Scuba Diving Survey Results

[RJP]

It appears that many wrestled with the questions on experience vs. adventure, both at the time of taking the survey, and now, with presentation of the results. I did not find these questions particularly difficult and simply answered them quickly based on my own definitions and beliefs. The variation in peoples definitions and beliefs may make analyzing these questions somewhat difficult, but it will also be part of the fun.

Yup. But you need to think about it this way. We're looking at the type of research that underlies DEVELOPMENT of marketing communications. This is how this sort of thing is done.

Consider this: Companies like Nike and Coke and McDonalds all do something just like this to come up with their campaigns. They test different words against each other. They looked at different meanings, etc. And I'm sure many of the people who participated in that research were confused. But they were confused by themselves for about two minutes and went on with their lives. They didn't have the opportunity to discuss and debate the survey or the results with all the other people who tool the survey, they didn't get to ask the guy who designed the survey what he meant, and they never saw the survey results.

What people did see was the campaign that rolled out.

And when the campaign rolled out no one said "I'm confused... What do they mean by 'just' here? Are they saying I should "only do this one activity and then quit?' Do they mean that I should only 'do it' but not think about it before or after? And what do they mean by 'it' anyway? I'm so confused!!!

No. The people who saw the campaign simply went out and laid down some of their hard-earned money for sneakers... served with a side-order of self esteem. (Though, in truth they bought self-esteem with a side order of sneakers... but I've said too much already.)

 

[tplyons]

Ray, good to see real marketing research first hand again… haven't seen that professionally since the agencies filter all that out before it gets to us!

There's a lot of great data in here… I'm glad you did this!

 

[SeaHorse81]

They test different words against each other. They looked at different meanings, etc. And I'm sure many of the people who participated in that research were confused. But they were confused by themselves for about two minutes and went on with their lives. They didn't have the opportunity to discuss and debate the survey or the results with all the other people who tool the survey, they didn't get to ask the guy who designed the survey what he meant, and they never saw the survey results.

I was suspecting it was something like this. So in the adventure vs. experience issue, it doesn't matter that each individual will define those terms in their own way which may or may not ever be known to the marketer. What the survey potentially shows is which concepts are most likely to make contact with the individual in a way that inspires interest in action (buying product, etc.). Figure out the language or concept that resonates in the desired fashion and you make sales.

Am I close?

 

[chillyinCanada]

I don't understand why some people are making such a negative to do about the survey or the results. I found it all an adventure that I was glad to experience. Can't wait to get sold a trip or some gear.

Thanks for sharing RJP. I've enjoyed your responses! !

 

[RJP]

I was suspecting it was something like this. So in the adventure vs. experience issue, it doesn't matter that each individual will define those terms in their own way which may or may not ever be known to the marketer. What the survey potentially shows is which concepts are most likely to make contact with the individual in a way that inspires interest in action (buying product, etc.). Figure out the language or concept that resonates in the desired fashion and you make sales.

Am I close?

Pretty close. The general idea, that you've touched on, is even simpler... "You don't define the words in the ad... so you don't define the words in the survey."

In fact, if there is confusion about a word or phrase... That's a FINDING of the market research rather than a flaw. You want to find that out when running your $100,000 market research project. Not when running your $20,000,000 ad campaign.

 

[Diver0001]

Ultimately I would say the survey was conducted among "active divers who have a high degree of participation in on-line/social media sites related to discussions of scuba diving."

I'd say that's a fair characterization. Thanks. I think business sponsors (and maybe Scubaboard itself) could benefit from analyzing these results. I don't know if it's your intention to profit from the results but I believe it's good enough quality that Business Sponsors could have been willing to pay for these insights if you hadn't posted for free

Good work!

R..

 

[RJP]

I'd say that's a fair characterization. Thanks. I think business sponsors (and maybe Scubaboard itself) could benefit from analyzing these results. I don't know if it's your intention to profit from the results but I believe it's good enough quality that Business Sponsors could have been willing to pay for these insights if you hadn't posted for free

Good work!

R..

Do note that I posted results... not insights.

:d

That said, I'd be happy to custom design a survey to meet the needs of SB and it's sponsors. You guys know where to reach me...

PS - I have no intention of profiting from this survey in any particular way. It would have been unethical for someone in my position to field a survey like this with that intention. Was truly just "general interest" and also why I shared all the results. Anyone in the industry is free to see the same things I saw in the data. The extent to which any one person is able to interpret or conclude anything different than another person... well, that is up to each individual.

 

[tajkd]

p<.0001

I think your suggestion of a null hypothesis is most appropriate. Evidently you were looking for marketing strategies based on text. Give it up. You are unqualified, even in connection with this kind of crude subliminal manipulation. Stick to sales.

---------- Post added February 26th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ----------



And what word(s) might that be? Associated meanings? "Survey"? "Only Virtue"? "Enthusiasm"? implicit extensions? The wishful thinking of fundamentally parochial clowns?

'Experience' underlined and set off in spurious quotes, much like a valley girl's substitution of emphasis and eye-rolling for precise language? You realize this only works for the spoken word.

Perhaps that survey should have been oral. It would have worked better because the subtle differences in key words could have been implied through some sort of mini-street theater.

A suggested company motto: "That is not what I meant at all. That is not what I meant at all"

TS Eliot[/QUOTE]

"No more blah, blah, blah" - James T Kirk

 

[Searcaigh]

it surprises me that many people 'stopped' (no offense) at the AOW or equivalent level.

I disagree that the results imply this, as it is the current qualification of the diver when responding to the questions, some may now be Rescue Divers or DMs.

RJP thanks for posting the results, I had actually forgotten about doing this, and I find the responses rather interesting and I am sure you are going to have more results to show after more analysis.

What probably skews your data is either respondents being mainly US based or some respondents being non-US based and I think that some questions such as

Are you a diver living in a temperate climate Y/N
Majority of dives in Temperate waters Y/N
Majority of dives in Tropical waters Y/N etc

would provide interesting results coupled with the number of dives the respondents do, as I know plenty of people back in Scotland who only dive in cold waters and rarely dive elsewhere, while there are divers on Scotland who never dive there and are only vacation divers in warmer waters and divers from Scotland who do both.

Good luck on the rest of your analysis