Research Data Services
Choice-based Conjoint (CBC) Analysis: Compensation Packages
An HR consulting firm was engaged by a large Internet service company to survey their employees regarding compensation packages. The online survey included a CBC module where employees chose between pairs of compensation packages. One priority for the company was to minimize the number of employees who needed to participate in the survey. Prior to the survey POPULUS used a design analysis tool to create an optimal CBC design that would provide robust results with the least possible number of participants. The Internet company also had some very smart, analytical people and it was crucial that the consulting firm have a full understanding of the survey results during presentations. POPULUS provided some key understanding to help the consultants understand why the data was giving some rather non-intuitive results. A simple, but intuitive example was also devised to explain the situation.
Multiple languages and flexible programming
A large, international construction materials company needed to conduct a survey throughout the world in 40 different languages. POPULUS coordinated with multiple third party translation services to program the survey and maintain the highest quality control throughout many survey revisions. Additional complexity was added due to certain regional groups needing to see only certain portions of the survey, irrespective of the language. POPULUS was able to respond quickly to last-minute changes and help make on-the-fly decisions to accommodate the developing needs of the client.
Internet Adaptive Conjoint Research
POPULUS, working with Sawtooth Software®, pioneered the implementation of web-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis research methodology for two employee retention studies conducted by an international corporate consulting firm. The web-based instrument included customized web pages and skip patterns for more than 100 different companies with employees around the world. Customized e-mail respondent recruitment notices included unique passwords to control data collection.
Rapid Internet-based Research
An international sports league needed to assess global interest in attending a nine-team tournament in three different locations around the world. Since time was of the essence, POPULUS was contracted to design and set up survey instruments on the Internet. Within ten days of final design approval, the client had received 2,500 responses from 150 countries.
Brand Improvement
Improvements
A major regional airline brand needed to assess the impact of its current brand name among user and non-user groups. At the same time, the company needed to evaluate the effects of possible brand and service alterations. And, in the client's words, the company had an "excruciatingly tight timeline and limited budget."
According to the client, "This wasn't an ordinary, run of the mill, satisfaction survey. The answer to this question had huge implications and wasn't easy to calculate but POPULUS was able to put a $$ figure to it to help us make a decision that had been simmering among our executives for nearly a decade.
" To meet the research, timeline, and budget objectives, POPULUS employed, in the client's words, "creative techniques (virtual focus groups combining Web and teleconferencing) while still honoring sound research principles." POPULUS's Virtual Focus Room provided a fast, economical, and reliable alternative to conventional qualitative data collection methods.
Using a combination of web-based quantitative and qualitative methods, POPULUS was able to economically, yet reliably, capture respondents' reactions and insights regarding the proposed changes. The results? The client reports that the "research helped us position our new product for success. With approximately 3 months of [the new service] underway, we are exceeding original estimates of passenger load factors....[T]he research data was the glue that pulled it together." Bottom line from the client: "After conducting the research, our Executives were able to move forward with confidence in knowing we were introducing a service that offered value to the customer."
Motorola
Enhancing Motorola TalkAbout
Motorola knew that if they built a new two-way radio with lots of bells and whistles, consumers would not necessarily come.
As Maria Metz, marketing manager at Motorola, observed, "We couldn't put all the different options we were thinking about on the radio, so we needed to know which ones were going to be of most value to the consumer, and help sell the most radios."
Given the complexity of the research task, Motorola brought in POPULUS.
POPULUS conducted two phases of research--one qualitative and one quantitative--to determine consumers' preferences for the new generation of two-way radios. POPULUS tested eighteen attributes, including technical specifications, price points, and product appearance.
The resulting product was right on consumers' wavelength, and TalkAbout was able to lead the market for recreational and industrial two-way radios.
HBO
Exploring New Business Opportunities
Our first project with HBO was an assessment of the demand for high definition television. This was difficult to do ten years before HDTV was introduced into the United States.
POPULUS' pioneering work applied conjoint measurement to both psychometric perceptual discrimination as well as the emotional rewards offered by HDTV. Our report became part of the FCC's public rule making which eventually led to the standards for HDTV.
HBO also asked POPULUS to work with it to develop audience segmentation and communications to address the company's serious problem of "churn"--almost 50% of its subscribers discontinue each year. While the programs developed by POPULUS are proprietary, they have revolutionized the way the company views its business and manages its communications.
Other projects for HBO involved assessment of video on-demand, program scheduling, multiplexed services, and new product development.
Reagan Whitehouse
Giving the President Timely Feedback
During the Reagan administration, the White House communications staff wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of the public's reaction to every element--verbal and non-verbal--of all major presidential addresses.
POPULUS developed Ballot Box™, a technology that measures audience reaction on an immediate, unfiltered, moment-to-moment basis.
Twelve hours after President Reagan delivered a major policy speech, POPULUS provided top White House staff and key consultants with videotape, graphics, and statistical analysis of the public's response to the President's message.
Market Segmentation / Market Structure Analysis
National Segmentation of Swine Veterinarians
For a major manufacturer of animal health products, POPULUS conducted qualitative and quantitative research among swine veterinarians. The resulting attitude segmentation guided the corporation's communications and marketing strategies for a new swine feed enhancer.
Assessing Competitive Media
A national media firm needed to understand how an increasing number of competitive media affected its customers' spending on its product. POPULUS developed measures of cross media elasticity by determining an advertiser's likelihood to switch spending from one medium to another by measuring the degree to which valued benefits were offered by each medium.
Business Development Research: Products & Services
Bandwidth on Demand Assessment
ViaSat and Loral Skynet® needed to assess purchase interest among businesses / IT professionals for a new service "on-demand WAN connectivity" that combined the strengths of the two companies. POPULUS designed a research that identified consumer interest, optimal service features, the competitive market, and optimal pricing strategies. The new service rolled out in August 2001.
Fast Food Menu Architecture Development
For an international fast food franchise chain, POPULUS designed and administered over 2,000 CAPI interviews assessing the general desirability of current and prospective menu offerings. Approximately one-fourth of the sample population consisted of respondents aged 13 to 17 years old. The survey instrument incorporated over 100 graphics illustrating the menu offerings.
Motorola: Two-way Radio Development
New product development, pricing strategies, and strategic market share analysis. Motorola was interested in providing the "latest" tools to improve business communications. POPULUS conducted two phases of research, one qualitative and one quantitative, to determine what people needed in a new generation of mobile communicators. Motorola understood what features were important for various markets, were able to calculate market potential, and created a new wave of products based on the results presented by POPULUS.
Geosynchronous Satellite Management Development
A major producer of satellites wanted to optimize design and man-machine interface (MMI) systems used by the government and private agencies to control communications satellites. POPULUS developed a conjoint questionnaire that was completed by teams of managers and technicians from a census of companies requiring such services. Segmentation analysis isolated a unique opportunity for the client to extend its domination of the category.
Optimizing Communications Technology
A multi-national corporation wished to standardize the technical platform for its next product generation. POPULUS working with a team of engineers from Europe, Asia, and the Americas developed a conjoint and discrete choice questionnaire that was fielded with product users in 12 countries (developed and less-developed). One of the major accomplishments of this project was POPULUS' ability to lead a diverse group of engineers to consensus on the research design and the creation and programming of the questionnaire in a three-day intense meeting.
Forecasting HDTV Demand
POPULUS conducted studies to assess consumer acceptance for advanced TV technology for two major US corporations. The work resulted in the introduction of wide-screen consumer televisions, and demand forecasts that have been incorporated into the FCC's rule-making for HDTV standards.
Internet Survey Technique: Sports Event Development
An international sports league needed to assess global interest in attending a nine-team tournament in three different locations around the world. Since time was of the essence, POPULUS was contracted to design and set up survey instruments on the Internet. Within ten days of final design approval, the client had received 2,500 responses from 150 countries.
Assessing Product Features and Benefits: Computer Hardware
A multinational computer manufacturer wished to determine an optimal product line for its next generation of hardware. Utilizing discrete choice analysis, POPULUS conducted a study that enabled the manufacturer to select an optimal number of models for the product line and the optimal feature set for each model.
Product Re-introduction: Aviation
After changes in liability laws, a manufacturer of single-engine aircraft wanted to re-introduce three models it stopped producing a decade ago. The company needed to redesign them to incorporate current technology and assess their market potential. POPULUS conducted nationwide studies among airplane owners, fixed-base operators, and retailers to determine the optimum set of product features for each new model and estimate demand.
Product Re-engineering
A manufacturer of premium lawn and garden equipment sought consumer input as it re-engineered its biggest selling line of lawn tractors. Using computer technology, POPULUS interviewed recent purchasers of lawn tractors to determine product attributes customers valued most and the tradeoffs they were willing to make. POPULUS then developed a market simulator to assess the impact product improvements would have on purchasing behavior and, therefore, market share.
New Product Development: "Technography" in Action
A manufacturer of premium lawn and garden equipment sought a different approach from traditional focussed group interviews to assess customers' needs and elicit suggestions for improving its lawn tractors. Patterned on ethnography, the discipline of understanding consumer behavior by observing it, POPULUS conducted "technography:" observing product use from a design and engineering point of view.
POPULUS, accompanied by the client's key engineers, conducted two-hour personal interviews at customers' homes. Part of the interview was conducted as respondents mowed their lawns, which required the interviewer, engineers, and respondents all to be equipped with and communicate by two-way radio. This portion of the interview was also simultaneously video- and audio-taped so that the rest of the engineering staff could observe respondents' difficulties and hear their comments as they used the equipment.
Building New Businesses: Industrial Products
When a major chemical company bought a competitor's consumer products division and merged it with the company's existing consumer products division, it sought to investigate a wide range of potential new businesses. In two large quantitative studies (a total of 3,200 interviews), POPULUS assessed the potential of several new business lines, the effects of these new products on the company's image and potential cannibalization of existing products, and the market potential for new users. Both phases of research were completed in six weeks, allowing the client to make critical marketing decisions within a short time.
Interactive Television
POPULUS worked with a major cable company and several of its key vendors to develop an interface by which viewers will access programming and other services in the new cable environment of the information superhighway.
New Product Development: Managed Health Care
POPULUS designed an innovative research approach to small businesses' evaluation of health care alternatives. The result was a new managed-care product and a breakthrough mass media campaign that achieved an ROI of 116%.
Individual Health Plan Evaluation
National health insurance provider wanted to assess demand for individually purchased health plans. Research determined that income was primary driver of purchase. No latent demand was identified.
New Product Development: Small Group Health Plans
Health plan provider needed to develop new marketing strategy. POPULUS conducted qualitative research among small business owners and insurance agents/brokers to assess marketing message content. Research identified critical differences between owners and agents in their responses to ad messages.
New Product Development: Finance
For a major financial institution, we conducted a series of computer-assisted personal interviews with financial personnel to investigate the market structure of the industry in which the client competed and helped determine the potential opportunity for new services. The sample included over 3,000 U.S. corporations. An additional phase of the research involved a perceptual census of the company's entire sales force.
Product Optimization: Health Insurance
A major health care provider wanted to size latent demand for a revolutionary medical insurance product. POPULUS analyzed characteristics of their 82,000 current customers and developed a model to predict potential customers. Ninety-five hundred phone calls were necessary to find fifty potential customers who were interviewed in depth by POPULUS professionals. The product is currently in test and the research has contributed to the administration's health care proposal.
Software Development
Lotus Development Corporation asked POPULUS to explore the strengths and weaknesses of their Signal software. Computerized questionnaires were mailed to all registered owners; sixty percent responded to the hour-long interview that was self-administered on their home PCs. On the basis of the survey, Lotus sold the division to its employees who subsequently redesigned Signal using many of the research findings.
Pricing Studies
High Speed Internet Data Pricing and Product Configuration Research
A major telecommunications company needed to understand consumer demand and price elasticity for its high-speed Internet access service under various pricing and product configurations. Based upon a web-based, conjoint survey, POPULUS findings were used to configure the company's pricing to maximize penetration and revenue while maintaining a control on costs.
Product Pricing Research: Media
A national media firm needed to understand how price related to demand for its products. The research goal was, therefore, to utilize a methodology that would guide pricing policies to optimize sales and profits. POPULUS conducted interviews probing budget allocations and investigating price sensitivity. The study revealed that what had been an inelastic marketplace had become highly elastic. The study concluded that the client must attempt to recover its value advantage by reinforcing positive benefits that its product could bring to an advertiser.
Auto Insurance Buying Habits
POPULUS designed a quantitative study to identify consumer preferences for automobile insurance policies for a national insurance company. Research identified: "Ideal" policies including price points (conjoint); Six consumer segments with distinct preferences; Regional differences; Competitive imperatives; Key components to gain share of preference.
Food Packaging Reconfiguration
A leading national food and beverage producer wanted to determine consumer preferences and demand for a packaging reconfiguration (price, size, and package type) of one of its most popular products. The client also wanted to determine which pairing of reconfigured packaging options would generate the greatest customer appeal. POPULUS designed a research instrument that used five different price scales based on local market conditions and seven different package configurations (size and package type) that enabled the client to see which configuration captured optimal consumer purchase interest.
Dun & Bradstreet / R.H. Donnelley / American Credit Indemnity
POPULUS has conducted a total of thirty-nine projects for D&B corporate and several of its operating companies. POPULUS studied pricing, competition, new media, advertiser satisfaction, employee attitudes, sales force productivity, and directory format and scope.
Branding / Brand Stretch Analysis
Brand Character Analysis
For the Dr Pepper/Seven Up Company and Leo Burnett, POPULUS has conducted over 2,600 interviews investigating the perceptions of soft drink brands. Brands were rated on 160 image variables. This three-year program of research contributed to the successful launch of Cherry 7UP and the repositioning of Dr Pepper advertising.
Airline Brand Identity Analysis
A major regional airline needed to assess the impact of its current brand name among user and non-user groups. At the same time, the company needed to evaluate the effects of a possible brand alteration. POPULUS designed a web-based survey including conjoint that was customized to the five markets in which data was collected. Based upon POPULUS findings, the company could see the limitations of the current brand and was able to tactically select the new brand identity.
Chevron / Ortho Brand Stretch
Chevron desired to produce and market new products under its Ortho brand. The project involved defining the essence of the benefits associated with the client's brand and then measuring the degree to which these benefits could be transferred to other product categories of interest to the manufacturer. Participants were able to identify those products that were perceived as being "inline" with their current perceptions of the company, as well as indicate which products were too "far out" to be valued by the brand recognition.
Brand Franchise Development
For a major manufacturer of consumer goods, POPULUS developed a model of "brand stretch." The project involved defining the essence of the benefits associated with the client's brand and then measuring the degree to which these benefits could be transferred to other product categories of interest to the manufacturer.
Leveraging Brand Equity
A prominent manufacturer of industrial machinery and consumer goods wished to develop a long-term brand positioning-building on the company's heritage while reinforcing its position as a technological leader. POPULUS' research findings have served as the foundation for the advertising and marketing of this company's consumer products.
Employee Research
Marriott International, Inc.: Employee Retention
Increasing employee retention and commitment, and strategic employee management at all levels. Marriott International is concerned about employee retention, satisfaction, and commitment. Marriott commissioned POPULUS to oversee a nationwide sampling of hourly employees to determine what areas needed improvement to increase retention and improve employee relations. POPULUS developed a model to address their concerns and presented the findings to upper-level executives during an all day meeting at corporate headquarters. Based on POPULUS' recommendations, Marriott is focused on specific employee offerings that will address and improve their retention problems.
HIPO Defection Study
With an international corporate consulting firm, POPULUS designed a computer-based survey instrument to measure drivers of defection and retention among high potential employees. The instrument was customized for nineteen companies world-wide. POPULUS managed the production and distribution of 13,000 surveys, compiled data, provided analytical services and support within an aggressive time frame.
Internet Adaptive Conjoint Research: Employee Retention
POPULUS, working with Sawtooth Software®, pioneered the implementation of web-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis research methodology for two employee retention studies conducted by an international corporate consulting firm. The web-based instrument included customized web pages and skip patterns for more than 100 different companies with employees around the world. Customized e-mail respondent recruitment notices included unique passwords to control data collection.
Worldwide Disk-by-Mail Survey: Employee Research
A multinational computer manufacturer employed POPULUS to conduct a 19-country census of its product development and marketing personnel. The study replaced one previously conducted by a consulting firm. Using self-administered computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI), POPULUS' innovative approach resulted in doubling the cooperation rate, collecting four times as much data, and saving 50% in both time and money.
Employee Preferences Study
Impressed with the methodology of the HIPO Defection study, the largest single-site employer in the U.S. wanted to apply a similar study to its massive hourly-worker population. POPULUS worked with the client to develop an appropriate instrument, in two languages, for this population in the attempt to improve what is already an industry-leading retention program.
Retention and Compensation
Another division (Cruise Line) of this same employer wanted to determine the levels of satisfaction and various types of commitment, as well as to determine what benefits and privileges were most important among its top-line employees. Using web-based interviewing, the client was able to discover that different segments of their workforce manifested different levels of commitment and types of expectations regarding compensation and benefits. POPULUS developed models of satisfaction and retention and made recommendations regarding how compensation and benefits affected each model for different job segments.
Labor Relations
For a firm about to begin negotiations on a new labor contract, POPULUS conducted in-depth interviews with unionized employees to better understand their attitudes toward the company and to assess their realistic expectations. Results of the research were presented not only to management negotiators but also to the Board of Directors.
Re-analysis of Employee Research
When a major corporation felt an employee survey conducted by a large consulting firm failed to deliver the insights it had hoped to glean, POPULUS was asked to analyze (and try to make sense of) the data. Instead of sifting for a needle in the haystack of data, POPULUS was able to compact it, using multivariate analyses, until the needle stuck out of the bale.
Dun & Bradstreet / R.H. Donnelley / American Credit Indemnity
POPULUS has conducted a total of thirty-nine projects for D&B corporate and several of its operating companies. POPULUS studied pricing, competition, new media, advertiser satisfaction, employee attitudes, sales force productivity, and directory format and scope.
Employee Motivations
One of the largest U.S. industrial corporations engaged POPULUS to conduct two-hour in-depth interviews with workers employed throughout the eastern half of the country. Using the "laddering" technique, we developed a model of the employees' motivational structure; the research was instrumental in refocusing internal corporate communications.
Communications / PR / Advertising Research
White House Communications
During the Reagan administration, the White House communications staff wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of the public's reaction to every element--verbal and non-verbal--of all major presidential addresses. POPULUS developed Ballot BoxTM, a technology that measures audience reaction on an immediate, unfiltered, moment-to-moment basis. Twelve hours after President Reagan delivered a major policy speech, POPULUS provided top White House staff and key consultants with videotape, graphics, and statistical analyses of the public's response to the President's message.
Public Relations: Industrial Advertising
A major international chemical company found that its advertising campaign was effective only among those who were positively predisposed to the company. POPULUS has conducted a series of motivational studies among various target groups. Quantitative research, in the US and Canada, among opinion leaders, government officials, and industrial customers has resulted in reformulating the company's communications strategy and tactics. The research was subsequently validated with studies conducted in Germany and China.
Advertising Strategy Development
The Whirlpool Corporation and D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles engaged POPULUS for a project involving both qualitative and quantitative phases to assess Whirlpool's competitive position and to develop a redirected advertising strategy.
Industry Constituent Assessment
A national dairy organization wanted to learn how its producer-constituents viewed a number of critical issues, received industry information, and evaluated sources of industry news. Using paper-and-pencil as well as disk-by-mail questionnaires, POPULUS interviewed over 650 diary producers across the country. The organization discovered which media were most used and most relied upon, as well as how well the organization's messages had been received by its constituents.
Beef Producer Communications Study
A national beef promotion organization wanted to learn how its producer-constituents viewed a user tax on beef sales and to determine if the producers believed the money was effective in promoting the beef industry. Using a computer aided telephone interview (CATI), POPULUS interviewed 2,000 beef producers across the country. POPULUS compared results from this study with previous years' results to determine how viewpoints had changed. The organization discovered which media were viewed as most effective, as well as how well the organization's messages had been received by its constituents. Using the results from this study, the beef promotion board revised their advertising campaign.
University of Idaho Image Assessment
A major university in Idaho, under the leadership of a new president, recognized the need to develop a marketing plan to position the university in a rapidly changing world of higher education. This marketing plan included research to assess the perceptions and expectations of key audiences. POPULUS designed a research plan using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) that allowed the development of a relevant set of competitive universities for respondents in different geographic regions of the state. Sub-groups of respondents (e.g., high school counselors, alumni, opinion leaders, etc.) were asked unique sets of questions. The process of designing the research required soul-searching among key internal audiences including university administrators, faculty, and staff. The research results were shared with a broad audience demonstrating the new administration's openness and gaining it support for the needed marketing program. The research provided benchmarks and gave direction to the agencies competing for the university's PR and advertising contracts. With the information generated by the study, the university was able to develop and initiate a strategic communications program that resulted in increased enrollments.
Institutional Image Assessment
Idaho Statewide Survey. The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) was concerned with the public's perception of INEL. POPULUS conducted telephone interviews to assess awareness and perceptions of INEL, identify issues related to the facility, and determine levels of support for it and other contractors. In addition, POPULUS measured the effectiveness of various messages in enhancing INEL and Department of Energy (DOE) image and determined the potential impact various types of communications or community involvement might have on support for INEL and DOE.
Soybean Promotion
The American Soybean Association wanted to institute an industry-wide soybean check-off that would generate sufficient revenues to dramatically increase soybean research and promote the commodity worldwide. Over a five-year period, POPULUS conducted numerous research projects-the results of which were used to design the check-off program, garner congressional support for enacting the required federal legislation, and develop a strategy for informing soybean producers about the check-off and eliciting their support (their vote to continue the program after its legislated trial period).
Positioning International Charity
Childreach, founded in 1938 as Foster Parents Plan, asked POPULUS to develop a communications strategy to increase the number of Americans assisting needy children through community development in the Third World. POPULUS on a pro bono basis conducted extensive, in-depth psychological research to uncover motivational triggers that would encourage people to contribute to this community development. Partly as a result of POPULUS' work, an additional 35,000 children are being assisted.
Revamping Recruitment Strategy
In the face of student criticism and protests on prominent university campuses from which it recruits, the nation's largest security agency wanted to revamp its recruitment efforts. POPULUS conducted in-depth motivational research among students in selected fields and recommended a communications strategy targeted to various audiences.
Damage Assessment for U.S. Senator
In preparation for his re-election bid, a U.S. Senator who had been brushed by the broad stroke of scandal needed to assess the impact the incident had on his constituents and determine the appropriate way to inoculate against opponents' attacks. POPULUS conducted qualitative research among key constituent groups, the results of which helped fine-tune the campaign's strategy.
Satisfaction Research
Dun & Bradstreet / R.H. Donnelley / American Credit Indemnity
POPULUS has conducted a total of thirty-nine projects for D&B corporate and several of its operating companies. POPULUS studied pricing, competition, new media, advertiser satisfaction, employee attitudes, sales force productivity, and directory format and scope.
Maximizing Customer Satisfaction: Media
A national media firm wanted to assess and improve satisfaction with its product. A four-year program developed models of satisfaction and attitude segments of customers. Results were utilized to re-deploy the sales force and reconfigure product and service delivery.
Forecasting HDTV Demand
POPULUS has conducted studies to assess consumer acceptance for advanced TV technology for two major US corporations. The work has resulted in the introduction of wide-screen consumer televisions, and demand forecasts that have been incorporated into the FCC's rule-making for HDTV standards.
Customer Retention: HBO
Home Box Office, a division of Time Warner Inc., asked POPULUS to work with it to develop audience segmentation and communications to address the company's serious problem of "churn"--almost 50% of its subscribers discontinue each year. While the programs developed by POPULUS are proprietary, they have revolutionized the way the company views its business and manages its communications.
Home Box Office
POPULUS began working for HBO in 1988. Our first project was an assessment of the demand for high definition television; this was difficult to do ten years before HDTV was introduced into the United States. POPULUS' pioneering work applied conjoint measurement to both psychometric perceptual discrimination as well as the emotional rewards offered by HDTV. Our report became part of the FCC's public rule making which eventually led to the standards for HDTV. Other projects for HBO involved assessment of video on-demand, churn segmentation, program scheduling, multiplexed services, and new product development.
Customer Relations
POPULUS approached Compaq Computer Corporation with the idea of a computerized owner registration system. For two years every new Compaq computer was shipped with a POPULUS MAXTM questionnaire diskette. As a result, owner registrations were filed at double the previous rate, more than 20 times as much data was available on the company's customers, and the entire cost of data entry was eliminated.
Public Policy Research
Public Policy Research: Terrorism
For the Vice President's Task Force on Terrorism (1986), POPULUS conducted a series of focus group interviews dealing with the public's understanding of international terrorism. Results from the research were presented to department heads of all government agencies involved in setting administration policy.
Strategic Planning for Government Services
In implementing a federal National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) planning grant, the State of Idaho asked POPULUS to assess manufacturers' needs for technological assistance and to prepare a strategic plan for providing this assistance. POPULUS' research and strategic plan were key elements of Idaho's application for a NIST implementation grant.
Stakeholder Research
A federal government agency seeking to act on the Clinton Administration's charge to "reinvent government" was required by Congress to assess the impact the agency's proposed reorganization might have on partner agencies and other key stakeholders including Bonneville Power. POPULUS conducted individual depth interviews with federal and state officials, advocacy group leaders, and leaders of several Indian tribes.
Environmental Practices
U.S. farmers and ranchers are under fire from environmental activists who claim that agricultural practices are severely damaging the environment. For one commodity group, POPULUS conducted a nationwide survey of producers to determine what their production practices were and what measures they were taking to preserve the environment. The results showed that the client had a positive story to tell. The client has instituted a communications program to get that story out.
Economic Development Planning
Idaho's Department of Commerce employed POPULUS to develop the state's five-year economic development agenda. The process by which POPULUS developed the plan-conducting discussion groups throughout the state and a survey of business, community and government leaders-resulted in widespread support for and rave reviews of the plan.
Teenager Sexual Attitudes Research
A state Department of Health committee needed to assess the effectiveness of its public service advertising campaign that encouraged teenagers to abstain from sexual activity. Given the sensitive nature of the interview subject and the need for parental consent, POPULUS devised a recruiting method that resulted in teenagers using the Internet to complete the questionnaire. POPULUS collaborated with key stakeholders that included the state Department of Health, a governor-appointed committee, several school districts, and an advertising agency to complete this project. Results and recommendations for additional advertising messages were presented to key stakeholders.
Community Assessment of Public Schools
POPULUS developed a way for school districts with more volunteers than money to conduct their own surveys among school patrons. POPULUS works with the district to design the questionnaire, programs the questionnaire for computer administration, and once the interviews have been completed, tabulates the results. The schools provide the computers and interviewers.
County Development Survey
County Commissioners needed to assess the viewpoints and awareness of county residents on a broad spectrum of issues pertaining to county development and management. POPULUS designed a questionnaire that enabled the Commissioners to assess county opinions on the sensitive subject of development, as well as to segment the county population into strategic groupings for communications.
Conjoint Analysis
Internet Adaptive Conjoint Research: Employee Retention
POPULUS, working with Sawtooth Software®, pioneered the implementation of web-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis research methodology for two employee retention studies conducted by an international corporate consulting firm. The web-based instrument included customized web pages and skip patterns for more than 100 different companies with employees around the world. Customized e-mail respondent recruitment notices included unique passwords to control data collection.
Home Box Office
POPULUS began working for HBO in 1988. Our first project was an assessment of the demand for high definition television; this was difficult to do ten years before HDTV was introduced into the United States. POPULUS' pioneering work applied conjoint measurement to both psychometric perceptual discrimination as well as the emotional rewards offered by HDTV. Our report became part of the FCC's public rule making which eventually led to the standards for HDTV. Other projects for HBO involved assessment of video on-demand, churn segmentation, program scheduling, multiplexed services, and new product development.
Food Packaging Reconfiguration
A leading national food and beverage producer wanted to determine consumer preferences and demand for a packaging reconfiguration (price, size, and package type) of one of its most popular products. The client also wanted to determine which pairing of reconfigured packaging options would generate the greatest customer appeal. POPULUS designed a research instrument that used five different price scales based on local market conditions and seven different package configurations (size and package type) that enabled the client to see which configuration captured optimal consumer purchase interest.
Optimizing Communications Technology
A multi-national corporation wished to standardize the technical platform for its next product generation. POPULUS working with a team of engineers from Europe, Asia, and the Americas developed a conjoint and discrete choice questionnaire that was fielded with product users in 12 countries (developed and less-developed). One of the major accomplishments of this project was POPULUS' ability to lead a diverse group of engineers to consensus on the research design and the creation and programming of the questionnaire in a three-day intense meeting.
Laddering
Employee Motivations
One of the largest U.S. industrial corporations engaged POPULUS to conduct two-hour in-depth interviews with workers employed throughout the eastern half of the country. Using the "laddering" technique, we developed a model of the employees' motivational structure; the research was instrumental in refocusing internal corporate communications.
Corporate Communications
To re-establish public trust and credibility, a major chemical corporation employed POPULUS to identify the attitudes, beliefs, and personal values that drove the perceptions of the corporation. By conducting many in-depth or "laddering" interviews in the U.S. and in Canada among customers, government officials, media representatives, and advocacy group representatives, POPULUS enabled the client to see several "communication pathways" that could be used to enhance its corporate standing.
Presidential Campaign Advertising
The Reagan-Bush 1984 Presidential campaign needed to reverse the trend that was chipping away at the Republican ticket's lead after the Democratic convention. By conducting laddering interviews in two crucial battleground states (Texas and Illinois), POPULUS was able to identify critical driving forces and leverage points that guided the campaign's advertising and communication strategy.
Data Collection
Data Collection: "Technography" in Action
A manufacturer of premium lawn and garden equipment sought a different approach from traditional focused group interviews to assess customers' needs and elicit suggestions for improving its lawn tractors. Patterned on ethnography, the discipline of understanding consumer behavior by observing it, POPULUS conducted "technography:" observing product use from a design and engineering point of view. POPULUS, accompanied by the client's key engineers, conducted two-hour personal interviews at customers' homes. Part of the interview was conducted as respondents mowed their lawns, which required the interviewer, engineers, and respondents all to be equipped with and communicate by two-way radio. This portion of the interview was also simultaneously video- and audio-taped so that the rest of the engineering staff could observe respondents' difficulties and hear their comments as they used the equipment.
Ballot Box & White House Communications
During the Reagan administration, the White House communications staff wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of the public's reaction to every element-verbal and non-verbal-of all major presidential addresses. POPULUS developed Ballot Box™, a technology that measures audience reaction on an immediate, unfiltered, moment-to-moment basis. Twelve hours after President Reagan delivered a major policy speech, POPULUS provided top White House staff and key consultants with videotape, graphics, and statistical analyses of the public's response to the President's message.
Internet Adaptive Conjoint Research
POPULUS, working with Sawtooth Software®, pioneered the implementation of web-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis research methodology for two employee retention studies conducted by an international corporate consulting firm. The web-based instrument included customized web pages and skip patterns for more than 100 different companies with employees around the world. Customized e-mail respondent recruitment notices included unique passwords to control data collection.
Rapid Internet-based Research
An international sports league needed to assess global interest in attending a nine-team tournament in three different locations around the world. Since time was of the essence, POPULUS was contracted to design and set up survey instruments on the Internet. Within ten days of final design approval, the client had received 2,500 responses from 150 countries.