to get people involved. Thanks - Naomi
July 24th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Naomi,
Interesting comment - a nice, easy and productive way to raise money for a charity.
Thanks.
Merrill