Methodology
Structure
Design
Sampling
Data Collection
Structure
The questionnaire created was specifically designed for online data collection and created using the software Macromedia Dreamweaver. The survey had detailed instructions throughout to carefully guide the respondent so as to avoid any errors in answering. Different response techniques were utilized throughout the survey, including text fields, a text area, radio buttons, list/menu options or drop-down menus, and checkboxes. The final survey had a total of seventeen questions, some of which had many sub-questions.
The survey begins with a title page and introductory statement that assures the individual that his or her statements will be kept strictly confidential and that privacy is promised. This page was specifically designed to make the respondent feel at ease and alleviate any apprehensions to taking the survey. There was a total of seven main sections included in the questionnaire with the title page being the first section.
Section Two of the survey dealt with top-of-mind awareness and consisted of the Pre-Ad Exposure segment were respondents were asked what their initial attitudes and preferences were towards the various brands of chewing gum brands. In this section subjects were asked to indicate brand favorability for all three gum brands by evenly distributing 10 points according to their likelihood of purchasing. They were restricted to using only whole numbers so as to discourage them from using decimals or fractions. The same questions were asked of two other product categories, breath mints and candy, in order to familiarize respondents with the constant-sum scale format.
Section Three of the questionnaire was where the subjects had the chance to view three print ads for each of the three brands of chewing gum: Winterfresh, Big Red, and Orbit. The survey asked the respondents to view the three print ads, but stressed to look at each ad for approximately 15 seconds and to not look back at the ads, seeing as it was unnecessary to remember the ads in detail. This side note was emphasized in order to make later responses as natural as possible. After viewing every advertisement, subjects were asked again to indicate purchase intention concerning only the brands of chewing gum. This constant sum-scale question was vital to this consumer preference project because it measured the brand in an ad. From the comparison of pre to post exposure ratings, a change score was created that became vital to later statistical tests.
The fourth section deals with attitudes towards the specific gum brand. First, respondents were asked whether or not there was anything in the ads that made them feel differently about any of the three chewing gum brands. If the individual answered “yes,” they were asked to answer three more sub-questions, which included an open-ended dialogue box. If they answered “no,” the respondents were asked to skip to question # 5 and continue on with the survey. Next, the participants are asked to indicate how strongly they agree of disagree with certain statements by answering ten five-point Likert items related to brand characteristics. These ten Likert items were asked for each of the three divergent gum brands, with respondents having the option of checking either “strongly agree,” “agree,” “neither agree nor disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree.” Each radio button was coded as a numeric value for later statistical analyses.
Section Five was dedicated to evaluating the print ads and essentially distinguishing whether or not they were liked by the various subjects. For these questions, respondents were asked to check the boxes they felt were an accurate description of the advertised product. A box left unchecked signified the individual did not agree with the one-word descriptors.
The sixth section evaluated the overall effectiveness of the assorted print ads and the general impression it had on the participants. The same ten evaluative questions were asked for each chewing gum brand, with the questions being more specific and descriptive in order to better assess the efficacy of each print ad. The respondents were asked to answer “yes” or “no” according to how they felt towards the various advertisements and whether or not they agreed with the descriptive question.
The last segment of the questionnaire was dedicated to demographic and psychographic information. Respondents were asked a few personal questions regarding gender, age, education level, how often they purchased gum, where they purchased chewing gum, and why they purchased gum. These mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive questions were asked in order to get a more in-depth knowledge of the diverse groups of respondents, letting the researcher know if there are any notable differences between certain sectors of individuals and how they view and react to certain advertised brands of chewing gum. After all questions were completed, participants are then asked to click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page so as to securely and officially submit their questionnaire.
Design
This study can be considered survey research. Because we are not using a control group or have a controlled environment, we will be conducting a pseudo-experiment. Instead of having a control group, comparison is made between before and after advertising exposure using the same sample of 83 individuals. By subtracting Pre-Ad Exposure Purchase Intention from Post-Ad Exposure Purchase Intention, and change score was calculated. Movement on the constant-sum scale was used to assess differences in brand preferences. The respondents either moved up, down, or stayed the same from pre to post ad exposure.
Sampling
For this specific project, a non-random convenience sample was utilized due to time and monetary constraints. A sample of 60 individuals was found to be a sufficient sample size in order to confidently conduct certain probability techniques and statistical tests. This sample size also allows for enough representation so that if statistical significance is found, the results can be projected onto the general population. A total of 83 respondents fully completed the survey, more than enough to allow for statistical projections.
The original email was sent to close family and friends, as well as professional acquaintances of the researcher. The email consisted of a short note urging the receiver to complete the survey by clicking on the questionnaire link that directly took them to the survey’s web site. The recipient was also implored to forward the email, with link, to anyone they believed to be willing to take the time to complete the survey. I believe this stage to be the most difficult and humbling of all the required research steps.
Data Collection
All the data collected was collected in a very short amount of time, starting June 13th and ending on the 16th of June. 84 individuals attempted to complete the questionnaire, with only one participant incompletely filling out the survey. Due to this one individual, only 83 respondents were statistically studied. After subjects completed the survey and clicked the “Submit” button, their answers and corresponding field names were immediately stored in an Access database file in the Center for Interactive Advertising, linked via a ColdFusion file. The data received and retrieved was exported into the analytical software system, SPSS, in order to perform various statistical analyses.