Methodology
Design:
The online questionnaire was broken down into the following sections: an introduction, pre-ad exposure, exposure to ads, post-ad exposure, brand attitudes, advertisement attitudes, and demographics.
Introduction:
The questionnaire began with a welcome page that explained that the survey is for educational purposes and all information will be kept strictly confidential.
Pre-ad Exposure:
Respondents were asked to answer what brand of beer, vodka, and wine that had most recently purchased. They were then asked to divide 10 points among three different brands of beer, three brands of vodka, and three brands of wine based on how likely they were to purchase each brand. Using this constant sum scare, only the vodka scores were used for analysis. The values from this scale are eventually used to analyze pre- and post-ad exposure changes. The difference between the Pre- and the Post-Ad Exposure Score is referred to throughout as the Change Score.
Advertisement Exposure:
This section contains three separate, full-page, full-color magazine print ads, one for each brand of flavored vodka. Respondents were asked to study the ads and to not return to them once finished viewing.
Post-ad Exposure:
The same constant sum scale used to measure likelihood of purchase pre-ad exposure was used to measure the likeliness of purchase of the three brands of flavored vodka after viewing the ads. Respondents were also asked several “yes” or “no” questions about their attitudes towards the three vodka brands after seeing the ads, and whether their opinions towards the brands had changed.
Brand Attitudes:
This section included 10 Likert items statements about each brand of vodka, allowing respondents to indicate whether they “strongly agree,” “agree,” “neither agree nor disagree,” “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” with each statement.
Advertisement Attitudes
In this section, respondents were given a list of descriptive words or statements and were asked to check a box next to that word or statement to indicate whether or not it described the ad for each brand. A checked box meant the respondent agreed that the descriptive word or statement described the ad for that brand. The next set of questions asked the respondents to answer “yes” or “no” to questions directly related to the ads (i.e. “This ad contained useful information”).
Demographics
The final section asked respondents a number of demographic questions such as gender, age, and education. It also asked questions about alcohol and vodka usage.
Sampling
Due to time and resource constraints, a convenience sample was used for this survey. A minimum of 60 completed surveys were required to have significant sample size. Respondents were solicited through emails sent to friends, family, and co-workers, and the results of 61 completed surveys were used in the analyses of this survey.
Online Data Collection
The data in this study were collected through the online questionnaire found under Appendix B. Respondents were sent a hyperlink via email that linked them to the online survey. The results were sent to a Coldfusion database and then retrieved using MS Access. All the statistical analyses were conducted in SPSS.