37 – Combining Data and Use of Administrative Lists
Lifestyle Segments, Social Marketing, and Hard-to-Survey Populations: Understanding Participation in the 2015 Census Test
Mary H. Mulry
U.S. Census Bureau, Fort Worth, Texas
Matt Virgile
U.S. Census Bureau
Both the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Censuses included a social marketing communications campaign that aided in maintaining the mail response rate in an environment when response to surveys was declining. As the 2020 U.S. Census approaches, the preparations include tests of new methodologies for enumeration that have the potential to reduce cost and improve quality. In parallel, the research includes formulating methods for the 2020 Census communications campaign that will aid the effectiveness of the enumeration operations. The 2015 Census Test in Savannah, GA included tests of Internet and mail response modes and of online delivery of social marketing communications focused on persuading the public to respond by Internet and mail. Merging data from the 2015 Census Test with the third-party lifestyle segments and the Low Response Score developed at the U.S. Census Bureau produces a dataset suitable for studying correlations between census response and lifestyle segments. This paper uses the merged dataset to examine whether lifestyle segments can provide insight to hard-to-survey populations, their response behavior, and interactions with social marketing communications.