TYPES OF PRIMARY DATA

Primary data come in a variety of forms. Some of the more common types of primary data are:

Demographic/Socioeconomic Data

Information such as age, education, occupation, marital status, sex, in- come, ethnic identification, social status, etc., are of interest to marketers because when combined with other types of primary data (e.g., consump- tion rates, attitudes, etc.), these descriptions help marketers profile target market members or other groups of interest. Consequently, through media plans, channels of distribution, and other ways, marketing plans can reflect the type of people who are our targets. In other words, this information is quite often of interest to us because the means by which we get our message and product to our target market is most often described in terms of demo- graphic/socioeconomic data (e.g., magazine subscription lists, typical retail customers, TV viewers, etc.). The equivalent of demographics for industrial

marketers (e.g., sales volume, number of employees, location, North Amer- ican Industrial Classification System [NAICS] code, etc.) is likewise used in combination with other information for targeting purposes.

Another reason for collecting this information is to test hypotheses that are related to groupings of people

by demographic/ socioeconomic category (e.g., young people will prefer concept A and middle- aged people will prefer concept B; consumption rate is directly correlated with income; people with college degrees do this be- havior more frequently than those with no college education, etc.).

Attitudes

Attitudes refer to a person’s feelings, convictions, or beliefs for an object, idea, or individual. Attitudes are a common object of measurement for marketing re- searchers because it is believed that they are precursors of behav- ior. While marketers are ulti- mately responsible for influenc-

ing behavior, not just attitudes, we are not always able to observe and measure behaviors. For example, for a potential new product we may have to measure attitudes toward the product concept instead of behavior toward a product that does not yet exist. Also, attitudes help us to understand why people behave as they do, and marketers always want to know why behavior occurs, in addition to the frequency with which it occurs. Chapter 5 dis- cusses some of the more common means of measuring attitudes.

Psychographics/Lifestyle Data

This type of data is concerned with people’s personality traits, what interests them, how they live, and their values. It is some- times referred to as a person’s AIOs—activities, interests, and opinions. While empirical evi-

Please check the highest educational level you have achieved:

Less than high school High school graduate Some college College graduate Some graduate school Post-graduate degree

I like the taste of healthy foods. Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree or Disagree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

If I have an hour of free time I would rather (check one):

Read a book Watch TV Pursue my hobby Take a walk

dence linking someone’s personality with their purchase and consumption behavior is weak, marketers find that combining psychographics and life- style information with demographics provides a “three-dimensional” per- spective of a target market, permitting a much better focus to a marketing program.

Intentions

Intentions refer to the anticipated future behav- iors of an individual. This is a subject of interest to marketers who factor the planned behavior of their consumers heavily into marketing plans. Inten- tions may be specific to

the research project under investigation, or may be the kinds of purchase in- tentions routinely measured by such organizations as the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan. While there will always be some dis- parity between what consumers say they will do, and what they actually do, marketers feel that obtaining some measure of planned future behavior is useful in distinguishing the potential of several alternative offerings.

Awareness/Knowledge

Referring to what sub- jects do or do not know about an object of in- vestigation, awareness and knowledge is of interest to marketers who wish to distinguish the image, ex- perience, feelings, etc., of consumers who are famil- iar with a product from those who are not. If I am

interested in determining my brand’s image, for example, I want to first de- termine which consumers are aware of and knowledgeable about my brand. Other areas for determining awareness (unaided or aided) and extent of knowledge are advertisement recall, retail store familiarity, manufacturers, country of product origin, and so on.

Read the product concept below and indicate the likelihood you will buy such a product: Definitely Definitely Will Will Purchase Not Purchase ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Which brands of riding lawn mowers have you ever heard of? [Interviewer: Do not read list. Check all brands mentioned.]

John Deere White Simplicity Case Craftsman Lawn Boy Other: ___________________________

Motivations

Motives consist of inner states that direct our behavior toward a goal. Other terms used to describe motives are urges, drives, or impulses. Our concern with motives centers around an interest in why people act as they do. When we ask respondents to indicate how important each of several product attributes is in influencing their choice we are attempting to identify what motives are influencing their behavior. Other ways of assessing mo- tives include projective techniques (see Chapter 2), open-ended questions asking why people acted as they did, and a variety of other exploratory, de- scriptive, or even causal techniques intended to probe the needs that channel a person’s actions.

Behaviors

Behaviors are the actual actions taken by respondents. Marketers may have an interest in any num- ber of specific behaviors enacted by selected groups of respondents, but typically purchase and con- sumption behaviors are of signifi- cant interest. Obtaining informa-

tion about a person’s behaviors might be accomplished through either self- report (e.g., asking someone to indicate how often they consume a particu- lar product), or through observation, either disguised or undisguised, of a subject’s behavior as it occurs.

How important are each of the following in influencing your choice of a laundry detergent for the first time?

Very Important Somewhat Important Important Not Very Important Not At All Important Advertisement Consumer Magazine Test Coupon Friend or relative Sale Sample

How often do you go out to see a movie?

Less than once a month Once a month

Two or three times a month Once a week or more