Reducing Spurious Response in a Field Survey

Abstract

Spurious response occurs when survey respondents claim to recognize or remember advertisements, names, institutions, or other stimuli that do not exist. Researchers fear that these same respondents may give invalid responses to genuine survey items as well, thereby distorting the findings and conclusions of survey research. In a field experiment to reduce spurious recall of bogus brand names without also reducing recall of genuine brand names, 300 grocery shoppers in a southern city were provided with a warning or disclaimer that some questionnaire items were fictitious along with a “don't-know” response option. The results showed that only the don't-know option reduced spurious response, and this by very little. Genuine brand response, however, was unaffected. The data also suggested that spurious response could bias the findings of a survey.