Transcript Chapter 11 - Dr V Kumar

Chapter 11
Questionnaire Design
International Marketing Research
V. Kumar
Opinions

Four men, a Saudi, a Russian, a North Korean, and
a New Yorker are walking down the street. A
marketing researcher says to them, “Excuse me,
what is your opinion on the meat shortage?” The
Saudi says, “What’s a shortage?” The Russian
says, “What’s meat?” The Korean says, “What’s
an opinion?” and the New Yorker says, “Excuse
me? What’s an excuse?”
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Questionnaire
•
Questionnaire is the vehicle of communication
between researcher and survey respondents
•
Questionnaires make it possible to quantify
various aspects of the research that are being
studied.
•
Researchers follow a specific sequence of steps
to design a questionnaire
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Designing the Questionnaire
Planning what to measure
Formatting the questionnaire
Questionnaire wording
Translation
a) Translate from English to foreign language
b) Retranslate back to English to ensure equivalency
Measurement and construct equivalency
a) Functional equivalency
b) Conceptual equivalency
c) Category equivalency
Sequencing and layout decisions
Pretesting and correcting problems
Questionnaire in multiple languages
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Designing the Questionnaire
Questionnaire building
is an art!
A questionnaire
is always custom-built!
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Designing the Questionnaire
(Contd.)
Formatting the Question

Decision to be made regarding the degree of
freedom to be given to the respondents in
answering the questions
Alternatives
 Open
ended with no classification
 Open ended where the interviewer uses precoded
classifications to record the response
 Close ended or structured format in which a
question or a supplementary card presents the
responses to be considered
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Factors that need to be considered when
developing a questionnaire
• Respondent should understand the question
• Respondent must have adequate knowledge to answer the
question
• Respondent should be willing to participate without any
external coercion
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Information collected by questionnaire
•
Demographic data:
Respondent information based on age,
sex, income, education, etc.
•
Psychographic data:
Based on VALS (Values, Attitude, and Lifestyle)
Eg: Attitude of people towards credit
•
Behavioral data:
Tracks the actual action taken by the consumer in terms
of buying the product and the different ways in which the
product is put to use
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Organization of a Typical Questionnaire
Location
Type
Starting questions
Broad, general
questions
Next few questions
Questions up to a
third of the
questionnaire
Major portion of the
questionnaire
Last few questions
Function
To break the ice and
establish a report with
the respondent
Simple and direct
To reassure the
questions
respondent that the
survey is simple and
easy to answer
Focused questions
Relate more to the
research objectives
and convey to the
respondent the area of
research
Focused questions;
To obtain most of the
some may be difficult information required
and complicated
for the research
Example
Do you own a
personal computer?
What brands of
personal computers
did you consider
when you bought it?
What attributes did
you consider when
you purchased you
personal computer?
Rank the following
attributes of a
personal computer
based on their
importance to you
Personal questions
To get classification What is the highest
that may be perceived and demographic
level of education
by the respondent as information about the you have attained?
sensitive
respondent
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Question Format
Open Vs Close ended:
Close-ended questions offer a set of choices, while openended questions give the respondent the freedom to provide
his/her response.
• Close ended questions have the advantage of easy
analysis,
• They also have a drawback in the sense that a thorough
research has to be conducted and all possible options
must be included in the response set.
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Question Format (contd)
Direct vs. Indirect:
Direct questions avoid ambiguity regarding the question
content and meaning while indirect questions probe the
respondent by asking them to list choices of their friends
or peers rather than their own.
Examples: It is common to discuss sexual preferences in
the United States, but this is taboo in a lot of Asian
cultures.
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Question Format (contd)
Verbal vs. Non-verbal:
Most questionnaires are designed such that questions can be
read out to respondents. E.g.: Interviews, Mail Surveys
Sometimes non-verbal cues become necessary. For E.g.: Target
sample consists of children or in countries where literacy levels
are low.
Examples of non verbals are Picture cards and other visual
aids
Note: Visual aids can also be used in countries where literacy levels are high. This
is usually done to ensure that the translation of the questionnaire has been done
correctly.
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Types of Questions
1. Open-response question:
People look for different things in a job. What
would you prefer most in a job?
2. Close-response question:
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People look for different things in a job. What
would you prefer most in a job?
Work that pays well
Work that gives a sense of accomplishment
Work where you make most decisions by
yourself
Work that is steady with little chance of being
laid off.
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Closed-response Questions
What type of fast-food restaurant do you visit
most often?
Burger
Chicken
Seafood
Don’t know
Mexican
Pizza
Chinese
Other (please specify)
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Issues in Questionnaire Design
 Ideally,
the multiple choices should be
mutually exclusive.
How many long-distance calls do make in a
week?
 less than 5
 5-10
 More than 10.
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Number of Response Categories
 Generally
five to seven categories
 Ideally
the multiple choices should be
mutually exclusive
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Order of Response Categories
 Responses
are likely to be affected by the
order in which they are presented.
What factor influences your fast-food restaurant
choice most ?
 Convenient location
 Quality of food
 Menu selection
 Fast service
 Reasonable prices
 Brand name
 Cleanliness
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Order of Response Categories
 To
prevent order bias, place the average or
expected response at various positions in
the sequence of categories
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Range of Response Categories
 Respondents
who do not know the answer
might take categories as cues.
How many long-distance calls do make in a
week?
 less than 5
 less than 10
 5-10
or
 10-20
 More than 10.
 More than 20.
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Handling uncertainty
 Should
respondents be provided with a
Don’t know or No opinion option?
 Sometimes this is an easy way out
 Sometimes it is the true fact
 Error is introduced either way!
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Wording
• Respondent base should decide wording
• Questions should be short and precise
• Break questions into smaller topics
• Keep questions free of bias and ambiguity
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Question Wording
 Avoid
ambiguous words
How many times per month do you visit a fastfood restaurant?
 Never
 Occasionally
 Sometimes
 Often
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Question Wording
 Are
any questions "double-barreled”?
Are you satisfied with the price and the service
of Taco Bell?
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Question Wording
 Is
the question applicable to all
respondents?
Why do you like fast-food?
Assumes that respondent likes fast-food.
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Pretesting and Correcting
Problems
 Pretest Design

Pretesting Specific Questions For
 Variation
 Meaning
 Task
difficulty
 Respondent interest and attention
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Pretesting the Questionnaire
 Flow
of the questionnaire
 Skip patterns
 Length
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Respondent Interest and Attention
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Tips on Questionnaire Design

Designing a questionnaire for international marketing research
involves a lot of preparation by the researcher. Following are
some of the pitfalls to avoid when designing questionnaires:
– Avoid using complicated words and long, complex sentences.
– Do not use words or phrases that are specific to one country
or culture. They may not be understood by all respondents.
This is particularly true of diverse cultures where the people
speak many languages and dialects.
– Do not use double-barreled questions. A double-barreled
question is one that combines two questions into one and
creates ambiguity for the respondent. An example would be
to ask respondents if they are satisfied with the price and
quality of a product. Respondents who are satisfied with one
but not the other will not be able to answer this question.
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Tips on Questionnaire Design (cont..)
– Do not use questions that are leading or loaded. These
questions convey the opinion of the researcher and force the
respondent to answer one way or another. Consider the
question, “Don’t you agree that the Internet is a good source
of information?” This is a leading question that forces the
respondent to answer in a manner that is acceptable to the
researcher. A loaded question introduces a very subtle bias.
“What do you think is a good source of information---the
Internet or some other medium?” Is an example of a loaded
question. Avoid using words and phrases that convey strong
emotions to the respondent.
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Tips on Questionnaire Design (cont.)
– Instructions should not confuse the
respondents. Keep the instructions short and
precise.
– Avoid asking questions that are not applicable
to respondents. Asking college students about
desktop or laptop computer ownership in the
United States is relevant. Asking the same
question to college students in many
developing countries may induce bias in the
results
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Translation
• Important for both verbal and non-verbal
stimuli
• Translation-back-translation useful
• May not be possible to translate all words
and phrases
• Pretesting helps ensure quality of translation
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Cultural Issues
• Pay attention to social, psychological and
ethnic aspects of society
• Concept should be familiar to the
respondent
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Construct Equivalence
•Functional equivalence:
Involves establishing that given concept of
behavior serves the same purpose or function
from country to country.
Example: In the United States bicycles are primarily used
for recreation, but in several developing countries they
serve as a mode of transportation. Hence in the U.S., the
relevant competing products would be other recreational
sports items. In other countries, the competing products
could be other modes of transportation.
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Construct Equivalence
– Conceptual equivalence:
Deals with individual interpretation of objects and
stimuli. The focus is on individual variations in
attitudes and behavior rather than societal norms and
behavior.( as was the case with functional equivalence)
People from different cultures exhibit personality traits,
such as aggression, authoritanism, or need for affiliation.
Example: In the U.K., engagement implies commitment to
marry, whereas in Italy or Spain, it merely means having
a boyfriend or girlfriend.
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Construct Equivalence
– Category equivalence:
Relates to categories in which relevant objects
or other stimuli are placed.
For Example: In many countries beer is considered a soft
drink.
A lot of countries differ in the way they classify soft
drinks, carbonated sodas, powdered or liquid
concentrates, etc.
Occupations are placed in different categories in different
countries.
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What’s in a Name?
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Chevrolet launched its “Nova” in the Mexican market without giving
any thought to the implications of the name, which, in Spanish,
translated to “does not go.” There were no takers for a car that was
called “does not go.”
A sign in a zoo in Hungary had the following to say: “Please do not
feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on
duty.”
Coors translated its slogan, “Turn it loose,” into Spanish, which read
“Suffer from Diarrhea.”
“Nik Nak” potato chips failed dismally in the United Arabic Emirates
because the word means aphrodisiac in Arabic
A restaurant in Switzerland had the following sign: “Our wines leave
you nothing to hope for.”
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What’s in a Name? (cont.)
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Clairol introduced its “Mist Stick,” a curling iron, in
Germany, only to find that “mist” is slang for manure in
German.
Pepsi’s “Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation” translated
into “Pepsi brings you ancestors back from the grave” in
Chinese.
Dress shop in Hong Kong: “Ladies have fits upstairs.”
“Cool-Piz” and “Pokari Sweat” tried to penetrate the soft
drink market in Korea and failed for obvious reasons.
Online airline ticket office in Denmark proudly advertised
“We take your bags and send them in all directions.”
Sign in a hotel in Romania: “The lift is being fixed for the
next day. During that time we regret that you will be
unbearable.”
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Randomized Response Technique
P[Yes] = P[Yes|S.Q] * P[S.Q] + P[Yes|I.Q] *
P[I.Q]
where
S.Q = Sensitive Question
I.Q = Innocent Question
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Exercises
Why did you purchase a Sony brand Walkman?
 Price was lower than other alternatives
 Feel it represents the highest quality
 Availability of local service
 Sound is better
 Warranty is better
 Looks good
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Exercises
Have you ever listened to a Long John Silvers
radio commercial?
Which of the following restaurants do you visit
frequently?
 Burger King
 Pizza Hut
 James Coney Island
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Exercises
Do you agree that, since fast-food restaurants
produce a disproportionate amount of waste,
they should be subject to an additional
environmental tax?
 Yes
 No
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Exercises
How often do you eat fast food?
 Daily
 Every second day
 Once a week
 Every two weeks
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