Replication data and code: Invitation Messages for Business Surveys: A Multi-Armed Bandit Experiment

This replication package contains the experimental data and code from a study investigating how elements of a survey invitation message targeted to businesses influence their participation in a self-administered web survey. The experiment was conducted in collaboration with the German Business Panel (GBP) during its fifth survey wave, spanning from August 16, 2022, to November 25, 2022. A full factorial design was implemented, varying five key components of the email invitation. Unlike conventional experimental setups with static group assignments, the study employed adaptive randomization, wherein a Bayesian learning algorithm sequentially allocated more observations to invitation messages exhibiting higher survey starting rates. Over the 15-week experimental period, 738,598 invitation messages were distributed to business contacts, of which 176,000 were opened within one week. A total of 7,833 recipients initiated the survey, and 3,733 completed it. The dataset includes detailed records of message distribution, survey engagement metrics, and adaptive randomization adjustments, providing a comprehensive basis for analyzing the effectiveness of invitation design in business survey participation. Keywords: Adaptive Randomization, Reinforcement Learning, Nonresponse, Email Invitation, Web Survey, Firm Survey, Organizational Survey本复现套件包含一项研究的实验数据与代码，该研究旨在探究面向企业的调研邀请邮件各要素，对其参与自填式网络调研（self-administered web survey）的影响。本实验与德国企业面板（German Business Panel, GBP）合作开展，依托其第五轮调研周期实施，时间跨度为2022年8月16日至2022年11月25日。研究采用完全析因设计（full factorial design），对邮件邀请的五大核心组件进行变量操控。不同于传统静态分组分配的实验设置，本研究采用自适应随机化（adaptive randomization）方法：借助贝叶斯学习算法，按序将更多观测样本分配给调研启动率更高的邀请邮件。在为期15周的实验周期内，研究团队共向企业联系人发送738598封邀请邮件，其中176000封于一周内被打开。总计有7833名收件人启动调研，3733人完成全部调研流程。本数据集包含邮件发送详情、调研参与度指标以及自适应随机化调整的完整记录，可为分析企业调研邀请设计的有效性提供全面的研究基础。 关键词：自适应随机化（Adaptive Randomization）、强化学习（Reinforcement Learning）、无应答（Nonresponse）、邮件邀请（Email Invitation）、网络调研（Web Survey）、企业调研（Firm Survey）、组织调研（Organizational Survey）