The frequency of serving canned 

 sardines in the past k weeks varied some- 

 what among the three cities. The sardine- 

 user households in Birmingham averaged 2.7 

 servings per household compeured to 2.k in 

 both Boston «md Detroit. 



Sardines were eaten by all family 

 members in 62 percent of the sau-dine-user 

 households in Birmingham, 36 percent in 

 Boston, and 55 percent in Detroit. 



Sardine Pack Preference 



Seurdiae users in Boston usually buy 

 sardines packed in olive oil. Sixty- seven 

 percent of the respondents bought the 

 olive-oil pack. Saurdines packed in vege- 

 table oil were bought by only 18 percent; 

 tomato sauce, by 5 percent; sild (herring) 

 oil, by 9 percent; and mustard sauce or 

 natural pack by 1 percent each. 



Sardines packed in vegetable oil are 

 the most popular in both Birmingham and 

 Detroit. Of the ssurdine users in Birming- 

 ham, k6 percent usually bought sardines 

 packed in vegetable oil; 22 percent, olive 

 oil; 16 percent, natural oil; 7 percent 

 tomato sauce; k percent mustard sauce and 

 2 percent sild oil. The percentages for 

 Detroit are as follows: vegetable oil, 57 

 percent; olive oil, 29 percent; natural oil, 

 tomato sauce, and musteird sauce, 5 percent 

 each; and sild oil, k percent. 



Loy6d.ty to the preferred preparation 

 is strongest in Boston tAere 83 percent of 

 the sardine users remain consistent buyers 

 of the same oil or sauce. In Detroit, 69 

 percent of the users adhered to their 

 choice of preparation. The proportion of 

 these users in Birmingham is 52 percent. 

 Most of the users in Birmingham and Detroit 

 who sometimes buy another prepeuration 

 change either to tomato sauce (35 percent 

 and 3I+ percent, respectively) or to mustard 

 sauce (33 percent and 31 percent, respec- 

 tively). Those ^o switched said they did 

 so mainly because they 'like variety." 



^An important technique used in 

 motivational research is the "open 

 question" — one which seeks the why 

 of consumer behavior. Such ques- 

 tions permit the respondent to 

 reply freely and do not restrict 

 his choice of answers to the 



limited categories imposed by 

 the direct or closed type. If 

 the respondent's reply is meeoi- 

 Ingful it gives a reason as to 

 why he thinks or feels the way 

 he does. A response of the 

 type 'Just because I like it" 

 would not be considered ade- 

 quate and it would be the 

 responsibility of the inter- 

 viewer to focus the respond- 

 ent on more specific areas in 

 \rtiich to answer. "Hie focusing 

 process is known as probing; 

 it is not used in Instances 

 Trtiere the initial reply is 

 deemed satisfactory by the 

 specially-trained interviewer. 

 In cases >rtiere probing is used, 

 it must be handled skillfully 

 so as not to bias the respond- 

 ent's answer ._7 



Tbe first open question asked of 

 sardine users sought the reasons for their 

 sardine pack or preparation choices. An 

 analysis of the responses of consumers 

 indicates that there was scane tendency 

 for those who buy sardines packed in olive 

 oil to mention as reasons "better taste, " 

 ■'more digestible," or "better for health. " 

 Other respondents in this category alluded 

 to preferences by husbemds or children for 

 the olive-oil pack. On the other hand, 

 there was a tendency for those who bought 

 sardines prepared in vegetable oil to men- 

 tion "lower price" more often than those 

 who used other sardine packs. 



In all three cities, sardines packed 

 in olive oil were considered to be of the 

 best quality- -by 52 percent in Birmingham, 

 65 percent in Boston, and ^5 percent in 

 Detroit. Soybean oil was considered the 

 highest quality pack by 28 percent of the 

 Detroit users, but was mentioned by only 

 8 percent in Birmingham and 3 percent in 

 Boston. 



Sardine Size Preference 



Respondents were asked two questions 

 about the size of the sardines they pre- 

 ferred. In the first instance, they were 

 asked \Aether they preferred the tmn} } or 

 the large sardines; and in the second, 

 they were asked to specify the approximate 

 length in inches of the sardines they liked 

 to buy. 



