A comparison of response characteristics from web and telephone surveys

Increasingly, web surveys are being used to supplement telephone survey data and some predict internet methods will one day replace telephone interviews as the primary method for surveying general populations. Despite these trends, few studies have systematically compared response differences between the two methods. This article describes a study in which both telephone and web surveys were used to collect data on the corporate reputation of an international firm. Findings reveal significant differences in sample characteristics, response effects and overall costs. In addition to demographic differences, the web garnered a lower response rate, more item omissions, and produced more negative or neutral evaluations than did the telephone survey. Factor structure for the corporate reputation construct was simpler in the web-based data. Predictability of behavioural measures was essentially equivalent between the two modes; however, cost-per-contact was significantly lower in the web survey.