An Experimental Study on the Effects of Personalization, Survey Length Statements, Progress Indicators, and Survey Sponsor Logos in Web Surveys

Dirk Heerwegh and Geert Loosveldt

Abstract:
This study tests the effect of several factors on web survey response rates and on some other aspects of web survey data quality. The factors reviewed are e-mail personalization, survey length statements in the e-mail contact, use of progress indicators, and display of survey sponsor logos. Hypotheses are tested in a web survey experiment conducted with a university student sample (n=2,520). The results indicate that, of all considered factors, only personalization significantly increases the web survey response rate.

Keywords:
Online survey, response rate, personalization, progress indicator, survey methods, social exchange theory, survey data quality, experiment