This case describes a multistage communication study undertaken by the research
department of Penton Media, a publisher of business trade magazines, to determine the long-term viability of a reader and advertiser service, the reader service
card, a post-card-size device used by readers to request additional information
from a particular advertiser. www.penton.com
Penton Media, a publisher of such business magazines as Industry Week, Machine Design, and Restaurant Hospitality, was experiencing a decline in use of
publication reader service cards. This postcard-sized device features a series of
numbers, with one number assigned to each ad appearing in the publication.
Readers circle the advertiser’s number to request product or service information
by mail. Cards are used to track reader inquiries stimulated by advertising within
the magazine. “By 1998 there was a growing belief in many quarters that business
publication advertising was generating fewer leads than in the past,” shares Ken
Long, director of Penton Research Services. “Knowing whether or not this is true
is complicated by the fact that many companies don’t track the source of their
leads.” This belief, however, could ultimately lead to lower advertising revenues if
alternate methods of inquiry stimulation went untracked.
Penton started its research by comparing inquiry response options offered
within September issues of 12 Penton magazines, including Industry Week. Ads
were drawn from two years: 1992 (648 ads) and 1997 (690 ads). The average
number of response options per ad was 3.3 in 1992, growing to 4.1 in 1997.
More than half of 1997 ads offered toll-free telephone numbers and fax numbers.
“Two inquiry methods that are commonplace today, sending e-mail and visiting an
advertiser’s Internet website, were virtually nonexistent in 1992,” noted Long.
Not a single 1992 ad invited readers to visit a website and just one ad listed an email address. Website addresses were found in three of five (60.9 percent) 1997
ads, with e-mail addresses provided in 17.7 percent of ads. Today, many
websites contain a “contact us” feature that generates an e-mail message of
inquiry. In 1997, advertisers were including their postal mailing address only 55.5
percent of the time, compared with 69 percent in 1992 ads.
Penton pretested a reader-targeted mail questionnaire by phone with a
small sample drawn from its database of 1.7 million domestic subscribers. A
second pretest, by mail, involved 300 subscribers. Penton mailed the finalized
study to 4,000 managers, executives, engineers, and purchasing agents selected
Used with permission of
Pamela S. Schindler
©2001.
Business Research Methods, 13e/Schindler
2
from the U.S. Penton database. The survey sample was constructed using stratified disproportionate random sampling with subscribers considered as belonging
to one of 42 cells (seven industry groups by six job titles). A total of 710 completed questionnaires were received, with 676 of the respondents indicating that
they were purchase decision makers for their organization. Penton analyzed only
the answers of these 676 buyers. Data were analyzed by weighting responses in
each cell by their percentage makeup in the overall population. The overall margin
of error for the survey was ± 4 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence. Indepth follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 40 respondents, to
gain a deeper understanding of their behavior and attitudes.
Almost every respondent (97.7 percent) had contacted at least one
advertiser during the past year. Newer methods of making inquiries—Web visits,
fax-on-demand, or e-mail—were used by half (49.1 percent) of the buyers
surveyed. But a look ahead shows the true impact of information technology.
Within the next five years, 73.7 percent expect to respond to more ads by sending
e-mail to the company. In addition, 72.2 percent anticipate visiting an advertiser’s
website, and 60 percent expect to increase their use of fax-on-demand. Three out
of five purchasing decision makers have access to the Internet, and 74.3 percent
of those without Internet service expect to have it within the next five years. Seven
of 10 (72.4 percent) respondents plan to use the Internet to research potential
suppliers, products, or services during the next five years, compared to 33.1
pecent using it for that purpose during the past year.
Findings revealed that the need for fast response and the need for information on product availability and delivery are influenced by the following:
1 Time pressures created by downsizing of the work force and demands for greater productivity.
2 The fast pace of doing business.
- Cost considerations.
Behavior varied depending on immediacy of purpose. When buyers have
an immediate need for a product or service, telephone contact is the inquiry
method of choice. Of the respondents, 79.5 percent reported that they had called
a toll-free number in the past year for an immediate need, while 66.1 percent had
called a local number, and 64.7 percent had called a long-distance number. When
the need for a product or service is not immediate, buyers are more likely to use
the mail. Among respondents, 71.4 percent reported they had mailed a reader
service card in the past year for a nonimmediate need, and 69.3 percent had
mailed a business-reply card to an advertiser.
“A new paradigm is emerging for industrial purchasing,” concludes Long.
“Buyers are working in real time. They want information more quickly and they
want more information.”
1 Build the management-research question hierarchy.
2 What ethical issues are relevant to this study?
3 Describe the sampling plan. Analyze its strengths and weaknesses.