At Advanis, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to improve response rates for our clients so as to reduce non-response bias and improve representativeness of their target population. Pre-notification can be a great way to make respondents aware of why you might be calling or emailing; it “warms them up” to the idea.

IVR data collection continues to surprise me. Before explaining why, let’s take a step back and let me quickly explain what data collection via IVR looks like. An IVR survey consists of a series of pre-recorded  questions, administered via phone. As an example, a “likelihood to recommend” question could be asked as follows:

How likely would you be to recommend [brand X] to a friend or family member on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means “Not at all likely to recommend” and 5 means “Extremely likely to recommend”? Please press any number between 1 and 5.

Matthijs Visser recently published an article in Quirks Magazine, called "A Choice in the Matter". This article illustrates the importance of offering choice in method for survey participants to respond to surveys, and how offering this choice increases response rates, particularly among harder to reach segments such as youth.    Read the full article here.