Increasing Confirmation Response Rates.

Abstract This paper reports a study that investigated several techniques potentially useful for increasing the response rate on accounts receivable confirmation requests mailed to individuals. The techniqes, adapted from those previously found effective for increasing response rates on mail survey questionnaires, included alternative types of postage, the provision of detail, a hand-written signature, alternative confirmation wording, and prior notification by postcard. The use of a 1/16 fractional replication of the 4 x 2sup 6 factorial design enabled the impacts of these and other variables to be assessed simultaneously. The results suggest that the postage and postcard variables are very effective for increasing response rates, that the signature and detail variables are somewhat effective, and that certain combinations of techniques are particularly useful. Some directions for further research are briefly discussed.