Exploring the Impact of Message Length on Survey Response Rates

Message length impacts survey response rates through several mechanisms. Firstly, long messages may deter recipients, leading them to postpone reading or abandon the message midway due to cognitive strain. Secondly, the length of a message signals its importance, with shorter messages implying a shorter survey duration and vice versa. A study revealed that concise messages led more respondents to believe the survey would take less than five minutes to complete compared to wordier messages. Despite evidence supporting brevity for increased responses, organizations may still prefer lengthy messages. Even after presenting data showing concise messages generate more responses, some sectors, like a school district, continued using wordy messages. This resistance prompted further extensive studies to emphasize the benefits of brevity on survey response rates.