Increasing compliance in costly telephone interviews: A test of four inducement techniques

Two experiments examine the relative effectiveness of two non-pressure compliance techniques (low ball, foot-in-the-door) and of their combination in increasing respondent cooperation in costly telephone surveys. Results show that while both techniques increase compliance when compared to the control group, the most significant increase occurs when using the newly formed combined technique. In fact, the data in both studies provide evidence that the combined routine is an important technique for solliciting response in relatively long telephone interviews and in telephone surveys concerning highly sensitive topics.