Participation willingness in web surveys: exploring effect of sponsoring corporation's and survey provider's reputation.
Prior research involving response rates in Web-based surveys has not adequately addressed the effect of the reputation of a sponsoring corporation that contracts with a survey provider. This study investigates the effect of two factors, namely, the reputation of a survey's provider and the reputation of a survey's sponsoring corporation, on the willingness of potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. Results of an experimental design with these two factors reveal that the sponsoring corporation's and the survey provider's strong reputations can induce potential respondents to participate in a Web survey. A sponsoring corporation's reputation has a greater effect on the participation willingness of potential respondents of a Web survey than the reputation of the survey provider. A sponsoring corporation with a weak reputation who contracts with a survey provider having a strong reputation results in increased participation willingness from potential respondents if the identity of the sponsoring corporation is disguised in a survey. This study identifies the most effective strategy to increase participation willingness for a Web-based survey by considering both the reputations of the sponsoring corporation and survey provider and whether to reveal their identities.
School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. jiamingfang@gmail.com
Jiaming
J
Fang
Chao
C
Wen
Robert
R
Pavur
D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D011362:Professional Corporations; D012107:Research Design