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METHODOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 2007 CONSUMERS' CHOICE AWARD - ATLANTA
OBJECTIVES:
The purpose of this study is to select Best in Class Businesses in the
Atlanta metropolitan area, as measured by consumer opinion. Consumers
consist of two groups: 1) General Public and 2) Senior Managers in Small
and Medium Businesses (i.e., organizations with less than 250 employees).
METHODOLOGY:
Web surveys were conducted with two groups of Atlanta area
consumers-General Public (2332) and Business Managers (631).
The sampling frame for this survey was the Harris Poll Online panel (HPOL).
This is the largest online shared-cost panel in the U.S., consisting of
over 3.5 million individuals. There are approximately 20,000+ HPOL members
residing in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The metropolitan area was
defined in terms of the following 13 counties: Bartow, Cherokee, Clayton,
Cobb, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry,
Paulding, Rockdale.
The Harris panel has been demographically balanced to resemble the U.S.
Census. Members of the panel living in the defined Atlanta metropolitan
area were invited, via an email invitation, to participate in the
Consumers' Choice Award voting. Each respondent had to be at least 18
years of age and live in one of the 13 counties in the Atlanta metro area.
Those completing the Business survey had to work in one of the 13 counties
as a senior manager within a company of less than 250 employees.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
For the General Public survey, each respondent was shown a list of 60
business categories out of a total of 138 consumer categories. This was
believed to be the maximum number that any one respondent would be able to
address. The list of 60 was randomized across respondents to ensure 1)
adequate sample sizes and 2) no biases due to grouping and ordering of
categories. Respondents were allowed to vote on those business categories
with which they had some knowledge. Accordingly, the respondent first was
asked to check off those business categories with which he/she has used or
at least has familiarity in terms of knowing businesses within that
category. Based on these responses, the respondent then was shown a list
of companies within each category with which he/she has used or is
familiar. The respondent was shown no more than 30 categories at this
point. If a respondent had knowledge of more than 30 business categories,
he/she was always asked about those categories with the lowest percentage
of familiarity. The same methodology was used for the Business Manager
survey. In this case, however, the total list of business categories
considered was 53 rather than 138.
Respondents were asked the question that has been used in prior Consumers'
Choice Award surveys. "We would like to know your opinion about Atlanta
companies in various sectors, which have distinguished themselves the most
in the last year. To help in your choice, please base your answer on
aspects such as quality, value, service, and appearance of the business,
as well as any other elements you might consider important in making your
choice. In your opinion, among the following companies, which TWO are your
choice of the year in the 13-county metropolitan Atlanta area in the
category of…?" A new question was added this year to determine top
businesses at the county level. "Now thinking just about the county in
which you live, please write in the name of your TWO choices of the year
for a local business establishment in the category of…?"
The list of businesses shown respondents was based on the companies
nominated in prior years of this program. Since the list has rarely
changed, it was decided that this represented a valid group of nominees.
In all cases, however, respondents could write in the names of businesses
that were not already listed. Finally, additional questions were posed
regarding the outstanding male and female personalities in the Atlanta
metro area, media preferences and selected demographics such as age,
gender, language, education, home ownership and income.
ANALYSIS:
The metropolitan Atlanta winners in each category were the three companies
receiving the most votes in each category.
The criteria for selecting winners were as follows:
• Three winners were selected in each category based on those businesses
receiving the most votes (i.e., highest percentages among those casting
votes in the category). All winners had to receive at least 15% of the
votes cast in the category. Accordingly, there were fewer than three
winners in some categories.
• Where there was a fourth business whose percentage of votes cast for it
was not statistically different from the third place winner, a fourth
winner was selected.
• The sample base on which percentages were calculated is the number of
people, who actually cast votes for a business in the category. “Don’t
know’s” and “None’s” were removed from the base in each category.
• In some cases the number of votes in a category was small, especially at
the county level. In order for a business category to have one or more
winners, the number of people casting in the category had to be 15 or
higher and a winner had to have received at least eight votes. Any
category for which there were fewer than 15 people voting and/or less than
eight people voting for any one business did not have a winner
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