The Tea Bag Experiment: More Evidence on Incentives in Mail Surveys
Philip Gendall Janet HoekandMike Brennan Massey University
Introduction
It is well established that relatively small prepaid cash incentives increase the response rate for mail surveys (see: Brennan 1992; Brennan et al. 1993; Church 1993; Warriner et al.1996). The general explanation for this phenomenon is the so-called norm of reciprocity, the existence of a strong normative standing leading individuals to strive to repay favours freely given. Despite the proven effectiveness of prepaid monetary incentives, there are always respondents who object...