CASE STUDY: Multimedia Interviewing Makes Advertising Research A Breeze Carrier Corporation Uses Latest Interviewing Technology to Capture Respondents' Attention "The Carrier Advertising Department was facing a difficult decision," says Dr. Lynda Omohundro, consultant and former professor of Advertising at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. "There were both time and budget constraints." The national advertising agency had developed two approaches, one totally new and the other a variation on their current, extremely successful ad campaign. Extensive focus group research indicated that both new campaigns were top contenders. The client, Carrier Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., sought quantitative research assistance to decide between the two alternative approaches. They needed answers to specific questions: Which commercial would be the one to use with the particular market segments that the brand was positioned to reach? Which commercial would be more persuasive for these target consumers? It was decided to have respondents from the targeted segments compare the two alternative commercials, but the necessary questionnaire with its protracted sociodemographic section required more than 40 minutes to complete. Somehow they needed to find a methodology that would sustain interest and avoid mid-interview terminations. Shortly before beginning work on this study, Omohundro had received a mailing about Sawtooth Technologies' new Sensus software for Windows-based, multimedia interviewing. Some of its unique features appeared to offer a possible solution to survey boredom, as well as an exceptional way to measure before-and-after persuasion. To keep respondents interested and involved through a long and complex interview, Omohundro decided to use the Sensus Q&A multimedia software combined with touch-screen technology. She had previously found that using touch-screens increases respondent involvement. The finished computerized questionnaire not only provided a better persuasion measurement, but also the means to talk the respondent through the various sections of the survey: pre/post measurement of brand image ratings, a lifestyle-typing profile, and in-depth open-ended questions. According to Rex Anderson, Director of Marketing Communications for Carrier Residential Divisions, the software answered a major need. "Using the new Sensus multimedia software provided a means to incorporate sound-and-motion animatics of our new TV spots directly into the questionnaire. We were able to pre-test our new Bryant brand commercials on the target audience so that we could select one of the two proposed spots." Because Sensus Q&A offers multimedia sight and sound within the context of a PC interview, the researchers were able to show the animatics versions of the commercials directly on the computer screen. As an added benefit, the researchers were also able to randomize the presentation of the commercial spots to eliminate order bias. To set the stage for the animatics and also to ensure uniform comprehension, the research plan called for guiding respondents with detailed directions and explanations. Using Sensus' multimedia capabilities, a pleasant voice spoke to respondents from the computer screen and gave them standard pre-recorded directions and explanations, automatically guiding them through the survey sections. The use of Sensus Q&A gave Carrier several other unanticipated advantages. It eliminated the need to create and ship video tapes, rent VCRs and TVs, and hire extra interviewers to manage the presentation of the commercials and deliver instructions. Study participants were also asked a number of open-ended questions about the animatics commercials. Using microphones attached to the interviewing PCs, respondents' spontaneous comments were captured quickly, easily, and in their own words. Dr. Omohundro believes that the multimedia and touch screen technologies they used were an important part of the study's success. "We were dealing with a group of respondents that are difficult to reach. The Sensus interview made it easier to retain their attention, and we were able to ask all the questions we needed to ask without boring the respondents. In fact, they found the entire experience enjoyable." Other benefits were reduced interview time, reduced need for supervision at the test facility, and -- also important -- decreased overall cost of the survey. According to Rex Anderson, "The survey yielded fast, reliable data to support decision-making on this major advertising question." Back to Sawtooth News Index