IDENTIFYING AND MOTIVATING KEY RESPONDENTS FOR MAIL OF YOUR COMPANY'S CUSTOMERS

Suppose you're the marketing director for an appliance manufacturer and you want to get some information from the customers or consumers who buy your kind of product. Will an offer of cash induce more cooperation from your respondents? Will a “gift” (a product of equal or greater monetary value) do as well or better than cash? Or can you get just as good results without any inducement other than an expression of appreciation? A lot of marketers are turning to mail surveys to get information about their custom‐ers, and they need answers to these questions. There's no point in spending more money than is needed, but then why take chances when the saving of a few dollars could doom the survey?