vfaat characteristics she attributes to it, 

 vhat associations the product evokes. 

 Therefore, each respondent vas asked 

 whether she agreed or disagreed with a 

 series of stateanents, each representing a 

 characteristic of s«Qjnion, for example: 

 "saLnon has a good flavor." 



The motivational technique used 

 in this phase of the analysis is 

 known as the "guided association 

 question." Althou^ the respond- 

 ent is asked only whether or not 

 she agrees or disagrees with the 

 statement, the interviewer actual- 

 ly records the intensity of the 

 answer. Thus, strong agreement 

 or disagreement (as well as less 

 intensely expressed feelings or 

 opinions) is noted by the inter- 

 viewer. In addition, the state- 

 ments on the questionnaire were 

 scmetimes phrased positively and 

 sometimes negatively — as for 

 example: "Salmon has an un- 

 pleasant smell." This was done 

 in order to minimize irtiat is 

 called a "halo" or clustering 

 effect whereby a favorable atti- 

 tude toward a product tends to 

 make respondents attribute eLLl 

 favorable characteristics to the 

 product. The skill and training 

 of the interviewer are as impor- 

 tant to the proper handling of 

 guided association questions as 

 these requirements are when deal- 

 ing with open questions and the 

 probing technique. 



Birmingham and Boston hcmemakers have 

 a somewhat different image of canned 

 salmon, according to the analysis of the 

 data obtained in the product image phase 

 of the study. It should be recalled that 

 Birmingham is pirlmarlly a plnk-saJmon mar- 

 ket and Boston, a red-salmon market. 

 Detroit, a mixed market for the two salmon 

 colors, ravaals an image of salmon which 

 is intermediate between the two extremes. 



More than 8^ percent of the homemakers 

 in Biimin^^iam suad Detroit consider that 

 canned salmon is a convenient foodjis not ten 

 troublesome to prepare; is not hard to make 

 look good; and is a food of hij^ quality. 

 As many as three -fourths of the homemakers 

 in these cities are of the opinion that 



8 



salmon has a good flavor, is not 

 undesirably oily, and has a nice appearance 

 in the can. 



In Boston, on the other hand, the 

 proportion of hcmemakers who agree that 

 salmon Is a convenient food is only 6l 

 percent, compared with 89 percent in 

 Birmingham and 90 percent in Detroit. 

 Fewer of the Boston homemakers (by at 

 least 10 percentage points) attribute 

 the characteristics of quality, appear- 

 ance, and ease of preparation to salmon 

 than is the case in Birmingham or Detroit. 

 In addition, as many as 77 percent of the 

 Boston homemakers consider salmon not to 

 be a food for poor people, compared with 

 ^8 percent In Birmingham and 62 percent 

 in Detroit. Exactly the same proportion 

 (77 percent) feel that canned salmon is 

 only good if it is a well-known brand, 

 compared with 62 percent in Birmingham 

 and 70 percent in Detroit. About 5 cjut 

 of 8 of the homemakers in Boston and 

 Detroit consider canned salmon to be 

 expensive; only k^ percent of the 

 Bimlngham homemakers hold similar 

 opinions . 



Rather wide differences of opinion 

 occur among the three cities for the items 

 "leaves a bad odor in the refrigerator," 

 "has a nice ajipearance in the can," "has 

 many uses, " "Is not eaten mainly by manual 

 laborers," and "is used a great deaO. by 

 Negroes." 



Measuring the 

 Motivational Difference 



The aim of motivational analysis is to 

 determine the characteristics ^rtilch have 

 the greatest influence on the behavior of 

 the respondent. Tbe approach used in this 

 study to measure the strength of a motive 

 was first to determine the ratio of heavy 

 users among those who agree with the state- 

 ment and compare it with the ratio of 

 heavy users among those who do not agree 

 with it. The difference between these 

 ratios, which will be called the motiva- 

 tional difference. Indicates iriiether 

 agreeing with the statement has Influence 

 and measures the extent of the motivational 

 strength of the stataaent. The greater the 

 difference between the ratios, the stronger 

 the influence of the specific statement. 

 The selection of heavy user groups is 



