Remember, You Can Complete This Survey Online! Web Survey Links and QR Codes in a Mixed-Mode Web and Mail General Population Survey

Recruitment materials for concurrent mixed-mode self-administered web and mail surveys must communicate information about multiple modes simultaneously. Providing the link to the web survey on the cover of the paper questionnaire or including a QR code to access the web survey may increase the visibility of the web mode and thus increase the proportion of people who participate via the web, but whether including either piece of information does so has received surprisingly little empirical attention. In this paper, we examine the results of experiments embedded in two general population probability-based concurrent mixed-mode surveys of Nebraska adults. First, in the Labor Availability Survey of the Greater Omaha Area, respondents were randomly assigned to receive the web link and login information on the cover or the paper questionnaire without this information (all had web information in the cover letter). We then replicated and extended this experiment in the Labor Availability Survey of Northeast Nebraska. The questionnaire cover experiment was fully crossed with the presence or absence of a QR code to access the web survey. Neither of these design features affected response rates or speed of response, but the link on the questionnaire significantly increased the proportion of respondents who participated by web and the QR code significantly increased the proportion of respondents who participated by smartphone. Sample composition was largely unaffected on most characteristics, although the respondent pool was less similar to the population on education when the link was on the questionnaire. About 20% of respondents used a smartphone when typing in a survey link, but virtually all respondents used a smartphone when scanning the QR code. Survey researchers can include a link on the cover of the questionnaire to increase web participation rates in mixed-mode surveys. QR codes can be used when smartphone participation is desired.