Who responds to website visitor satisfaction surveys? 1 Ioannis Andreadis Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Introduction A lot of websites use web based exit surveys 2 in order to measure the satisfaction of their visitors 3 . The related literature includes user satisfaction studies of educational 4 , library 5 , health related and other more commercial-oriented websites. Usually the response rate to these exit surveys is very low. This is in accordance with previous research finding web surveys with the lowest response rates when compared with other survey modes. For instance, Manfreda et al (2008) after conducting a meta- analysis of 45 experimental comparisons between web and other survey modes they found that web surveys yield an 11% lower response rate compared to other modes 6 . This low response rate raises questions about the quality of the data collected by the web survey. Several socio-demographic factors appear to be related with web survey participation but this finding should be considered taking into account respondents’ Internet resources and computer literacy 7 . Firstly, we should point out that not everyone is on 1 The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of the COST Action IS1004. www.webdatanet.eu 2 M.P. Couper, Web surveys – A review of issues and approaches, Public Opinion Quarterly, 64 (2000), pp. 464–494 3 Sanne Elling1, Leo Lentz1, and Menno de Jong Website Evaluation Questionnaire: Development of a Research-Based Tool for Evaluating Informational Websites in M.A. Wimmer, H.J. Scholl, and A. Grönlund (Eds.): EGOV 2007, LNCS 4656, pp. 293–304, 2007. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007 4 Danny Saundersa, Eleri Wyn-Lewisb & Jocelyn Andrewsb Informal learning through the internet: a learning journey through the world of rugby Research in Post-Compulsory Education Volume 10, Issue 2, 2005 pages 199-210 5 Kwon, N., Gregory, V.L. (2007), "The effects of librarians' behavioral performance on user satisfaction in chat reference services", Reference & User Services Quarterly, Vol. 47 No.2, pp.137-48. Ruppel, M., Fagan, J.C. (2002), "Instant messaging reference: users' evaluation of library chat", Reference Services Review, Vol. 30 No.3, pp.183-97. Chang, H.R., Holland, M.P. (2005), "User satisfaction survey of ask-a-question service at the internet public library", Internet Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 10 No.2, pp.61-73. Kloss, L., Zhang, Y. (2003), "An evaluative case study of a real-time online reference service", The Electronic Library, Vol. 21 No.6, pp.565-75. Lankes, R.D. (2005), "Digital reference research: fusing research and practice", Reference & User Services Quarterly, Vol. 44 No.4, pp.320-6. Marcel Chiranov, (2011) "Applying pop-up survey software to incorporate users' feedback into public library computing service management", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 12 Iss: 1, pp.50 - 65 6 Manfreda, K.L., M. Bosnjak, J. Berzelak, I. Haas, V. Vehovar (2008) Web surveys versus other survey modes, International Journal of Market Research, 50, pp. 79–104 7 Diment, K. and S. Garrett-Jones (2007) How demographic characteristics affect mode preference in a postal/web mixed-mode survey of Australian researchers Social Science Computer Review, 25 pp. 510–517