Two different types of data are output with the standard Triple-S specification: the metadata and the case data. The metadata is often describ as “data about the data” and it is this data which is “mark up” using XML. It includes elements such as a survey’s title, the names assign to questions/variables, question text, response text and variable types. Along with the Triple-S metadata, case data is provid and, simply put, this data contains the actual answers to the survey. Triple-S case data is usually in fix, ASCII format with one record per respondent. A recent enhancement to the standard allows for case data to be in comma-separat file format (CSV).
Future seat
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By adopting software standards such as Triple-S, the MR industry ensures itself a future seat at the table of corporate decision makers. Beyond the interoperability of packages that handle survey research data, we are increasingly being ask to integrate our data stores with other business functions such as operations and finance.
With XML complementing and, in some cases replacing, traditional databases, the most recent XML specification of Triple-S looks especially promising. Our ability to integrate MR data with other departmental data should enable us to move lock step with other business units well into the 21st century.
Question structure can have a big impact on the answers obtain when querying respondents about their awareness of advertising and products. The author presents some ways to make sure you are accurately measuring what you want to measure.
The intent of this article is to help those
Who evaluate advertising via tracking studies to think about the practice and how it might best be done. Advertising tracking studies are a common phenomenon in the research world, and there are many ways to conduct them and many ways to look at the results.
They are sometimes referr to as usage and awareness (U&A) studies, awareness and usage studies (A&Us), or awareness, trial, and usage studies (ATUs). Sometimes they are continuous, and sometimes they are conduct at points in time around the advertising events, or just at select times for monitoring.
One thing all of these types of studies have in common is an attempt to measure the effects of advertising activity. They always along with moving images many designers measure changes in brand awareness. Sometimes they also measure changes in claim brand usage, advertising awareness for brands, and brand imagery.
Some marketing researchers and marketers are comfortable looking at changes in the total awareness measures and some have a preference for unaid measures. Those preferences can drive the method chosen to conduct the research and the way the data are tabulat.
A few definitions are necessary
If awareness information is obtain from respondents prior to the mention of any brand names, it is unaid awareness. An example would be “What brands of ready-to-eat cereal can you think of? What others? What others?”
If the method is telephone or in-person interviewing, the question is ask until the respondent indicates he or she cannot think of any phone number my other brands. In online interviewing, it is an open-end question. The questioning elicits brand names the consumer can recall. They were in the consumer’s head, and, if not top-of-mind (first brand recall, technically), at least not too far from it.
If awareness is obtain by asking questions that include the brand name, it is aid awareness. An example would be “Have you ever heard of Grape Nuts?” This demonstrates whether or not the consumer can recognize the brand name, a far easier task than recalling it.
It was in the consumer’s mind but may not have been anywhere near the top. Since people make mistakes, it may not even have really been in the mind. I can answer “yes” to “Have you ever heard of Johnson’s Corn Flakes?” when, in truth, I have never heard of the product.
In telephone interviewing
All unaid questions are ask first, before any brand names are mention: What brands are you aware of? What brands have you seen advertising for? What brands have you us?
The interviewer will have a list of brands in front of them and check the ones mention. If a respondent mentions a brand “unaidly,” the respondent is not ask the aid question for that brand. Consequently, to get total brand awareness, unaid and aid are add together. Normally only two of these three relat measures are report – e.g., total brand awareness and unaid brand awareness, since total = unaid + aid.
In online interviewing, it is more difficult to handle the unaid questions. As with mail interviewing (the other main self-administer method), it is nearly impossible to skip asking the aid question when the respondent has mention the brand “unaidly,” because the unaid question is an open-end question, and there is no way to know ahead of time what each respondent will say.
When unaid and aid are ask in online
Interviewing, the aid is ask with an “irritation rucer” – “You may have typ in some of these brands before, but have you ever heard of ?” The brands are then list. Basically, this procure makes “aid” equal to total brand awareness, and no adding is ne to obtain the percent aware of a brand; total = aid.
Thus, while you can have both types of awareness with any method of data collection, telephone or in-person make unaid easier and cleaner to gather and online and mail are more suit to aid awareness.
Which is the best type of awareness to examine in looking for the effects of advertising and promotional activity? The practical problem one faces when focusing on total brand awareness is that people are very good at recognition.
If a brand is well-known (Kellogg’s Corn Flakes) it may have near 100 percent total awareness (unaid + aid) all the time. It is impossible to detect changes if that is the case, and unaid awareness may be a much more useful measure.
Additionally, if consumers are “unaidly” aware of a brand, one can be certain that they have the brand in mind, while recognizing an establish, well-known brand may be meaningless in terms of assessing the brand’s current marketing activities.
On the other hand
If a brand is relatively unknown, the unaid measure may take years to change, while the total awareness increases markly over time. Since recognition is easier than recall, it grows faster. In this case, the only way to note success in the promotional efforts is via the total awareness measures, and, while few recall the brand name, the fact that higher and higher percentages recognize it means that the efforts are having a positive effect.
When trying to select the proper measure, one other helpful tip is to make certain that the way the data are process accurately reflect total unaid brand awareness. Often programmers who have no marketing research knowlge are creating data tables that show the results for each question, and nothing else. To get at total unaid brand awareness, some additional programming must occur.
Suppose via telephone a respondent is ask
“What brands of ready-to-eat cereal can you think of? What others?” The respondent mentions many brands, but not Frost Mini-Wheats. The next question is “What brands have you seen advertis recently? What others?” When ask that question, the respondent says, “Frost Mini-Wheats.” At this point in the interviewing, no brands have been mention, so this person is aware of Frost Mini-Wheats on an unaid basis.
If the data tables show just the responses to each question, the unaid awitor’s note: Stephen J. Hellebusch is president of Hellebusch Research and Consulting, Inc., Cincinnati . He can be reach at 800-871-6922 or at [email protected] of Frost Mini-Wheats will be underestimat, since this person was not aware at the unaid brand awareness question.
It is necessary to either work with knowlgeable programmers or specify in advance that a total unaid brand awareness table be creat, showing the number of respondents who mention a brand anywhere in the unaid questioning. This number will often be higher than the number seen on the unaid brand awareness table that is generat by just reporting the responses to one question.
Think and discuss
In attempting to measure the impact of promotional spending, it is always wise to think and discuss. It is hop that this small effort contributes to that greater one.
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