Can a Locally-Tailored Image Improve Return Rates? Evidence from a Community-specific Study in California
Matt Jans
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Julie C. Linville
RTI International
David Grant
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Envelope graphics reduce response rates in mail surveys, but locally-iconic or neighborhood-relevant images may improve them by activating local affiliation and identification. We tested this hypothesis in 14 California communities. Within each community, addresses were randomly assigned to receive either a standard envelope with no image (other than the sponsor logo in the return address field), or an envelope that also had a locally-tailored image. Results show a statistically-significant negative effect of about 1 percentage point on household information form return rate when using the image/logo. While there was much variability in strength and direction of differences across communities, the overall negative effect may have been driven by a few individual communities. Our overall finding supports traditional advice that adorning mailing materials with images and logos can have negative effects on completion rates. However, observed variability among communities and image type, warrants further experimentation.