Abstract:

This paper presents a new approach to collecting qualitative information (consumer behaviour data) at the local market level, linked directly to media consumption. The STrategic Audience Research system, or STAR initiative for short, involves a cooperative effort among radio and television broadcasters, and newspaper publishers in individual markets. The STAR system leverages the investment the media have already made in their existing local market ratings studies by returning to respondents who have completed the ratings surveys and administering a detailed, self-completed, mailout mailback follow-up consumer behaviour questionnaire. This STAR return-to-sample questionnaire is identical for each medium in the market, so that once completed, the data can be pooled across the media to construct a very large sample of consumer behaviour, linked to all of the important media in that market.