Arbitron: Response Rates Improve In Top 100 Markets For Fall 2004.

Arbitron Inc. released a summary of response rates, consent rates and return rates for the 293 markets measured in the Fall 2004 survey.

In the top ten Metros, response rates rose by 1.6 percentage points, from 27.9 percent in Fall 2003, to 29.5 percent in Fall 2004. The top 50 markets surveyed in Fall showed an increase in response rates from 28.7 percent in 2003 to 29.6 percent in 2004.

In the overall Fall 2004 survey, the average Metro survey area response rate declined 0.2 percentage points, from 33.1 percent in Fall 2003 to 32.9 percent in the Fall 2004. The return rate increased 0.5 points, from 56.1 percent in Fall 2003 to 56.6 percent in Fall 2004. The consent rate declined 0.6 points, from 58.2 percent in Fall 2003 to 57.6 percent in Fall 2004.

In the Fall 2004 survey, Arbitron continued pre-placement and follow-up treatments that were introduced Spring 2004 in 20 low-response rate Metros for young male, black, and Hispanic households. In the twenty “targeted” low-response Metros surveyed in Fall 2004, the treatments increased response rates by 2.7 percentage points, from 26.4 percent in Fall 2003 to 29.1 percent in Fall 2004.

Additional Initiatives for 2005

Starting with the Winter 2005 survey, Arbitron is sending a letter and a two-dollar premium to New York and Los Angeles households that initially refuse to participate while in the early stages of the survey recruitment process. The mailing is used only when it can be scheduled to arrive at the household before the standard “refusal conversion” call that Arbitron makes to all households that say ‘No’ in their first contact with Arbitron.

Also in 2005, Arbitron is expanding the use of $5 “Thank You” premium to 10 additional markets. The “Thank You” premium was previously used in the 20 “low-response” markets, which have seen a 2.7 percentage point response increase in the Fall 2004 survey.

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