Marketing Research and Insight Glossary

Definitions, common uses and explanations of 1,500+ key market research terms and phrases.

What is a Business Reply Envelope (BRE)?

Research Topics:
Mail Surveys | Panels-Mail | Telephone/Mail/Telephone Studies
Content Type:
Glossary
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Business Reply Envelope (BRE) Definition

A pre-addressed, postpaid envelope that allows a respondent to conveniently return a survey.

A business reply envelope, or BRE, is a prepaid, self-addressed envelope provided by a company to customers or respondents as part of a marketing research survey. It encourages recipients to return surveys, questionnaires or other forms of feedback free of charge. This convenience often leads to higher response rates and improved data collection for marketing research purposes. This, in turn, leads to more representative data. By using prepaid cards, marketing professionals and companies can show they understand customer opinions and needs and recognize customer engagement and loyalty.

Who relies on business reply envelopes?

Companies and organizations conducting marketing research use business reply envelopes as a convenient, reliable method for consumers to respond to surveys, questionnaires or feedback forms. By providing prepaid envelopes, companies seek to reduce barriers to participation and encourage a higher number of responses, which can enhance the quality and reliability of the collected data.

Why should I care about business reply envelopes?

Use of business reply envelopes can significantly impact the success of  market research efforts. Providing the envelopes to a target audience increases the likelihood of receiving timely and accurate responses. The intent is to produce more robust data insights that can inform better business decisions and marketing strategies.