Surveying the Service Sector

ABSTRACT A key question for researchers concerns the level of survey response rates and whether results differ between the two modes of surveying. This paper examines, within a services context, the results of using mail versus Internet survey approaches. An experimental design was used to measure differences in response rates and differences in responses to a survey of university accounting faculty concerning the impact of recent accounting scandals on accounting as a profession as well as on accounting departments. While there was a higher percentage of responses to the Internet survey, the difference was not significant. There were significant differences in the response to specific questions but the differences were in the same direction; i.e., both groups agreed with a statement but one group had a higher level of agreement than the other group. For the services marketer it appears that Internet surveys may offer the speed desired for quick input to managerial decisions without sacrificing levels of ...