Historically the radio ratings in the United States have described audiences by age and sex. In the fall of 1998 Arbitron began collecting information on household income education and presence of children from all respondents. This socioeconomic information is now available to supplement the basic age and sex information. This paper is a preliminary examination of the socioeconomic profiles of the most popular radio formats in the United States using the data from the top twenty-five American markets from the fall 1998 survey. The paper examines format audience characteristics both generally and at the individual market level.
This paper compares and contrasts consumer usage patterns of the Internet and traditional media across the top fifty markets in the United States. While interest in the Internet is high, most surveys describe the Internet user in general terms. This paper uses a local market database source to examine the differences in Internet access and usage across the varied local markets which comprise the United States, and shows that Internet users concentrate in larger markets where higher income and higher education consumers live, and also in smaller markets with significant high-technology economic, academic and industrial activity.
The United States trails most of the advertising world in the use of optimizers, the author believes, because of the complexity of its TV market with literally hundreds of suppliers and rapidly changing costs. But it is this very complexity that makes computerized media selection programs essential. Optimization is a simple idea which grows in complication as soon as we think through its effects on the total TV planning and buying process. This paper looks at the root question âWhat should we optimize?â and discusses optimizationâs impending collisions with current practices in the United States, among them: CPM planning, dayparts, brand allocation, posting, guarantees and the functional separation of planning and buying.
This paper describes the results of a telephone survey of adults regarding their awareness of digital television and preferences for services that digital television could provide in the United States. The survey results provide guidance for broadcasters in terms of consumer plans for adoption, features that may influence consumer adoption, and program types that may drive consumer enthusiasm. The analysis examines demographic preferences and suggests implications for public broadcasting.
This paper provides an overview of the impact on measuring television audiences due to the marketâs transition to digital television (DTV) in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that the transition will begin May 1999 and end in 2006. The Paper describes how Nielsen Media Research will measure television Usage during and following this transition.
Because of the large sample sizes, the variety of market conditions, and the variety of methods used by Arbitron in syndicated audience measurement in the United States, the authors have had a rich opportunity to conduct rigorous experimentation in reducing the biases of both nonresponse error and response error in audience surveys. This paper presents a two-stage process model for the execution of audience search surveys. We describe survey strategies drawn from our experiments and experience in conducting diary surveys, set meter, people meter and personal portable meter panels over more than three decades.
With the major trends in the automotive industry pointing towards increased consumer power, the ability of manufacturers to satisfy customers is, more than ever, a pre-requisite for success. As manufacturers struggle to differentiate their products in the minds of the consumer, greater emphasis is being placed on the after-sales experience. This paper looks at research conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom to help understand what consumers want this after- sales experience to be like. Are consumers basically the same in the two markets, suggesting that a âglobal after-sales experienceâ naturally goes with a âglobal car?â Or are there sufficient differences to require a separate focus for each market? The findings indicate that, although fundamental requirements apply to both markets, it would be dangerous to expect that an approach that works in one market would generate the same success in the other market.
The continued growth of the superstore and super chains has created chaos in the U.S. retailing markets. It has particularly taken its toll on the more traditional retail chains and at the same time created severe problems for manufacturers attempting to position themselves for the next several years. For example, a paper products manufacturer, who in the past has dealt primarily with major supermarket chains, has found two new channels of distribution upsetting his five-year plan. The first is the continued growth of the Warehouse Clubs (Sam's and Price/Costco) which sell millions of bulk packed facial and bathroom tissues, as well as paper towelling. These relatively new outlets are in direct competition with the firm's regular- supermarket customers and bring on a need for price cutting.
Everyday, it seems, we hear new prognostications about what the information super highway, the 500 channel environment and interactive digital compressed optical fiber portend for the future of broadcasting. American Public Television went through a similar period of worry and consternation in the late 1970s, when futurists promised that cable television, with its abundance of new programming services, meant the demise of Public Television in America. Well, American Public Television survived cable television in fine fashion. How and why it survived cable and will, no doubt, survive tomorrow's new technologies - might be of interest to some you. Those familiar with American Public Television recognize that it is an institution very difficult to describe in 10 words or less. First and foremost, it is a collection of local stations, each licensed to one of four kinds of licensees in some 200 plus cities and/or states. There are 168 unique Public Television licensees in America with some 300 plus transmitters. The stations pride themselves on their local roles in their communities (or states/provinces). In America, Public Television is merely a loose term used to describe a rambunctious group of non-commercial stations. It is a democracy, in the best and worst sense of the term. The station in the remotest comer of Montana has as much power, in terms of voting, as does the largest station, WNET in New York. In the final analysis, there is no "national" Public Television in America. In comparison with other countries, the American public broadcasting system was an after thought, coming into existence well after commercial broadcasting had established itself. It exists today mostly because a group of professors in engineering departments and others in the rhetoric and education departments at American Universities wanted to use "the ether" to educate the masses.
Everyone is aware that the lives of American children in the last decade of the Twentieth Century differ in many ways from those of previous generations, particularly the lives of the famous "Baby Boom" generation. Baby Boomers grew up in the social and economic stability of the period stretching from the very traditional 19 50s to the "Me Decade" of the 1970s. The children who are the subject of this presentation are between the ages of 6 and 17. They were born between 1974 and 1985 a period marked by economic turmoil, rapid change in international relations and continuing evolution in the fundamental attitudes and values of the American population. The world these children confront gives them an outlook which is in some ways extremely different than that of preceding generations. In other ways, these children prove once again that there are some aspects of childhood which are apparently timeless. This presentation examines and describes the attitudes, lifestyles and purchasing habits of American children as consumers. It is based on the findings from the Yankelovich MONITOR r (2,500 personal interviews with adult Americans ages 16 and over, conducted annually since 1970) and the Yankelovich Youth M0NIT0R tm (1200 American youths ages 6 to 17 conducted annually since 1987). Youth MONITOR allows marketers to go to the source itself, the children, to explore, in depth, their understanding of, and attitudes toward, the world today.
Shopping in the past 150 years has moved from the town square to main street to the mall and, now, to television and computers. Unlike earlier forms of shopping at home (catalogs, direct mail)j today the process is interactive and almost instantaneous. Home shopping's success is related to three societal factors: the increased number of women in the workforce; the continued growth of credit; and the electronic era in which we live. Earlier research suggests that home shoppers tend to be more educated and affluent than average shoppers, be more venturesome and place a high value on convenience. Indeed, savings in time and money are two of the key benefits such services offer. In addition, several of the home shopping networks on cable television see themselves as entertainment services, with special features or guest presenters. Despite their very real success, however, some problems remain. The retailer must work hard to fulfil orders speedily and efficiently. Any difficulties in billing or delivery are likely to deter customers from buying this way a second time. The cable networks face high costs for satellite usage and also have to fight for desirable slots in the cable channel line-up. Then, the technological sophistication of the newer services may put off some consumers who fear change and dislike the notion of buying goods sight unseen. The fully interactive home shopping services need to ensure that items can be viewed properly and that the decision making process is flexible. Nevertheless, since most of the problems home shopping currently faces in the U.S. are either technological or psychological, it seems likely that as we move towards the twenty-first century, home shopping will become a standard feature of society. Home shopping is a reality that is here to stay.
The U.S. test marketing scene has been going through revolutionary changes since 1980 with the advent of electronic technology with high powered minicomputers. It is now possible to collect supermarket laser scanner sales data, TV viewing patterns, packaged good purchase histories and household demographics into a single (household) source database. These data enables us for the first time to realistically evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship of many marketing variables such as advertising weight and scheduling, promotional synergy, commercial copy quality and their relationship to sales. There are three major suppliers of these test marketing services in the U.S. These are Information Resources, Inc., SAMI/Burke Inc. and A.C. Neilsen. The second part of this paper presents a new test marketing technology provided by SAMI/Burkeâs Test Marketing Group for capturing all panelist purchases through a supplementary data wand. In SAMI/Burkeâs ViewScan markets, panelists use the data wand at home to supplement purchase records gathered in scanner grocery stores by means of a scan wand. Data obtained through this combined method are presented and comparison made with respect to store scanner only data to show the significant improvement on data quality and coverage, especially in health and beauty aids and over-the-counter drug categories.