Do Interviewers' Voice Characteristics Influence Cooperation Rates in Telephone Surveys?

Abstract

Although telephone interviewing is one of the major data collection methods used in survey research and response rates have been declining for years, the effects of the interviewers’ voice characteristics on the cooperation of respondents have hardly been studied. The decision to participate in a telephone survey results from a complex of factors (Dillman, Gallegos, & Rencher, 1976; Groves & Couper, 1998; Groves & McGonnacle, 2001). Yet, the interviewers’ voice characteristics may be particularly important, as visible aspects of communication are absent. Since our aim was to evaluate the impact of the interviewers’ voice characteristics as such, we restricted our study to the first stage of the introduction, namely the interviewer reading the introductory text. The great majority of refusals to participate in a telephone interview occur immediately after this first stage (Dijkstra & Smit, 2002; Maynard & Schaeffer, 1997; Oksenberg & Cannell, 1988). Because no persuasion techniques are applied during this stage, such voice characteristics as pitch or speech rate may therefore affect the first reaction of the recipient.