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4. Method1) Stimuli and subjectsA stimuli should meet the following requirements: (1) a frequently purchased package product enough to offer opportunities to observe the purchase, (2) a wide range of variations in terms of adoption behaviors and personalty traits, (3) a product category which has a new brand. The beverage product category met these criteria. In fact, it has been typical that the carbonated soft drink market has been expanded by an influx of newer brands catering to diverse consumer tastes(Sen, 1997). The sales of colas in Korea reached 492.1 million US dollars in 2000. Its annual growth rate will be expected to be around 9% in 2001. The market is currently shared by Coke(74%), Pepsi(24%), and Combi(2%). To establish competitive advantages through a niche market, the market challenger, Combi, introduces a new type of cola, Yellow Cola to the Korean market on March 15, 2001. As the brand name indicates, its color is yellow in contrast to black, which has been the prototype of cola. It was nationally promoted from the beginning of April, 2001. This paper uses this new product to empirically validate the proposed hypotheses. Since one of primary target markets for colas is teens, this study drew the representative sample from four middle schools in Seoul area. Each school was selected from each district out of 14 administrative districts in Seoul. Survey questionnaires were administered over these co-ed schools for a week at the end of May. The total number of valid sample size was 227. The average age of the respondents was 14.9 years; 51% of the respondents were girls.
2) MeasuresAdoption behavior was measured by a dichotomy variable, indicating whether the subjects tried the Yellow Cola. Likewise, brand awareness was assessed as a two-point scale, with which respondents reported whether they are exposed to the brand. Respondents evaluated their attitudes toward the brand on a 7-scale, ranging from 1(very disliking) to 7(very liking). Consumer innovativeness consists of ten items used by Baumgartner and Steenkamp(1996). These items were modified to reflect the situation of products, including food. They were as follows: (1) I usually do not take the same food when I have to decide what to eat, (2) I tend not to choose the same flavor again, (3) I am willing to buy non-familiar brand, (4) I do not worry buying a new product, (5) I would like to experience a new product, (6) I prefer to buy a new product, (7) I tend to stick to specific brands in product purchase, (8) It is safe to order familiar foods in a restaurant, (9) Once I like a brand, I would not change my attitude just because a new brand is introduced, & (10) I tend not to buy a brand which I am not certain. The exposures to advertising and word-of-mouth were measured by dichotomy variables, ranging from 0(no exposure) to 1(exposure). Subjects were also asked to assess the advertising to which they were exposed on a 7 point scale, ranging from 1(strongly negative) to 7(strongly positive). This measure indicates the attitude toward the advertising. The attitude of the word-of-mouth was similarly measured on a 7-point scale. The consumption rate of cola was measured as the frequency of drinking colas: 0 - no drink, 1 - almost no drink, 2- once a month, 3 - bi-weekly, 4 - weekly, 5 - once for 2-3 days, 6 - once a day, 7 - more than twice a day. |
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