Increasing Response Rate by Choice of Postage Stamps

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Volume 38, Issue 2, p. 280-283

Abstract

The differential response rates of a mail questionnaire using 3 different stamps on the outside envelope & the same 3 stamps on the inside, or return, envelope are investigated. The stamps used were: metered postage, a regular 1st-class stamp, & an oversized multicolored commemorative. In all, 9 combinations of stamps on the outer & return envelopes were examined. The sample of R's was drawn from the mailing list of the National Forensic League, an organization of high school speech teachers. Every other name on the mailing list (N=530) was sequentially assigned to 1 of the 9 combinations of stamps. The results indicated: (1) when the stamp on the outer envelope is different from the stamp on the return envelope, the response rate is higher (61%) than when the 2 stamps are the same (51)%). This is a significant difference (z=2.36; p less than .01); (2) considering only dissimilar combinations of stamps, a pairing of a commemorative & a meter--in either combination on the inner & outer envelope--is superior (69%) to all other dissimilar combinations (58%). This is a significant difference (z=2.01; p less than .05). 1 Table. AA.