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Chapter 6: Primary and Secondary Data Sources

Chapter 6: Primary and Secondary Data

Sources

Prepared by Group 5

EMRC

Sr. No. Topic Page No.

1. The Sources of Research data 2

i. Nature of Secondary data 3ii. Internal Sources of Secondary data 5iii. External Sources of Secondary data 7

2. Commercial Surveys, Audits & Panels 9

i. Commercial Surveys 9ii. Audits 11iii. Panels 12

3. Survey Research 15

Group 5: - EMRCRakesh, Ritu, Moksh, Rahul, Smriti, Swapnil (VES College, Chembur)1

Members of EMRC (Group 5)

Rakesh Barai 02

Ritu Dua 12Moksh Juneja 18Rahul Kundnani 21Smriti Meher 24Swapnil Sabnis 34

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THE SOURCES OF RESEARCH DATA

The design of the research project specifies both the data that are needed and how

they are to be obtained. The first step in the data-collection process is to look forsecondary data. These are data that were developed for some purpose other thanfor helping to solve the problem at hand. The data that are still needed after thatsearch is completed will have to be developed specifically for the research projectand are known as primary data.

The secondary data that are available are relatively quick and inexpensive to obtain,especially now that computerized bibliographic search services and databases areavailable. The various sources of the secondary data and how they can be obtainedand used are described ahead.

Most secondary data are generated by specialized firms and are sold to marketersto help them deal with a category of problems. Nielsens television ratings, whichmarketers use in making advertising decisions, is the best-known example. Many ofthese services, broadly categorized as audits, commercial surveys, and panels,allow some degree of customization and thus fall between secondary and primarydata. These sources are treated in detail ahead.

An important source of primary data is survey research. The various types ofsurveys (personal, mail, computer, and telephone), are described ahead.Experiments are another important source of data for marketing research projects.The nature of experimentation, the types of experimental designs, and the uses and

limitations of this method of obtaining data are also explained ahead. Experimentsare conducted in either a laboratory setting (most advertising copy pretests) or in afield setting (test marketing). Electronic and computer technologies haverevolutionized both these environments, which are described later.

Secondary Data

In April 1991, Buick and its advertising agency, McMann-Erickson Worldwide,launched its new Roadmaster station wagon with a revolutionary new advertisingapproach. A major component of the advertising for Roadster is a print campaignwith ads appearing in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News. & World Report, People, Sports

Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, and Money. However, not all subscribers will seethese ads. In fact, only 4,940 of the more than 40,000 ZIP codes in the UnitedStates will receive the ads. Subscribers is these ZIP codes will not only have achance to see the ads, their magazines' will come with a personal addressed cardinviting them to send for more information on the Roadmaster.

The target households, which are located mainly in affluent suburbs in the Northeastand Midwest, represent less than 20 percent of US households. However, thesehouseholds buy over 50 percent of all large Station wagons. Buick was able to

select the appropriate ZIP codes by using McMann-Erickson McMapping database.McMapping is based on data from several syndicated sources as well as the U.S.


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Census. It describes ZIP codes (and larger areas) in terms of standarddemographics, values, primary lifestyle and media use. It works by matching thecharacteristics of the firm's target market with the characteristics of ZIP coderesidents.

McMapping does more than simply allow precise targeting of ads and efficientmedia buys. It also helps develop effective commercials. For example, a traditionalsystem might describe the typical buyer of a specific pickup truck as a mate between25 and 54 with a household income of $30,000. The McMapping profile might addsuch information as he lives alone, owns a dog, likes sports which he often watcheson cable with friends in a bar, and has a very macho self image. Obviously, thisadded information would be invaluable in developing effective ad copy.

In a few short years the increase in the number of commercially available databasesand of computers on which to access them have brought about dramatic changes inthe utilization of secondary data. In this chapter we describe this development anddiscuss the traditional sources of secondary data.

The Nature of Secondary Data

Primary data are data that are collected to help solve a problem or take advantageof an opportunity on which a decision is pending. Secondary data are data that weredeveloped for some purpose other than helping to solve the problem at hand.Obviously, the U.S Census was not conducted primarily to help target potentialbuyers of Buick station wagons. However, as the opening example illustrates,Census data and other data collected for other purposes can be used to target

potential buyers or for other business applications.

Advantages of Secondary DataSecondary data can be gathered quickly and inexpensively, compared to primarydata (data gathered specifically for the problem at hand). It clearly would have beenfoolish for Buick to collect information directly on the population characteristics,values and lifestyles of every ZIP code in the United States. Such data are alreadyavailable and can be obtained much faster and at a fraction of the cost of collectingthem again.

Problems Encountered with Secondary DataSecondary data tend to cost substantially less than primary data and can becollected in less time. Why, then, do we ever bother with primary data? Beforesecondary data can be used as the only source of information to help solve amarketing problem, they must be available, relevant, accurateand sufficient. If oneor more of these criteria are not met, primary data may have to be used.

AvailabilityFor some marketing problems, no secondary data are available. For example,suppose J.C. Penneys management was interested in obtaining consumerevaluations of the physical layout of the company's current catalog as a guide fordeveloping next years catalog. It is unlikely that such information is available fromsecondary sources. It is probable that no other organization that had collected suchdata would be willing to make it available. Sears may have performed such a study


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to guide in the development of their catalogs; it is, however, unlikely that acompetitor would supply it to Penneys. In this case, the company would have toconduct interviews of consumers to obtain the desired information. Secondary dataon the spending patterns, media preferences, and lifestyles of some populationsegments are very limited. For example, there is a shortage of data on African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian - Americans.

RelevanceRelevance refers to the extent to which the data fit the information needs of theresearch problem. Even when data are available that cover the same general topicas that required by the research problem, they may not fit the requirements of theparticular problem.

Four general problems reduce the relevance of data that would otherwise be useful.First, there is often a difference in the units of measurement. For example, manyretail decisions require detailed information on the characteristics of the populationwithin the "trade area." However, available demographic statistics may be forcounties, cities, census tracts, or ZIP code areas that do not match the trade area ofthe retail outlet.

A second factor that can reduce the relevance of secondary data is the necessity insome applications to use surrogate data. Surrogate data are a substitute for moredesirable data. This was discussed earlier as surrogate information error. HadBuick had access only to data on new car purchases by ZIP code, it would havebeen much less relevant thandata on purchases of new station wagons.

A third general problem that can reduce the relevance of secondary data is thedefinition of classes. Social class, age, income, firm size, and similar category-typebreakdowns found in secondary data frequently do not coincide with the exactrequirements of the research problem. For example, Gallup and other publicopinion polls frequently collect data on alcohol consumption and attitudes towardalcohol as part of their periodic surveys. Bacardi Imports would like to use thisreadily available data. Unfortunately, Gallup and most other polls define adults asindividuals 18 and over while Bacardi is interested in adults 21 and over. Thedifferent definitions of classes is one reason Gallup estimates that 56 percent ofadults ever consume alcoholic beverages compared to the 70 percent indicated byBacardi's surveys.

The final major factor-affecting relevancy is time. Generally, research problemsrequire current data. Most secondary data, on the other hand, have been inexistence for some time. For example, the Census of Retail Trade is conducted onlyevery five years, and two years are required to process and publish the results. Aresearcher using this source could easily be using data that is over four years old.This is becoming less of a problem as more and more data are being placed directlyinto electronic databases.

AccuracyAccuracy is the third major concern of the user of secondary data. When usingsecondary data, the original source should be consulted if possible. This is


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important for two reasons. First, the original report is generally more complete thana second or third report. It often contains warnings, shortcomings, andmethodological details not reported by the second or third source.

SufficiencySecondary data may be available, relevant, and accurate, but still may not besufficient to meet all the data requirements for the problem being researched. Forexample, a database that contained accurate, current demographic information onthe purchases of various brands and types of automobiles could still be insufficientin terms of providing information to assist in developing new products oradvertisements.

Internal Sources of Secondary DataInternalsources can be classified into four broad categories:

accounting records

salesforce reports miscellaneous records

internal experts

Accounting Records

The basis for accounting records concerned with sales is the sales invoice. Theusual sales invoice has a sizable amount of information on it, which generallyincludes nameof customer, location of customer, itemsordered, quantities ordered,quantities shipped, dollar extensions, back orders, discounts allowed, date.

In addition, the invoice often contains information on sales territory, salesrepresentative, and warehouse of shipment. This information, when supplementedby data on costs and industry and product classification, as well as from sales calls,provides the basis for a comprehensive analysis of sales by product, customer,industry, geographic area, sales territory, and sales representative, as well as theprofitability of each sales category. Unfortunately, most firms' accounting systemsare designed primarily for tax reasons rather than for decision support.


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Sales Force ReportsSales force reports represent a rich and largely untapped potential source ofmarketing information. The word potential is used because evidence indicates thatsales personnel do generally not report valuable marketing information.

Sales personnel often lack the motivation and/or the means to communicate keyinformation to marketing managers. To obtain the valuable data available from mostsales forces, several elements are necessary: (1) a clear, concise statement,repeated frequently, of the types of information desired; (2) a systematic, simpleprocess for reporting the information; (3) financial and other rewards for reportinginformation; and (4) concrete examples of the actual use of the data.

Miscellaneous Reports

Miscellaneous reports represent the third internal data source. Previous marketingresearch studies, special audits, and reports purchased from outside for priorproblems may have relevance for current problems. As a firm becomes morediversified, the more likely it is to conduct studies that may have relevance toproblems in other areas of the firm. For example, P&G sells a variety of distinctproducts to identical or similar target markets. An analysis of the media habitsconducted for one product could be very useful for a different product that appealsto the same target market. Again, this requires an efficient marketing informationsystem to ensure that those who need them can find the relevant reports.Internal Experts

One of' the most overlooked sources of internal secondary data is internal experts.An internal expert is anyone employed by the firm who has special knowledge.

The following statement by a senior research manager at a major consumer goodsfirm describes why his organization developed a research reports library and howthey ensure its use. On the average, each brand is assigned a new brand managerevery two years. These brand managers are young, aspiring, talented MBA-typesand they believe in the value of marketing research. They also know that their ownupward mobility is pegged to the mark they leave on the brand. So, the first thingthey require is marketing research: segmentation studies or attitude/usage surveys,typically followed by lots of qualitative studies in the copy concept or positioning/adstrategy areas. Hell, for most brands you don't need new segmentation orpositioning studies every two years! Go to the file and find the last one done, learnfrom it before you decide a new study is required. The same is true for copyconcept issues. If the concept is worth a damn, it has been researched before.

Reuse data, stretch it out to the max and reserve your budget for truly new,necessary primary studies. That's why we developed our "research library."Everything we have ever done is in there, including subsequent actions and results.And, it is organized for easy access. Now it is company policy that any researchrequest has to include proof that the library has already been searched and foundlacking-before any new can be conducted! related to the question at hand. While


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this knowledge is stored in individuals' minds rather than on paper or computer disk,it can be as valid and valuable as more formal sources.

Had the marketing manager quickly asked the most obvious internal experts-members of the sales force-to explain the sales decline, work on a competitive newproduct could have begun almost a year earlier. In addition to the sales force,companies have discovered that marketing research personnel, technicalrepresentatives, advertising agency personnel, product managers, and publicrelations personnel often have expert knowledge of relevance to marketingproblems.

External Sources of Secondary Data

Numerous sources external to the firm mav have data relevant to the firm'srequirements. Seven general categories of external secondary information are

described in the sections that follow: (1) computerized databases, (2) associations,(3) government agencies, (4) syndicated services, (5) directories, (6) otherpublished sources, and (7) external experts.

Databases

A computerized database is a collection of numeric data and/or information that ismade computer-readable form for electronic distribution. There are than 3,500databases available from over 550 on-line service enterprises. Those that areavailable that are useful in bibliographic search, site location, media planning,market planning, forecasting and for many other purposes of interest to marketing

researchers.

Associations

Associations frequently publish or maintain detailed information on industry sales,operating characteristics, growth patterns, and the like. Furthermore, they mayconduct special studies of factors relevant to their industry. These materials may bepublished in the form of annual reports, as part of a regular trade journal, or asspecial reports. In some cases, they are available only on request from theassociation. Most libraries maintain reference works, such as the Encyclopedia ofAssociations that list the various associations and provide a statement of the scopeof their activities.

Government Agencies

Federal, state, and local government agencies produce a massive amount of datathat are of relevance to marketers. In this section, the nature of the data producedby the federal government is briefly described. However, the researcher should notoverlook state and local government data. There are also a number of specializedanalytic and research agencies, numerous administrative and regulatory agencies,and special committees and reports of the judicial and legislative branches of thegovernment.


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These sources produce five broad types of data of interest to marketers. There aredata on (1) population, housing, and income; (2) agricultural, industrial, andcommercial product sales of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and serviceorganisations; (3) financial and other characteristics of firms; (4) employment; and(5) miscellaneous reports.

Syndicated Services

Awide arrayof data on both consumer and industrial markets is collected and soldby commercial organizations.

Directories

Any sound marketing strategy requires an understanding of existing and potentialcompetitors and customers. Suppose you were asked to prepare a report on theforest products industry, to aid your organization in developing a sales andmarketing approach to lumber manufacturers. A number of services and directorieswould prove useful. A general industry directory such as Thomas Register ofAmerican Manufacturers is a good starting place. This sixteen-volume, set listsmanufacturers' products and services by product category. It provides the companyname, address, telephone number, and an estimate of its asset size. It alsocontains an extensive trademark listing and samples of company catalogs.

Other Published Sources

There is a virtually endless array of periodicals, books, dissertations, specialreports, newspapers, and the like that contain information relevant to marketingdecisions.

External Experts

External experts are individuals outside your organization whose job provides themwith expertise on your industry or activity. State and government officialsassociated with the industry, trade association officials, editors and writers for tradeand publications, financial analysts focusing on the industry, government anduniversity researchers, and distributors often have expert knowledge relevant tomarketing problems.


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COMMERCIAL SURVEYS, AUDITS, AND PANELS

Commercial Surveys

Commercial surveys are conducted by research organizations and fall into threecategories: periodic, panel, and shared. Periodic surveys measure the sameattitudes,, knowledge, and/or behaviors using different samples at regular points intime. Panel surveys generally measure differing attitudes, knowledge, and/orbehaviors using the same basic set of respondents at either regular or unique timeintervals. Finally, sharedsurveys are surveys that are administered by a researchfirm and are composed of questions submitted by multiple clients.

Periodic SurveysPeriodic surveys are conducted at regular intervals, ranging from weekly to annually.

They use a new sample of respondents (individuals, households, or stores) for eachsurvey, focusing on the same topic and allowing the analysis of trends over time,though changes in individual respondents cannot be traced. These surveys covertopics ranging from values to media usage and food preparation.

Periodic surveys are conducted by mail, personal interview, and telephone. Theyare subject to all of the problems of questionnaire design, sampling, and surveymethod that affect custom surveys. In addition, when periodic surveys areconducted at known intervals, they may affect the behavior being measured. Forexample, periodic surveys are used to measure television viewing. Telecastershave responded by scheduling specials and particularly popular shows to coincidewith these surveys

Panel Surveys

Panel surveys, sometimes called interval panels, are conducted among a group ofrespondents who have agreed to respond to a number of mails, telephone, or,occasionally, personal interviews over time. The interviews may cover virtually anytopic and need not occur on a regular basis. In contrast, a Panel, a continuouspanel or panel data refers to a group of individuals who agree to report specifiedbehaviors over time.

In an interval panel, the research firm initially gathers detailed data on eachrespondent, including demographics and attitudinal and product-ownership items.Because the researchers need not collect this basic demographic data again, theycan now obtain more relevant information from each respondent. These basic dataalso allow researchers to select very specific samples, For example, a researchercan select only those families within a panel that have one or more daughtersbetween the ages of 12 and 16, or that own a dog, or that wear contact lens. Thisability to select allows a tremendous swings over a random survey procedure if astudy is to be made for a product for teenage girls, dog owners, or contact lenswearers, and so on.

It is possible to survey the same interval panel members several times to monitorchanges in their attitudes and purchase behavior in response to changes in the


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firm's or a competitor's marketing mix. However, interval panels are used moreoften for cross-sectional (one-time) surveys. A major advantage is the highresponse rate obtained by most interval panels. Return rates in the range of 70 to90 percent are often obtained. In addition, the firm does not have to generate asampling frame, a process that is both time consuming and costly. Finally, sincepanel members are convinced of the legitimacy of the firm maintaining the panel,they may supply more detailed and accurate data to both neutral and sensitivequestions.

Data are normally collected by mail, but telephone, personal, and even focus groupscan be used. Clients can survey the entire panel, a stratified random sample of thelarger panel, or a specific type, size, or location category. Panel surveys obtain veryhigh response rates. However, the response rate when individuals are initiallyasked to join a panel may be quite low. Thus, panels do not eliminate nonresponseerror. This issue is discussed in depth in the section on continuous panels.

Shared Surveys

Shared surveys, sometimes referred to as omnibus surveys, are administered by aresearch firm and consist of questions supplied by multiple clients. Such surveyscan involve mail, telephone, or personal interviews. The respondents may be drawnfrom either an interval panel or randomly from the larger population.

Shared surveys offer the client several advantages. First, since several clientsshare the fixed cost of sample design and most of the variable surveying costs, thecost per question is generally quite low.

Since these data are collected frequently, responses can be obtained very quickly.This feature is helpful for measuring consumers responses to competetive moves,adverse publicity and environmental changes.

AuditsAudits involve the physical inspection of inventories, sales receipts, shelf facings,prices, and other aspects of the marketing mix to determine sales, market share,relative price, distribution, or other relevant information.

Store AuditsThe simple accounting arithmetic of

opening inventory + net purchases (receipts - transfers out - returned inventory +transfers in) - closing inventory

sales

is the basis for the audit of retail store sales.

The most -, widely-used store audit service is the Nielsen Retail Index. It is basedon audits every 30 or 60 days of a large national sample of food, drug, and massmerchandise stores. The index provides sales data on all the major packagedgoods product lines carried by these stores-foods, pharmaceuticals, drug sundries,tobacco, beverages, and the like (but not soft goods or durables). Nielsen contracts


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with the stores to allow their auditors to conduct the audits and pays for that right byproviding them with their own data plus cash.

The clients receive reports on the sales of their own brand and of competitors'brands, the resulting market shares, prices, shelf facings, in-store promotionalactivity, stock outs, retailer inventory and stock turn, and local advertising. Thesedata are provided for the entire United States and by region, by size classes ofstores, and by chains versus independents. The data are available to subscriberson-line via computer as well as in printed reports

Product Audits

Product audits, such as Audits and Surveys' National Total Market Index, are similarto store audits but focus on products rather than store samples. Whereas productaudits provide information similar to that provided by store audits, product auditsattempt to cover all the types of retail outlets that handle a product category. Thus,a product audit for automotive wax would include grocery stores, massmerchandisers, and drugstores (in this way it is similar to the Nielsen store audits).In addition, it would include automotive supply houses, filling stations, hardwarestores, and other potential outlets for automotive wax.

Retail Distribution Audits

Similar to store audits are retail distribution audits or surveys. These surveys do notmeasure inventory or sales; instead, they are observational studies at the retaillevel. Field agents enter stores unannounced and without permission. Theyobserve and record the brands present, price, shelf facings, and other relevant datafor selected product categories.

Panels

A panel is a group of individuals or organizations that have agreed to provideinformation to a researcher over a period of time. A continuous panel, the focus ofthis section, has agreed to report specified behaviors on a regular basis.

Retail Panels

A number of organizations offer services based on sales data from the checkoutscanner tapes of a sample of supermarkets and other retailers that use electronicscanning systems. An estimated 99 percent of all packaged products insupermarkets carry the universal product code (UPC), often referred to as a barcode, and so are amenable to scanning. UPC codes are rapidly being expanded tosoft goods and hardware; stores such as K mart, Wal-Mart, and Toys 'R' Us have orare installing scanners in all their outlets.

Scanning data have many applications in marketing research. Safeway Stores, forexample, has a manager of scanner marketing research whose departmentconducts studies on such topics as price elasticities, placement of products in thestores, and the effects of in-store advertising. One such scanner test showed thatthe sales of candy bars increased 80 percent when they were put on front-end racks


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near the checkout stands. Another study indicated that foil-packaged sauce mixessold better when they were placed near companion products-spaghetti sauce nearthe spaghetti, meat sauce in the refrigerated meat cases, and so on rather thanwhen they were displayed with other sauces.

Scanner data as compared to store audit data, have the advantages of (1) greaterfrequency-weekly instead of bimonthly collection, (2) elimination of breakage andpilferage losses being counted as sales, and (3) more accurate price information.They have certain problems however, including (1) only the larger supermarketshave scanners, and (2) the quality of the scannerdata is heavily dependent uponcheckout clerk.

Consumer PanelsContinuous consumer panels allow firms to monitor shifts in individual or specifichousehold behaviors or attitudes over time. This allows the firm to determine howits own or competitors' marketing mix changes affect specific consumers or marketsegments Consumer panel data are collected either electronically, by UPC scannersor Diaries.

Diary PanelsA diary panel, as the name implies, is a panel of households who continuouslyrecord in a diary their purchases of selected products. it is used for those productcategories for which purchase is frequent-primarily food, household, and personalcare products.

Electronic Panels

Electronic panels are composed of households whose television viewing behavior isrecorded electronically. Nielsen Media Research is the main organization active inthis area. Until recently, Nielsen used a national sample of homes with TV sets thatwere wired to household meters. The meters were connected to a central computerby telephone line and automatically recorded when the set was turned on and thestation to which it was turned (a separate sample reported individual viewing indiaries).

A major problem with audience measurements obtained from meters is that noinformation is provided on how many people, if any, are watching, and what their de-mogaphic characteristics are. A new kind of meter, called a people meter, has beendeveloped to take care of this problem. It has a remote control coupled to thetelevision meter that allows each of the family members plus visitors (who alsorecord their age and gender) to "log on" when he or she begins viewing by punchingan identifying button. This information is downloaded via a telephone line to acentral computer where the demographics of the household members are stored.Thus viewing by demographic segments can be determined. While is considerablecontroversy over the accuracy of people meters (tile networks feel theyunderestimate the number of -viewers), they appear to superior to the availablealternatives.

Single-Source DataSingle-source data are continuous data derived from the same respondent orhousehold, covering at least television viewing and UPC product purchase


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information. In general the data are collected electronically and also contain in-store data such as price level, coupon use, and so forth. The advantages of such asystem are substantial, asit can produce virtually real-time measures of advertisingeffectiveness, the effects of repetition, product changes, and so forth.

Applications of Commercial Surveys, Audits, and Panels

Retail SalesRetail sales data a-re available from both audits and scanner-based retail panels.Scanner panels provide more current data at shorter time intervals than do audits.However, audits cover outlets not required with scanners. Scanner data areparticularly useful to both retailers and manufacturers for measuring the aggregateimpact of coupons, in-store promotions, point-of purchase displaces, price discountsand so forth. Measuring only the sales of the promoted brand would lead a managerto conclude that the fifth (least) most popular brand should be promoted. However,an analysis of category sales reveals that sales increases of minor brands on salecome as a result of the cannibalization of the more popular brands. In contrast, pricereductions on the leading brands appear to increase overall category sales.

Household Purchases

Data on household consumption are available from both diary- and scanner-basedhousehold panels. Household consumption data allows the firm to monitor shifts inan individual's or market segment's purchasing patterns over time. This allows thefirm to evaluate the effects of both its own and its competitors' marketing activitieson specific market segments. For example, if a competitor introduces a largerpackage, the firm can tell what type (demographic and product usagecharacteristics) and how many people are switching to the new size.

Household panel data also serve as an important basis for forecasting the saleslevel or market share of a new product. A new product will often attract a number ofpurchasers simply because it is new. However, its ultimate success depends onhow much of these initial purchasers become repeat purchasers.

Media Usage

Given the billions spent on advertising, it is not surprising that substantial effort isexpended to measure media usage.

Attitudes/Knowledge/Behaviors

Commercial surveys, both periodic and panel-based, are the primary generalsources of data on consumer attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. For example, afirm desiring to improve or alter its corporate image could engage in a variety ofadvertising and public relations programs in different regions of the country. Usingone of the weekly shared-interview services, it could economically determine therelative impact on each approach over time.


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SURVEY RESEARCH

THE NATURE OF SURVEY RESEARCH

Survey research is the systematic gathering of information from respondents for thepurpose of understanding and/or predicting some aspect of the behavior of thepopulation of interest. As the term is typically used, it implies that the informationhas been gathered with some version of a questionnaire. The administration of aquestionnaire to an individual or group of individuals is called interview.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Interviews are classified according to their degree of structure and directnessStructure refers to the amount of freedom the interviewer has in altering thequestionnaire to meet the, unique situation posed by each interview. Directness

involves the extent to which the respondent is aware of (or is likely to be aware of)the nature and purpose of the survey.

Characteristics Of Structured And Unstructured InterviewsAs stated earlier, the degree of structure refers to the extent to which an intervieweris restricted to following the wording and instructions in a questionnaire' Interviewerbias tends to be at a minimum in structured interviews. In addition it is possible toutilize less skilled (and less expensive) interviewers with a structured formatbecause their duties are basically confined to reading questions and recordinganswers.

These advantages of structured interviews may be purchased at the expense ofricher or more complete information that skillful interviewers could elicit if allowedthe freedom. Relatively unstructured interviews become more important inmarketing surveys as less is known about the variables being investigated. Thus,unstructured techniques are used in exploratory surveys and for investigatingcomplex or unstructured topic areas, such as personal values and purchasemotivations.

Characteristics of Direct and Indirect Interviews

Direct interviewing involves asking questions such that the respondent is aware of

the underlying purpose of the survey. Most marketing surveys are relatively direct.That is, although the name of the sponsoring firm is frequently kept anonymous, thegeneral area of interest is often obvious to the respondent. Direct questions aregenerally easy for the respondent to answer, tend to have the same meaning acrossrespondents, and have responses that are relatively easy to interpret. However,occasions may arise when respondents are either unable or unwilling to answerdirect questions. For example, respondents may not be able to verbalize theirsubconscious reasons for purchases or they may not want to admit that certainpurchases were made for socially unacceptable reasons. In these cases, someform of indirect interviewing is required.Indirect interviewing, often referred to as disguised, involves asking questions such

that the respondent does not know what the objective of the study is. A person whois asked to describe the typical person" who rides a motorcycle to work may not be


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aware that the resulting description is a measure of his own attitudes towardmotorcycles and this use of them.

Both structure and directness represent continuums rather than discrete categories.However, it is sometimes useful to categorize surveys based on which end of eachcontinuum they are nearest. This leads to four types of interviews: structure-direct,structure-indirect, unstructured-direct and unstructured-indirect.

TYPES OF SURVEYS

Surveys are generally classified according to the method of communication used inthe interviews: personal, telephone, mail, or computer. The relative popularity ofthree of these techniques. (Personal interviews are broken into mall intercept anddoor-to-door categories.) Computer interviews are less common. Each of the fourmethods is briefly described in the following section:

Personal Interviews

Personal interviews are widely used in marketing research. In a personal interview;the interviewer asks the questions of the respondent in a face-to-face situation. Theinterview ma., take place at the respondent's home or at a central location, such asa shopping mall or a research office.

Mall intercept interviews are the predominant type of personal interview. Thepopularity of this type of personal interview is the result of its cost advantage overdoor-to-door interviewing, the ability to demonstrate products or use equipment thatcannot be easily transported, greater supervision of interviewers, and less elapsedtime required.

Mall intercept interviews involve stopping shoppers in a shopping mall at random,qualifying them if necessary, inviting them into the research firm's interviewingfacilities that are located at the mall, and conducting the interview. Qualifying arespondent means ensuring that the respondent meets the sampling criteria. This-could involve a quota sample where there is a desire to interview a given number ofpeople with certain demographic characteristics such as age and gender. Or it couldinvolve ring that all the respondents use the product category being investigated.Shopping mall interviews generally take place inside special facilities in the centerthat are operated by a commercial research firm. These facilities make possible avariety of interview formats not available when the interviews are conducted door-to-door.

Individuals who visit malls are not a representative of the entire population. Anadditional problem with intercept interviews at malls where research firms maintainpermanent facilities is "respondent burnout," That is, a significant portion of a givenmall's customers shop at the mall regularly. over time, these regular shoppers willbe randomly. selected into numerous studies. Both their willingness to cooperateand the nature of their responses will change as the% participate in more and morestudies.


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Intercept interviews are not limited to shopping malls. Increasingly, interestinterviews are conducted at locations relevant to the population of interest. Anemerging type of personal interviewing is the in-store intercept. In-store interceptinterviews involve interviewing individuals inside retail outlets, generally immediatelyafter they have purchased the product category in question. One version of thisapproach, the purchase intercepts technique (PIT).

Telephone interviewsTelephone interviews involve the presentation of the questionnaire by telephone.Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) dominates large-scale telephoneinterviews. A stand-alone CATI system involves programming a survey directly inone or more personal computers. The telephone interviewer then reads thequestions front a television-type screen and records the answers directly on theterminal keyboard or directly on the screen with a light pen. The flexibilityassociated with the computer provides a number of advantages. often exact set ofquestions a respondent is to receive will depend on answers to earlier questions.For example, individuals who have a child under age three might receive one set ofquestions concerning food purchases whereas other individuals would receive adifferent set. The computer, 4 in effect, allows the creation of an "individualizedquestionnaire for each respondent based on answers to prior questions.

A second advantage is the ability of the computer to present different versions of thesame question automatically. For example, when asking people to answerquestions that have several stated alternatives, it is desirable to rotate the order inwhich the alternatives are presented. This is easy with a CAT1 system.

Another advantage of CATI system- is the ease and speed with which a badquestion can be changed or a new question added. CATI systems also edit data asthey are entered. That is, the computer can be programmed to highlightinconsistent answers across questions, to refuse answers outside a defined range,to ensure that constant sum question responses total properly, and so forth.

Finally, data can easily be analyzed and interim reports issued. Interim reports mayallow one to stop a survey if the "answer" becomes clear before the schedulednumber of interviews has been completed. Final reports can also be producedrapidly.

Mail Interviews

Mail interviews may be delivered in any of several ways. Generally, they are mailedto the respondent and the completed questionnaire is returned by mail to theresearcher. However, the forms can be left and/or picked up by companypersonnel. They can be also distributed by means of magazine and newspaperinserts or they can be attached to products. The warranty card attached to mostConsumer products as a useful source of survey data for many manufacturers.

CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF A SURVEY METHOD

A of criteria are relevant for judging which type of survey to use in a particularsituation. These criteria are


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(1) complexity,(2) required amount of data,(3) desired accuracy,(4) sample control,(5) time requirements,(6) acceptable level of Nonresponse and(7) cost.

Complexity of the Questionnaire

Although researchers generally attempt to minimize complexity, some subjectareas still require relatively complex questionnaires. For example, the sequence ofnumber of questions asked often depends on the answer to previous questions.

A respondent seeing a questionnaire of this type for the first time can easilybecome confused or discouraged. Thus, computer, personal, and telephoneinterviews are better suited to collect this type of information than are mailinterviews.Other aspects of complexity also tend to favor the use of personal or computerinterviews. Visual cues are necessary for many projective techniques, such as thepicture response. Multiple-choice questions often require a visual presentation ofthe alternatives because the respondent cannot remember More than a few whenthey are presented orally. However, most attitude scales can be administered viathe phone.

The telephone, and often mail, are inappropriate for studies that require therespondent to react to the actual product, advertising copy, package design, orother physical characteristics. Techniques that require relatively complexinstructions are best administered by means of personal inter-views. Similarly if theresponse required by the technique is -extensive, such as with many conjointanalysis studies, personal inter-views are better, with computers second.

Amount of Data

Closely related to the issue of complexity is the amount of data to be generated by agiven questionnaire. The amount of data actually involves two separate issues:(1) How much time will it take to complete the entire questionnaire?(2) How much effort is required by the respondent to complete thequestionnaire? For example, one open-ended question may take a respondent fiveminutes to answer, and a 25-item multiple-choice questionnaire may take the samelength of time. Moreover, much more effort may go into writing down a five-minuteessay than in checking off choices on 25 multiple-choice questions.

Personal interviews can, in general, be longer than other types. Social motives playan important role in personal interviews. It would be "impolite" to terminate aninterview with someone in a face-to-face situation.

Accuracy Of The Resultant Data


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The accuracy of data obtained by surveys can be affected b a number of factors,such as interviewer effects, sampling effects, and effects caused by questionnairedesign. In this section, we are concerned with errors induced by the survey methoditself, particularly responses to sensitive questions and interviewer effects.

Sensitive Questions

Personal interviews and to a lesser extent, telephone interviews involve socialinteraction between the respondent and the interviewer. Therefore, there is concernthat the respondent may not answer potentially embarrassing questions or questionswith socially desirable responses accurately. Since mail and computer hat they willyield more interviews reduce social interaction, it is often assumed that they willyield more accurate responses. However, research indicates that well-constructedand well-administered questionnaires will generally yield similar results, regardlessof the method of administration unless very sensitive topics such as illicit drug useare being investigated.Interviewer Effects

The ability of interviewers to alter questions, their appearance, their manner ofspeaking, the intentional and unintentional cues provided, and the way they probecan be a disadvantage. It means that, in effect, each respondent may receive aslightly different interview. Depending on the topic of the survey, the interviewerssocial class, age, sex, race, authority, training, expectations, opinions, and voicecan affect the results.

The danger of interviewer effects is greatest in personal interviews. Telephoneinterviews are also subject minimal interviewer effects. Mail and computer surveyhave minimal interviewer effects.

Questionnaire designs that minimize interviewer freedom also reduce the potentialfor interviewer bias. The most effective approach involves the skillful selection,training, control of interviewers. However, after the most cost effective designprinciples have been applied, some interviewer bias is apt to remain. This should beestimated subjectively or, preferably, statistically.

One final problem that arises with the use of telephone and personal interviewercheating. That is for various reasons, interviewers may falsify all or parts of aninterview. This is a severe enough problem that most commercial surveyresearchers engage in a . process called validation or verification.Validation involves reinterviewing a sample of the Population that completed theinitial interview. In this reinterview, verification is sought that the interview tookplace and was conducted properly and completely.

Sample Control

Each of the four interview, techniques allows substantially different levels of controlover who is interviewed. Personal interviews offer the most potential for control overthe sample. An explicit list of individuals or households is not required. Althoughsuch lists are desirable, various, forms of areas sampling can help the researcher to


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overcome most of the problems caused by the absence of a complete samplingframe. In addition, the researcher can control who is interviewed within the samplingunit and how much assistance from other members of the unit is permitted.

Controlling who within the household is interviewed can be expensive. If thepurpose of the research is to investigate household behavior, such as applianceownership, any available adult will probably be satisfactory. However, if thepurpose is to investigate individual behavior, inter-viewing the most readily availableadult within the household will adult, will often produce a biased sample. Thus, there-searcher must randomly select from among those living at each household. Thesimplest means of selection is to interview the adult who last had (or next will have)a birthday. The odds of a-household member being at home are substantially largerthan the odds of a specific household member being available. This means thatthere will be more "not-at-homes:' which will increase interviewing costssubstantially.

Personal and computer interviews conducted in central locations, such as shoppingmalls, lose much of the control possible, with home interviews because the interviewis limited to the individuals who visit the shopping mall.

Mail questionnaires require an explicit sampling frame composed of addresses, ifnot names and addresses. Such lists are generally unavailable for the generalpopulation.

Lists of specialized groups are more readily available However even with a goodmailing list, the researcher maintains only limited control over who at the mailingaddress completes the questionnaire. Different family members frequently providedivergent answers to the same question. Although researchers can address thequestionnaire to a specific household member, they cannot be sure who completesthe questionnaire.

Mailings to organizations have similar problems. It is difficult to determine anindividual's sphere of responsibility from his or her job title. In some firms thepurchasing agent may set the criteria by which brands are chosen, whereas in otherFr-ms this is either a committee decision or is made by the person who actually usesthe product in question. Thus, a mailing addressed to a specific individual or jobtitle may not reach the individual who is most relevant for the survey. In additionbusy executives may often pass on a questionnaire to others, who are not asqualified to complete it. Telephone surveys are obviously limited to households withdirect access to telephone. However, the fact that telephones are almost universallyowned does not mean that lists of telephone numbers, such as telephonedirectories, are equally complete.

As the current telephone directory becomes older, the percentage of householdswith unlisted numbers increases because of new families moving into the area andothers moving within the area.

Random Digit Dialing


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To ensure more representative samples, researchers generally utilize some form ofrandom digit dialing. This technique requires that at least some of the digits of eachsample phone number be generated randomly.

A primary problem with pure random digit dialing is that only about 20 percent of allnumbers within working prefixes are actually connected to home phones. A varietyof techniques have been developed to minimize this problem. The most populartechnique, Plus-one or add-a-digit, simply requires the researcher to select asample from an existing directory and add one to each number thus selected.Although the technique is more expensive than a sample selected directly from adirectory, and it has a higher refusal rate,' it produces a high contact rate and afairly representative sample.

Time Requirements

Telephone surveys generally require the least total time for completion. In addition,it is generally easier to hire, train, control, and coordinate telephone interviewers.Therefore the number of interviewers can often be expanded until any timeconstraint is satisfied. the number of personal and computer interviewers can alsobe increased to reduce the total time required. However, problems with training,coordinating, and control tend to make this uneconomical after a certain point.Because at home interviewers must travel between interviews and often set upappointments such interviews take substantially more time than telephoneinterviews, however mall intercept interviews can be done fairly rapidly.

Reducing Nonresponse in Telephone and Personal Surveys

Non response error is a potential problem for telephone, personal, and computerinterviews. Not-at-homes and refusals are the major factors that reduce responserates. The major focus in reducing non response in telephone and personalinterview situations has centered on contacting the potential respondent. This wasbased on the belief that the social motives that are present in a face-to-face orverbal interaction, situation operate to minimize refusals. However, refusal rates areincreasing for both personal and telephone interviews. Therefore, researchersMust focus attention on gaining cooperation from, as well as making contact with,potential respondents.

Contacting Respondents

The percentage of not-at-homes in personal and telephone surveys can be reduceddrastically with a series of callbacks. In general, the second round of calls withproduce only slightly fever contacts than the first call.

The minimum number of calls in most consumer surveys should be three, andCallbacks should generally be made at varying times of the day and on differentdays of the week. There is, as one might suspect, a definite relationship between


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both the day of the week and the time of day and the completion rate of telephoneand personal interviews.

Commercial survey research firms vary widely in the number of times they allow aphone to ring before dialing the next number. Some allow only three rings, whereasothers 90 as high as ten. One study indicates that five rings may be optimal.

Motivating Respondents

Refusals are a problem in telephone and personal surveys. Most refusals occurimmediately after the introductory remarks of the interviewer. After they begin, veryfew interviews are terminated prior to completion.Likewise the length of the interview has a significant impact. Gender of theinterviewer does not appear to affect the refusal rate, but characteristics of theinterviewers voice do. Prior notification by letter lowers the refusal rate fortelephone surveys. Likewise, prior notification by telephone increases thecooperation rate to an at-home personal interview survey. The sponsor of thesurvey affects telephone response rates with the rate being higher for university andcharity sponsors than for commercial sponsors.

The promise of a large monetary incentive ($10) was effective in generating a highresponse rate to a telephone survey that required respondents to agree to watch aspecific television program.

Attempts to gain cooperation for long or complicated interviews occasionally use thefoot-in-the-door technique. This technique involves two stages. First, respondentsare asked to complete a relatively short, simple questionnaire. Then, at a later time,they are asked to complete a more complex questionnaire on the same topic. Thistechnique generally produces at least a small gain in the response rate. However,given the added expense this involves in telephone and personal interviews,concentrating on Ion techniques and calbacks may provide a higher payoff.

Refusal conversion or persuasion has been found to increase the overall responserate by an average of 7 percent. This involves not accepting a no response to arequest for cooperation without malting an additional plea. The additional plea canstress the importance of the respondent's opinions or the brevity of thequestionnaire. It may also involve offering to re contact the individual at a moreconvenient time finally, the time of day that contact is made appears to influence therefusal rate. Paradoxically, while evening is the optimal time to find respondents athome, it also generates the highest level of refusals.

NON RESPONSE IN MAIL SURVEYS

Predicting Response

Most mail surveys produce similar response patterns. However, the speed ofresponse and ultimate percentage responding can vary widely.Researchers canconduct small scale preliminary mailing to a subsample of their target respondent.. Ifa pilot study is not practical perhaps because of time pressure the observed


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response pattern to earlier similar surveys among similar respondents using similarrespondents using similar response inducements can be used.

Reducing Non response

Attempts to increase the response rate to mail surveys focus on increasing thepotential respondents motivation to reply. Two complementary approaches arefrequently used. The first is to increase the motivation as such as possible in theinitial contacts with respondents. The second approach is to remind the respondentsthrough repeated mailings or other contacts. The initial response rate to a mailsurvey is strongly influenced by the respondents interest in the subject matter of thesurvey. Interest level can be a serious source of non-response bias in the surveyresults.

Pre-notification, such as a letter or telephone call that informs the respondents thatthey will receive a questionnaire shortly and requests cooperation, is a cost effectivemeans of increasing response rates. In the absence of monetary inducements, anumber of studies have found pre-notification to double the response rate obtainedwithout pre-notification. This technique works best with the general public, but it isalso effective in industrial surveys. Evidence suggested that a preliminary letter orcard is more effective than a preliminary phone call. The type of postage has amoderate impact on the response rate. First-class, hand-stamped outgoing andreturn envelopes produce higher response rates than do metered, second-class, orbusiness reply envelopes. This impact is greatest for return envelopes, where it isclearly a cost-effective technique.

Prepaid monetary incentives (cash) cause substantial increases in response rates inboth commercial and general public populations, Although large incentives have astronger effect than smaller ones.

Lottery incentives have been found to have mixed results. Other types of incentivesare generally more effective.The effect ofgift incentives such as pens or key rings is generally positive but very

moderate. Like cash incentives, gift incentives lose most or all of their effectivesswhen they are promised rather than provided with the questionnaire.The degree of personalization and the related variables respondent anonymityandassurances of confidentiality produce variable effects on both response rates andaccuracy. Personalization appears generally to increase response rates on non-sensitive issues, whereas assurances of anonymity or confidentiality are mosteffective on questionnaires dealing with personally important or sensitive issues.However, these effects are generally small.


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The identity of the survey sponsor influences the response rate, with commercialsponsors generally receiving a lower response rate than noncommercial sponsors.

The type of appeal used in the cover letter can take a number of approaches, suchas egoistic (your opinion is important), altruistic (please help us), social utility (youropinion can help the community), or negative (if the questionnaire is not returned bya certain date, a telephone call or personal follow-up will result). Evidence indicatesthat the "best" appeal depends on the nature of the sponsor and purpose of thestudy, though negative appeals appear to be dysfunctional.

The foot-in-the-door technique described earlier involves gaining compliance withan initial easy task and then at a later time requesting assistance with a larger ormore complex version of the same task. In addition to attempting to maximize theinitial return of mail questionnaires, most mail surveys also utilize follow-up contactsto increase the overall response rate. Follow-up contacts generally consist of apostcard or letter requesting the respondent to complete and return thequestionnaire and/or the entire questionnaire may be resent.

STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH NONRESPONSE

After each successive wave of contacts with a particular group of potentialrespondents, the researcher should run a sensitivity analysis That is, one shouldascertain how different the non-respondents would have to be from the respondentsin order to alter the decision one would make based on the data supplied by thecurrent respondents. if the most extreme foreseeable answers by the non-respondents would not alter the decision, no further efforts are required.

Subjective Estimates

When it is no longer practical to increase the response rate, the researcher canestimate subjectively,, the nature and effect of the non-respondents. That is, theresearcher, based on experience and the nature of the survey makes a subjectiveresearch evaluation of the probable effects of the non-response error. For example,the fact that those most interested in a product are most likely to I return a mailquestionnaire gives the researcher some confidence that non-respondents are lessinterested in the topic than respondents.

Imputation Estimates

Imputation estimates involve imputing attributes to the non-respondents based onthe characteristics of the respondents. These techniques can be used missingRespondents or for item non-response. For example, a respondent who fails toreport income may be "assigned" the income of a respondent with Similardemographic characteristic.

A number of other imputation approaches to item non-response exist. A commonapproach to differential non-response by groups defined by age, race, social class,and so forth is to weigh the responses of those who reply in a manner that offsetsthe non-response rate. This, of course, assumes that the non-respondents in eachgroup and that the percentage of the population belonging to each group is known.


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Trend Analysis

Trend analysis is similar to the imputation technique, except that the attributes of thenon-respondents are assumed to be similar to a projection of the trend shownbetween early and late respondents. However, trend analysis should only be usedwhen there are logical reasons to believe the trend will extend to the non-respondents.

Measurement using Sub samples

Sub-sampling of non-respondents, particularly when a mail survey was the originalbeen found effective in reducing non-response error. Concentrated attention on asub-sample of non-respondents, generally using telephone or personal interviews,can often yield a high response rate within the sub-sample. using standardstatistical procedures, the values obtained in the sub-sample can be projected to theentire group of non-respondents and the overall survey results adjusted to take intoaccount the non-respondents. The primary drawback to this technique is the costinvolved.


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