Nielsen Company Research Articles

Who Participates in Household Scanning Panels?

We compare two widely used household scanning panels maintained by the Nielsen Company and Information Resources Inc. to a random sample of the U.S. population. Results indicate that the demographic characteristics of the random sample more closely match the Census Bureau data than the household scanning panels. We also show that after controlling for demographic differences, participants in the household scanning panels are slightly more price sensitive than participants in the random sample. The two household scanning panels yield similar results in relation to one another, which suggests that the household scanning panels may suffer from sample selection and participation biases.

Population Migration and Team Loyalty in Professional Sports*

Within the long line of inquiry on demand for sport, one area that has gone relatively unexamined is that of domestic migration. In this research, the relationship between population migration and team loyalty is explored. A linear mixed model uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Nielsen Company to analyze the effect domestic migration has on demand for National Football League games. Ratings were higher in population centers with smaller per-capita population inflow (regardless of the origins of the inflow). The results further showed that increases in population flow from City A to City B were associated with increased demand for broadcasts in City B when Team B visited City A. The first finding suggests that sports viewership is not utilized as a vehicle for domestic transplants to integrate into their new community. The second finding suggests there is a nostalgia effect for an individual's previous hometown, though not necessarily for the team representing it in the league.

U.S. Television Product Placements Declined by 15% in the First Half of 2008

Product placements are an important component of the promotional media mix. This article reports recent results by The Nielsen Company in terms of broadcast and cable television placements during the first six months of 2008.

Habit persistence in time series models of discrete choice

We provide a framework for modelling habit persistence in choice that integrates vector auto-regressive and moving-average (VARMA) time-series models with random coefficient Multinomial Probit (MNP) models. We provide two classes of models. In the first we assume that the error in the utility function has a general VARMA structure, and in the second we assume that structure for the regression coefficients. We provide an interpretation of these two classes of models. As an illustration, we re-analyse the A.C. Nielsen Company 1986/1987 scanner panel data on ketchup purchases and compare our model with two alternative state dependence models.

Hong Kong 1997 in Context

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and became the first Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). We report the results of three field experiments conducted in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan (N = 1,250) from June to August 1997 that examine attitudes toward the impact of Hong Kong's transition as a function of question order and framing. We invoke two aspects of attitudes-(1) whether they are stored in a memory network, and (2) whether their validity is important to the respondent-to predict when order and framing effects are most likely to occur. Experiment 1 examines part-part order effects and reveals attitude polarization such that positive attitudes regarding the effect of the transition on the future of Hong Kong (China) become more extreme if they are elicited after similar responses regarding a related entity, China (Hong Kong). Experiment 2 focuses on part-whole order effects and finds evidence of carryover effects from responses to specific questions on subsequently posed general questions. Experiment 3 examines the effect of framing the transition issue as a reunification, handover, or on attitudes toward the effect of Hong Kong's transition on Macau and Taiwan. The negative takeover frame elicits less favorable responses when respondents are motivated to hold attitudes perceived as valid (i.e., for attitudes toward one's own country) but not otherwise. We conclude by suggesting that reliance on survey data in making policy decisions could result in the implementation of decisions that are, objectively speaking, unpopular when the survey instrument evokes response biases. Order of authorship is reverse alphabetical and reflects equal contribution by both authors. Please address correspondence to Priya Raghubir at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900. Telephone: 510643-1899; Fax: 510-643-1420; E-mail: raghubir@haas.berkeley.edu. At the time this research was carried out, the first author was at, and the second author was visiting, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The project was funded by Research Grants Commission grant HKUST609/96H, awarded to the first author. The authors thank Iris Chow, Allen Zhang, and particularly Alice Ju for assistance in translation. We also thank Pei Lin Chia and, particularly, Peter Steyn of the Survey Research Group, Hong Kong (an A.C. Nielsen company) for

Joint Estimates of Purchase Timing and Brand Switch Tendency: Results from a Scanner Panel Data Set of Frequently Purchased Products

Our purpose in this paper is to measure the correlation between the purchase timing and brand switching behaviour of households. We want to study (i) whether households switch brands more often for the products they purchase more frequently, and (ii) to identify the demographic variables that influence purchase timing and the marketing variables that influence the brand switching. These research issues are important to brand managers who want to encourage purchase acceleration and loyalty to particular brands. Managers can use our model for identifying market segments that buy more often but switch less often, the heavy users of a brand, or segments with growth potential. Our data are from the scanner panel purchase data collected in two cities by the A.C. Nielsen Company over a period of approximately one year. We aggregate the purchases to weekly units and select two categories. We test our model and find that while for purchases of diapers there is no evidence of a significant correlation between purchase timing and brand switching, for ketchup purchases, there is a significant positive relationship.

“Debranding”: A Product Strategy With Profit Potential

The growing consumer demand for, and acceptance of, so‐called no‐name brands of a variety of food, as well as nonfood, products—from cooking oil to cotton swabs, tomato juice to toilet tissue, brownie mix to beauty aids, and liquor to laundry detergent—is a significant development in retailing. No‐name brands have captured about 2 percent of the total grocery sales in the United States in just three years . According to a recent report prepared by A.C. Nielsen Company, no‐name brand shares in the top fifty product categories in which they are strongest range from 4 to 10 percent of the category sales volumes; this is in spite of the fact that no‐name brands have not yet achieved the broad levels of retail distribution enjoyed by branded products . In fact, the share of no‐name brands is as high as 16 percent in certain product categories based on the sales volumes of only those retail outlets that carry them. Contrary to industry expectations, the growth of no‐name brands appears to be a persistent market phenomenon rather than a passing fad. Indeed, retail chains such as Ralph's on the west coast and Jewel in the midwest now have “generic” aisles in their stores.

The Effect of Price on Coupon Redemption: A Case Study of Florida Orange Juice Industry Coupon Programs

The distribution of coupons offering customers a reduction in the regular purchase price has become an important element of the marketing strategy for many consumer package goods and services. The distribution of manufacturers' cents-off coupons has increased from an estimated 35.7 billion coupons in 1975, to 90.6 billion coupons in 1980, representing an increase of more than 150 percent. In addition, there has been an upward trend in percent of households using coupons, from 65 percent in 1975, to 76 percent in 1980. More than 95 percent of the coupon users bought food items with them in 1980 (A. C. Nielsen Company).

Why Concept and Product Tests Fail to Predict New Product Results

Concept tests and product tests do not work. Take a look at their history. Most marketers are aware of thehigh failure rate of new consumer products. Yet the A.C. Nielsen Company, in a study of the introduction of many new products, concluded that for products that survived the first eight months, test markets were a good predictor (correct 75%) of national introductory results.' So when do all of these failures happen? Obviously, they occur at the test market stage. Thus, the track record of pre-test-market screening is poor. And what are the techniques generally used for this screening?--concept testing and product testing. Researchers often try to defend their pretests by saying that when the product was actually introduced it was different from the concept, or that the price was slightly higher or the package changed. This is a copout. If it were true that products when they finally reached the marketplace were always so different from what researchers tested, management would be well advised to conduct no pretesting at all. While radical changes are sometimes made between the diagnostic research stage and test market, this excuse cannot explain away the host of research failures when this condition did not exist. It is time we faced facts in the case of new product screening. The report card shows that more often than not researchers fail to be correct in predicting new product results. What is responsible for this failure? The following discussion examines the reasons for new product failures and the importance of sales forecasting at the pretest stage in this regard. We will also take a look at the debate over whether diagnosis or prediction should be the primary objectives of premarket testing. The question then arises: Why do products succeed? Finally, attention is given to how and why concept and product tests have failed to predict new product sales results and what marketers must do to resolve this very basic problem.

The Consumer Speaks

Is Mrs. Consumer a satisfied grocery store customer? Can she get the specific brands, sizes, and colors she wants? What does she do when the brand, size, or color is out of stock—does she accept a substitute, or defer purchase until the next shopping trip? This article—based on a survey by the A. C. Nielsen Company, the results of which were presented at the 1962 annual meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers of America—discusses the potential loss of business to manufacturers and retail stores brought about by out-of-stock at the store level.

Do's and Don't's in Selling Abroad

Marketing men who sell abroad, or who are contemplating it, will acquire a fresh viewpoint from this 15-point discussion of marketing hazards in foreign countries. The President of the A. C. Nielsen Company discusses some of the dangers in foreign marketing that discourage the uninitiated, harass the misinformed, and gall the ill advised. But with his warnings are suggestions for positive action to avoid the hazards.

DO'S and DON'T'S in Selling Abroad

Marketing men who sell abroad, or who are contemplating it, will acquire a fresh viewpoint from this 15-point discussion of marketing hazards in foreign countries. The President of the A. C. Nielsen Company discusses some of the dangers in foreign marketing that discourage the uninitiated, harass the misinformed, and gall the ill advised. But with his warnings are suggestions for positive action to avoid the hazards.

Merchandising Non-Food Items through Super Markets

DURING the past few years the supermarket industry has had a rapid growth in the merchandising of non-food lines. Supermarket operators have discovered that their customers welcome the opportunity to purchase such items as housewares, health and beauty aids, pet supplies, stationery, and a few men's and women's wear items. Rising overhead costs have induced supermarket operators to handle non-food products on which they may realize a gross profit of from 25 to 40 per cent as contrasted with the usual gross profit on food items ranging from 17 per cent down to sometimes, on some items as low as 6 or 7 per cent. An indication of the importance placed on non-food products was revealed by a survey conducted by Supermarket News. When supermarket owners and chain executives were asked, Are Non-Food Lines Becoming More or Less Important to Supermarkets?, 97 per cent replied that they are becoming more important. Additionally, more than nine out of ten firms reported that they planned to increase their stores' emphasis on non-foods during 1953.1 Evidence of the growth of non-foods in supermarkets was revealed by a recent study conducted by the A. C. Nielsen Company. This study showed that during the first half of 1953, food stores accounted for 43 per cent of the combined volume of 15 drug and toiletry groups, including dentifrices, shampoos, headache remedies, laxatives, hair tonics, etc.