Saving Money on Your Next Readership Study, by Lewis Copulsky, Lewis&Clark
A few things to keep in mind: (continued)
- Don’t skip the incentive. Traditionally, mail surveys are sent with a token $1 incentive for participation (i.e., $1,000 for a sample of 1000); for online surveys, respondents are frequently offered a chance to enter a drawing for one or several gift certificates, the total of which may range from $500 to $1,000. While tempting, you should resist cutting back in this area, as a low response rate will affect the reliability of your results.
- A good research provider will happily work with you to design and implement a survey methodology that meets your objectives without sacrificing quality, while staying within your budget. Don’t hesitate to have this discussion with them.