PACE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY::

 

CHOICES 3
Simmons Study of Media and Markets

Description | SEARCHING: Columns, Rows, Running an Analysis
Interpreting the Data | Media Ranking | Media Audiences
Printing OR Saving

Description

Choices 3 is a CD-ROM version of Simmons Study of Media and Markets that allows flexibility in studying the buying and media habits of consumers in the United States. Simmons collects information on over 8,000 brands in more than 450 product categories, creating detailed consumer profiles with over 600 demographic and lifestyle characteristics linked to media use. Choices 3 makes it possible to navigate and analyze data from the Simmons Study. Reports on the products consumers buy, the brands they prefer, their lifestyles, attitudes and media preferences can be generated. This product is accessible only within the library and only at specific computers.

  • The Choices 3 Main Screen will open to a worksheet with four sections:
    • Dictionary/Questions list (center left section of screen) - used to navigate and select categories of interest to be included in the report.
    • Answers List (center of screen) - used to select specific data (answers) to put in row, column, and filters.
    • Table Statistics Worksheet (center right section of screen) - used to display items selected for columns, rows, and filters
    • Coding Area (bottom section) used to enter single or comples search statements.

SEARCHING

Three options are available to help you to fully manage the Simmons data in your report. These are Columns/Targets (use for product use categories), Rows/Media (use for demographics, lifestyles, psychographics OR media), and Filter (optional: population to be studied).

We will use the following example to illustrate a basic Simmons search: I'm marketing a new kind of yogurt, and I want to know who current users of similar products are in order to help identify my target market and magazines in which to advertise this product.

Perform this search in two steps:

  1. identify the current users to help identify your target market
  2. determine the magazines people in the target market are most likely to read or to have a subscription.

Setting Up the Columns: Use columns to display product or any product use information. 

  1. In the Dictionary/Questions List area, click on the + next to the book icon by FOOD AND DRINK (PERSONAL). This expands the list of items in that category.
  2. Click on the + next to YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN), which expands that list.
  3. Under YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN), click the yellow ? next to YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN) EAT? (The yellow ? means that this was a question asked in the original survey and that there are no further subdivisions of this question only specific answers). The possible answers to the question then appear in the Answers List area.
  4. Click on YES to highlight that answer.
  5. To put this answer into the Column box of the Worksheet area, click on the Column Icon above the Answers List area. You should then see YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN) EAT?: YES in the Columns box in the Worksheet area.
  6. If you were interested in a particular type or brand of yogurt, you would click on the yellow ? next to the YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN) TYPE USED MOST OFTEN or BRAND USED MOST OFTEN questions to see options. You could click on any brand name and then click the columns icon to add that to your Columns worksheet area for additional information on your own research.

Setting Up the Rows

  1. In the Dictionary/Questions List area click on the + next to the book icon by LIFESTYLE (DEMOGRAPHICS) to expand the list.
  2. Click on the + next to DEMOGRAPHICS (PERSONAL INFORMATION) to expand that list.
  3. Click on the yellow ? next to SEX.
  4. From the Answers List, select MALE and FEMALE (To select more than one answer from the Answers list, hold down the control key while selecting answers).
  5. Click on the Row Icon above the Answers List area to send the answers to the Rows box in the Worksheet area.
  6. Under DEMOGRAPHICS (PERSONAL INFORMATION), click on the yellow ? next to AGE.
  7. In the Answer area, scroll down and click on the following age ranges: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 (To select more than one answer from the Answers list, hold down the control key while selecting answers) and Click on the Row Icon above the Answers List area to send them to the Worksheet.
  8. When you are done, look at the Rows box in the Worksheet area to see if all 6 items are listed.

 

Running a Crosstab Analysis

A Crosstab Analysis pulls all of the information you specified together in one table and can help identify a target audience, what products they use, or their media preferences.

  1. Select Run Analysis from the Coding menu or click on the grid icon on the Coding Window toolbar, which opens the Choices Viewer window.
  2. You will need to select a report on the left of the window. Click on the + next to the Untitled folder in the left column to see the available report list.
  3. Click on Crosstab View to see the results of your analysis. The data is presented in a table format.

INTERPRETING THE DATA

What do all these numbers mean?  The data in Crosstab is comprised of Sample, Projection (000), Vert%, Horz%, and Index.

  • Sample (Respondents) is the number of actual respondents to the survey who met the criteris of both the Row and the Column. 
  • (000) Projection (Weighted) is the projected or estimated total number of adults represented by the survey (48 contiguous states) who meet the specifications of both the Row and the Column. The three zeros should be added to the end of the number shown.
  • Vert% (Vertical Percent or Percent Down) Look at vertical percent to see what percent of a product’s users (as defined by the specific column heading) fit a particular demographic or lifestyle characteristic (as defined by the specific row).
  • Horz% (Horizontal Percent or Percent Across) Look at horizontal percent to see what percentage of a demographic group (as defined by the specific row heading) use a product (as defined by the specific column heading).
  • Index is an indicator of the likelihood that the specified demographic group will meet the criteria of the corresponding column as compared to the rest of the population. The higher the Index, the more likely that demographic group is than the rest of the population to answer the product use question as specified in the column heading. Indexes above 120 and below 80 are generally considered significant.

 

MEDIA RANKING

        This feature helps to identify which media is best suited for the target market.  To perform a Media Rank, you must select a filter, product use target (column), and media (row).  For this example, Age will be the filter.

Setting Up the Filters

  1. Start a new search by choosing New from the File menu.
  2. At the bottom of the Worksheet area, click on the Filter tab.
  3. In the Dictionary/Questions List area click on the + next to LIFESTYLE (DEMOGRAPHICS) and then on the + next to DEMOGRAPHICS (PERSONAL INFORMATION).
  4. Click on the yellow ? next to AGE.
  5. In the Answer List area, scroll down and click on the age ranges, 25-34, 35-44.
  6. Above the Answers List area, click on the Insert into Coding icon.
  7. From the menu that appears, highlight and click on Add to Coding Using OR.(AGE2534 OR AGE3544) will be sent to the Coding Box at the bottom of the screen.
  8. Click on the Add to Filters icon below the coding box to send to the Filter area of the worksheet. When a filter is set your results will relate only to that subgroup you designated rather than the total population represented by the survey.

Setting Up the Columns

  1. At the bottom of the Worksheet area, click on the Cols/Rows tab.
  2. In the Dictionary/Questions List area, click on the + next to FOOD AND DRINK (PERSONAL) and then click on the + next to YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN).
  3. Click the yellow ? next to YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN) EAT?
  4. Click on YES and click on the Column icon above the Answers List area to send the answer to the Columns box in the Worksheet area.

 

Setting Up the Rows

  1. In the Dictionary/Questions List area, click on the Media tab (the Media tab is only used to study and rank certain magazine audience and readership data); to study and rank television viewing and radio listening habits, select RADIO/CABLE/TV from the regular Dictionary Questions List rather than clicking on the Media tab).
  2. In the Questions List area you will see only one category: PRINT MEDIA and selections preceded by a ?. Click on the ? preceding MAGAZINES-AUDIENCE ESTIMATES. Two hundred magazine titles will appear in the center Answer List area.
  3. Select titles you are interested in studying (remember: to select more than one answer from the Answers list, hold down the control key while selecting desired answers). To Select all 200 titles: right click on the grey bar above the answer list (it says Answers), and choose Select All from your menu choices. (You may have to click once in the Answers list area to see all of the titles highlighted).
  4. Click on the Row Icon above the Answers List area to send titles to the Worksheet area.
  5. Select Run Analysis from the Coding menu or click on the grid icon on the Coding Window toolbar.

Media Rank

  1. Click on the column heading you are interested in (for our example, there is only one column: YOGURT (NOT BOUGHT FROZEN) EAT? YES). The whole column will become highlighted.
  2. Click on the Sort Descending icon right above your table. When prompted for what element to sort on, select Index and click OK.
  3. All of the magazines selected will be re-sorted by the Index number. (Keep in mind that a high index number may not by itself be significant or meaningful depending on the number of respondents on the survey, total audience estimates for a particular magazine, and other factors).

Media Audiences

Media audiences can be profiled the same way as product users. Remember that to study and rank television viewing and radio listening habits, start from the Dictionary/Questions List rather than clicking on the Media tab).

  1. From the Dictionary/Question List area, click on the + next to RADIO/CABLE/TV.
  2. Click on the viewing/listening category you are interested in and then select a specific category of questions (for example, TV SHOWS –VIEWED LAST 7 DAYS).
  3. Select questions and answers related to your research and send them to the Columns/Targets area following the instructions above.
  4. Select appropriate demographics or user characteristics following the instructions above, and send them to the Rows/Media area.
  5. Select Run Analysis from the Coding menu or click on the grid icon on the Coding Window toolbar, which opens the Choices Viewer window.
  6. Click on the + next to the Untitled folder to the left and select Crosstab View.

Printing or Saving

  • To print data, click on Print in the File Menu. These tables can be very large. You may want to adjust the column and row width so that the complete heading is visible or change the paper to landscape to accommodate more columns on a page. It is probably worth it to preview your print jobs to see the number of pages and the layout before sending it off to the printer.
  • To save your data, select Export Spreadsheet (CSV) file… from the File menu. This will export the data to be opened in Excel.
  • Name your file with a filename ending in .csv and save it to a disc (A: drive).
  • A CSV Export screen will appear. Select all of the elements you want to export by clicking on each one in the cell elements box: Sample, Weighted (same as (000)), Vertical, Horizontal and/or Index.
  • Click OK to save the file.
Created by Pace University Library
Revised 11/05
Karen DeSantis and Noreen McGuire
kdesantis@pace.edu and nmcguire@pace.edu