Improving winery survey response rates: lessons from the Australian wine industry

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to document a set of important success factors that need to be considered when undertaking traditional surveys within the Australian wine industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Reflecting on the relatively high rate of survey returns from research conducted within the Australian wineries, the author succinctly identifies a set of industry‐based values and operational conditions that appear to directly impact on improving survey response rates.

Findings

Six success factors should be considered in order to improve winery survey response rates. The factors entail survey design (length, stakeholder engagement, return‐by‐date), preliminary testing (pilot survey testing) and implementation (survey timing, feedback of results).

Research limitations/implications

As a viewpoint, the article needs to be considered from an Australian context with the proposed factors being a preliminary starting guide for researchers undertaking surveys.

Practical implications

The identified factors associated with improving survey responses are wine‐industry specific and will be useful to all researchers conducting surveys in the industry.

Originality/value

The paper is significant in that it identifies a set of wine industry‐based values and conditions that appear to influence survey response rates. The paper will be of interest to global wine‐industry researchers that use the survey instrument.

Citation

Sellitto, C. (2006), "Improving winery survey response rates: lessons from the Australian wine industry", International Journal of Wine Marketing, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 150-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/09547540610681121