Quick Dips

Surveying the Surveyors

Researchers conducting mail-based surveys may be able to learn a thing or two from direct marketing professionals, according to a study undertaken by Massey marketing professor Philip Gendall.

Gendall tested direct marketing approaches in a covering letter for a mail survey on the environment and environmental issues. One set of subjects received a typical survey covering letter, rather formal in approach and using an appeal based on altruism. The altruistic appeal asked the respondents to help increase international understanding and assist the researcher.

A second set also used an altruistic appeal, but had simpler, friendlier language -- "Yours sincerely, PJ Gendall" became "Kind regards, Phil Gendall". Informal graphics were added. A third cover letter was prepared by a direct marketing consultant, combining an altruistic appeal with an egoistic one telling the respondent that their views were important.

Of the three approaches, the informal one did the best with a 50% response rate, 5% better than that achieved by the other two cover letters. Statistical analysis showed that this difference wasn't due to chance alone. The fact that a direct marketer's letter achieved the same result as the one written by an "amateur" letter writer may have been because the most important direct marketing principles had already been included, Gendall suggests.

Splitting up letters into ones using just the altruistic appeal and ones using the egoistic appeal produced a marked difference also.

"The informal letter with an egoistic appeal produced a response rate 10% less than the same letter using an altruistic appeal," says Gendall. "Perhaps an informal, friendly tone reinforces a request for help, whereas the same tone reduces the credibility of the proposition that the respondents' opinions are important."

The use of graphics, intended to break up the text and provide visual interest, produced mixed results. Gendall says they appeared to be responsible for the increased effectiveness of the informal, altruistic letter, but had no apparent effect on the egoistic-based approach.

"Mail survey practitioners ...need to tailor the appeal they use and its execution to the characteristics of the target population," Gendall concludes. "This would be no surprise to direct marketers. They have known for years that, after the medium and the list, the two most important leverage points in direct marketing are the offer and the format. The same, it seems, applies to mail survey covering letters."