Alternatives to Prepaid Monetary Incentives in Mail Surveys

Abstract

Small, prepaid monetary incentives have consistently been shown to increase mail survey response rates (Brennan, Hoek, & Astridge, 1991; Brennan, 1992; Brennan, Seymour, & Gendall, 1993; Church, 1993; Jobber, Saunders, & Mitchell, 2004). The success of these monetary incentives is generally attributed to the fact that they are unconditional rather than conditional. Potential respondents receive the incentive even if they do not take part in the survey, but are assumed to be more willing to participate because compliance is seen as the repayment of a gift or favor. However, in 1998 New Zealand postal legislation was changed to prohibit the sending of currency by mail. Thus, the practice of including 50 cents, $1 or $2 as an incentive in mail surveys is no longer legal. Furthermore, some organizations, such as charities or voluntary groups, may consider monetary incentives inappropriate for surveys of their members, and it is also common in a number of countries for government departments to be prohibited from using monetary incentives in surveys they commission. With mail survey response rates declining, the question is whether alternative incentives can be found that are legal and practical, and are as effective as small, prepaid monetary incentives. This article reports the results of studies designed to answer this question.