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Applying theory to structure respondents' stated motivations for participating in web surveys

Vallen Han (Postal Services Group, New Zealand Post Office, Wellington, New Zealand)
Gerald Albaum (Anderson Schools of Management, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
James B. Wiley (Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
Peter Thirkell (School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand)

Qualitative Market Research

ISSN: 1352-2752

Article publication date: 4 September 2009

1058

Abstract

Purpose

There is limited published work addressing factors that influence responses to internet surveys. This is due in part to lack of an agreed upon set of relevant theories. Albaum, Evangelista and Medina (AEM) and Evangelista et al. made a step toward filling this gap when they studied the relevance of four theories of survey response behaviour. The AEM study included a survey from a population of survey researchers. Based on their survey, they concluded that all four theories contribute to explaining survey response behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory extension of AEM by using an extended set of theories in an exploratory content analysis of qualitative feedback to a large internet‐based experiment.

Design/methodology/approach

An internet‐based survey using an experimental design was sent to essentially the entire population of student e‐mail addresses at a New Zealand university. The 12,000 questionnaires distributed included open‐end questions that asked about factors related to conducting surveys over the internet, especially potential barriers to response. A total of 841 comments are collected. An extended version of the four theories identified by AEM are used to organise and summarise the feedback provided.

Findings

Cost is the most highly mentioned factor and commitment the least‐mentioned factor. Overall, cost, reward, and trust are the most significant factors in survey response, leading to the conclusion that social exchange appears to the most prominent theory for internet‐based surveys and commitment is the least prominent theory.

Originality/value

This is the first study to use qualitative research to assess the applicability of the major theories of survey response behaviour. In addition; the study is the first to apply these theories to internet‐based surveys.

Keywords

Citation

Han, V., Albaum, G., Wiley, J.B. and Thirkell, P. (2009), "Applying theory to structure respondents' stated motivations for participating in web surveys", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 428-442. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522750910993338

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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