FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RETURN RATE IN A DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN TO INFORM MINORITY WOMEN ABOUT PREVENTION OF CERVICAL-CANCER

The Forsyth County Cervical Cancer Prevention Project was a 5-year com munity-based health education program funded by the National Cancer In stitute. The program was developed to reduce cervical cancer mortality among black women in Forsyth County, and it was targeted to those age s 18 and older. The program tried to educate the target population thr ough a combination of mass media and direct education. This paper repo rts on an experiment conducted to investigate sources of influence on the effectiveness of direct mail, a technique used to augment mass med ia health education. Direct mail has shown promise as a method for rea ching target populations that are difficult to reach with other mass m edia approaches. Using commercially prepared mailing lists sorted by z ip code and other characteristics of the resident, health-related mate rials can be targeted to persons at their homes. A randomized experime nt involving 1,000 households was carried out to estimate the influenc e of type of postage and address (name versus ''resident or occupant'' ) on the response rate to direct mail. Results indicated that there wa s no significant advantage from use of first class over bulk rate post age, but the return was significantly greater when the envelope bore a name rather than ''resident or occupant.''