QUANTITATIVE SECTION

BY: TEAM 3 (ELECT)- Ethan Parry, Tom Boyd, Linden Baker, and Eden Wen

COMMS 318, Cory Edwards

Quantitative Methodology

We constructed our survey based on the information gained from both our qualitative research

and the research questions presented to us by the client. Our class was split into four teams,

and each team designed a 20-25 question survey. Survey leads from each team then looked

over each team’s survey, and worked to create one survey that included the most relevant

questions pertinent to the client, Infomercials Inc. The final survey was then shown to our

professor, who made final suggestions and edits.

The survey was created using Qualtrics’ Research Suite. Qualtrics is the leading global supplier

of enterprise data collection and analysis. They have over 5,000 customers in 75 countries, with

more than 50 percent of those customers being Fortune 100 companies. Qualtrics administered

over 1 billion surveys last year, and was recently named one of the top 25 of America’s most

promising companies by Forbes (About Qualtrics).

Brigham Young University’s Department of Communications and the class survey leads

recruited the services of Survey Sampling International (SSI) to find 400 respondents, giving our

survey a 0.049 margin of error. The survey was then distributed online. SSI works with more

than 2,000 companies internationally, including those in the top 50 market research

organizations. Over the course of a year, SSI performs more than 30 million online and 6 million

offline interviews (SSI).

Of our respondents, 61 percent were female, 39 percent male. A total of 99 percent of our

respondents were between the ages of 18 and 30. Seventy percent of our respondents

identified as Caucasian, with Asian/Pacific Islander being the next largest demographic at 15

percent. Most of our subjects live in the western or southern United States, but there were a

few representatives from all over the country. As for the most common work status, 38 percent

of respondents were either employed by a public or private company. Due to our relatively

young target demographic, 28 percent of our subjects were students. Again, because of this

young demographic, most of our subjects earn between $0 and $24,999 a year. Most of our

respondents were single, and had no children in the home. Additionally, most of our

respondents had received at least some college education, and 40 percent had received a

college degree.

For a deeper understanding of the survey and our target market, each team was assigned a

specific theme with corresponding questions to focus on. Our team focused on motivation. We

were instructed to complete statistical research on a handful of questions dealing specifically

with the purchasing motivations of consumers. While we still looked at the results of the entire

survey, we tried to understand how each question tied into the purchasing motivations of

consumers. The following sub-themes were identified:

1. Advertisements affect purchasing habits regarding hobbies

2. Specific attributes make advertisements effective

3. Certain product characteristics are more important than others during the

purchasing process

4. Specific characteristics of advertisements drive traffic to company

website

5. Effective infomercials motivate consumers to buy

1. Advertisements affect purchasing habits regarding hobbies

We wanted to better understand how advertising influences the purchasing habits with regards

to specific hobbies. Respondents were given a list of 25 common hobbies and were asked to

select five hobbies based on which ones advertisements had influenced them to buy something

for, as shown in Figure 1. In other words, advertising has the greatest influence on purchasing

habits regarding which hobbies? Some demographics, such as annual income, didn’t

significantly affect responses. However, as expected, responses varied significantly based on

gender.

The top five responses for men were video gaming, automobiles, shopping, money-making

opportunities and cooking. For females, the top five responses were cooking, shopping, health

and beauty, reading books and video gaming.

Many of these findings were expected, a few were surprising, though. Video gaming,

automobiles, and moneymaking opportunities were anticipated as common responses for

males. Cooking and shopping, on the other hand, are typically seen as feminine and weren’t

expected to be common responses for males. For females, video games was in the top five,

even though men are statistically more likely to be influenced to buy a video game because of

an advertisement. Based on these findings, we can conclude that the focus of advertisements

shouldn’t be limited to one gender, even if a certain product or service is associated with one

gender specifically. Popular hobbies of the next generation of consumers are becoming more

equal between genders, with females enjoying more traditionally masculine activities and vice

versa. Advertisements that appeal to both genders will likely be more effective than those that

focus solely on one gender.

Another interesting finding was that both genders found infomercials that advertised collectible

objects, such as coins and stamps, to be ineffective. Out of all 400 respondents, only 11 stated

that advertisements influenced them to buy collectibles. Our research suggests that the next

generation of consumers will not be influenced by advertisements to purchase collectible

items.

2. Specific attributes make advertisements effective

In the survey, we asked participants to select, on a scale, how much they agreed with whether

or not the following factors influence the effectiveness of an advertisement: humor, relatability,

production quality and clear description. Each of these factors, tested against gender and age,

came out to be statistically insignificant. However, while they are statistically insignificant based

on gender and age, they are still important factors to consider in creating advertisements for

future consumers. Figures two through five reveal the basic trend in the responses.

Of these factors, the most important attribute of an advertisement is clear description. This

factor’s ranking had a mean of 4.17 among males and 4.20 among females on a scale of one

to (1 being strongly disagree, 5 being strongly agree). Humor, relatability and production

quality follow closely, the lowest being humor with a mean of 3.97 among males and 3.93

among females. Humor, relatability, production quality and clear description are all very

important in the creation of advertisements.

During a focus group we conducted, participants discussed two specific characteristics that

determined the effectiveness of an advertisement. These were humor and believability (or

relatability). We expected that these characteristics would rank high in survey results, and while

they were important to respondents, clear description and production quality of an

advertisement were determined to be more influential.

A consistent group of males and females (between 15 and 19) selected disagree or strongly

disagree for humor, relatability and production quality. However, when asked about clear

description, about half the number of respondents selected disagree or strongly disagree (8

responses in total). Many of those who disagreed or strongly disagreed with humor, relatability

and production quality as important characteristics still selected clear description as an

important characteristic.

Because infomercials inherently describe products very clearly, Infomercials, Inc. has an upper

hand in creating effective advertisements. However, even with this advantage, Infomercials,

Inc. should also consider the importance of humor, relatability and production quality.

3. Certain product characteristics are more important than others during the

purchasing process

We needed to understand which factors are most important to consumers when purchasing a

product. We asked survey participants to rank various characteristics on a scale from one to

seven, with one being the most important. The factors listed were: price, brand image,

usefulness, quality, having a trial period, hearing by word-of-mouth, good reviews from peers,

commercials, customer service, experience with company, products in the past and secure

purchasing. All of these factors were tested against gender, age and income as seen in the

results below.

In our survey of 400 respondents, 381 responded to this question. Of the 381 respondents, 215

individuals selected price as the most important factor, 91 individuals selected quality as most

important, 47 individuals selected usefulness as most important, and lastly, 28 individuals

selected brand image as the most important characteristic when purchasing a product. When

compared with the income of respondents, brand image and usefulness were statistically

significant. In other words, as income increases, individuals tend to consider brand image and

usefulness more important. When compared with gender, brand image and usefulness were

also statistically significant, meaning women consider brand image and usefulness more

important in the purchasing process than males do. 368 individuals responded to the question,

“Which of the following factors are the most important to you when making a purchase?” Of

those 368 individuals:

116 selected good reviews

70 selected trial periods

55 selected experience with the company and/or its products

51 selected word-of-mouth

38 selected secure purchasing,

24 selected customer service

14 selected commercials.

Females were less likely to be influenced by commercials during the purchasing process and

males were more likely to select secure purchasing as a must when considering a product.

Lastly, results show that as age increases, individuals were more likely to consider secure

purchasing as highly important, which was expected.

We found similar results in our focus group about the importance of certain product

characteristics. Brand loyalty was mentioned several times during our discussion. Participants

said they were more likely to purchase a product if they had previous experience with the

company and its products. Consumers believe that brand image will be the deciding factor in

cases when name brand and generic brand products are close in price. Another important

takeaway is that participants felt that there is a connection between brand name and quality.

Secure online purchasing was also an important factor considered more by male participants

than female participants. Consumers do not trust television infomercials and are skeptical of

providing their personal information over the phone. Lastly, both focus group and survey

participants believe there must be a strong enough need to purchase a product. Products must

be useful and need to enhance consumers’ everyday life.

Infomercials, Inc. should consider all of the product characteristics mentioned above, especially

price and quality, when deciding how to market products to their customers. They should also

keep in mind that women are looking less to commercials, and overall, individuals are very

skeptical of television infomercials as a whole.

4. Specific characteristics of advertisements drive traffic to company websites

Focus group members made it clear that they were becoming increasingly skeptical of

purchasing products over the phone. The preferred method of purchasing for many of our focus

group members was through the Internet. In our survey, we asked subjects which

characteristics of advertisements motivated them to visit a company’s website the most.

The characteristics listed in the survey were sales promotions, humor, visual attractiveness,

relatability, intrigue, brand and other. To see if any specific demographics, such as gender or

income, influenced the results, we ran statistical tests for each characteristic of advertisements

against various demographic questions. Although none of these tests ended up being

statistically significant, they still provide valuable information on what motivates consumers to

visit a company’s website.

One of the main reasons focus group members said they preferred Internet transactions was

because of the frequent sales and promotions included on the internet. For example, one focus

group member preferred buying their glasses online because they got the first pair free. Survey

results supported our focus group’s opinion. By far, the most effective aspect of an

advertisement in driving traffic to websites was sales promotions, with 132 subjects selecting

this option—more than twice as many people as relatability, which was the second most

common response.

Sixty-five subjects selected relatability as the second most effective aspect of an advertisement

in driving traffic to websites. This was expected, since relatability was one of the themes our

focus group members repeatedly brought up and was also an important attribute of effective

advertisements. Focus group members felt that many infomercials were not relatable, which

caused them to lose interest in a product, be less likely to visit a company’s website, and

therefore, cause the company to lose revenue. One focus group member stated that the

primary reason she thought infomercials were ineffective was because of how out of touch

they were with reality.

Closely following relatability as an influential characteristic was humor, with 56 responses.

Again, this result was expected, as many focus group members stressed the importance of

humor in advertisements. Even though our focus group members knew that humor in an

advertisement does not impact the quality of the product itself, their favorite ads were

humorous in nature, as reflected in our survey results. Humorous advertisements influenced

our subjects to further investigate a company’s website. One interesting note from our

qualitative research that our quantitative research confirmed is that humor strongly affects

other advertisement attributes. For example, even if a product is not on sale, or an

advertisement is not relatable, a funny advertisement can create enough interest to drive

potential customers to a website.

Effective of infomercials motivate consumers to buy

For a better grasp on the direction the infomercial industry is going, we asked our target market

about whether or not they consider infomercials to be effective. First, we asked survey

participants, “How many times have you ordered from an infomercial,” and then if they

answered none, we asked them to fill the blank: “I have not purchased from an infomercial

because…” For those who said they had never ordered from an infomercial, they were then

directed to select a reason why from the following options: the transaction is insecure; didn’t

want the sales representative to pressure them anymore; didn’t receive a full or accurate

description of the product; they are not generally exposed to infomercials; would like to

conduct more research before purchasing it (i.e. watching an infomercial does not suffice); and

because of the stigma that is attached to infomercials. Respondents selected either strongly

disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree or strongly agree for each one of the

characteristics mentioned above. All of these factors were tested against gender, age and

income.

In our survey of 400 respondents:

221 individuals have never bought from an infomercial

121 individuals have bought one to two times

40 individuals have bought three to five times

10 individuals have bought six to ten times

Seven individuals have bought more than ten times.

When tests were run against the number of times individuals bought from infomercials, both

age and income were statistically significant. In other words, as both age and income increase,

individuals are more likely to order from an infomercial.

We then decided to dive deeper into the reasons individuals did not order from an

infomercial. The results were, for the most part, expected. Income was statistically significant

for the answer, “didn’t receive a full or accurate description of the product.” In other words, as

income increases, individuals become more wary of buying from infomercials because of

unclear product descriptions. It is interesting to note that when this question was tested against

gender and age, nothing came back as being statistically significant. One might assume that

men would be more concerned with insecure transactions and women with the stigma of

buying from an infomercial. However, as the data shows, this is not the case.

Our focus group also noted similar findings. Distrust of purchasing through television was

mentioned ten times throughout the meeting. The individuals in our focus group value secure

purchasing and prefer to buy online.

These findings can prove to be very useful for Infomercials, Inc. As a company that is trying to

market to the next generation of consumers, need to consider what the future of the industry

holds in store. Half of survey participants had never purchased from an infomercial. Although

concerning, it also provides Infomercials, Inc. with a great opportunity. Infomercials, Inc. should

consider why individuals are not buying from infomercials and seek to address them.

Works Cited

"About Qualtrics." Qualtrics.com/about. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2013.

SSI. "SSI Value Add." SSI.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.