Abstract

For many, the very first encounter with a particular survey organisation happens upon reading a letter inviting them to take part in a survey – and first impressions matter the most. Therefore, good advance letter design is paramount in motivating people to cooperate and reducing survey nonresponse.

A large body of literature informs on their usefulness in mail surveys, face-to-face surveys, telephone surveys, web surveys (e-mails and/or/vs. postal mails), and mixed-mode surveys, regarding not only cross-sectional, but also longitudinal and panel surveys.

Despite the large amount of knowledge thus accumulated, the field of advance letter design is still evolving, and dedicating a session to it with leading experts could not be more timely. The survey crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic hit NSOs and private organisations alike in an already decades-long decline of response propensity to surveys. In these challenging times, conventional methods have to be revisited, as efficiency of past practices is decreasing, which the pandemic proved, too. Furthermore, the post-pandemic survey landscape may well differ significantly from pre-COVID times. Therefore, for resiliency in surveys, advance letters need also to be tailored to meet the new and old challenges better, which entails developing and testing new directions and novel practices.

The session will give insight not only into the practical aspects of cutting-edge survey advance letter design and development, but also the underlying theoretical assumptions, the applied methods as well as future avenues for improvement. Regional differences will also be addressed by the diverse selection of presenting experts, for a good design factors in social–cultural characteristics of the target population as well. This enables prudently adapting instead of simply adopting practices developed for and tested on other populations.

Beyond these, the session will provide:
- in-depth understanding of different techniques: the official/mandatory approach and the application of behavioural science techniques;
- insights into short- and long-term effects of the various practices;
- overview of the development process from planning phase through testing to the end-product;
- recommendations for tailoring advance letters to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic in a resilient and flexible advance communication framework;
- and so forth.