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Justifying the enclosure of monetary incentives in mail survey cover letters
Author(s) -
Biner Paul M.,
Barton Deborah L.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.4220070302
Subject(s) - cover (algebra) , liberian dollar , incentive , quarter (canadian coin) , feeling , psychology , obligation , enclosure , social psychology , actuarial science , economics , law , geography , political science , finance , engineering , telecommunications , microeconomics , mechanical engineering , archaeology
An experiment was conducted in which survey questionnaires were sent to two hundred randomly selected residents of a midwestern city. For half of the respondents, a one dollar bill ($1.00) was enclosed with the questionnaire whereas for the other half, only a quarter ($.25) was enclosed. Furthermore, the enclosure of the monetary incentive was justified in the cover letter as either an appreciative gesture or as a direct attempt to induce feelings of obligation to return the questionnaires. Subsequent response rates were assessed by condition. The overall response rate for the $1.00 condition was significantly higher than the response rate for the $.25 condition. Furthermore, the obligatory cover letter produced a significantly higher response rate than the appreciative cover letter, but only within the $1.00 conditions. Theoretical implications are discussed.