systematic sampling procedures across respondents

JOURNAL OF AAARKETING RESEARCH, AUGUST 1988
systematic sampling procedures across respondents,
communication vehicles, and messages within vehicles.
This practice is all too rare in most communication research.
The general question addressed by the study—to what
extent do readers comprehend (or miscomprehend) what
they read in the mass media?—is answered in Chapter
4. Jacoby and Hoyer report that from 16 to 25% of the
meanings tested were miscomprehended (the subjects gave
incorrect answers to a true/false question). Interestingly,
the average level of miscomprehension is lower (19%)
for advertising than for editorial content (23%). The authors also report the relationships between miscomprehension and a number of demographic and messagestructure variables. The conclusion is that most of these
variables are "either negligibly related or unrelated to the
comprehension or miscomprehension of magazine communications" (p. 131).
In their concluding chap>ter Jacoby and Hoyer state that
their findings are the best currently available empirical
estimate of con^rehension and miscomprehension of print
(magazine) mass media content. Clearly they are correct
in that statement. However, as an advertising and marketing researcher, I found myself wishing for something
more.
Specifically, three things would make this book much
more useful. First, the authors could include at least some
examples of the advertisements and their test items used
in the study. Appendix I provides severjil editorial communications with their test items, which are extremely
useful for evaluating the operationalization of miscomprehension. I understand that advertisers would not readily
give permission to reproduce one of their ads with data
showing a high level of miscomp)rehension, but even some
examples of ads that successfully communicate their
message would make the book much more valuable.
Perhaps even more important would be the inclusion
of data from the open-ended responses to the question,
"What was the main message of the ad you just read?"
These data were gathered before the true/false test used
as a measure of comprehension/miscomprehension.
Testing readers on preselected items will reveal their understanding of those items but, particularly with advertising, the "gist" of the message as a whole may not be
reflected in those items. The overall impression or image
of a product is of critical importance to an advertiser. In
the real world of partial exposure, low involvement, and
less than perfect processing, this single holistic impression may be the only thing readers take away from their
encounter with a message. Therefore, readers' reports of
the main point of a message are vital to an understanding
of what occurs in a nonlaboratory setting. In addition, a
comparison of the open-ended responses to the test questions measuring comprehension/miscomprehension would
give researchers even more insight into the process of
communicating meaning.
Finally, it would be very useful to have the authors
use their own data to offer some generalizations about
how to avoid or minimize miscomptrehension. Jacoby and
Hoyer present four findings, summarized from reading
comprehension studies (Carpenter and Just 1977), without any indication of whether these results are consistent
with their own data.
The reader is left with an appreciation for the detailed
description of the conceptual issues and the methods used
to study comprehension/miscomprehension, but also with
a longing for nore information about the rich, open-ended
data that were collected. Without this information and
without any examples of advertising messages, the usefulness of the book for advertising and marketing researchers and practitioners is limited.
MARIAN FRIESTAD
University of Oregon
.,
REFERENCE
Carpeter, P. A. and M. A. Just (1977), "Integrative Processes
in Comprehension," in Basic Process in Reading: Perception arui Comprehension, D. Laberge and S. J. Samuels,
eds. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, F^iblishers, 217-41.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SAWTOOTH SOFTWARE
CONFERENCE ON PERCEPTUAL MAPPING,
CONJOINT ANALYSIS, AND COMPUTER INTERVIEWING. Ketchum, ID: Sawtooth Software,
Inc., 1987, $60.00, 334 pages
These proceedings are transcripts of talks given at the
fu^t Sawtooth Software annual conference. As suggested by the title, the conference was on perceptual
mapping, conjoint analysis, and computer interviewing—three areas in which Sawtooth offers PC-based
software: APM (2), ACA (1), and Ci2 (3). The three
sections of the proceedings are similar in format; first a
"theoretical" pap)er presented by an academician, second
a brief paper on the Sawtooth software, and finally several papjers by "practitioners" on the application and
interpretation of results of the technique. A review of
each of the major sections follows.
The first section of the proceedings consists of papers
on computer-assisted interviewing. Lawrence Dandurand. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, discusses historical and future perspectives of computer-assisted interviewing in one paper and, in a second p^)er, the use
of CAI in the classroom. (Though not cited by Dandurand, one of the first, if not the first, CATI system for
marketing research was developed jointly by AT&T,
Chilton Research Services, and IBM in 1970 for use in
tracking studies of telephone subscribers. An updated
version of this mainframe system remains available today from Chilton for use by any of its clients.) Arthur
Saltzman of Califomia State University, San Bemardino, discusses the implementation of a multiuser license
of Ci2 on his campus; potential university purchasers of
Ci2 should be interested in his comments. Other papers
in this section pertain to collecting data (1) by using long,
self-administered questionnaires, (2) for political poll-
NEW BOOKS IN REVIEW
ing, (3) from children, (4) from difficult to interview
respondents, and (S) by using laptop computers. In these
papers, practitioners with years of experience and much
trial and error discuss the pitfalls and problems of using
CAI and offer suggestions for its smooth implementation.
The conceptual paper on perceptual mapping, the second section of the proceedings, is by Allan Shocker,
University of Washington. It is very comprehensive and
includes a history of mapping, a detailed discussion of
various models used in mapping studies, and how to interpret the results from each of the different algorithms.
Shocker expresses some concem that the ease of using
the "user friendly" software being developed could lead
to misuse by those analysts who "haven't done their
homework." Though this concem is shared by many researchers, software developers continue to make more
algorithms available and easier to use. Richard Johnson
next discusses adaptive perceptual mapiping (APM), which
he developed for Sawtooth. This system is based on discriminant analysis of attribute data, an approach he first
discussed in JMR in 1971. Most of the paper is devoted
to illustrating how one could use this software for mapping studies. The remaining papers in this section discuss the selling of perceptual mapping projects, the
design of such a study, and finally the analysis, interpretation, and presentation of results. Each of these papers is written by a representative of a company with
extensive experience with these projects. Many examples are used and anecdotes presented.
The final section on conjoint analysis closely parallels
the previous section on mapping. The conceptual paper
is by Joel Huber, Duke University. He traces the history
of conjoint measurement from the province of the psychometricians to conjoint analysis, the current "gleam in
the eye" of many marketing researchers. This well-written topical review includes a forecast of developments
to come. Richard Johnson's paper in this section is a
summary of the steps used in adaptive conjoint analysis
(ACA) to calculate individual utilities and finally simulate share of choice. The presentation is nontechnical
and easy to follow. (Readers interested in more detail of
the inner workings of ACA and APM can write to Sawtooth Software for copies of technical papers on these
procedures written by Johnson.) The fmal p)apers in these
proceedings are on the selling of conjoint analysis projects, the design of the project, and finally the analysis,
interpretation, and presentation of the results. These papers show the importance of graphics in communicating
findings from these projects (as is also true for APM).
Though the "pure" academic researcher may not find
"new" models/algorithms in these papers, if he or she
is interested in what is being done by persons who have
to meet a payroll, these proceedings are excellent. Much
of what is presented can be brought into the classroom
as examples of problems/guidelines in the applications
of these techniques. Representatives of many of the major marketing research firms attended the conference. The
next best thing to sitting down and trading "war stories"
321
with these people is to read about their experiences in
the proceedings.
FRANK CARMONE
Drexel University
REFERENCES
Carmone, Frank J. (1987), "Review: ACA System for Adaptive Conjoint Analysis," Joumal of Marketing Research, 24
(August), 325-7.
Huber, Joel (1988), "Review: APM System for Adaptive Perceptual Mapping," Journal of Marketing Research, 25 (Febrtiary), 119-21.
Smith, Scon M. (1986), "Review: Ci2 System," Joumal of
Marketing Research. 23 (February), 83.
HIGH VISIBILITY, Irving J. Rein, Philip Kotler, and
Martin R. Stoller. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1987, 366 pages
We live in a celebrity culture. Today, certain entertainers, athletes, politicians, business people, and others
have developed a visibility that has transformed them
into household names. In many instances, their visibility
to the American public is no accident. This volume is
about the mechanism that makes and sustains such celebrity individuals. It could very accurately be subtitled,
"The Marketing of Celebrities."
The work is grounded in several fundamental premises. One is that the number of celebrities in our culture
is increasing, thereby making them more influential in
their dominance of the media. A second premise is that
the high visibility of these celebrities is correlated with
significant financial rewards. The third and most important premise is the so-called pygmalion principle, which
states that people can be manufactured and marketed as
celebrities in virtually any field. In other words, the high
visibility of certain celebrity persons is premeditated and
carefully managed.
Much of this treatise is based on "numerous" (apparently semi structured) interviews with hundreds of celebrities and celebrity makers ranging from entertainer Pia
Zadora and producer/director Garry Marshall (Happy
Days) to publisher Christi Hefner (Playboy) and Senator
Bill Bradley (D., NJ). One outcome of this celebrity "chit
chat," when combined with some painstaking secondary
research, is that sprinkled throughout this book are more
celebrity snippets than one might find in a six-month
subscription to People.
The first part of this work describes the industry that
is part of the celebrity culture. Talked about here is the
entire celebrity support structure including the roles of
publicist, agent, coach, and other members of a high visibility person's entourage. Knowingly or unwittingly, most
of these individuals are engaged in marketing.
The second and more substantial part of this volume
addresses the strategy aspects of celebrity marketing. Included here are chapters on the techniques of transformation (essentially a primer on the development of high
celebrity individuals), a chapter on delivery systems dis-