Methodology

Questionnaire Structure

The first page that the respondent sees is an introduction to the survey.  This section describes the researcher, the purpose of the survey and thanks the respondent for their participation.  It also outlines the confidentiality of the respondent’s answers and states how these responses will be used for educational purposes only.  In addition, since the survey involves alcohol, it mentions this survey does not condone underage drinking and the respondents must be 21 and over in order to participate.  Then there is a link for them to click on so they can begin the survey.

In the section one of the questionnaire, there are preliminary questions that ask respondents to name the last brand of rum, tequila and vodka that they purchased.  If they could not remember or did not purchase these particular liquors, then they were asked to name the first brand that came to their mind.

In section two, the respondents were asked to divide 10 points among three popular brands of rum, tequila and vodka.  This is known as the constant sum scale.  For the vodka category, they were asked to divide these points among Skyy, Ketel One and Level.  These scores were calculated to determine brand attitudes toward the brands before looking at their print advertisements.

In section three, respondents were asked to view three print advertisements for Skyy, Ketel One and Level.  These were full page, four color bleed advertisements.  The respondents were asked to look over these ads for 15 to 20 seconds.  Once they viewed these advertisements, they were asked to not go back to them for the remainder of the questionnaire.

Then, in section four, respondents were asked again to divide up 10 points among the three brands of vodka.  This was to determine brand attitudes after they had viewed the advertisement. 

Also, in section five, there were yes and no questions included to further investigate the brand attitudes after the respondent was exposed to the advertisements. 

Section six included ten Likert statements which remained the same for each brand.  The respondent had to choose between Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree or Disagree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree.  These Likert items measured the perception of the brand as it compares to the advertisement.

In section seven, there is a list of 10 words that the respondents must choose from that are believed to describe each of the three brands.  This section measured the perception of the advertisements as it compares to the brands. 

Section eight included 10 statements for each brand.  The respondent was supposed to indicate whether or not they agreed with this statement. 

Finally, in the last section, data about the respondent is gathered including age, education level and how often they drink.  In addition, the respondent can leave comments.  They are also told that once they click the Submit button, they are allowing the data that has been collected to be used. 

Design of the Questionnaire

The survey was created using Macromedia Dreamweaver.  A copy-testing method was used and included pre and post advertisement exposure questioning.  The advertisements were acquired from two magazines Food & Wine and Cosmopolitan.  They were full-page, four color advertisements.  This survey was a pseudo-experiment that was done for educational purposes during a semester-long course.  Due to time constraints, there was no control group in which to measure responses. 

Sampling Description

The survey was conducted online and distributed via e-mail to family and friends.  The minimum age requirement was 21, because the survey involved alcoholic beverages and did not want to condone underage drinking.  In addition, a Facebook group was created and friends were asked to join and participate in the survey.  In these two instances, the respondents were encouraged to pass the survey on to any other people over the age of 21.  Below is the text from the message that was sent via e-mail and posted on the Facebook group’s page:

"Hello! I am in need of your help with one of my grad classes...and it will only take about 10 minutes of your time! The class I am taking right now is one that I have to pass in order to get my degree. With your help, I will be one step closer to that goal!

Below, under Website, there is a link--click on this link and you will be directed to a survey. It only takes about 10 minutes to complete...and probably less than that.

One note, please make sure you are 21 years of age or older as this survey involves advertisements for alcohol.

Also, please feel free to pass along this survey to anyone else! I need all of the responses I can get!

Thanks!!!

-Rocha

P.S. if you receive an error message after you submit your survey, please send me an e-mail or facebook message and let me know what type of error it is. Thanks!"

Online Data Collection Process

Data for this survey was collected during the course of about one week.  When respondents gave their answers to the survey, they were transferred using a Cold Fusion program into a Microsoft Access file.  This data was converted into SPSS format and analyzed using the statistics software.

 

Back to Table of Contents