Arbitron Unveils Multiyear Response Rate Enhancement Program.

Arbitron Inc. unveiled a multiyear program designed to enhance the quality of its radio ratings service across a number of key areas including response rates.

The program consists of targeted efforts including the opening of a new Arbitron calling center, new survey treatments, additional research tests, and an expanded research and development program-all intended to address the continuing challenge of declining response rates.

“Response rates and other key measures of sample quality have always been an integral part of our long-term strategic planning at Arbitron. The program we are unveiling today is the result of our continuing consultations with many of our customers and leading industry organizations,” said Owen Charlebois, president, U.S. Media Services.

“Our program has both short-term and long-term objectives,” said Mr. Charlebois. “In the near term, Arbitron will introduce a number of new measures intended to slow or stop the decline in response. Over the long term, we will review our current survey design and evaluate alternatives.”

The components of the response rate and sample quality program that Arbitron outlined to the industry will be implemented over three years, beginning in 2003. The program tackles the response rate issue with programs to enhance “consent rates” as well as initiatives for augmenting “return rates.” In addition, the plan also examines new approaches to sample design and survey implementation.

Sample Quality Initiatives—Spring 2003

Differential premiums for black and Hispanic households everywhere: In Spring 2003, Arbitron is mailing additional diary and follow-up premiums to every black and Hispanic household regardless of where the household is located. Previously, these enhanced premiums were reserved only for Metro counties in markets with a significant enough percentage of blacks and/or Hispanics to qualify for Differential Survey Treatments.

Expanded M25-34 treatments and follow-up: In Spring 2003, Arbitron is deploying in more markets its techniques for getting more hard-to-reach male 25- to 34-year-old respondents to participate in its radio surveys.

Survey Treatment Initiatives—Fall 2003

New Arbitron Interviewing Center: Arbitron plans to open a second Interviewing Center in the southwestern region of the United States. (Arbitron’s current Interviewing Center is in Columbia, Maryland.) The region was selected for the ready availability of bilingual interviewers.

“Arbitron” caller ID: All calls made from the two Arbitron call centers will be able to be identified with a name such as “ARBITRON RATINGS” in households with caller ID service. Currently, calls from Arbitron are not identified with the company name on caller ID services.

“E-Consent”: Arbitron’s initial mail contact with listed households will give respondents the option to say “yes” to participating in the Arbitron radio survey via a secure Web site. This will eliminate a number of phone contacts and allow interviewers to concentrate on more difficult-to-recruit households.

Improved starting sample: Arbitron is working with a provider of open software applications for call centers to remove ineligible phone numbers, such as businesses, from the starting sample, which will allow interviewers to concentrate on valid contacts.

Method Research Tests in 2003

Promised incentive for consent: Arbitron is currently testing the impact of offering respondent households a monetary premium just for saying “yes” to taking part in the Arbitron radio survey. This new approach, designed to improve consent, is an adaptation of the current use of promised incentive as a return rate enhancer.

Diary package delivery confirmation: A new service offered by the U.S. Postal Service confirms delivery by the mail carrier electronically. Arbitron is testing whether using the service will enhance return rates by making the diary package appear more important to respondents and improving the quality of delivery to sample households by the postal service.

Address-based sample analysis: Arbitron is conducting a preliminary analysis to determine if an addressed based sample frame can replace the current random-digit-dial sample frame.

E-Diary: An initial test of an Internet-delivered electronic diary designed to complement the use of paper-and-pencil diary in homes with Web access. Three versions will be tested among respondents who have already kept a standard Arbitron diary.

Enhanced interviewer training/testing: A continuation of our efforts to recruit and train a high-quality interviewing staff.

“Consent promised incentive/return promised incentive” combo test: A study to determine if combining promised incentive for consent with promised incentive for diary return is a worthwhile technique for enhancing response rates.

Survey Treatment Initiatives—2004

Consent promised incentive in 40 markets: Assuming success in the 2003 test, Arbitron will implement promised incentive for consent in 40 markets (the 25 lowest-response-rate markets, the balance of the Top 10 and the 10 Metros embedded in these markets). At the same time, Arbitron would discontinue promised incentive for returned diaries currently in place in the Top 10 markets.

Targeted treatment in low-response markets: Preplacement letters with an additional premium will be mailed to all households in the 40 Consent PI markets. In addition, in the 25 lowest-response-rate markets, Arbitron will mail an additional $1 per household follow-up premium.

If promised incentive for consent does not perform as anticipated in the 2003 test, Arbitron instead will expand promised incentive for diary return to all black and/or Hispanic households in all the 40 above markets that are ethnically controlled.

Methods Research Test—2004/2005

Nonresponse study: A major, ground-breaking study to be designed in concert with leading academics that is intended to quantify the impact of different response rates on audience estimates.

Direct marketing to respondents: Examine the feasibility of profiling potential respondents to devise survey incentives that are custom-tailored to each respondent household. In addition, other tests will evaluate the impact of multiple “pre-diary placement” contacts by mail.

Survey Treatment Initiatives—2005

Promised incentive in additional markets: Arbitron will implement promised incentive in 10 additional low-response markets.

Shared-cost, market-specific initiatives in selected markets: As part of this comprehensive plan, Arbitron is considering making available, in 2005, a battery of procedures that could be implemented on a shared-cost basis in specific markets. Subscribers would be able to invest in the additional procedures designed to address response rates in any number of individual markets.

The findings of the 2004 nonresponse study would be a critical first step before this initiative would be offered. The nonresponse study would allow Arbitron and its subscribers to make an informed judgment about the value of specific additional investments in response rates.