The untold story of multi-mode (online and mail) consumer panels¹: From optimal recruitment to retention and attrition

In a recent study involving a mixed-mode experiment to recruit members to a consumer panel (Rao, Kaminska, & McCutcheon 2010), we tested the effect of various response-inducement techniques such as advance letters, monetary incentives, and phone follow-up on panel recruitment. The experiment was successful in recruiting individuals to a mixed-mode panel in which members do not receive any form of monetary incentives for their panel participation. Although the experiment used response inducements as a one-time stimulus to motivate individuals to join the panel, no such response inducements were provided for their subsequent panel participation. More than a year after the original experiment was conducted, we examine the question of how the propensity to continue participation in such mixed mode panels differ across the various treatments and demographic groups from which these individuals were recruited. In the current study, we draw upon the panel participation data to examine survival rates and the effect of individuals' demographic characteristics on the odds of staying in the panel. These findings have important implications for long-term panel participation.