Short- and long-term effects of reminders on panellists’ survey participation in a probability-based panel study with a sequential mixed-mode design

Abstract

In recent panel studies, besides other methods such as sequential mixed-mode design, push-to-web method, and prepaid monetary incentives, follow-up contacts such as personalised electronic mails (e-mails) or short message service are often used to motivate nonrespondents to complete the questionnaire, increase the response rate within a limited fieldwork period, and minimise panel attrition. Since it is still unclear when and how often non-complying panellists should be reminded to take part in a survey, this contribution analyses the short- and long-term effects of digital reminders across the fieldwork period. For this purpose, longitudinal data and statistical procedures of event history analysis are applied to reveal the effects of reminders on the likelihood, timing, and social structure of Swiss juveniles’ survey participation. On the one hand, there are short-term and long-term effects of multiple early reminders on the response of panellists receiving reminders. On the other hand, there are no cumulative effects across the fieldwork period or overlapping effects of reminders across the mixed survey modes. Considering the social structure of nonrespondents who receive reminders, it appears plausible that there may be a selective response in terms of the panellists’ social origin, educational level, and language proficiency.