Methodology
The consumer brand preference survey comprised of nine sections that asked questions about preference before exposure to the ad, preference and attitude after exposure to the ad, and respondent demographics.
1. Pre-advertisement exposure: The first section asked respondents to name the first brand that came to mind regarding chocolate, breath mints, and chewing gum. The categories of chocolate and breath mints were chosen due to their general association with chewing gum (i.e. all in the candy aisle). The second section required respondents to divide up 10 points based on their preferences of three brands in each aforementioned product category. Section three then asked respondents to view each ad for 15 seconds without going back to a previous ad.
2. Post-advertisement exposure: After viewing the ads, the fourth section asked respondents to again divide 10 point among the three brands of chewing gum. From the difference in pre- and post- scores, a change score could then be calculated. The fifth section asked respondents to describe reasons for which they felt differently toward the brand, if any. The sixth section composed of a set of 10 Likert items that described each brand, giving five options of “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. The answers to this section were then tabulated to create a Brand Index Score. This score would give us an overall sense of how respondents viewed the brand. Additionally, section seven listed ten one word descriptors that respondents could check for each brand. Some of these descriptors included “confusing”, “important”, and “hard to believe”. Section eight asked respondents to check “yes” or “no” for a series of phrases that described the ad (e.g. “I would like to see this ad again.”). From this data in sections seven and eight, an Advertising Index Score could be calculated that would assess respondents' attitudes toward the actual print ad.
3. Demographics: Section nine asked respondents to provide information about their gender, age, education level, household income, place of last chewing gum purchase, and how often they chewed gum. The final question gave an opportunity to respondents to provide any additional comments.
Design
Data was collected through an online survey. This study measured brand preference by analyzing the differences between pre and post ad exposure scores. No control group was used for this survey. The change in scores reflected a more favorable attitude toward the brand, less favorable, or no change.
Sampling description
Due to time constraints, the sample taken is considered a convenience sample. An email was disseminated to family and friends, requesting help to complete the survey. Additionally, a Facebook invitation was sent out to friends on the surveyor’s friend’s list, offering entry into a $10 gift certificate drawing upon completion of the survey. Many respondents were students from Texas; however, among the respondents were also many international students who currently study or who did study at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. Incidentally, many of these international students originated from Singapore where the sale of chewing gum not related to medical reasons is prohibited. A total of 67 respondents completed the survey.
Online data collection process
The online consumer brand preference survey was created in Dreamweaver, utilizing a series of radio buttons, checkboxes, fill-in text boxes and pull down menus. Radio buttons were used for the Likert items in section six and checkboxes were used for the one-word descriptors in section seven. A link was provided in the email that led to the home page of the survey (this can be found in Appendix A). The respondents consented to participate in the survey by clicking the Submit button. This button was then linked to a Cold Fusion file that recorded the data in an Access database housed on a web server located in the Center for Interactive Advertising. SPSS was then used to run statistical tests to further analyze the data.
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