Impact of “Blocking” with in Prenotification Appeal on Mail Survey Response Rates

Abstract

This paper deals with a new aspect of mail survey prenotification that the authors call “blocking,” which refers to the opportunity given in a prenotifying letter to a potential mail survey respondent to choose not to participate in the survey by indicating non-interest through the return of a postage-paid card. The sample for this exploratory study consisted of 600 households with memberships in a large metropolitan fitness center. The findings indicate that blocking within a mix of personal and social appeals results in a significantly (p<0.05) higher response rate than within a personal appeal alone. Implications of the findings are discussed.