THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409140127
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
SEVEN GIRLS between 4 and 8 plopped down into padded armchairs, facing a television set.
They had been invited by Quick Test, a Greenbrier marketing research company, to offer their opinions about candy bars, soft drinks and toys. The company provides information to manufacturers about the way their products are perceived by consumers.
Every 45 minutes throughout the day, small groups of girls participated in 20-minute sessions in which they viewed video presentations about products and then answered questions about what they saw.
``Print your name here,'' said Jeanette Scott, a Quick Test interviewer, pointing to cover of a small booklet each girl had been given. ``If you don't know how, I'll help you.''
``You know what my name is?'' asked Cary Belangia, 5, a lively blonde, who popped out of her chair like a spring. The comment drew a laugh from parents, who were watching the proceedings through a two-way mirror from an adjacent room.
``Look! I did my name,'' Cary chimed in again.
``Put your X right there,'' said Debbie Whittaker, another interviewer, crossing her two index fingers. She walked around the room looking over the girls' shoulders. ``No. Not over the whole page. Right in the box.''
There were no right nor wrong answers. The researchers wanted to know the girls' opinions about the products.
``Mark the candy bar you like best,'' Scott said, referring to pictures on page 4 of the booklet.
``My sister likes this one,'' said Rachel Dempsey, 4.
``She doesn't even have a sister,'' said Rachel's dad from the adjacent room. ``She has quite an imagination.''
``Chose No. 1 or No. 3, or say you're not sure,'' Scott said.
``I like two,'' Rachel said.
At Scott's prompting, the girls turned the page and chose their favorite from among four dolls.
They also chose a soda pop, a game and finally a miniature toy.
After the girls had made their choices, it was time to watch cartoons. The lights went out.
Colorful cartoons were shown on the screen, interrupted occasionally by commercials for various products.
When the lights came on, the girls were given a new booklet and asked to choose their favorite products again.
``That's all we have to do today,'' Scott said.''
``OK, girls, would you like to get some money?'' Whittaker asked.
Seven heads nodded.
Amber Foreman, 6, was all smiles as she rejoined her mother. She had specific plans for her $10. ``I'm gonna buy Red Lobster tonight,'' she said.
``The girls are happy as anything and want to run right over to a toy store to spend their $10,'' said Jerry Kennedy, the manager of Quick Test, which is owned by an Atlanta, Ga., firm called Equifax.
Quick Test employees had to make about 400 telephone calls to locate 38 girls who were willing to participate in the survey. The calls are made from an L-shaped room equipped with 15 telephones in the company's office at 816 Greenbrier Circle. The company has six full-time employees and 10-20 part-timers.
``We have about 7,200 people on our list who know who we are and what we do,'' said Kennedy, the manager at Quick Test. ``We have demographic lists within the Tidewater area.''
``People don't know about research,'' he said. ``When we call, people think we're trying to sell something, so they don't want to talk. It's getting harder and harder to do phone surveys.''
Quick Test has run tests on products as diverse as hormone therapy, denture adhesive and fish sticks.
``We had to recruit ladies within a certain age range who are on some type of hormone therapy,'' said Charlie O'Toole, the company's phone room supervisor. ``We interviewed them concerning what they felt was a convenient way to take the medicine. Daily doses of the hormone therapy were packaged in different ways. The respondents gave their opinions as to which would be the most convenient packaging.''
Once, when a test called for denture wearers, the company's workers had to call people between 50 and 75 and ask a rather personal question, ``Do you wear dentures?''
``We did a test on laxatives one time,'' Kennedy recalled. ``That was hard. But the people knew who we were, and they knew it was a research project. So they responded positively.''
The company has run taste-tests for products such as cereals, dog food, fried chicken, barbecue sauce and stove-top stuffing. Last year, 300 people took part in a fried chicken taste test, and in March, 240 people participated in a test of sausage biscuits.
Recently, Quick Test did a research project for Bonney and Associates to see what people think about Nauticus, the new maritime museum in Norfolk.
In addition to individual interviews, Quick Test uses group interviews to gather data on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Volunteers may be asked to participate in focus groups of about 10 people, which discuss a specific topic under the leadership of a moderator.
``The topic could be anything from a TV program to women's hygiene, grocery shopping to financial services,'' Kennedy said. MEMO: If you would like to participate in a Quick Test research project, call
523-2505. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Jeanette Scott, standing, gives instructions to girls participating
in a product survey for Quick Test, a Greenbrier marketing research
company.
by CNB