I think the best way to measure how enthusiastic the publishers are is...the number of auxiliary pioneers, especially when there is a "big push" for such.
In any sufficently large population (such as JWs), there's always going to be a core of "true believers". In the JW world, these are the regular pioneers - devoted enough to put their lives on hold & financial security at risk to spend 70 or more hours per month knocking on empty houses & leaving magazines at laundromats & with hapless gas-pumpers.
Likewise, there's going to be a group of less active ones, who are in it mainly for social reasons, or because their parents are forcing them. These ones typically have the stigma of being "low hour publishers" or "spirtually weak" or (horrors!) "irregular".
In the middle of the bell curve is the mass of JW members. How enthusiastic are they? When the GB says "jump", will they respond with a "how high?" or a "why should I?"
I suspect that the annual springtime "we need more auxiliary pioneers" push is an attempt by the GB to measure the amount of influence they have over that great mass in the middle. If huge numbers respond, that is a sign that morale is good, there is a "sense of urgency", and the GB can consider themselves "successful".
Typically, there has been a good response. But over the last few years, the annual springtime peak of auxiliary pioneers has been declining (don't have my CD-ROM handy - if anyone could post the April aux. pio. numbers for the past 10 or so years from the KMs, that would be a nice addition to his topic).
In 1998, the peak aux. pio. number in the US was 150,000+. In recent years, the number has been near or below 100,000. There was a big "push" to try for 160,000 aux. pioneers in the US for April this year. "Only 1 out of every 6 publishers would have to sign up".
I suspect the actual number was missed spectacularly. In our congregation, a generally enthusiastic one, we missed our "goal" by 40% (needed 24, got 15).
We'll have to wait for the August KM to see the final numbers - but I expect there to be far less than 160,000 total. Given the big push, that has to be a sign of concern for the GB - the "big mass in the middle" is getting harder & harder to motivate. They don't see "the big A" as coming any time soon.
Thoughts? How did your congregation do in April?