used in this study to measure the strength 

 of a motive was first to determine the 

 ratio of heavy users amonp those who agree 

 with the statement 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 

 motivational difference, indicates whether 

 agreeing with the statement has influence 

 and measures the extent of the motivational 

 strength of the statement. The greater the 

 difference between the ratios, the stronger 

 the influence of the specific statement. 

 The selection of heavy user groups is justi- 

 fied because there is an interest in con- 

 verting not only the never users into 

 regular users but also to transfonn the 

 light users into heavy users of canned tuna. 



The most important characteristics of 

 canned tuna are practically the same in all 

 three cities. Good flavor is first in all 

 three cities and is clearly the most im- 

 portant motive. The motivational differ- 

 ences for the statements "Tuna is not too 

 troublesome to prepare," "Tuna is net hard 

 to make look good," and "Tuna is a conven- 

 ient food," are all high on the list fo" 

 each of the cities indicating that eact- of 

 use is also an important motive among 

 heavy users of canned tuna. Quality is 

 also among the leading motives conmon to 

 all three cities. 



Index of Possible Market Gain 



As a third step, the extent to which 

 a motivating characteristic is already 

 attributed to the product by homemakers 

 must be measured. 2/ Conversely, the pro- 

 portion of homemakers who are to be con- 

 vinced that canned tuna has a specific 

 desirable quality must be established. It 

 is in this group that the potential nt,rket 

 gain is greatest. The result of multi- 

 plying the motivational difference by the 

 potential to be convinced yields an index 

 of the possible market gain. 



2/ There is no need to try to convince 

 ¥hat sector of the public that a product 

 has a certain characteristic when everyone 

 within the sector recognizes that this is 

 the case. 



Observations Based on Computed Indexes 

 of Possible Ilarket Gain 



Only the item "Does not leave a bad 

 odor in the refrigerator" is listed for 

 all three cities. The remaining factors 

 are listed for only one or two of the 

 three cities. 



One or more of the items referring to 

 the idea that tuna is a food for everyone 

 occurs in each of the cities. This theme 

 is manifested in the statement "Not eaten 

 mainly by manual laborers," which appears 

 among the leading Binningham and Detroit 

 indexes] in the statement "Not food for 

 poor people," which has the highest index 

 in Boston; and in the leading index for 

 Detroit, "Not used a great deal by Negroes," 



Taste qualities are important also: 

 "Has a pleasant after taste" appears in 

 both Birmingham and Boston; "Has a good 

 flavor" appears in both Boston and Detroit. 



"Tuna is often eaten by sick people" — 

 implying that tuna is easily digested, is 

 nourishing, etc. — is among the leaders in 

 both BirminghaiT. and Boston. 



"Tuna is not expensive compared to 

 other canned fish" appears in both Birming- 

 ham and 'Detroit. The competition provided 

 hy pink salmon in these areas undoubtedly 

 is a major reason why this factor occurs 

 in the two cities. 



In Birmingham it is advantageous to 

 convince consumers that canned tuna may be 

 used by inexperienced cooks; in Detroit the 

 reverse situation prevails vfith the appeal 

 best directed tov/ard hom.emakers who con- 

 sider them.selves experienced cooks. 



The index referring to canned tuna as 

 a food eaten by people tr^-ing to lose 

 weight is important in Boston onl^j^. 



It is of considerable significance to 

 note that the three characteristics "Tuna 

 is a convenient food", "Tuna is not too 

 troublesome to prepare", and "Tuna is not 

 hard to make look good" are not among 

 the leaders for any of the three cities. 

 These items, all dealing with ease of 

 preparation, had relatively high 



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