One of the problems of brand image research lies in identifying which are the particular beliefs about and associations with the brands in question which ought to be measured. This paper discusses a number of different techniques which can be used for eliciting what the various attitude-dimensions for a product field are, and then for selecting which of these dimensions should be covered in a quantified survey. The paper reports on an experimental study of five different elicitation techniques. On the basis of this study, it is suggested that an approach which invites consumers to compare brands with each other is likely to be the most fruitful. Alternative comparative techniques to repertory grid interviews are described, which appear to avoid a number of the 'drawbacks' which the repertory grid has tended to manifest in a number of market research applications.
Very little is to be found in specialised marketing literature on experimentation. As in the sciences in general the earliest steps forward in marketing were made as a result of using methods of observation. Data are collected either within the business concerned or at retailer or at consumer level, and these data are analysed (statistical research, market research, panels, etc.). One very seldom succeeds in this manner in eliminating all the variables that may exert an influence and one has to make use of the resources of multivariate analysis to measure the effects of the facts that one proposes to study. As in the so-called experimental sciences the experimentation should therefore make it possible under certain conditions to arrive more easily at the desired result. In order to measure the influence of the price level of a product it should be sufficient, for example, to vary the price and to measure the sales results and thereby to establish the law relating of consumption to price level.
When the results of two surveys based on various samples are to be used simultaneously, a merged file will be generated by grouping individuals from both origins, according to certain criteria. If the explained variables (behavioural), special to each of the A and B surveys to merged, are closely correlated, whereas they offer but few relationships with the usual socio-demographic characteristics common to both surveys, the link between behaviours described by A and B, which subsists after merging, is almost entirely due to random marriages between individuals. To get rid of this difficulty, two methods have been proposed: - some surveys dealing at once with all the behavioural information that are to be put in conjunction: all media and product surveys (AMPS) - some reduced surveys limited to some strongly correlated questions from A and B: bridge surveys. As the problem of merging listenership and readership surveys arises in assessing media campaigns, the Orphee Association (Havas, Publicis and SINCRO) has carried out the following experiments.
When the results of two surveys based on various samples are to be used simultaneously, a merged file will be generated by grouping individuals from both origins, according to certain criteria. If the explained variables (behavioural), special to each of the A and B surveys to merged, are closely correlated, whereas they offer but few relationships with the usual socio-demographic characteristics common to both surveys, the link between behaviours described by A and B, which subsists after merging, is almost entirely due to random marriages between individuals. To get rid of this difficulty, two methods have been proposed: - some surveys dealing at once with all the behavioural information that are to be put in conjunction: all media and product surveys (AMPS) - some reduced surveys limited to some strongly correlated questions from A and B: bridge surveys. As the problem of merging listenership and readership surveys arises in assessing media campaigns, the Orphee Association (Havas, Publicis and SINCRO) has carried out the following experiments.
Test marketing is a very wide-spread marketing term today. However, because it is seldom clearly understood, it is continually leading to misunderstandings. Frequently, one speaks of test marketing methods when one generally means scientific market research. A clear definition of terms, however, enables one to see quite clearly the purpose for which test marketing can, and may, be applied.
Results of an experimental investigation concerning erroneous answering, non-representativeness of respondents, revisiting of interviewees refusing to answer.
The quota method is a statistical annoyance. In order to obtain a representative cross-section of the population using this procedure, interviewers are, of course, given very precise instructions as to how many interviews, they are to make in various social groups of the population, but within this exactly prescribed limits of "quotas" they can select people at .their own discretion. This freedom is the jumping off point for all criticism of the quota method. Nobody could foresee what yardstick the interviewers would apply when making their selection. All that could be said with any certainty is that they wouldn't succeed in making a random selection. In one sort of hedonistic theory it is assumed that the interviewers cater as much as possible to their own convenience in quota sampling - that they seek out only particularly pleasant respondents, cover as little ground as possible, and so on. Errors of this nature, it is argued, can be avoided solely by genuine random sampling in which, for example, the addresses of the respondents are prescribed and binding on the interviewers. In practice, examples have actually been found, which show that quota surveys can result in extreme distortions of cross-sections.
The quota method is a statistical annoyance. In order to obtain a representative cross-section of the population using this procedure, interviewers are, of course, given very precise instructions as to how many interviews, they are to make in various social groups of the population, but within this exactly prescribed limits of "quotas" they can select people at .their own discretion. This freedom is the jumping off point for all criticism of the quota method. Nobody could foresee what yardstick the interviewers would apply when making their selection. All that could be said with any certainty is that they wouldn't succeed in making a random selection. In one sort of hedonistic theory it is assumed that the interviewers cater as much as possible to their own convenience in quota sampling - that they seek out only particularly pleasant respondents, cover as little ground as possible, and so on. Errors of this nature, it is argued, can be avoided solely by genuine random sampling in which, for example, the addresses of the respondents are prescribed and binding on the interviewers. In practice, examples have actually been found, which show that quota surveys can result in extreme distortions of cross-sections.
This paper outlines the particular problems of farming research, as one aspect of our research programme on non-domestic demand, and describes an experimental postal survey among a panel of farmers.
Readership studies and audience measurements are today common place in the media field. But we know very little about the intangible values added by a given magazine or journal to the advertising message. It is not enough to know how many people-read a given publication or take notice of an advertisement. It is also important to know how a specific medium is perceived by its audience. This paper is based on a study, executed for LIFE magazine by Rowland and Company in the U.S.A. The study was experimental in character and dealt with the question, of measuring attitudes and perceptions toward different advertising media, in order to gain an understanding of the values added by given media to the advertising message.