Effects of incentives on survey response rates in two rural counties

Surveys of a general population have been a mainstay of leisure and recreation research methods. This study assesses the impact of two different pre-incentives on eliciting a survey response. Two counties with large federal prairie restoration projects and active municipal and county park districts were the study sites. Results show that residents whose pre-incentive was two $1 bills had a significantly higher response rate than residents with a pre-incentive of one $2 bill. With park operations being responsive to needs and preferences of residents, the most accu-rate representation of the general population of constituents is an important goal in any research effort. Given that pre-incentives have become a standard and size-able portion of a survey’s budget, maximizing the effectiveness of the pre-incentive investment is a small, yet critical, part of connecting research to practice.