Addressing procedures as a mail survey response inducement technique

Effects of personalization and envelope color on response rate, speed and quality among a business population

“…However, the evidence favoring the personal touch has been challenged by other researchers such as Pressley (1978), Cycyota and Harrison (2002) and Dennis (2003), who found that it did not significantly influence the number of replies. In contrast, Forsythe (1977) and Neider and Sugrue (1983) revealed that personalization did have a significant impact on response rate, but that its effect was to decrease response. Indeed, Harvey (1987), after a comprehensive literature review of studies among various samples, concluded that the effects of personalization depend upon the target population and the aims of the questionnaire.…”

“…In attempting to offer an explanation as to why personalization did not increase response rate in a business context, Neider and Sugrue (1983) suggested that hand addressed envelopes may have been perceived as lacking in professionalism. In addition, Helgeson (1994) has argued that although handwritten addresses may be less likely to be thought of as junk mail, the respondent may become disappointed or irritated if the mail appear personal but is not.…”

“…Definition of personalization Dependent variable Result Forsythe (1977) Letters addressed by name vs. letters addressed to 'Chief Officer' Response rate Significant decrease Pressley (1978) Handwritten postscript on cover letter vs. no postscript Response rate Not significant Little and Pressley (1980) Inclusion of card with handwritten phrase vs. non-personalized card vs. no card Response rate Not significant Response speed Not significant Response quality Not significant Childers et al (1980) Handwritten postscript on cover letter vs. typed postscript Response rate Not significant Response completeness Not significant Response bias Not significant Yu and Cooper (1983) a NA Response rate Significant increase Wunder and Wynn (1988) Hand addressed envelope vs. envelope with computer generated address label Response rate Not significant Response speed Not significant Response quality Not significant Neider and Sugrue (1983) Hand addressed envelope vs. typed envelope vs. computer generated mailing label Response rate Significant decrease Clark and Kaminski (1990) Handwritten cover letter and signature and individual salutation vs. typed cover letter, facsimile signature and 'Dear AMAColleague' salutation finding no significant main effects, they discovered a significant interaction effect between the business card treatment and envelope color in regard to response speed. Given that the empirical findings relating to the ability of personalization to stimulate response rate in mail surveys are mixed, there is indeed room for additional testing.…”

Revisiting personalization through customer experience journey

“…This table excludes the period of 1960-1970s because the term "customer experience" is older than "personalization", therefore, direct mentions of this concept appeared in the 1980s. [Neider, Sugrue, 1983;Chebat, Picard, 1984;Jobber, Allen, Oakland, 1985;Albaum, 1987]…”