METHODOLOGY
THE QUESTIONNAIRE
At the beginning of the questionnaire an introduction is provided as an overview of the purpose of the survey as well as a brief introduction of the researcher. Also, the respondents are assured that their response are strictly confidential and for academic use only.
The questionnaire is designed to encompass four main sections. The purpose of first section is to measure the change in brand favorability of pre-post ad exposure on the constant sum of scale. The respondents begin by ranking their whiskey brand favorability by dividing 10 points accordingly to their likelihood of purchasing that particular brand. Respondents can only use whole numbers; the intent behind this is to ensure that respondents cannot give equal numbers to all three brands. In this question respondents must choose which brand they will allocate the most point to, and thereby determine their brand preference.
The same question is provided for two other product categories (rum and vodka) before the whiskey category is introduced. This has been done so that the respondents can familiarize themselves with the question format before they begin the survey on whiskey.
Next, one three color print ad is presented for each brand of whiskey (Knob Creek, Maker's Mark and Jack Daniel's). The respondents are asked to view each ad approximately 30 seconds each, given that this is how ads are typically viewed in daily life. This has been done to ensure that the survey responses are as close to natural as possible. Once the respondent has viewed each of the three ads, they are asked again to designate 10 points for each brand accordingly to their likelihood of purchasing that particular brand. At the onset of this section, the respondents are given a few questions regarding their last purchase of rum, vodka and whiskey. This is done in order to steer the respondent's mindset towards the hard-liquor industry.
In the second section, attitudes towards each brand of whiskey (Knob Creek, Maker's Mark and Jack Daniel's) are examined. Respondents are provided with a series of statements regarding each brand and must indicate on a 10 item Likert scale, on how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement. For example, they are given a Likert item that "Knob Creek is a good whiskey." They can check either “strongly agree,” “agree,” “neither agree nor disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree." Each scale point is coded as a numeric value for statistical analysis. A value of 5 is given to “strongly agree,” and 1 to “strongly disagree.”
The third section of the survey measures attitudes towards the ads themselves. Participants are asked to either agree or to disagree with 10 statements on both the advertising message as well as the ad itself. For example, the respondents can click "yes" or "no" following a statement such as "The Maker's Mark ad would appeal to women" or "I would like to see this ad again." “Yes” is coded as a numeric value 1 and “no” as 0 for statistical analysis.
The fourth and final section is designed to obtain basic demographic and geographic data from survey participants. The questions include sex, age, geographic information and highest level of education obtained. This section also includes information regarding the respondent's eating out and drinking habits in the hopes to gain more relevant data to see how likely each respondent would be to consume whiskey in the first place.
The intent behind this section is to determine whether or not there is demographic information which relates to how respondents reacted to the ads. As indicated earlier in this report, all the responses are provided anonymously on order to protect the respondent’s privacy.
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DESIGN
This study is a survey. There is no control group--instead, a comparison is made between the before and after advertising exposure while using the same sample. The pre-exposure purchase intention is subtracted from the post-exposure purchase intention; the constant sum scale is used to measure the net effects of adverting.
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SAMPLING
Due to time and monetary limitations, the researcher chose a non-random, convenience sample. A sample size of at least 60 was determined to be sufficient enough to perform statistical analysis. This sample size allows for enough representation so that if statistical significance is found, projection can be made in 85 or more samples of 100 samples within the same population as these 60 were drawn, we would find results of the same magnitude.
The survey was sent out via email to over 500 personal and professional acquaintances of the researcher. The email contained a link to the survey asking individuals to complete the survey and to forward on to any others interested in participation. All the respondents agreed to participate in the study by clicking the submit button.
A total of 101 respondents attempted to complete the survey. Of those, 76 surveys were correctly and fully completed. As a result, the sample size used to conduct the following research is 76.
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DATA COLLECTION
The data used in this study was electronically collected in February 2006. The respondents were directed to the questionnaire page by clicking the link provided in the email. The questionnaire was built using Macromedia Dreamweaver. Data were collected through linked files: an Access database file and a Cold Fusion file (located on a university server). The data entered into the questionnaire was captured and exported into SPSS for analysis. Due to this method of online data collection, error was minimized as the respondents' exact answers were transferred directly into the database and no manual coding was needed.
Upon completion of the questionnaire, respondents were directed to click the submit button. Once the participant clicked the submit button, all the responses were stored in a database file in the Center for Interactive Advertising. The database file and online questionnaire were connected to each other through a Cold Fusion file, which contained a message thanking respondents for their time and participation. A total of 101 respondents that attempted to complete the survey and 76 of those surveys were correctly and fully completed.
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