Consumer Brand Preferences Study: Disposable Razors: Methodology

Methodology

Select one of the links below to skip to a desired section:
a. Structure
b. Design
c. Sampling
d. Data Collection

A. Structure

A questionnaire composed of 10 separate sections was created in HTML format and data was collected through an online database.

At first entering the survey website, respondents were greeted with a welcome message and instructions. The greeting was as follows:

Hi! My name is Rebecca Sparrow. I am only two months from graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with my Master's Degree in Advertising. As part of my final coursework this summer, I am required to conduct an on-line survey about consumer brand preferences. This is where I need your help. By donating less than 10 minutes of your time to fill out this survey, you can help me complete this final coursework and graduate!! Please keep in mind that all of your answers on this survey will be kept strictly confidential and results are for educational purposes only.

Please note: Your survey will not be processed unless an answer is provided for each survey question (which means you will spend 10 minutes of your time that will NOT help me graduate!). So please take care to answer each question to the best of your ability.

Thank you for your help!

Section 1: Top of Mind Awareness

This section tested the top of mind awareness of shampoo, deodorant, and disposable razor brands through a recall test. Respondents were asked to record the last purchased brand in each category, or if they couldn't remember the last purchased brand, to record the first brand that came to mind.

Section 2: Pre-Ad Exposure Rating on the Constant-Sum Scale

Before seeing the three razor ads, the respondents were asked to express their favorability towards three brands in each of the three categories from Section 1. Participants were asked to split up 10 points among the three brands according to their preference. For shampoo, the brands listed were Clairol Herbal Essences, TRESemme, and Pantene Pro-V. For deodorant, the brands listed were Ban, Dove, and Secret. And finally, the three brands of razors that correspond with the remainder of the survey were Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, and BiC Soleil. The first two categories were in place to catch any initial errors the respondents might run in to in dividing up the 10 points, as well as to keep the respondents from having a narrowed perspective upon viewing the three razor print advertisements.

Section 3: Print Ad Exposure and Post-Ad Exposure Rating on the Constant Sum Scale

This section began by asking each respondent to look through the three ads (shown below in order), spending 15 seconds looking over and reading the copy for each ad (the copy was written out in the survey for readability).

Following exposure to the three ads, participants were asked once again to rank the three razor brands on a constant sum scale, identical to Section 2.

Section 4: Post Ad Exposure Impressions

Next, participants were asked if the three ads caused them to feel any differently about any of the three brands shown. If they answered yes, they were then asked to answer which brand they felt differently about, and whether that change was towards more or less favorable. Finally, the respondents were asked to share what specifically in the ad caused their change in preference.

Sections 5, 6, & 7: Brand Favorability

In these three sections, participants answered a series of 10 Likert items for each brand (one brand per section). The three sections were ordered in the same order that the razor ads were shown: Section 5: Schick Quattro, Section 6: Venus Disposables, Section 7: BiC Soleil. The statements for each section included:

The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) is a good razor.
The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor creates a smooth shave.
The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor creates a close shave.
The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor looks cool.
The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor is expensive.
The (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor makes me feel sexy.
(Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) is a trusted razor brand.
I prefer the (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor over the other two razor brands.
I would NOT use a (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor.
I would purchase a (Schick Quattro, Venus Disposables, BiC Soleil) razor.

Section 8: Evaluation of Print Ads

In this section, respondents were asked to evaluate the quality of the print ads they saw. Participants were asked to select whether each of a set of 10 adjectives described the ad they saw for each brand by selecting "yes," or "no." The adjectives included:

Confusing
Important
Hard to Believe
Easy to Understand
Attention-getting
Different/Unique
Memorable
Informative
Ordinary/Common
Boring

Section 9: Overall Impression of Print Ads

This section asked respondents a series of yes or no answers relating to their overall impression of the print ads shown for each brand. There were 3 sub-sections within this section, one for each of the 3 brands, following the same order as the rest of the survey. The questions included:

This ad is NOT memorable.
This ad made me think differently about the brand advertised.
This ad was annoying.
This ad was suitable for the product.
This ad makes me want to recommend the product to other people.
This ad would catch my attention if I saw it in a magazine.
This ad contained useful information.
This ad explained the characteristics of the product successfully.
I learned something new about the brand from this ad.
This ad is easy to remember.

Section 10: Demographic Information

The final section of the survey consisted of 5 questions. The questions gathered information regarding gender, age, education level, method used for leg hair removal, and frequency of leg shaving per week.

B. Design

The survey method in a pre and post test format was used for this study. Due to time limitations, no control group was used, but would be recommended in future studies. The 90 respondents were asked to rate the three brands of disposable razor brands on a constant sum scale, and then asked to rate them again after viewing ads for each of the three brands. The initial rating became known as the pre-test or pre-exposure rating, and the second became known as the post exposure rating. The difference between the two ratings allowed the researcher to separate the respondents into categories of higher post or higher pre exposure ratings for each brand.

Additionally, to determine what other factors, in terms of brand attributes, contributed to participant's rating changes, several other questions were asked of the respondents. These questions were in reference to not only their perceptions of the brands, but also of the ads themselves. The questionnaire appeared in the same order (print ads included) for each participant.

C. Sampling

The sample collected for this study was a convenient sample. Respondents were recruited to take the survey through a chain email sent to the family and friends of the researcher. The email sent is shown below:

Friends, Family, Friends of Friends, and Friends of Family,

This is Becca Sparrow. I am currently working in the final days of my progression towards my Master's Degree in Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. As part of my final course work, I am required to recruit nearly 100 women to fill out my survey on disposable razors. The survey will only take about 10 minutes to complete, and will put me one step closer to my graduation in August!

Please forward this email to any woman you know that may be interested in helping a starving student finally graduate and get out of debt!

http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/summer_05/rsparrow/razors.html

Thanks for your help!
Becca Sparrow

email: becca22@mail.utexas.edu

After the first email was sent, 3 days passed in which respondents slowly grew to nearly 45. Worried that the number of respondents required would not be reached within the time increment, the researcher sent out a second email to the same group, again recruiting more respondents or for previous respondents to pass along the email to other female friends.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me out by filling out this survey so far, I really appreciate you donating your time to help me out. Unfortunately, at this point I am only half way to my goal, and I have to have the surveys completed by tomorrow morning in order to complete my assignment for class. If you have an extra second today, please attempt to take the survey if you haven't, or pass it along to other female friend(s) that may be able to complete it. Thank you so much everyone again for your help, and I promise to never ever fill up your mail boxes with surveys ever again.

here's the link one more time:
http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/summer_05/rsparrow/razors.html

Thanks again,
Becca Sparrow
becca22@mail.utexas.edu

The final email seemed to have the most effect, gathering 45 participants over night, and helping to reach the targeted number of respondents right on time.

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D. Data Collection

The data for this study was gathered using all computer applications in order to avoid errors in manual transmission of the data. First, the survey was created on Macromedia Dreamweaver, in which each selection in the survey was coded according to its contents. Next, a ColdFusion file was developed linking each coded form field to a Microsoft Access Database created for the survey. The three files were stored on the www.ciadvertising.org server during the course of the survey data collection. Once the appropriate number of respondents were gathered, the database was downloaded from the server, and imported into SPSS in which all the statistical analyses were conducted.