THE EFFECT OF APPEAL, COMPLEXITY AND TONE IN A MAIL SURVEY COVERING LETTER

Though all mail surveys require a covering letter, relatively little is known about the effect of manipulating various covering letter elements. This situation is at odds with the importance direct marketers place on letters in their attempts to influence consumer behaviour. It also suggests that applying direct marketing techniques to the writing and presentation of mail survey covering letters could increase their effectiveness. This paper reports the results of a study which tested the effect on a university-sponsored mail survey of the general public of the type of appeal, complexity, tone, and the presence of graphics in the covering letter. While an altruistic appeal produced a higher response rate than an egoistic appeal, there was no evidence that complexity had any bearing on the effectiveness of the letters tested. There was, however, an interaction between tone and appeal and response. For the egoistic appeal a strikingly informal letter decreased the response rate. Nevertheless, in well-conducted mail surveys it appears that the effect of direct marketing techniques is marginal.