Responses from a Corporate Mail Survey:Effects of Charitable Contributions and Personalization

The effects of the manipulation of a promised contribution to a university and the personalization of a cover letter on response rate, response speed, and response quality were examined using a commercial population. The results indicate that both the promised contribution to a university and personalization increased response rate and response speed of returns. The influence of the manipulated variables on response quality was mixed. Specifically, only personalization was shown to influence response completeness while neither variable influenced respondents’ willingness to respond to questions that could be regarded assensitive. The study also revealed slight evidence of method‐specific response bias.