Selecting cost-effective survey methods: Foot-in-door and prepaid monetary incentives

The cost-effectiveness of foot-in-door (FID) and prepaid monetary incentives (PMI) are investigated. We show conceptually that, there is a trade-off between maximizing response rate and maximizing respondents per dollar. Empirical results show response rate is maximized if a FID is used in combination with a $1.00 PMI (response rate= .43, respondents/dollar= .154). Respondents per dollar is maximized with a FID combined with a $.25 PMI (response rate= .42, respondents/ dollar= .206). Also, FID and PMI do not seem to affect response, response speed, or item omission. Finally, there is evidence that FID and PMI interact negatively on response rate.