Impact of Survey Reminders
Susan Frede, VP Research
November, 2008
Because sending survey reminders has little or no cost implication with Internet surveys, it is often a common practice to send one or more reminders to potential respondents. However, data quality and respondent retention may be compromised when consumers are bombarded with too much communication about a survey.
Background
Lightspeed Research tested five concepts utilizing survey reminders and then tested the same five concepts without utilizing survey reminders. For the groups receiving a reminder, only respondents who had not completed the survey at the time of the reminder received the reminder. All concepts were tested monadically using identical surveys for the reminder and non-reminder versions. The demographic universes were selected as appropriate for the product target market. Key concept measures included Purchase Intent, Uniqueness, Value, Liking, Believability, Quantity, and Frequency. Respondents also were asked a number of category habit and brand usage questions.
Key Measures
There are no statistically significant differences between reminder and non-reminder versions for key concept measures (see Table 1). This suggests that sending (or not sending) a reminder does not have the potential to impact business decisions.
Response and Completion Rates
Response and completion rates are not impacted consistently by reminders. For three of the five concepts response and completion rates are slightly higher when respondents are sent a reminder, while for the other two rates are slightly lower.
Completion Day
Generally, there is no difference between the reminder and no-reminder versions for the number of respondents completing the survey each day (see Table 3). This is especially true once a reminder is sent (either day 4 or day 5). This suggests that a reminder does not increase response or completion rates.
Who Receives Reminders
Reminders are more likely to go to females who are employed full time and are part of larger households with kids. This does not have an impact on the representivity of samples given that return samples line up well between the reminder and no reminder groups on demographics. Perhaps those receiving reminders tend to be busy and, in general, are more likely to be later survey completers.
Other Measures
Several other items have been examined to understand if sending a reminder has an impact.
These include:
- Category and Brand Usage – Like demographics, the samples generally line up well between the reminder and no-reminder groups on category and brand usage.
- Suspicious Respondent Behavior – There are no differences in suspicious behavior between the reminder and no-reminder groups.
Conclusions
Based on this research, Lightspeed Research does not recommend sending our panelists reminders about surveys they have not completed. Reminders do not increase response rates and the key measures are not impacted by reminders. Our panel management practices allow us to achieve representative samples without sending reminders.
About Lightspeed Research
Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com) is the market researcher’s choice for digitally accessing and deriving insight from consumer opinions and behaviors whenever, wherever and in whatever segments needed. The industry’s most thorough panelist prescreening process and large global pool delivers business-ready results quickly and costeffectively. From proprietary online access panels to specialty panels, custom panels and innovative mobile surveys, Lightspeed Research offers the industry’s highest-quality and most complete combination of qualitative and quantitative online research. This is backed by an expert client operations team that provides a range of data collection services, from sample management and survey design to programming and reporting. Part of Kantar, a division of WPP, Lightspeed Research serves clients and cultivates online panelists across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Susan Frede is the VP of Research at Lightspeed Research. She has worked in the research field for 23 years, has published numerous research-on research papers and is a well-respected speaker at key industry events. Some of the topics she has recently explored include questionnaire length, best practices for online research, suspicious and professional respondents and data stability. You can contact Susan at sfrede@lightspeedresearch.com
Back to Press Releases
