As online surveys become more feasible for more populations, researchers are becoming more interested in understanding various issues related to response rates in the online environment. One issue of particular interest deals with the salutation used in invitations to online surveys. There has been much speculation – but little hard data – about whether the salutation affects response…and, if so, which salutations work best for which populations.
To address these issues, an experiment was conducted in September 2002 to test four different salutations in a web-based survey of alumni from Stanford University. The survey was about the university’s logos, image, and branding – so it was salient to the general alumni population, and not just certain sub-groups.
Four random samples of 800 were selected from the alumni population, and each of the 3,200 individuals was e-mailed a short invitation to participate in the survey. In addition to explaining the purpose of the study, its importance to the university, and its salience to them as alumni, the invitations included a link to the survey and a unique Respondent ID number. The invitations were exactly the same for all 3,200 alumni – except for the ID number and the salutation:
Sample 1 received a generic salutation (“Dear Stanford Alum”).
Sample 2 received a familiar salutation (“Dear James”).
Sample 3 received a formal salutation (“Dear Commander Bond”).
Sample 4 received a familiar salutation without the “dear” (“James”).
The invitations were e-mailed on September 12, 2002, and two reminders were e-mailed to non-respondents before the survey was taken off the web on October 9, 2002.
Overall response did not differ significantly by age, gender, school, or geographic region. But, as expected, it was greater among donors (57.23%) than non-donors (45.09%), and among Stanford Alumni Association members (53.05%) than non-members (43.29%).
Response to the four salutations did not significantly differ overall:
47.87% for “Dear Stanford Alum.”
50.26% for “Dear James.”
51.77% for “Dear Commander Bond.”
50.25% for “James.”
However, response to the salutations did differ by age and gender:
Younger alumni (under 30) responded at a higher rate to the formal salutation (“Dear Commander Bond”) than to the other salutations – 61.50%, compared to 51.53% for “James,” 52.23% for “Dear Stanford Alum,” and 54.55% for “Dear James.”
The formal salutation obtained the best response rate among younger alumni, and not among older (53.01%) or middle-aged (45.23%) alumni.
Men responded significantly better to the formal salutation (54.02%) than to the other three salutations…while women responded significantly better to the “Dear Jane” salutation (54.01%).
These and other results, as well as their implications, are discussed in greater detail in the paper (which also includes full details on the methodology and materials used).
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