Industry Report 85-2
M-t
An Evaluati
and Public
for Flot
>tional
August 1985
ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the effectiveness of television advertising
and other promotional efforts used by the Florida Tomato Exchange for
fresh tomatoes. A telephone survey of 2,409 primary food shoppers was
conducted in five major markets in the northeastern U.S. Markets were
defined as television areas of dominant influence (ADI's). In one con-
trol ADI, 400 interviews were conducted prior to using television ads
and 400 more were made following two consecutive weeks of television
advertising. In four ADI's, television ads had been used over extended
periods in varying levels of intensity.
The survey evaluated the impact of promotional efforts as measured
by consumers' adoption of correct ripening and storage practices, and by
their recall of media advertising for fresh tomatoes. Approximately
three-fourths of all tomato users were found to be ripening and storing
tomatoes properly, and nearly 30 percent had switched to the correct
(room temperature) method within the past three years. Television com-
mercials, magazine and newspaper stories, magazine ads, and television
shows were cited by respondents as being the major factors influencing
their tomato storage practices. Probit models indicate that storage
switching behavior was significantly related to respondents' recall of
television commercials, television feature stories, and magazine adver-
tising. The study also provided considerable data on fresh tomato use,
consumers' attitudes toward Florida tomatoes, and Florida Tomato
Exchange members' attitudes toward their promotional program.
AN EVALUATION OF THE PROMOTIONAL AND
PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMS FOR FLORIDA TOMATOES
A Report by
Robert L. Degner
A research project conducted for the
Florida Tomato Exchange
August 1985
The Florida Agricultural Market Research Center
a part of
the Food and Resource Economics Department
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611
The Florida Agricultural Market Research Center
A Service of
the Food and Resource Economics Department
of the
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
The purpose of this Center is to provide timely, applied research on
current and emerging marketing problems affecting Florida's agricultural
and marine industries. The Center seeks to provide research and informa-
tion to production, marketing and processing firms, and groups and organ-
izations concerned with improving and expanding markets for Florida agri-
cultural and marine products.
The Center is staffed by a basic group of economists trained in
agriculture and marketing. In addition, cooperating personnel from other
IFAS units provide a wide range of expertise which can be applied as
determined by the requirements of individual projects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES .. ...
LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES
Page
. . . . . . v
. . . . . . vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... . .....
SUMMARY . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . .
Food Publicity . . .
Public Relations and Advertising .
OBJECTIVES . . . . .
PROCEDURE . . . . .
FINDINGS . . . . .
Fresh Tomato Usage Patterns . .
Evaluatin of the Promotional Program .
Storage Practices . . .
Changes in Storage Practices .
Direct Evaluation of Promotional Media
Stated Reasons for Switching to RTS
Recall of Media . . .
T.V. commercials . .
Newspaper stories . .
Tomato recipes, leaflets or book
Magazine ads . . .
Posters in stores . .
Other television . .
Magazine stories . .
Radio commercials
......... .
... . .
... .. ..
... . .
.. .
. .... ....... ....
Q O O Q O O .
t 4
. . . . . .
ix
x
1
2
4
6
6
11
12
21
22
24
26
29
29
29
35
35
35
36
38
40
40
TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Page
Indirect Evaluation of Media ... . . . 40
Control ADI comparisons . . . . 41
The probit analysis model . . . .. 43
Member Survey .. . . . .. .. . 47
CONCLUSIONS . . . . .. .. .. 58
REFERENCES . . . . . . 62
APPENDIX A--QUESTIONNAIRES: CONSUMER QUESTIONNAIRE . .. 63
MEMBER QUESTIONNAIRE . . .. 70
APPENDIX B--TABLES . . . . . 74
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Promotional expenditures, 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons ... 3
2 A summary of television advertising expenditures by the
Florida Tomato Exchange ................. ........ ....... 5
3 Magazine advertising schedule, Florida Tomato Exchange,
1983-1985 ............................................... 7
4 Tomato television advertising expenditures per 1,000
television households through March 1985, by ADI ............ 9
5 Use of fresh tomatoes, by ADI ............................... 13
6 Types of fresh tomatoes purchased by tomato consumers within
previous three months, by ADI .............................. 15
7 Tomato-consuming households with regular round tomatoes
on hand ................................................. 15
8 Primary reasons given for disliking tomatoes available when
interviewed (March and April) ............................. 17
9 Overall satisfaction with regular round tomatoes ........... 18
10 Incidence and recent adoption of room temperature storage for
fresh tomatoes, by ADI .................................. 23
11 Relative importance of various sources of information
influencing consumers to swotch to room temperature storage
within the last three years, direct responses, all ADI's .... 28
12 Effectiveness of T.V. advertising, direct response, by
ADI's ................. ................................. 30
13 Consumers' recall of promotional media used for fresh
tomatoes ............................................... 32
14 Recall of specific television commercial messages ........... 34
15 Recall of specific magazine advertisement messages .......... 35
16 Recall of specific in-store poster messages ................ 39
17 Effectiveness of T.V. advertising, control ADI comparisons .. 42
18 Maximum likelihood estimates for the probit model ........... 45
19 Florida Tomato Exchange members' evaluations of the
effectiveness of various promotional and public relations
programs ................................................ 49
LIST OF TABLES CO'fTITJUED
Table Page
20 Members' suggested budgets for various promotional and
public relations programs .................................. 50
21 A comparison of FTE members' estimates of consumer's
attitudes and behavior with the consumer survey ............. 53
22 Aspects of the current promotional and public relations
program liked best and least by FTE members .................. 54
23 Members' suggestions for making the overall promotional
and public relations program more effective .................. 56
24 Member loyalty and projected annual FTE revenues at various
assessment levels ........................................... 57
25 A summary of the effectiveness of television and magazine
advertising compared with all other promotional efforts ...... 59
LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES
Table Page
1 Porportion of households using fresh tomatoes, by
demographic characteristic . . . . 74
2 Primary reasons given for never buying tomatoes .... 75
3 Primary reasons given for not buying tomatoes within
the previous three months . . . .. 76
4 Primary reasons givenfor buying tomatoes available
in winter and early spring . . . . 77
5 Average overall satisfaction ratings of winter and
early spring round tomatoes, by selected socio-
economic and demographic characteristics . ... 78
6 Average household tomato purchases, by ADI . ... 79
7 Average quantity of tomatoes purchased per month,
by socio-economic and demographic characteristics ..... 80
8 Serving methods, by significant demographic characteristic 81
9 Respondents' willingness to serve a tossed salad
without fresh tomatoes, by ADI . . .... .83
10 Respondents' willingness to serve a tossed salad
without fresh tomatoes, by demographic characteristic 84
11 Substitutes most often used for regular round tomatoes
in a tossed salad . . . . . 85
12 Consumers' preference for round tomatoes grown in
either Florida or Mexico, by ADI . . .... .86
13 Consumer preference for round tomatoes-grown in
either Florida or Mexico, by demographic
characteristic . . . . .. 87
14 Primary reasons given for choosing Mexican tomatoes .. 88
15 Primary reasons given for choosing Florida tomatoes 89
16 Shoppers' concern about Mexican tomatoes . ... 90
17 Usual storage of tomatoes by selected demographic
characteristics . . . . 91
LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES CONTINUED
Table Page
18 Storage of fully red ripe tomatoes by education level 92
19 "Correct" placement of round tomatoes during storage 93
20 Usual serving temperature for uncooked tomatoes .. 94
21 Usual serving temperature of uncooked tomatoes by
selected demographic characteristic . . .. 95
22 Consumers' satisfaction levels with regular round
tomatoes as influence by the adoption of room
temperature storage . . . . .. 96
23 Consumers' satisfaction levels with regular round
tomatoes as influenced by the adoption of room
temperature storage, by age groups . . .. 97
24 Sources of information influencing consumers to switch
to room temperature storage within the last 3 years,
by ADI . . . . .. . 98
25 Adjusted percentages of recent switchers to room
temperature storage citing television commercials
as a reason for switching . . . ... 99
26 A comparison of socio-economic and demographic
characteristics of respondents in R/L-1 and R/L-2 . 100
27 Recall of television commercials by significant
demographic characteristic . . . ... 101
28 Recall of tomato recipes, leaflets or booklets, by
significant demographic characteristic . ... 102
29 Number of magazine subscriptions per household . 103
30 Magazine subscriptions by ADI . . .... .104
31 Recall of magazine ads by significant demographic
characteristic . . . .. .. . 105
32 Recall of in-store posters by age . . .... .106
33 Recall of other television, by income . ... 107
34 Recall of radio commercials, by significant demographic
characteristic . . . . ... 108
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere appreciation is expressed to the entire membership of
the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) for their personal interest and cooper-
ation in this project, as well as their financial support. Particular
thanks go to Mr. Randall W.illiford, President, FTE, for his interest and
support, and to Mr. Wayne Hawkins, Executive Vice-President, FTE, for his
diligence in providing briefing and background data on the Exchange's
promotional and public relations program.
I am also very grateful to Mr. Dave Gustafson of Communication
Resources, Inc. and to Mr. Marshall Neale of Lewis and Neale, Inc. for
their help in providing details and data relating to the study. I am par-
ticularly indebted to Dr. Jong-Ying Lee of the Florida Department of
Citrus for developing and testing several probit models and writing the
section which discusses the results of the final model. Thanks are also
extended to Ms. Christine Grande and Ms. Susan Phillips for their
assistance in analyzing the data and preparing the final report, and to
Ms. Renelle Kiddy for her patience and skills in typing throughout the
project, including the preparation of the final manuscript.
SUMMARY -
*This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Florida Tomato Exchange
(FTE) promotion and public relations program, and provided benchmark
data on consumers' attitudes toward Florida-grown tomatoes and tomato
usage patterns during Florida's season. It also determined FTE members'
attitudes toward current promotional and public relations activities and
alternate levels of support.
*One basic goal of the FTE has been to educate consumers as to the proper
method of ripening tomatoes. Their kitchen ripening theme has promoted
room temperature storage (RTS) as a means of enhancing tomato quality.
Its ultimate goal has been to increase tomato sales.
*The kitchen ripening theme has been used extensively in food publicity
and public relations efforts. It has also been the dominant message
used in T.V. and magazine advertising. The basic research strategy was
to determine (1) the extent of RTS in markets subjected to various
levels of T.V. advertising, (2) the extent of switching from refriger-
ated to RTS that had occurred since the inception of T.V. and magazine
advertising programs, and (3) the sources of information that had influ-
enced consumers to switch to RTS. Basic information on tomato use was
also sought.
*A telephone survey of 2,400 primary food shoppers in five major market
areas was used to evaluate the promotional program. Market areas were
television "areas of dominant influence" (ADI's) as defined by Arbitron
Ratings Company. Telephone numbers were randomly generated for each
ADI, and the sample stratified by the population of T.V. households
within each county within each ADI.
*Four hundred interviews were conducted in each ADI, namely Boston,
New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Roanoke/Lynchburg (R/L) in late
March. T.V. advertising had been used in all markets except R/L, which
was selected as a control ADI.
*Following the completion of the 400 interviews in R/L, the FTE "Blizzard"
and "Tomato Man" commercials were run 120 times in a two-week period.
The cost per 1,000 T.V. households was comparable to many ADI's where
FTE's T.V. advertising had been conducted.
*Immediately after the two-week advertising effort, 400 more interviews
were conducted in the R/L ADI so that the effects of T.V. advertising
could be isolated. "R/L-1" refers to the first sample, and "R/L-2" to
the second.
*Almost 75 percent of all households using tomatoes were found to store
fresh tomatoes at room temperature.
*In ADI's where T.V. advertising had been used prior to interviewing,
about 24 percent of the respondents said that T.V. commercials had
caused them to switch to RTS. Newspaper stories and magazine ads were
cited by 15.2 and 11.5 percent, respectively, followed by other T.V.
in-store signs, and store personnel with 9.9, 6.6 and 6.2, respectively.
Recipes, leaflets and booklets and information accounted for 3.7 and 1.2
percent of the switching, respectively. Based upon these direct
responses, the average cost of converting households to RTS with T.V.
advertising was 56 cents.
*In R/L-1, the control ADI, 24.5 percent of all households using tomatoes
had switched to RTS during the past three years, compared with 28.6 per-
cent in Boston, 28.9 percent in New York, 30.9 percent in Pittsburgh,
and 31.1 percent in Philadelphia. Using the Control ADI comparisons,
the average cost of converting households to RTS was 85 cents.
*Magazine advertising influenced about 17 percent of the households
switching to RTS in areas where T.V. advertising was not used. Because
of its wide coverage, magazine advertising apparently influenced nearly
2 million households to switch to RTS at an average cost of slightly
over 10 cents each.
*In areas where T.V. was not used, all other promotional methods
accounted for 83 percent of all switchers to RTS. The average cost per
household converted to RTS was slightly under four cents.
*Consumers' recall of promotional media used for fresh tomatoes was also
examined. Consumers' recall over all ADI's in decreasing order of
importance was: newspaper stories (32 percent); recipes, leaflets and
booklets (26 percent); T.V. commercials (20 percent); magazine ads (15
percent); posters in stores (14 percent); other T.V. (13 percent);
magazine stories (13 percent).; and radio commercials (6 percent).
*The two-week T.V. advertising effort in the Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI was
quite effective. An estimated 20 percent of primary food shoppers in
households using tomatoes had recall of T.V. advertising for fresh toma-
toes, and about 6 percent had correct recall of the FTE commercials. If
general fresh tomato advertising recall is the evaluation criterion, the
cost was about 18 cents per household. For specific recall of the FTE
message, the cost was about 60 cents.
*A statistical (probit) model was used to study the influence of consu-
mers' recall of various promotional media on switching (to RTS) behavior.
T.V. advertising and publicity appeared to have the greatest impact.
*Members of the Florida Tomato Exchange were also interviewed to determine
their attitudes toward various promotional and public relations activi-
ties and toward alternative levels of support. A total of 28 out of 29
members were interviewed, plus two former members. Over 98 percent of
the Exchange's 1983-84 volume was reported by the members interviewed.
*Members tended to give food publicity and retail promotion activities
slightly better ratings than public relations, magazine and T.V. adver-
tising.
*The majority of members was reluctant to approve of assessment levels
required for mass media advertising.
*The kitchen ripening theme has been very successful in recent years, as
evidenced by the large number of households converting to room tempera-
ture storage. However, the use of RTS was not associated with greater
fresh tomato consumption. The kitchen ripening theme is basically an
educational effort which may require an extremely long time to affect
total sales of tomatoes.
*"Unripe" tomatoes and "poor taste" are recurring consumer complaints
that could possibly be alleviated by getting retailers to ripen tomatoes
properly. A program designed to educate or otherwise influence
retailers to adopt profitable ripening practices may have a more imme-
diate impact on sales.
AN EVALUATION OF THE PROMOTIONAL AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS PROGRAMS FOR FLORIDA TOMATOES
by Robert L. Degner*
INTRODUCTION
For over a decade, the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) has engaged in
a modest promotion and public relations program for fresh tomatoes. The
basic purpose of their efforts has been to "educate consumers on the
proper method of selecting, ripening, storing and preparing fresh Florida
tomatoes for consumption, with the ultimate goal of increasing per capital
consumption of fresh Florida tomatoes ..." Until recently, the Exchange
has sought to educate consumers largely through the judicious use of
various food publicity projects utilizing mass media. Media coverage
(newspaper stories, magazine articles, radio and television) resulting
from "publicity" has been received at no direct cost for the space or
time provided, because of the "newsworthy" nature of the information
provided. However, with the 1982-83 season, the Exchange initiated a
more ambitious promotion program which included television advertising.
The program grew even more during the 1983-84 season when television
advertising was increased and magazine advertising was added. Total pro-
motional and public relations expenditures increased from approximately
$320,000 in 1982-83 to about $627,000 in 1984-85.
Because the program is funded through voluntary assessments, it is
imperative that funds be spent efficiently. This study was conducted at
*Director of the Florida Agricultural Market Research Center and
Associate Professor, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences,
University of Florida.
the request of the Florida Tomato Exchange to assist members in evaluat-
ing the effectiveness of their program.
The promotional activities of the Exchange can be classified into
two major categories: (1) food publicity, and (2) public relations and
advertising. Each are briefly described below.
Food Publicity
Food publicity efforts have been diverse and extensive. Typically,
they have been comprised of items such as press releases and other mater-
ials provided to approximately 500 large and 1,000 smaller newspapers
nationwide, releases sent to 250 radio stations and 200 T.V. stations,
articles written for syndicated writers of newspapers and magazines, and
development of recipes and leaflets. The food publicity program has also
included the development and distribution of an educational videotape to
approximately 50 major T.V. stations each year. The food publicity pro-
gram has also relied heavily upon "media touring" to disseminate informa-
tion about fresh tomatoes. Media touring enables spokespersons for the
Florida tomato industry to appear on numerous T.V. and radio programs as
guests of T.V. and radio personalities. Visits with notable newspaper
food editors and magazine editors are also arranged. The food publicity
program was expanded in the 1982-83 season to include a retail promotion.
A special promotion kit containing tomato recipe leaflets and point-of-
purchase signs was developed and made available to food retailers. The
retail promotion portion of the food publicity program was the major
factor which caused the food publicity budget to increase from $59,000 in
1982-83 to $90,000 in the 1984-85 season (Table 1).
Table l.--Promotional expenditures, 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons.
Season
Item 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85
------------ Dollars-----------
Food publicity and retail promotion 59,000 65,000 90,000
Magazine advertising 0 100,000 100,000
Television advertising 214,500a 400,000 400,000
Other promotional expenses 58,500 57,000 37,000
Total promotional budget 320,000 627,000 627,000
aIncludes $12,500 worth of air time that was received but not billed
to the FTE.
bIncludes public relations expenses, Florida Harvest Festivals, etc.
Public Relations and Advertising
Public relations and advertising activities have increased substan-
tially in the past several seasons. The public relations efforts have
been comprised of preparation of numerous press releases, feature pitches
and stories that are made available to approximately 1,300 newspapers,
radio and T.V. stations. Additionally, 30- and 60-second radio spots
(.public service announcements) have been made available to either AM or
FM radio stations east of the Mississippi River in alternating years.
Miscellaneous public relations activities have included distribution of
tomato cookbooks, revision of an educational slide set used by industry
spokespersons, and preparation of miscellaneous items such as logos,
bumper stickers, calendars, etc.
Advertising has been concentrated in two major areas, television and
magazines. In 1982-83, a pilot T.V. advertising program was begun in
New York and in Boston with a total expenditure of slightly over $200,000.
In 1983-84, T.V. advertising was expanded to include 15 cities, with a
total budget of $400,000; and magazine advertising was also begun, with
expenditures of approximately $100,000. Television advertising during
the 1984-85 season reached 20 cities, with a budget of $400,000, and
$100,000 was again spent for magazine advertising (Table 1). The general
strategy for T.V. advertising has been to use relatively low-cost, 30-
second daytime rotator spots on local stations in major metropolitan
centers east of the Mississippi River. Virtually all spots have been
aired between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. In most
cities, the budget has allowed the purchase of approximately 20 spots
per week for two to four weeks during Florida's tomato season (Table 2).
Table 2.--A summary of television advertising expenditures by the Florida Tomato Exchange.
% of ADITVHHb ADI Expenditures
ADI 11/7/83 3/5/84 4/9/84 5/7/84 11/12/84 1/7/85 3/4/85 4/1/85 5/85 Totala number Rank through March
New Yorkc 10,000 10,000 9,000 11,000 9,000 12,000 12,000 -- 12,000 11.1 6,565,700 1 243,500
Districtof Columbia 9,500 8,500 9,000 9,000 6,000 -- 7,000 5,500 -- 7.1 1,490,000 9 49,000
Philadelphia 10,500 10,500 10,500 10,500 7,000 7,000 8,000 -- 8,000 9.4 2,528,600 4 64,000
Pittsburgh 7,500 7,500 -- 3,000 -- 6,000 -- 6,000 -- 3.9 1,229,000 12 24,000
Chicago 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 8,000 8,000 -- 10,000 -- 9.6 3,015,600 3 64,000
Atlanta 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 -- 6,000 -- 6,000 2,000 5.7 1,135,900 15 36,000
Columbia 3,000 3,000 -- -- -- 1,500 -- 1.0 249,600 88 6,000
Miami 7,500 7,000 6,500 8,500 -- 5,000 6,000 -- 6,000 6.0 1,154,600 14 40,500
New Orleans 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,000 -- 6,000 6,000 -- -- 5.5 639,200 33 42,000
San Antonio 7,500 7,500 6,000 9,000 5,000 -- 3,000 4,000 -- 5.9 528,400 44 38,000
Nashville 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 -- 4,000 -- 6,000 5,000 5.1 644,500 31 28,000
Tampa/St. Petersburg 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,000 3,000 4,000 4,000 5,000 5,000 6.6 1,013,000 18 40,500
Ft. Myers/Naples 1,500 -- -- -- -- 1,000 1,000 -- 1,000 0.6 189,600 112 3,500
Detroit -- 7,500 7,500 7,000 -- 8,000 -- 8,000 4.9 1,650,800 7 30,000
Bostonc -- -- 4,500 8,000 8,000 8,000 4,000 2,500 4.6 1,943,300 6 135,500
Dallas -- -- 6,000 -- -- -- 6,000 2.6 1,506,600 8 6,000
Indianapolis -- -- 5,000 -- 5,000 5,000 6,000 2.7 782,900 25 10,000
Memphis -- -- 5,000 -- 6,000 5,000 5,000 2.7 554,400 41 11,000
St. Louis -- -- -- 6,000 -- 6,000 6,000 2.3 1,041,000 17 6,000
Cleveland -- -- 5,000 -- 5,000 5,000 6,000 2.7 1,395,100 11 10,000
Roanoke/Lynchburg -- -- -- -- -- 11 000d 0.0 348,300 69 0
Totals 98,000 94,500 89,000 103,000 74,000 73,000 79,000 80,000 78,500 100.0 29,267,800 -- 887,500
aThrough March 1985 only.
"ADITVHH" refers to the total number of television households in the various ADI's.
CExpenditures of $170,500 and $107,000 were made in New York and Boston, respectively, during the 1982-83 season.
dFlights were made in Roanoke/Lynchburg for two consecutive weeks: April 1-5 and April 8-12.
Magazine advertising has been limited to major women's magazines.
During the last two seasons, one-third page, four-color ads have appeared
in nine major magazines. All space except Southern Living has been
bought on a regional basis, east of the Mississippi River. Approximate
circulation has been three million, and the average cost per insertion
has been about $20,000 (Table 3).
OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effec-
tiveness of the promotion and public relations program in terms of consu-
mer awareness of basic educational messages, changes in consumer behavior
and Exchange members' own perception and support of the promotional
efforts. Specific objectives were to: (1) compare consumers' awareness
of proper ripening and storage practices for fresh Florida tomatoes in
selected cities which had been subjected to various levels of paid T.V.
advertising, (2) determine consumers' recall of selected educational mes-
sages as indicated by consumers' behavioral changes, (4) provide bench-
mark data on consumers' attitudes toward Florida-grown tomatoes and on
consumers' tomato usage patterns during Florida's growing season, and (5)
determine Florida Tomato Exchange members' attitudes toward current pro-
motional and public relations activities and alternative levels of sup-
port.
PROCEDURE
A telephone survey of 2,400 primary food shoppers in five major
market areas was used to collect data to meet the first four objectives.
Because of the necessity of evaluating the impact of television
Magazine advertising has been limited to major women's magazines.
During the last two seasons, one-third page, four-color ads have appeared
in nine major magazines. All space except Southern Living has been
bought on a regional basis, east of the Mississippi River. Approximate
circulation has been three million, and the average cost per insertion
has been about $20,000 (Table 3).
OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effec-
tiveness of the promotion and public relations program in terms of consu-
mer awareness of basic educational messages, changes in consumer behavior
and Exchange members' own perception and support of the promotional
efforts. Specific objectives were to: (1) compare consumers' awareness
of proper ripening and storage practices for fresh Florida tomatoes in
selected cities which had been subjected to various levels of paid T.V.
advertising, (2) determine consumers' recall of selected educational mes-
sages as indicated by consumers' behavioral changes, (4) provide bench-
mark data on consumers' attitudes toward Florida-grown tomatoes and on
consumers' tomato usage patterns during Florida's growing season, and (5)
determine Florida Tomato Exchange members' attitudes toward current pro-
motional and public relations activities and alternative levels of sup-
port.
PROCEDURE
A telephone survey of 2,400 primary food shoppers in five major
market areas was used to collect data to meet the first four objectives.
Because of the necessity of evaluating the impact of television
Table 3.--Magazine advertising schedule, Florida Tomato Exchange, 1983-
1985.
Magazine
Date
Ladies Home Journal
Family Circle
Women's Day
Southern Living
Good Housekeeping
Better Homes & Gardens
Women's Day
McCalls
Southern Living
November 1983
January 1984
May 1984
November 1984
March 1984
December 1984
April 1985
February 1985
May 1985
aAll space except Southern Living is bought on a regional basis, east
of the Mississippi River. Approximate circulation has been 3 million, and
average cost has been about.$20,000.
- -----------
advertising, market areas were defined as television "areas of dominant
influence" (ADI's) as delineated by the Arbitron Ratings Company
(Arbitron Ratings Company, 1984). A stratified random sample of tele-
phone households was computer-generated by Survey Sampling, Inc. of
Westport, Connecticut. The sample was stratified to all counties in
proportion to each county's share of telephone households within each
ADI. A computer-generated sample was used in order to minimize the
potential bias that could have resulted from using published phone lists.
According to telephone company estimates, unlisted numbers account for up
to 30 percent of all residential telephones in several of the markets
included in this study. The completed sample of households included 20
percent with unlisted telephone numbers.
Three callbacks were made to each number in the primary sample
before going to an alternate. Calls and callbacks were made during the
daytime, evening and weekends to ensure a broad representation of house-
hold types..
ADI's were selected to obtain a broad range of television advertis-
ing activity. New York and Boston were chosen because they had the long-
est duration of advertising activity and had relatively high expenditures
relative to population (ITable 4). Gross expenditures relative to total
ADI population was used as an indication of advertising intensity because
more precise measures such as gross rating points, broadcast reach, or
cume ratings could not be determined due to insufficient records. Phila-
delphia and Pittsburgh were selected because they had been subjected to
moderate levels of T.V. advertising (Table 4). Finally, the Roanoke/
Lynchburg (R/L) ADI was selected as a control market because no televi-
sion advertising for fresh tomatoes had been conducted there by the FTE.
Table 4.--Tomato television advertising expenditures per 1,000 television
households through March 1985, by ADI.
Flights Through a EPMa
ADI March 1985 EPM Rank
San Antonio 6 71.92 1
Boston 12 69.73 2
New Orleans 6 65.71 3
Nashville 5 43.44 4
Tampa/St. Petersburg 7 39.98 5
New York 15 37.09 6
Miami 6 35.08 7
District of Columbia 6 32.89 8
Atlanta 5 31.69 9
Philadelphia 7 25.30 10
Columbia 2 23.11 11
Chicago 6 21.22 12
Memphis 2 19.84 13
Pittsburgh 4 19.53 14
Naples/Ft. Myers 3 18.46 15
Detroit 4 18.17 16
Indianapolis 2 12.77 17
Cleveland 2 7.17 18
St. Louis 1 5.76 19
Dallas 1 3.98 20
20-ADI Average 5 30.32 --
aEPM = Expenditure per 1,000 television households.
Approximately four hundred usable interviews were obtained in each of the
ADI's in the period March 15 and March 31, 1985. This period was
selected so that interviewing would occur after the appearance of the
March television and magazine advertising.
The Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI was then subjected to a controlled adver-
tising experiment. A television advertising program was devised and
implemented in the R/L ADI during the first two weeks in April. A tele-
vision advertising budget of $11,000 was allocated to the R/L ADI, which
amounted to about $31.60 per thousand television households. This expen-
diture rate was just slightly greater than the average rate for the 20
cities in which television advertising had been conducted (Table 4).
However, it was necessary to spend the R/L budget over a relatively short
time period, i.e., two consecutive weeks.
The FTE "Blizzard" commercial was broadcast during the April 1-5
period, and the "Tomato Man" spot during April 8-12. Each commercial
appeared 20 times at various times between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on
each of the three major network-affiliated stations. The compressed
schedule, coupled with relatively low rates, resulted in a total of 120
spots broadcast in the two-week period.
In the week immediately following the second flight of commercials,
a second sample of 400 primary food shoppers was interviewed in the
Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI. Throughout the remainder of this report, R/L-1
refers to the first sample of 400 shoppers interviewed in the Roanoke/
Lynchburg ADI, and R/L-2 refers to the second sample. Thus, data from
the Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI facilitates two basic sets of comparisons.
First, as a control city where no television advertising had previously
been run, intercity comparisons can be made. Secondly, interviews
conducted after the two weeks of television advertising can be compared
with the first sample to isolate the effects of the advertising.
The questionnaire was developed after lengthy discussions with the
professional staffs of the FTE, the food publicity firm of Lewis & Neale,
Inc., and the public relations/advertising firm Communication Resources,
Inc. It was extensively pretested by the Florida Agricultural Market
Research Center (FAMRC) and administered by closely supervised profes-
sional interviewers calling from a central location. A copy of the ques-
tionnaire is found in Appendix A.
Florida Tomato Exchange members' attitudes towards current promo-
tional and public relations activities and alternative levels of support
were determined through a telephone survey conducted by the Director of
the FAMRC. Virtually everyone interviewed was the top decisionmaker in
each member firm. The survey included 28 of 29 current members as well
as two former members. Members that were interviewed accounted for over
98 percent of the volume shipped by all FTE members during the 1983-84
season. The 1983-84 shipment data were also used to make revenue projec-
tions at various levels of assessments.
FINDINGS
The research results that follow are organized into two major sec-
tions: "Fresh Tomato Usage Patterns" and "Evaluation of the Promotion
Program." Because the focus of this study was on the latter topic, it
receives greater attention. However, the section on fresh tomato use
provides valuable background information, much of which can be used to
formulate future promotional strategies. Most of the tables relating to
tomato use appear in the Appendix rather than the text.
Fresh Tomato Usage Patterns
The use of fresh tomatoes was found to be fairly uniform over all
ADI's, with approximately 89 percent of all households using them. The
slight differences in use among ADI's were not statistically significant
(Table 5). However, examination of fresh tomato usage by selected socio-
economic and demographic characteristics indicated that smaller house-
holds, lower income groups, and households where the primary food shopper
was under 25 or over 65 years old tended to be somewhat less likely to
use tomatoes (Appendix Table 1). The most frequent reason given by
shoppers for never buying tomatoes was that they or their families simply
did not like the taste, cited by over 57 percent of the non-users. About
10 percent complained that fresh tomato prices were too high, and a simi-
lar number mentioned health-related reasons for not buying them. About
six percent said that tomatoes available to them were not ripe enough,
and five percent said they did not buy tomatoes but only used home-grown.
Other relatively infrequent reasons given for never buying tomatoes
included unfresh, bruised or damaged fruit, poor texture, packaging com-
plaints, and short shelf life (Appendix Table 2).
Shoppers of households using tomatoes were asked what types they had
purchased within the previous three months. Slightly over 90 percent of
all shoppers had bought the regular round tomatoes, and the proportion
doing so was similar across all ADI's. Overall, nearly 20 percent had
bought cherry tomatoes, but there were significant differences among
ADI's. Almost one-fourth of those in New York had bought cherry toma-
toes, but only about 15 percent had done so in the Roanoke/Lynchburg and
Pittsburgh ADI's. The proportion purchasing plum-shaped or oblong cook-
ing tomatoes also varied considerably over ADI's. In the aggregate,
Table 5.--Use of fresh tomatoes, by ADI.
ADI
Boston
R/L-1 a
R/L-2a
Philadelphia
New York
Pittsburgh
All ADI's
Households Using
(Percent)
90.0
87.1
89.0
89.6
90.2
85.7
88.6a
Tomatoes
aThe two samples for the R/L ADI are reported separately.
Based upon 2,407 observations.
about 12 percent had bought them, but the proportions purchasing them
varied from a high of about 22 percent in New York to a low of 7 percent
in Philadelphia (Table 6). Almost half of the households that had bought
regular round tomatoes during the previous three months had some on hand
when interviewed. Half of the shoppers did not have any on hand, and
about two percent were unsure (Table 7)..
Shoppers that typically buy tomatoes had not bought any regular
round tomatoes (as opposed to cherry or plum-shaped cooking tomatoes) in
the previous three months tended to be critical of the taste. About one-
third complained of poor taste, and about 12 percent said they were not
ripe enough. Almost 20 percent said they only use home-grown or tomatoes
grown locally. High prices were mentioned by about 10 percent, and a
similar number said the ones available were of poor quality, that is,
unfresh, bruised or damaged (Appendix Table 3).
About 60 percent of the shoppers that had bought regular round toma-
toes within the previous three months said they did so because of good
quality attributes such as taste, color, freshness, and nutritive value.
About 16 percent said they had bought them because they were essential in
recipes, and a similar number said they bought them out of habit. Only
seven out of over 2,000 shoppers specified advertising as the primary
reason for buying fresh tomatoes CAppendix Table 4).
Shoppers that use fresh tomatoes were asked to identify the one
thing disliked most about tomatoes available when interviewed (March and
April. About one in five was quite satisfied, disliking nothing. How-
ever, the most frequent complaint was that tomatoes available were not
ripe enough, mentioned by nearly one-fourth of the shoppers. Poor taste
and poor texture were cited by about 18 and 6 percent, respectively.
Table 6.--Types of fresh tomatoes purchased by tomato consumers within pre-
vious three months, by ADI.
Tomato Type
ADI Cherry Plum Regular
----------Percenta
Boston 20.8 14.0 92.7
R/L-l 14.7 8.6 90.8
R/L-2 15.5 14.37 94.4
Philadelphia 21.5 6.9 91.4
New York 24.4 21.9 91.8
Pittsburgh 15.2 7.89 92.4
All ADI's 18.7 12.3 92.3
Percentages are based upon 2,119 tomato-using households. Chi-square
analysis indicates there are no significant differences in regular fresh
tomatoes purchased among ADI's, P = 0.5788.
Table 7.--Tomato-consuming households with regular round tomatoes on hand.
Tomatoes on hand Number Percent
Yes 930 47.7
No 976 50.0
Do not know 44 2.3
Total 1,950 100.0
aChi-square analysis indicates there are no significant differences
among ADI's, P=0.0798.
Lack of freshness was the one thing disliked most by about 13 percent of
the shoppers, and high prices were the chief irritant of a similar
number. Short shelf life, small sizes, and bruised or damaged fruit were
mentioned by a total of less than 5 percent of all tomato-using house-
holds (Table 8).
Shoppers that had bought regular round tomatoes in the previous
three-month period were asked to express their overall satisfaction using
a nine-point rating scale where 1 represented extremely satisfied and 9
extremely dissatisfied. Over 21 percent expressed extreme satisfaction,
but about 10 percent extreme dissatisfaction. If the midpoint of the
scale is viewed as neutral, ratings from one through four as positive,
and ratings six through nine as negative, about 46 percent were rela-
tively satisfied and a third of the shoppers were dissatisfied (Table 9).
Average ratings were calculated and compared for various socio-economic
and demographic categories. In general, females, white respondents,
those with more education, and those with higher incomes expressed less
satisfaction with tomatoes bought in the winter and early spring (Appen-
dix Table 5).
On the average, shoppers said they bought regular round tomatoes
three times per month, and the average number of tomatoes purchased each
time was slightly over four. The total number of tomatoes purchased
each month was greatest for the Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI and smallest in
Philadelphia (Appendix Table 6). The average quantity of regular round
tomatoes purchased each month was also examined by various socio-economic
groups, and few significant differences were found. As expected, single
person households reported buying fewer tomatoes than larger households,
Table 8.--Primary reasons given for disliking tomatoes
viewed (March and April).
available when inter-
Reason Number Percent
Not ripe 509 24.2
Taste 385 18.3
Not fresh 281 13.4
High price 263 12.5
Texture 126 6.0
Short life 51 2.4
Size too small 13 0.6
Bruised or damaged 8 0.4
Miscellaneous 18 0.9
Do not know 4 0.2
Dislike nothing 446 21.2
Total 2,104 100.0
aMiscellaneous includes various aspects such as "prefer single to
packaged tomatoes," "not readily available," "taste affected by chemicals
used in growing," "small selection," "water or seed content too high,"
"tough skin," and "inconsistent quality."
Table 9.--Overall satisfaction with regular
Ratinga Number Percent
1 446 21.3
2 112 5.4
3 207 9.9
4 188 9.0
5 427 20.4
6 162 7.7
7 236 11.3
8 114 5.4
9 198 9.5
Total 2,090 100.0b
aThe rating scale is from 1 to 9 where
is extremely dissatisfied.
Does not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
1 is extremely satisfied and 9
round tomatoes .
but the differences in purchases among households of two and larger-sized
households were not significant. Age, income, and race differences were
not statistically significant, but male shoppers bought significantly
more tomatoes per month than females (Appendix Table 7).
The consumers interviewed served regular round tomatoes in a variety
of ways. Almost 80 percent served them in a tossed salad with a dressing,
and nearly 76 percent served them sliced on sandwiches or hamburgers.
Almost half served tomatoes sliced with a dressing, and about 44 percent
served them sliced without dressing. About one-third used them in tossed
salads without dressing. Fourty-four percent used regular round tomatoes
as an ingredient in cooked dishes, but only about one consumer in five
served them stuffed but uncooked. Examination of uses by socio-economic
and demographic groups revealed few significant differences. However,
one notable difference was that larger proportions of Hispanics and other
minority groups used tomatoes in cooked dishes than do whites or blacks
CAppendix Table 8).
The substitutability of other fruits and vegetables for tomatoes in
a tossed salad was also explored. Respondents were asked whether they
would serve a tossed salad without tomatoes if they had originally
planned to use tomatoes but the ones available were not suitable. Over-
all, about 70 percent said they would, although responses varied from
about 65 percent in Roanoke/Lynchburg to nearly 80 percent in Pittsburgh
(Appendix Table 9). Those with the greatest propensity to serve a tossed
salad without tomatoes included whites, females, college graduates, and
those with annual incomes over $35,000. Thus, it appears that tomatoes
are not an essential ingredient for tossed salads for a large segment of
the market (Appendix Table 10). Slightly over one-fourth of the shoppers
that said they would serve a tossed salad without regular round tomatoes
indicated that they would not substitute anything for the tomatoes. How-
ever, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, peppers, and cherry tomatoes would be
substituted by 18, 9, 7, 7 and 4 percent, respectively (Appendix Table 11).
Consumers' attitudes toward Florida-grown versus Mexican-grown toma-
toes were examined by asking which source was preferred. Almost one-
third were indifferent; but of the remainder, there was a ten-to-one pre-
ference for Florida grown tomatoes. In New York, 70 percent preferred
Florida tomatoes, compared with about 60 percent in Philadelphia and
Boston (Appendix Table 12). Chi-square analyses indicated that prefer-
ences were related to age and income. Preferences for Mexican tomatoes
did not vary much across age groups, but fewer older respondents pre-
ferred Florida tomatoes, expressing more indifference. Examination of
various income categories shows that respondents with incomes of $50,000
or more were more likely to prefer Mexican-grown tomatoes than those with
lower incomes; but even so, shoppers with the highest incomes still pre-
ferred Florida-grown tomatoes by nearly a 6:1 ratio (Appendix Table 13).
Quality attributes such as better taste, texture, freshness and
color were cited as the primary reason by over 80 percent of the consu-
mers that preferred Mexican tomatoes. Other less frequently mentioned
reasons included a favorable image of Mexico, better growing conditions
for tomatoes, and lower prices (Appendix Table 14).
Over half of the shoppers that preferred Florida tomatoes said they
did so because of taste, freshness, texture, and good color. Almost 17
percent mentioned loyalty to U.S. products as the primary reason, and
over 12 percent mentioned better sanitation in growing and handling or
better pesticide regulations (Appendix Table 151.
When queried as to concerns about tomatoes grown in Mexico, slightly
over 71 percent of all shoppers from tomato-using households had no con-
cerns at all. Eleven percent felt that there should be more loyalty to
U.S. products, and 12 percent were concerned about sanitation or pesti-
cide residues. Poor quality attributes were only mentioned by less than
5 percent (Appendix Table 16).
Evaluation of the Promotional Program
When the Florida Tomato Exchange adopted the "kitchen ripening"
theme for their low-key promotional efforts several years ago, the basic
assumption was that relatively few homemakers knew the correct way to
store tomatoes to achieve the optimum degree of ripeness. It was assumed
that most shoppers brought them home and immediately put them into the
refrigerator. Thus, the educational/promotional message was simple: for
improved flavor, "do not refrigerate." This has been the dominant
message carried by the two T.V. commercials that have been used and the
one magazine advertisement. The same basic message has been used exten-
sively in other promotional efforts as well. Thus, the basic research
strategy was to determine (1) the extent of room temperature storage
(RTS), (2) the extent of switching from refrigerated to RTS that had
occurred since the inception of the T.V. and magazine advertising pro-
grams, and (3) the sources of information that had influenced consumers
to switch to RTS. Additionally, many food publicity and public relations
releases and materials had provided other tomato storage tips that were
designed to improve consumers' satisfaction with Florida tomatoes. These
included storing tomatoes with the stem end up to minimize bruising,
refrigerating fully red-ripe tomatoes to prolong shelf life, and allowing
tomatoes that had been refrigerated to warm up prior to serving to
enhance flavor. All of these storage practices were examined and are
discussed below, but emphasis was placed on RTS because of its relative
importance and its direct link to T.V. and magazine advertising.
Storage Practices
Almost 75 percent of all primary food shoppers said they usually
store fresh tomatoes at room temperature, although there were significant
differences among ADI's. The lowest incidence of RTS was observed in
Boston with about 64 percent, and the highest in Philadelphia with 79
percent. Slightly over 75 percent of those interviewed in New York and
Pittsburgh use RTS (Table 10). The incidence of RTS was significantly
related to age, race and sex, with older shoppers, whites and females
being more likely to use RTS (Appendix Table 17). There were no apparent
differences among household size categories, income or educational
groups. Of those that use RTS, almost 27 percent said they use an
enclosed ripening bowl or other container for storing fresh tomatoes.
After tomatoes become "fully red ripe," about 73 percent of all
respondents refrigerate them. This practice was very uniform over most
socio-economic and demographic groups; however, refrigerated storage for
fully ripe tomatoes was more prevalent among those with more education
(Appendix Table 18).
Only 40 percent of all shoppers knew or guessed that tomatoes should
be placed stem side up during storage to minimize bruising. Respondents
in Boston and New York appeared to be most knowledgeable. Overall, about
30 percent said the stem side should be placed down, 4 percent said they
should be placed on their sides, and about 27 percent admitted that they
Table 10.--Incidence and recent adoption of room temperature storage for
fresh tomatoes, by ADI.
Households
Storing Switching to Room
at Room Temperature Storage
ADI Temperature in Past 3 Years
--------------Percentb
Boston 64.2 28.6
R/L-1 71.5 24.5
R/L-2 77.8 27.2
Philadelphia 79.3 31.1c
New York 75.6 28.9
Pittsburgh 75.5 30.9c
All ADI's 74.2 28.6
aChi-square analysis indicates significant differences in proportions
storing tomatoes at room temperature across ADI's, P = 0.0001.
percentages are based upon 2,127 respondents that reportedly use
fresh tomatoes.
CPercentages in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are statistically differ-
ent from the percentage observed in the R/L-1 control group, at the 0.5
probability level.
did not know the correct placement (Appendix Table 19).
In all ADI's except Roanoke/Lynchburg, uncooked tomatoes are served
cold by a slight majority of homemakers. In New York, about 56 percent
served them cold and 44 percent served them after allowing them to return
to room temperature. Boston shoppers had the highest proportion serving
them cold, with about 64 percent. In the R/L ADI, both samples had simi-
lar proportions serving tomatoes cold, slightly over 40 percent (Appendix
Table 20). Education and age were the only factors that appeared to be
significantly related to shoppers' propensity to serve tomatoes at room
temperature. Those in the lowest education categories and older cate-
gories were most likely to serve tomatoes at room temperature (Appendix
Table 21).
Changes in Storage Practices
Switching from refrigerated to room temperature storage was judged
to be a good indicator that the FTE promotional/education program was
working. Overall, 28.6 percent of all households using fresh tomatoes
reported that they had switched to room temperature storage within the
past several years (Table 10). The smallest proportion of "switchers"
was observed in the control ADI, Roanoke/Lynchburg, in the sample inter-
viewed prior to T.V. advertising (R/L-1). In this sample, 24.5 percent
said they had switched to RTS. R/L-2 had the next lowest percentage,
with 27.2 percent. Switchers to RTS constituted 28.6 and 28.9 percent of
the households using tomatoes in Boston and New York, respectively.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia had the largest switching rates, with 30.9
and 31.1 percent, respectively (Table 10).
Everyone that was found to be using RTS was asked what effect it had
on their satisfaction with tomatoes, i.e., whether it had resulted in
greater satisfaction, resulted in no change, or resulted in less satis-
faction. Almost 75 percent of the recent switchers, those having adopted
RTS within the last three years, reported greater satisfaction. About 22
percent reported no change, and only 3 percent were less satisfied.
Those that had been using RTS longer than three years were somewhat less
enthusiastic; but even so, over half were more satisfied. About 35 per-
cent reported no change, and 5 percent were less satisfied (Appendix
Table 22). There were no significant differences in satisfaction levels
expressed by most socio-economic and demographic groups. However, it
appears that larger proportions of younger respondents, particularly
under 25 years of age, reported no change or reduced satisfaction as a
result of using room temperature storage (Appendix Table 23).
The incidence of switching to RTS was relatively similar across
virtually all socio-economic and demographic categories. However, one
significant difference was in the sex of the recent switchers. Although
males represented about 22.5 percent of the primary food shoppers in
households using fresh tomatoes, they constituted only 17.5 percent of
the recent switchers to RTS. This is consistent with the Exchange's pro-
motion program, which has been targeted primarily towards female audi-
ences.
Purchases of "regular round tomatoes" were compared for households
using RTS and refrigerated storage. On the average, those using RTS
bought 14.4 tomatoes per month, and those using refrigerated storage
13.0. At first glance, the difference may appear significant, but sta-
tistical analysis indicated that the differences were due to
socio-economic and demographic effects rather than room temperature
storage.
Direct Evaluation of Promotional Media
Direct evaluations of the various promotional media were obtained
through two series of direct questions. The first, addressed to shoppers
that had switched to room temperature storage, determined the sources of
information that influenced them to switch. The second set of questions
was asked of all shoppers using tomatoes, and focused upon direct recall
of specific media. Both sets of direct evaluations follow.
Stated reasons for switching to RTS
Shoppers that had switched to RTS within the past three years were
asked what sources of information had persuaded or caused them to do so.
The question was phrased in a strictly open-ended manner to avoid bias-
ing the respondents. About one-fifth of the shoppers could not remember
what had influenced them, but about three-fourths of the recent switchers
had been influenced by word-of-mouth or said they had discovered RTS
themselves.
Over all ADI's, television commercials were mentioned by slightly
over 13 percent. The R/L sample was excluded from this figure because no
T.V. advertising had been used prior to the interviews. The data also
reflect this because only 1.2 percent of the R/L-1 switchers said that
T.V. commercials had caused them to adopt RTS, compared with a low of 9.5
percent in Pittsburgh to a high of 17.3 percent in New York (Appendix
Table 24). T.V. advertising was followed by magazine and newspaper
stories with 11.5 and 7.2 percent, respectively. Magazine ads were cited
by almost 7 percent, and T.V. shows and in-store signs by about 4 per-
cent. Store personnel and recipe leaflets and brochures were mentioned
by approximately 3 and 2 percent, respectively, and information printed
on packages.by 0.5 percent (Appendix Table 24).
It was.assumed that the promotional media cited by shoppers as
having influenced them to switch to RTS had also influenced the shoppers
that could not remember specific sources of information, those that had
"discovered" it by themselves, and also the originators of the word-of-
mouth advice. By eliminating these three categories and recalculating
"adjusted" percentages, it was implicitly assumed that the promotional
media mentioned had influenced the total population of switchers,
although with the same relative impact as indicated in Appendix Table
24. These adjusted percentages show the relative importance of various
sources of information influencing consumers to switch to RTS, on a base
of 100 (Table 11).
The adjusted percentages probably overestimate the media effects to
some degree, whereas the direct percentages shown in Appendix Table 24
understate them. Adjusted percentages were also calculated for T.V. com-
mercials for each ADI as an indication of the impacts of T.V. advertising
(Appendix Table 25).
The effectiveness of T.V. advertising was estimated using the
adjusted percentages for Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Pittsburgh.
The R/L-l sample was excluded from the analysis because T.V. commercials
had not been used in the R/L ADI prior to the interviews. The R/L-2
sample was not included because it was felt that consumers did not have
adequate time between the T.V. advertising and interviews to adopt beha-
vioral changes with respect to tomato storage practices.
Table 11.--Relative importance of various sources of information influenc-
ing consumers to switch to room temperature storage within the
last three years, direct responses, all ADI's.
All ADI's, All ADI's
Source of Information Excluding T.V. All ADI's Except R/L
--------- Percenta-
T.V. commercials -- 22.7 23.9
Magazine stories 29.4 22.7 21.8
Newspaper stories 18.3 14.1 15.2
Magazine ads 17.0 13.2 11.5
T.V. shows 11.5 8.6 9.9
In-store signs 8.9 6.9 6.6
Store personnel 8.5 6.6 6.2
Leaflets 5.5 4.3 3.7
Information on package 1.3 1.0 1.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
percentages are based
All ADI's, excluding T.V. =
R/L = 243.
upon the following numbers of observations:
245, All ADI's = 304, and All ADI's except
For each of the remaining ADI's, the total number of households that
had switched to RTS was estimated. Then, the adjusted percent citing
T.V. ads as the reason for switching was used to estimate the number of
households in each ADI that had switched to RTS as a result of T.V.
advertising. Finally, the T.V. advertising budget for each ADI was used
to calculate the average cost of converting households to RTS. The
lowest average cost per household conversion was Philadelphia, where it
was 38 cents, followed by Pittsburgh, with 44 cents per conversion. In
New York, the cost was 51 cents, but in Boston it was $1.03 per conver-
sion. Over all four ADI's, the average cost was 56 cents (Table 12).
Recall of media
Another type of direct evaluation for various media was respondents'
recall of advertising or publicity for fresh tomatoes. Recall also pro-
vided a means of measuring the impact of T.V. advertising in the Roanoke/
Lynchburg ADI through comparing recall rates for the R/L-1 and R/L-2
samples. Detailed analyses of the R/L-1 and R/L-2 samples showed that
they were very similar with respect to virtually all socio-economic and
demographic variables (Appendix Table 26).
T.V. commercials.--The R/L-1 sample had a recall rate of 10.5 per-
cent for T.V. commercials, even though none had been used in the market
by the FTE, nor anyone else so far as is known. Part of this apparently
spurious recall may have been due to respondents recalling local food
retailers' ads, publicity tapes, or public service announcements. It
may also have been due to the tendency of some respondents to try to
please the interviewer by reporting positive results, or simply a result
of faulty recall. In any event, it must be assumed that some degree of
Table 12.--Effectiveness of T.V. advertising, direct response, by ADI's.
Percent Adjusted
Households Switching Households Percent Households
Using b to Switching Citing d Switching Cost per
ADIa Tomatoes RTS to RTS T.V. Ads Due to T.V. Conversion
(1,000) (1,000) (1,000) (Dollars)
Boston 1,749.0 28.6 500.2 26.2 131.0 1.03
Philadelphia 2,265.6 31.1 704.6 23.7 167.0 0.38
New York 5,922.3 28.9 1,711.5 28.1 480.9 0.51
Pittsburgh 1,053.2 30.9 325.4 16.9 55.0 0.44
Total 10,990.1 29.5 3,241.7 25.7 833.9 0.56
aThe observations from R/L-1 were excluded because no T.V. advertising had
the interviews. Observations from R/L-2 were excluded because it was felt that
adequate time between the T.V. advertising and interviewing to adopt behavioral
tomato storage practices.
been conducted prior to
consumers did not have
changes with respect to
bBased upon total T.V. households found in Table 2 and tomato use figures from Table 5.
cRTS = Room Temperature Storage
dThis percentage of respondents citing T.V. commercials as a reason for switching to RTS is adjusted
to eliminate responses such as "word-of-mouth," "do not know," etc. The implicit assumption is that the
respondents that were in the eliminated categories were influenced by the same media and in the same pro-
portions as those that did recall specific sources.
eBased upon T.V. advertising expenditures shown in Table 2.
faulty recall occurred over all media types, which still allows for rela-
tive evaluations of the various media.
After the two-week period of T.V. advertising in the Roanoke/Lynch-
burg ADI, the T.V. commercial recall rate jumped to 30.3 percent (Table
13). Assuming that all of the T.V. commercial recall in the R/L-1 sample
was spurious and that a similar level of faulty recall was present in the
R/L-2 sample as well, it appears that 19.8 percent of the primary food
shoppers in all households using tomatoes had legitimate recall of T.V.
commercials for fresh tomatoes following the two-week advertising effort.
Of those having recall of T.V. commercials in R/L-2, 30 percent were able
to correctly identify some aspect of the "Tomato Man" or "Blizzard" spots
or were able to recall the basic message of the two spots. Thus, in the
entire R/L ADI, an estimated 60,700 households had recall of T.V. commer-
cials for fresh tomatoes in the week immediately following the two-week
advertising effort. The cost of reaching these households was slightly
over 18 cents each. An estimated 18,200 households, about 6 percent of
those using tomatoes, had correct recall of the basic FTE message. Thus,
the cost per correct household recall wasestimated to be about 60 cents.
In addition to the increase in recall of T.V. commercials in the
R/L-2 sample, an interesting "spill-over" effect was observed. During
the two-week period in which T.V. advertising was conducted, no other
promotional activities were used for fresh tomatoes in the Roanoke/Lynch-
burg ADI. Yet, consumers' recall of all other promotional media
increased significantly compared with the R/L-1 sample. The relatively
large sample sizes and the similarity of the two samples with respect to
socio-economic and demographic composition indicate that most of the
increased recall is due to a spill-over effect initiated by the T.V.
Table 13.--Consumers' recall of promotional media used for fresh tomatoes.
Media Type Boston R/L-1 R/L-2 Philadelphia New York Pittsburgh All AnI's
---------------------------------Percent---------- ------------------
Newspaper storiesc 27.8 31.4 37.1 36.9 28.8 32.4 32.4
Recipes, leaflets 25.6 27.4 29.4 26.4 23.4 26.1 26.3
Television commercials 15.3 10.5 30.3 17.7 16.1 20.4 19.9a
Magazine ads 9.7 15.7 23.9 15.7 12.5 14.6 15.3
Posters in stores 13.3 11.5 16.8 10.7 14.8 18.4 14.2
Other televisionb 10.3 10.3 17.1 13.5 11.1 16.0 13.1
Magazine stories 9.2 11.4 17.2 15.2 13.1 10.3 12.7
Radio commercials 3.3 6.0 10.1 6.1 6.7 6.4 6.4
aThe base used to calculate this percentage excludes observations in R/L-1 because no televi-
sion commercials had been aired prior to April 1, 1985.
bIncludes food shows, feature stories, and news stories.
CIncludes food page stories and recipes, but not price ads.
advertising. The spill-over recall is probably caused by heightened
awareness, and to confusion on the part of consumers as to the correct
source of the tomato advertising.
In other ADI's, recall of advertising for fresh tomatoes ranged from
15 percent in Boston to 20.4 percent in Pittsburgh. The average over all
ADI's, excluding R/L-1, was nearly 20 percent (Table 13). Recall of T.V.
advertising was similar over most socio-economic and demographic charac-
teristics. However, respondents with lowest educational levels and those
under 35 years of age had significantly higher recall (Appendix Table
27).
Those that recalled T.V. advertising were probed to determine speci-
fic settings, characters, and messages they recalled. Slightly over half
could not recall any specific details, but about 8 percent recalled suf-
ficient details to attribute their recall directly to the FTE-sponsored
commercials (Table 14). However, almost half of the respondents recall-
ing the "Tomato Man" or "Blizzard" commercials were in R/L-2. The
"Tomato Man" spot was apparently more effective than the "Blizzard" spot,
as it was recalled by almost three times as many respondents (Table 14).
Several knew the commercial they saw had something to do with storage of
fresh tomatoes, but they misinterpreted the message, saying that the com-
mercial said to refrigerate tomatoes.
The kitchen ripening concept was remembered by 11 percent of those
recalling T.V. commercials, but they could not give any other details
that would confirm the exact source. It is probable that these viewers
saw the two paid spots, but there is a chance that some of these respon-
dents viewed the publicity tape and thought it was a commercial. A few,
2.2 percent, mentioned details that confirmed that they had seen the
Table 14.--Recall of specific television commercial messages.
Message Number Percent
Paid FTE Advertising
Tomato man commercial; correct
message
Tomato man commercial; partial
message
Blizzard commercial; correct message
Blizzard commercial; partial message
Subtotal
Unidentified FTE spot, wrong message
Uncertain Sources
Kitchen ripening theme
Florida is source of fresh tomatoes
Publicity tapes
Nutritional information, fresh use
and selection
General tomato attributes, unknown
source
Other tomato advertising
Do not recall any message
Totals
14
10
0
5
29
2
40
3
8
20
20
48
194
364
3.8
2.7
0.0
1.4
7.9
0.5
11.0
0.8
2.2
5.5
5.5
13.2
53.3
100.0c
aRespondents were able to correctly recall some aspect or aspects of
the commercial, but did not mention the kitchen ripening theme.
bIncludes commercials of local food stores, food processors, and
sources other than FTE.
CDoes not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
publicity tape, also sponsored by the FTE. A very small number, less
than one percent, recalled Florida as a source of tomatoes, while about 5
percent mentioned details about nutritional information, selection and
use. An equal number recalled messages about general tomato attributes
(such as taste, color, and freshness), but enough details could not be
recalled to identify the source. Finally, about 13 percent mentioned
details that were definitely unrelated to the FTE's T.V. spots or publi-
city tape. Most could be attributed to local food stores or food proces-
sors and manufacturers (Table 14).
Newspaper stories.--Newspaper stories were the most frequently
recalled media, remembered by nearly a third of all respondents. How-
ever, there were significant differences among ADI's, with the recall
rate ranging from about 28 percent in Boston to 37 percent in R/L-2
(Table 13).
Tomato recipes, leaflets or booklets.--Slightly over one-fourth of
all shoppers using tomatoes recalled seeing tomato recipes, leaflets or
booklets. This category had the second largest recall. The differences
among ADI's were slight and were not statistically significant (Table
13). Recall was similar for most socio-economic and demographic groups,
but females and respondents in the lowest and highest educational groups
had the highest recall levels (Appendix Table 28).
Magazine ads.--Overall, the eight magazines used for FTE advertising
had the potential for reaching slightly over 65 percent of the target
households because less than 35 percent were non-subscribers (Appendix
Table 29). Magazine ads were the fourth most frequently mentioned item,
recalled in total by about 15 percent of the respondents. However, there
were significant differences among ADI's. Boston had the lowest recall
rate, 9.7 percent, and R/L-2 the highest with nearly 24 percent (Table
13). Recall for other ADI's was very near the overall value of 15 per-
cent. Some of the differences among ADI's were apparently due to the
differences in subscription rates. Examination of subscription rates by
ADI revealed that Boston had the lowest overall subscription rate for the
eight magazines used for FTE advertising, while R/L-2 had the highest
(Appendix Table 30). Recall was greatest for females, those in lower
educational categories, and 35- to 65-year-olds. Other socio-economic
and demographic characteristics had no discernible effect on recall
(Appendix Table 31).
Few of the interviewees could recall the nature of the magazine ad,
however. Less than 2 percent correctly remembered the basic message of
kitchen ripening. Several more percent associated "Florida" with the
message. In total, slightly more than 4 percent mentioned details which
could be attributed to the FTE-sponsored commercials (Table 15). How-
ever, nearly 7 percent of the responses were vague, mentioning pictures
of fresh tomatoes but recalling no specific messages. Some of these
could have seen the FTE ad which featured a red-ripe tomato, but in any
case, they failed to recall the basic FTE message. Over 55 percent of
those recalling magazine ads for fresh tomatoes could not recall any
specific message, and many others were clearly not attributable to the
FTE-sponsored ad (Table 15).
Posters in stores.--Overall, about 14 percent remembered seeing
posters in stores promoting fresh tomatoes, but there was significant
variation among ADI's. The percentage recalling posters ranged from
10.7 percent in Philadelphia to 18.4 percent in Pittsburgh (Table 13).
There were few significant differences in recall among socio-economic and
Tablel5.--Recall of specific magazine advertisement messages.
Message Number Percent
Correct message 5 1.6
Words "Florida Tomatoes" or "Buy Florida
Tomatoes" 8 2.6
Subtotal 13 4.2
Recipes, fresh use, serving suggestions,
general tomato attributes 64 20.5
Picture of tomatoes or word "tomatoes" 21 6.7
Processed product advertisements 11 3.5
Horticultural/gardening information 5 1.6
Sales or price information 1 0.3
Other tomato advertisinga 24 7.7
Do not recall any message 172 55.3
Total 311 100.0b
aAdvertisements from sources other than FTE.
bDoes not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
demographic categories; however, younger respondents tended to have sig-
nificantly greater recall (Appendix Table 32). Respondents recalling
posters in stores were also asked to recall what specific message the
poster contained. Over half could not recall any message, and over one-
fifth recalled price information or pictures of tomatoes. About 16 per-
cent remembered general product attributes being mentioned on the poster
(such as fresh, delicious, red-ripe, etc.), and about 3 percent remem-
bered nutritional information, recipes, and serving suggestions. About
one percent said posters referred to "Florida," but no one recalled the
"do not refrigerate" message used in the retail promotion (Table 16).
Even though posters had the fifth highest recall, this measure pro-
bably overestimates the relative importance of posters in the FTE promo-
tional program. This conclusion is drawn because many of the specific
messages recalled were judged to be price cards from sources other than
the FTE and because no one mentioned the basic message of kitchen ripen-
ing.
Other television.--Other television was defined for respondents as
"food shows, feature stories and news stories" to differentiate these
publicity items from T.V. commercials. Slightly over 13 percent of the
respondents recalled seeing them used for fresh tomatoes. There were
significant differences in recall among ADI's, ranging from a low of 10.3
percent in Boston and R/L-1 to 17.1 percent in R/L-2. New York, Phila-
delphia and Pittsburgh had recalled levels of 11.1, 13.5 and 16.0 per-
cent, respectively (Table 13). Recall was similar for all socio-economic
and demographic variables except income. Respondents with lowest incomes
had highest recall rates, and respondents with highest incomes had signi-
ficantly lower recall rates (Appendix Table 33).
Table 16.--Recall of specific in-store poster messages.
Message Number Percent
Do not recall 141 51.8
Posters with prices and/or pictures 59 21.6
General tomato attributes 45 16,5
Nutritional information, recipes, serving
suggestions 8 2.9
Recall Florida advertising 3 1.1
Other advertising (not FTE) 12 4.4
Miscellaneous 4 1.5
Total 272 100.0b
aMiscellaneous includes messages for prizes and identification of
tomato types, i.e., cherry tomatoes.
Does not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
Magazine stories.--Recall of magazine stories ranked seventh among
the promotional media used for fresh tomatoes, but the proportion recall-
ing them was not markedly different from the proportions recalling "other
television," posters and magazine ads. The overall recall rate was 12.7
percent, but it varied from 9.2 percent in Boston to 23.9 percent in
R/L-2 (Table 13). Much of the variation among ADI's is probably due to
differences in magazine subscription rates. There were no significant
differences in recall among socio-economic and demographic groups.
Radio commercials.--The FTE has sponsored no radio commercials per
se; however, during the past two seasons, a public service announcement
has been distributed to most AM and FM radio stations east of the
Mississippi River. Thus, the radio "commercials" that respondents
recalled were most likely the public service announcements or faulty
recall caused by spill-over from other media. In any event, recall of
radio was much lower than for any other media, reflecting the FTE's pro-
gram emphasis. In most ADI's, the recall rate was about 6 percent,
except in Boston where it was slightly over 3 percent. In R/L-2, the
rate was slightly over 10 percent, which emphasizes the spurious effects
of spill-over (Table 13). Recall of radio commercials was similar for
most socio-economic and demographic groups, but there were several excep-
tions. Those in lower educational groups and those over 65 years of age
had greatest recall (Appendix Table 34).
Indirect Evaluation of Media
Two indirect evaluations were made. The first, to be discussed
below, is a simple comparison of switching rates to room temperature
storage for the control ADI where no T.V. advertising had been
conducted, with switching rates in ADI's where T.V. advertising had been
used. The second indirect evaluation utilizes a relatively complex sta-
tistical model to determine the.factors that were associated with switch-
ing behavior.
Control ADI comparisons.--Because no T.V. advertising had been con-
ducted in the Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI prior to the first round of inter-
views, it was assumed that all switching to RTS was the result of all
other promotional activities. The switching rate observed in the R/L-1
sample was taken as the benchmark for comparisons with other ADI's to
isolate the effects of T.V. advertising. This makes the implicit assump-
tion that all other media effects were constant over all ADI's, including
Roanoke/Lynchburg.
The switching rate, 24.5 percent, observed in the R/L-1 sample was
subtracted from switching rates observed in the other four ADI's (Tables
10, 17). The R/L-2 sample was excluded because it was felt that consu-
mers did not have adequate time between the T.V. advertising and inter-
viewing to adopt behavioral changes with respect to tomato storage prac-
tices. The differences in storage rates between R/L-1 and the other four
ADI's were then applied to the population of tomato-using households to
estimate the number of households switching to RTS as a result of T.V.
advertising. This result, along with T.V. advertising expenditures for
the respective ADI's (from Table 5), allowed computation of the cost per
household converted to RTS. Estimated conversion costs ranged from 36
cents per household in Pittsburgh to $1.89 per household in Boston.
Over all four ADI's, the average cost per conversion was estimated to be
85 cents (Table 17).
Table 17.--Effectiveness of T.V. advertising, control ADI comparisons.
Households Switching Households
a Using Due b Switching Cost per
ADI Tomatoes to T.V.. Due to T.V. Conversion
(1,000) (Percent) (1,000) (Dollars)
Boston 1,749.0 4.1 71.7 1.89
Philadelphia 2,265.6 6.6 149.5 0.43
New York 5,922.3 4.4 260.6 0.93
Pittsburgh 1,053.2 .6.4 67.4 0.36
Total 10,990.1 5.0 549.2 0.85
aThe observations from R/L-1 were excluded because no T.V. advertising
had been conducted prior to the interviews. Observations from R/L-2 were
excluded because it was felt that consumers did not have adequate time
between the T.V. advertising and interviewing to adopt behavioral changes
with respect to tomato storage practices.
The percent switching due to T.V. advertising is simply the difference
between the observed percentage of switchers in the control ADI (R/L-1) and
the observed percentage of switchers in the other ADI's. The resulting per-
centage is applied to total households using tomatoes to calculate the num-
ber of households switching due to T.V.
The probit analysis model.--The purpose of this analysis was to
study the influence of household characteristics and consumers' recall of
various types of promotional media on the household's decision to switch
from refrigerated to room temperature storage for fresh tomatoes. A
basic assumption is that the response variable y*, i.e., whether the
respondent switched from refrigerated to RTS, can be explained by a set
of predetermined variables, x, which includes selected household charac-
teristics and respondents' recall of selected promotional media. The
regression relationship is
(1) yt = 0'xi + ui;
where i indicates household i. In practice, yi is unobservable. What we
observe is a dummy variable y, defined as
(2) y = 1 if yt > 0
= 0 otherwise
Relationships (1) and (2) can be estimated with a model developed by
Goldburger, the probit analysis model.
The probit model represented by (1) and (2) was estimated using the
tomato survey data for 653 households which resided in the New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston and Roanoke/Lynchburg ADI's. The house-
holds included in the analysis were those who used fresh regular round
tomatoes and either stored their tomatoes in the refrigerator during the
survey period (310 households) or switched from refrigerated to room tem-
perature storage within the past three years (343 households).
The explanatory variables, represented in (1) as x, used in the
analysis include the number of subscriptions to magazine that could have
contained FTE ads, an age (six age groups, i.e., 18, 23, 30, 42.5, 57.5
and 65 years of age) and an education dummy variable (1 for college
education and beyond, 0 otherwise), an income variable (i.e., five income
groups with values of 10, 15, 22.5, 42.5 and 50 thousand dollars, respec-
tively), a race dummy variable (1 for white, 0.otherwise), a sex variable
(1 for female, 0 otherwise) of the respondent, and six dummy variables,
which indicated whether or not the respondent recalled seeing or hearing
any advertising and publicity for fresh tomatoes in the past three years
in television commercials, television shows, magazine stories, newspapers,
radio programs, posters, and leaflets (1 for recalled, 0 otherwise), and
four dummy variables for the city in which the respondent resided (Roanoke/
Lynchburg was used as the base for comparison).
The education, age, income, race, sex and city variables were used to
see whether household characteristics had any impact on the switching
behavior of the respondent, and the magazine and media recall variables
were used to measure the impact of the different advertising and publi-
city media on the switching behavior of the respondent. The probit model
was estimated with the maximum likelihood method and the results are pre-
sented in Table 18.
In Table 18, the estimated coefficients and their corresponding
t-ratios are. presented in the first two columns; marginal probabilities,
i.e., the change in the probability of switching to RTS with respect to a
one-unit change in the explanatory variable, computed at sample means,
are presented in Column 3; the sample means or proportions and their
associated standard errors are presented in the last two columns.
The estimated coefficient for the magazine subscription variable
indicates that the likelihood that a respondent will switch to RTS is
positively related to the number of magazines to which the respondent
subscribes. Note that the magazines considered in this analysis are the
Table 18.--Maximum likelihood estimates for the probit model.
Explanatory Parameter Marginal Mean/ Standard
Variable Estimate T-Ratio Probability Proportion Error
Intercept -1.0549 3.9728a -0.3960 1.0000 0.0000
# Magazines 0.0418 1.5553b 0.0157 1.8055 2.0200
Education -0.0452 0.4184 -0.0170 0.4135 0.4928
Age 0.0095 2.4559a 0.0036 43.1501 13.7222
Income 0.0041 1.0872 0.0015 25.9495 14.2137
Race (White) 0.1286 0.8196 0.0483 0.8729 0.3333
Sex (Female) 0.3018 2.5236a 0.1133 0.7412 0.4383
Boston -0.1046 0.6532 -0.0393 0.2358 0.4248
Philadelphia 0.3493 2.0724a 0.1312 0.1868 0.3901
New York 0.2518 1.5072b 0.0945 0.1884 0.3913
Pittsburgh 0.1599 0.9856 0.0600 0.2067 0.4053
T.V. Comm. 0.3624 2.6594a 0.1361 0.1838 0.3876
T.V. Show 0.1954 1.2551b 0.0734 0.1394 0.3466
Newspaper -0.0764 0.5215 -0.0287 0.1485 0.3559
Radio -0.0923 0.7530 -0.0346 0.2542 0.4358
Posters 0.1010 0.8700 0.0379 0.3201 0.4669
Leaflets 0.0611 0.2317 0.0229 0.0429 0.2027
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Observations 653
% Wrong 0.3911
AICc 444.24
aStatistically different from zero at a = .025 level.
Statistically different from zero at a = .10 level.
cAIC represents the Akaike information criterion (Amemiya).
ones which carried fresh tomato advertising in the last two seasons. The
marginal probability estimate indicates that if the respondent increases
his magazine subscription by one, his probability of switching to room
temperature storage of fresh tomatoes will be increased by .016 (Table
18).
The result shows that the older the respondent, the more likely he/
she will switch to RTS. The estimated probability shows that as the
respondent's age is increased by one year, the probability of switching
would be increased by .0036. The estimated coefficient for the sex dummy
variable indicates that female respondents were more likely to switch
than their male counterparts. The result shows that if the respondent is
female, then the probability of switching to room temperature storage of
fresh tomatoes will be increased by .1133. The estimated coefficients
for the ADI dummy variables indicates that respondents residing in
Philadelphia or New York were more likely to switch than those who
resided in other ADI's.
The estimated coefficients for the media recall dummy variable show
that respondents recalling television commercials or television shows
were more likely to switch to RTS, while recalling other media did not
have significant impact on the likelihood of switching. If a respondent
recalled advertising in television or television shows, his probability
of switching increased by .1361 and .0734, respectively.
The above analysis indicates that the likelihood that a respondent
will switch to RTS is positively related to the number of magazines to
which he subscribes, his age, whether the respondent is female, and
whether the respondent recalls any television commercials or television
shows dealing with fresh tomatoes. Respondents residing in New York or
Philadelphia also had a greater likelihood of switching to RTS.
The relative importance of the statistically significant variables
on switching behavior can be ascertained from the magnitude of their
marginal probabilities. Thus, in terms of factors that can be influenced
by the FTE, it appears that T.V. commercials and publicity have the grea-
test impact on switching behavior. While the number of magazines the
respondents subscribed to that contained FTE ads was statistically signi-
ficant, this variable may be reflecting some other attribute of the
respondent (such as intelligence, inquisitiveness, etc.) rather than
actual influence of an FTE ad. Another reason to view the magazine sub-
scription variable with caution is that direct recall of magazine ads for
fresh tomatoes was examined in another probit model and was not found to
be statistically significant.
Member Survey
Members of the Exchange were interviewed by telephone in early May
to determine their attitudes toward various promotional and public rela-
tions activities and toward alternative levels of support. A total of
28 out of 29 members were interviewed, plus two former members. Everyone
interviewed was a top decisionmaker in his firm, and over 98 percent of
the Exchange's 1983-84 volume was represented by the members interviewed.
A copy of the questionnaire used is included in Appendix A.
Attitudes toward the overall promotional program and toward its
individual elements were explored by getting members to rate the effec-
tiveness of various activities and to make budget recommendations for
them. Individual elements evaluated were food publicity, the retail pro-
motion program, public relations activities, magazine advertising, and
television advertising.
Effectiveness ratings were made using a scale where 1 represented
"extremely effective" and 9 represented "extremely ineffective." Members'
ratings were averaged as in indication of their attitudes, and ratings
were also categorized to determine if responses were basically positive,
neutral, or negative. Ratings of 1-4 were considered positive, 5 neutral,
and 6-9 negative.
The food publicity program received the highest average rating, 2.4,
as well as one of the largest proportions of positive ratings. Twenty-
five of those interviewed gave it a positive rating, and only two a nega-
tive rating. Members' recommended annual budgets for food publicity acti-
vities ranged from zero to $150,000, but the average was nearly $50,000
(Table 20).
The retail promotion program also received high marks. The average
rating was 2.7. 25 members gave positive ratings, while only one
assigned it a negative rating. Recommended budgets ranged from $30,000
to $300,000 and averaged nearly $48,000 (Tables 19 and 20).
The public relations program received slightly lower evaluations,
with an average rating of 3.7. Slightly over 70 percent of the members
gave it a positive rating, but 21 percent were negative. Members' recom-
mended budgets for the public relations program ranged from zero to
$135,000 and averaged almost $31,000 (Tables 19 and 20).
Magazine advertising received an average rating of 3.8. Eighteen
members gave it positive ratings, but 3 were neutral and 8 negative.
Budget recommendations ranged from zero to $1 million and averaged nearly
$140,000 (Tables 19 and 20).
Television advertising received the lowest average rating, 3.9.
However, 19 members gave it positive evaluations, three were neutral, and
Table 19.
Florida tomato exchange members' evaluations of the
effectiveness of various promotional and public relations
programs.
Average Rating Categoriesb
Program Area Ratinga Positive Neutral Negative
Number/Percent -
Food publicity 2.4 25 2 2
86 7 7
Retail promotion 2.7 25 3 1
86 10 3
Public relations 3.7 20 2 6
71 7 21
Magazine advertising 3.8 18 3 8
62 10 28
Television advertising 3.9 19 3 6
68 11 21
Overall effectiveness 4.5 14 4 10
50 14 36
aRatings were made using
totally ineffective.
a scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
bResponses to the nine point scale described above were categorized as
follows: 1 through 4 = positive, 5 = neutral and 6 through 9 =
negative.
Table 20. Members' suggested budgets for various promotional and
public relations programs.
Budget Recommendations
Program area Average Minimum Maximum
- 1,000 Dollars - -
Food publicity 49.6 0 150
Retail promotion 47.6 30 300
Public relations 30.9 0 135
Television advertising 546.1 0 2,500
Magazine advertising 139.6 0 1,000
six negative (Table 19). Members' budget recommendations were extremely
variable, ranging from zero to $2.5 million. The average was about
$546,000 (Table 20).
Interestingly, members' evaluations of the overall promotional pro-
gram were more critical than of any of the individual components. The
overall effectiveness rating averaged 4.5, with 14 members giving posi-
tive ratings, 4 neutral, and 10 negative (Table 19). Members also rated
the current promotional program as to the degree that it represented the
desires of the membership, using a rating scale where 1 = extremely well
and 9 = not at all. The average rating was 4.4, with 13 positive
responses, 6 neutral, and 8 negative.
Extreme differences of opinion as to the size of the promotional
budget led to these results, with some members critical of the current
budget because it was viewed as being too large, and others critical
because the current budget was thought to be too small to be effective.
Thirteen members (45 percent) wanted the overall advertising and promo-
tion budget increased, eight (28 percent) wanted it to remain at 1984-85
levels, and eight also wanted the budget decreased.
With the exception of the Executive Committee and a few others,
members did not appear to be well informed as to the nature, extent, or
effectiveness of the promotional program. Members' estimates of the
Exchange's current season's total expenditures for promotion and public
relations ranged from $50,000 to $1 million and averaged about $452,000.
Many members were reluctant to evaluate the program, citing a lack of
facts. Seventeen members thought that the promotional programs had been
inadequately evaluated, but 12 thought that evaluations had been adequate.
The member survey also demonstrated that it is difficult for members
to second-guess the consumer. Members thought that 26 percent of all
households were storing tomatoes at room temperature, but the consumer
survey showed almost the exact opposite situation, with 74 percent using
RTS (Table 21). Members also thought that the proportion of shoppers
preferring Mexican tomatoes was twice as large as indicated by the consu-
mer survey, but their estimates of the number of recent switchers to RTS
were close to the survey results (Table 21).
Members were also asked to identify the aspects of the promotional
and public relations program which they liked best and those which they
disliked most. The things liked best included the kitchen ripening
theme, mentioned by seven members, and the T.V. advertising and food
publicity activities, each cited by six members. Magazine advertising
and T.V. publicity tapes were each mentioned by one member (Table 22).
Sixteen members, 53 percent of those interviewed, said they disliked
nothing in particular about the promotional and public relations program.
However, T.V. advertising and lack of adequate evaluation of all promo-
tional efforts were each mentioned by three members. Paid advertising in
general and the "Tomato Man" commercial in particular were each disliked
by two members. Rebuttals written to adverse publicity, poorly written
public relations press releases, the inadequacy of the current budget,
and advertising "Florida" tomatoes were each criticized by one member
(CTable 22).
Twenty-two members voiced suggestions for making the total program
more effective. The most frequently mentioned ideas were to make assess-
ments mandatory, to increase the promotional budget, and to educate con-
sumers as to unfair marketing margins, each mentioned by four members.
Three members suggested evaluating the program more often. Increased use
Table 21.
A comparison of FTE members' estimates of consumer's
attitudes and behavior with the consumer survey.
Members' Consumer
Item estimates survey
- Percent -
Proportion of households
storing tomatoes at
room temperature 26.0 74.2
Consumers preferences
for Mexican tomatoes 12.4 6.2
Proportion switching to
room temperature storage
within past three years 44.5 39.4
aBased upon the total number currently using room temperature storage.
Table 22. Aspects of the current promotional and public relations
program liked best and least by FTE members.
Likes and Dislikes Number of Members
Things liked best
Kitchen ripening theme 7
Television advertising 6
Food publicity 6
Magazine advertising 1
Television publicity tape 1
Things disliked most
Television advertising 3
Lack of evaluation 3
Paid advertising 2
Tomato man commercial 2
Rebuttals 1
Poorly written (PR) press releases 1
Inadequate budget 1
Advertising "Florida" tomatoes 1
aSixteen of those interviewed, 53 percent, disliked nothing.
of food'publicity and advertising were each suggested by one member.
Other ideas, each mentioned by one member, included greater use of color
in printed matter, promotion of foodservice use of tomatoes, promotion of
"Florida" tomatoes, stabilization of prices, and elimination of the Com-
mittee and the Exchange (Table 23).
Members were presented with a hypothetical array of assessment
levels and were asked at each whether they would continue to support the
activities of the Exchange. Exchange revenues were then projected for
each assessment, based upon the respective assessment levels and each
member's 1983-84 volume. At 3/4t per carton, 28 of the 30 individuals
interviewed said they would continue their support; revenues would amount
to approximately $260,000 (Table 24). At 2.0 cents, the number of sup-
porting members dropped to 18, but revenue increased to about $419,000.
When raised to 2.75 cents, hypothesized membership declined to 15, but
revenues were projected at slightly over $537,000. Increased to 3 cents,
membership was down to 13, but revenues remained at $537,000. At 3.5
cents per carton, membership dropped to 10 and revenues declined to about
$487,000. When assessments were increased to 4 and 5 cents per carton,
hypothetical membership went to nine and seven members, respectively, but
revenues increased to about $550,000 and $618,000, respectively. This
tendency for revenues to increase despite precipitous declines in the
number of members was due to the attrition of relatively small firms.
It appears unlikely that revenues to sustain high levels of promo-
tional activity can be obtained by raising assessments at this time.
Appreciably higher assessments will reduce the number of participants,
which will in turn reduce the willingness of the remaining firms to pay
the larger assessments for the benefit of the entire industry.
Table 23. Members' suggestions for making the overall promotional and
public relations program more effective.
Suggestions Number of Members
Make assessments mandatory 4
Increase the budget 4
Educate consumers as to unfair marketing margins 4
Evaluate the program more often 3
Use more food publicity 1
Use more advertising 1
Use more color in printed matter 1
Promote foodservice use of tomatoes 1
Promote "Florida" tomatoes 1
Stabilize prices 1
Eliminate the Committee and Exchange 1
No suggestions 8
Table 24. Member loyalty and
assessment levels.
projected annual FTE revenues at various
Members Projected
Assessment remaining annual
level loyala revenue
(Cents per carton) (Number) (1,000 dollars)
0.75 28 259.9
2.0 18 418.9
2.75 15 537.5
3.0 13 537.4
3.5 10 486.7
4.0 9 549.7
5.0 7 617.9
aA total of 28 current members and 2 former members responded to this
part of the survey.
bBased upon 1983-84 shipments. The 1984-85 shipment figures were not
available in time to be analyzed.
CONCLUSIONS
The evidence obtained by this study indicates that the kitchen
ripening theme has been very'successful in educating consumers. During
the past three years, roughly 12 to 13 million primary food shoppers in
states east of the Mississippi switched from refrigerated to room tem-
perature storage as a means of enhancing tomato quality.
All major elements of the Florida Tomato Exchange's promotion pro-
gram have apparently influenced consumers to adopt room temperature
storage. In market areas where T.V. advertising has been used, it has
been a major influence. However, there has been significant switching
in the absence of T.V. advertising. Magazine advertising, with its far-
reaching coverage, has reached many households with the kitchen ripening
message. However, the data indicate that the greatest numbers of con-
verts to room temperature storage have been obtained through food publi-
city and public relations efforts. These efforts have included magazine
and newspaper stories, T.V. publicity tapes, the media touring program,
in-store signs, and tomato recipes, leaflets and booklets. All have
contributed to the overall success of the program.
The bottom line in the evaluation process of the various promotional
activities is the determination of their relative efficiency, i.e., the
respective costs of converting households to room temperature storage.
In the four major market areas where T.V. advertising was used, a total
of $467,000 was spent. The average cost of converting a household to
room temperature storage in these four areas ranged from 56 cents to 85
cents, depending on the estimation technique used (Table 25). Magazine
advertising, because of its wider distribution, influenced nearly two
million households to adopt RTS at an average cost of slightly over 10
Table 25.
A summary of the effectiveness of television and magazine
advertising compared with all other promotional efforts.
Estimated Households
Promotional Method, Expenditures Converted to Room Cost per
Estimation Method 1982/83-1984/85 Temperature Storage Conversion
(Dollars) (1,000) (Cents)
T.V. Advertisinga
Direct Response 467,000 833.9b 56.0
Control City
Comparison 467,000 549.2c 85.0
Magazine Advertising 200,000 1,956.2d 10.2
All Other Methods 366,500 9,550.9d 3.8
alncludes expenditures and household conversions to room temperature
storage (RTS) in Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Pittsburg. Obser-
vations from R/L-1 were excluded because no television advertising had
been conducted prior to the interviews, and observations from R/L-2
were excluded because it was felt that consumers did not have adequate
time between the television advertising and interviewing to adopt
behavioral changes with respect to tomato storage practices.
bBased on calculations shown in Appendix Table 12.
cBased on calculations shown in Appendix Table 17.
dBased upon 53,011 television households east of the Mississippi River
(Arbitron Ratings Company, 1984) a fresh tomato usage rate of 88.6
percent (Table 5), and a 24.5 percent switching rate to room tempera-
ture storage. When the switching effects caused by television adver-
tising are eliminated, 17 percent is attributed to magazine adver-
tising and the remaining 83 percent to all other promotional factors
(Table 11).
cents each. All other promotional activities, which cost a total of
$366,500 over three seasons, was credited with converting over 9.5 mil-
lion households to RTS at a cost of 3.8 cents each (Table 25). Thus, the
food publicity and public relations activities appear to have been consi-
derably more effective in conveying the kitchen ripening concept to con-
sumers.
Future promotional efforts involving the kitchen ripening theme
should stress the more efficient methods, i.e., food publicity, public
relations, and magazine advertising. Because the kitchen ripening theme
is a relatively simple concept (not requiring visual reinforcement),
radio spots should be explored as a possible lower-cost media alterna-
tive. With careful planning, radio could also reach a larger proportion
of males that are primary food shoppers. Because of cost, T.V. advertis-
ing should probably be reserved for future market development activities
that would benefit from its visual impact, particularly promotional acti-
vities that would directly stimulate sales.
The kitchen ripening theme has a certain intuitive appeal to prac-
tically everyone engaged in growing and shipping mature green tomatoes,
since proper ripening is essential for the product's acceptance. How-
ever, some program redirection may be in order in view of the results of
this study.
Of particular significance is that three-fourths of all households
are already using RTS. Future marginal costs for conversions to RTS
will become greater as the pool of potential converts get smaller. Also,
a lot of conversions are currently due to word-of-mouth, and this effect
will continue. A finding of particular concern was that tomato purchases
by households using room temperature storage were not significantly
greater than for households refrigerating tomatoes. The argument that a
satisfied customer will buy more of the product seems plausible, but indi-
cations are that it may take an extremely long time to make a noticeable
impact on demand. The kitchen ripening theme should probably be con-
tinued, but at a reduced level to provide a maintenance or slow growth
effort. Redirected promotional funds could be used to develop new pro-
grams.
This study shows that many households do not purchase tomatoes in
the winter and spring because of "lack of taste" and because tomatoes
are "not ripe enough." Many, if not most, of the taste objections could
be overcome by offering properly ripened tomatoes at the retail level.
This could have an immediate impact on total sales, but the burden of
ripening would fall more heavily on retailers, rather than on consumers
as is presently the case. Obviously, there must be some incentive for
retailers for this approach to work, perhaps premium prices for "red
ripes" and increased total sales. A retailer-oriented program should be
explored.
Finally, the entire promotional program should be evaluated in terms
of member support. When interviewed, most were supportive of the promo-
tional programs of the past several seasons, but there was considerable
reluctance to approve assessment levels required for mass media advertis-
ing. Many were opposed to increased assessments because of financial
pressures caused by several unfavorable seasons. However, the overwhelm-
ing majority was willing to examine the promotional program with an open
mind, and indicated a willingness to provide the resources needed for an
effective program.
62
REFERENCES
Arbitron Ratings Company (1984), Arbitron Ratings: Television, 1984-85
Universe Estimates Summary, New York, NY.
Amemiya, T. (1981), "Qualitative Response Models:
of Economic Literature, 19(4):483-536.
A Summary," Journal
Goldberger, A. S. (1964). Econometric Theory, New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Ubc.
APPENDIX A
Questionnaires
63
Florida Agricultural Market Research Center
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida
CONSUMER QUESTIONNAIRE
City Household # Interviewer #
Hello, I'm and I'm conducting a research project for
the Agricultural Market Research Center at the University of Florida.
Your telephone number was selected at random so that we could ask you a few
questions about fresh tomatoes. Your opinions are important to us, and
we'll convey them to tomato farmers and shippers. May I ask you a few ques-
tions about tomatoes? It'll only take a few minutes. (IMMEDIATELY ASK
QUESTION 1).
IF RESPONDENT DOES NOT WISH TO COOPERATE, SAY:
We have no way of knowing who you are, where you live or even if your phone
is listed or not. However, we are trying to determine if having a listed or
unlisted phone is associated with people's willingness to be interviewed.
Is your phone number listed or unlisted? Refused
1. Do you buy most of the groceries for your household?
1. Yes (CONTINUE WITH QUESTION 2)
2. No
(IF NO): Could I speak to the person that does? (REPEAT INTRODUCTION
TO NEW PARTY; IF NOT AT HOME, CALL BACK ).
2. Does your household ever use any fresh tomatoes?
1. Yes 2. No
(IF NO): What is the one most important reason why you never buy toma-
toes? (IF "POOR QUALITY" OR "APPEARANCE" IS GIVEN, ASK WHAT
THEY MEAN BY THAT AND CHECK OR SPECIFY RESPONSE).
1. Do not like the taste
2. Price too high
3. Not ripe enough; too firm; light color
4. Not fresh enough; too ripe; too soft
5. Texture; mealy; dry
6. Short life (rot before using)
7. Health, diet-related (allergies, etc.)
8. Size of package too large
9. Bruised or damaged
10. Other (SPECIFY)
SKIP TO QUESTION 21.
64
3. Which of the following types of fresh tomatoes have you bought in the
last three months? (ENTER 1 IF BOUGHT, 2 IF NOT)
Cherry tomatoes
Plum-shaped or oblong cooking tomatoes
Regular round tomatoes
(IF NO REGULAR ROUND TOMATOES BOUGHT IN THE PAST THREE MONTHS):
What is the one most important reason why you have not bought any regu-
lar round tomatoes? (IF "POOR QUALITY" OR "APPEARANCE" IS GIVEN, ASK
WHAT THEY MEAN BY THAT AND CHECK OR SPECIFY RESPONSE).
1. Do not like the taste
2. Price too high
3. Not ripe enough; too firm; light color
4. Not fresh enough; too ripe; too soft
5. Texture; mealy; dry
6. Short life (rot before using)
7. Health, diet-related (allergies, etc.)
8. Size of package too large
9. Bruised or damaged
10. Other (SPECIFY)
SKIP TO QUESTION 5.
(IF REGULAR ROUND TOMATOES WERE CHECKED):
Do you have any regular round tomatoes on hand right now? (CHECK ONE)
1. Yes 2. No 3. Do not know
4. About how many times per month do you buy regular round tomatoes this
time of the year?
times per month
About how many individual regular round tomatoes do you buy each time?
tomatoes
Do you usually buy regular or hothouse round tomatoes in the winter and
early spring? (CHECK ONE)
1. Regular tomatoes
2. Hothouse tomatoes (that were fully ripe)
3. Do not know (DO NOT READ)
5. If you were planning to serve a tossed salad which contained pieces or
slices of regular round tomatoes, but the ones available did not look
good enough to buy, would you serve a tossed salad without tomatoes?
1. Yes 2. No
(IF YES): What one item, if anything, would you substitute most often
for the regular round tomatoes? (SPECIFY)
6. We are primarily interested in your use of regular round tomatoes in
the winter and early spring months. Where do you usually store toma-
toes that are not fully ripe when you first get them home? (UNAIDED:
CHECK ONLY ONE)
1. In refrigerator (SKIP TO QUESTION 11)
2. Outside refrigerator at room temperature (IF AT ROOM TEMPERA-
TURE): Do you use an enclosed ripening bowl or other con-
tainer for storing fresh tomatoes?
1. Yes
2. No
7. Have you switched from refrigerated to room temperature storage for
regular round tomatoes within the past two or three years?
1. Yes
2. No (longer ago than 3 years)
8. What effects, if any, has room temperature storage had on your satis-
faction with tomatoes? (CHECK ONE)
1. Greater satisfaction
2. No change
3. Less satisfaction
9. What sources of information persuaded or caused you to store tomatoes
at room temperature? (UNAIDED: PROBE FOR 2 SOURCES, ENTER A "1" NEXT
TO THE FIRST SOURCE, A "2" FOR THE SECOND IF GIVEN)
1. Word of mouth
2. Discovered by myself
3. Newspaper stories
4. Television commercials
5. Television shows
6. Magazine ads
7. Magazine stories
8. In-store signs
9. Store personnel
10. Leaflets, brochures
11. Do not remember/always known
12. Other (SPECIFY)
10. After they become fully red ripe, do you or do you not usually refri-
gerate?
1. Refrigerate
2. Do not refrigerate
11. How should regular round tomatoes be placed during storage? (READ
FIRST THREE ANSWERS ONLY)
1. Stem end up
2. Stem end down
3. On their sides
4. Do not know
12. When serving uncooked tomatoes, do you serve them (READ):
1. Cold, or at
2. Room temperature
13. During the winter and early spring, which of the following ways do you
serve fresh tomatoes? (ENTER "1" IF SERVED, "2" IF NOT)
1. Sliced without dressing (salt, pepper O.K.)
2. Sliced with dressing
3. In a tossed salad without dressing
4. In a tossed salad with dressing
5, On a sandwich or hamburger
6. As an ingredient in a cooked dish
7. Stuffed but uncooked
14. In general, using a rating scale where 1 = extremely satisfied and 9 =
extremely dissatisfied, how would you describe your overall satisfac-
tion with round tomatoes that you have bought in the past three months?
(rating)
15. What is the one most
toes available now?
GIVEN, ASK WHAT THEY
important reason
(IF "QUALITY" OR
MEAN BY THAT AND
that you buy regular round toma-
"APPEARANCE" ARE THE REASONS
CHECK OR SPECIFY RESPONSE)
1. Good taste
2. Good color
3. Freshness
4. Low price
5. Habit
6. Health reasons (low in
calories, nutritious)
7. Texture; not dry or mealy
8. Essential in recipes, menus
9. Advertisements
10. Only type available
11. Good smell
12. Other (SPECIFY)
16. What one thing do you dislike most about round tomatoes that are avail-
able now? (IF "QUALITY" OR "APPEARANCE" IS GIVEN, ASK WHAT THEY MEAN
BY THAT AND CHECK OR SPECIFY RESPONSE)
1. Taste
2. Price too high
3. Not ripe enough; too
firm; light color
4. Not fresh; too ripe;
too soft
5. Texture; mealy; dry
6. Only kind available
7. Short life (rot before
using)
8. Nothing (I dislike
nothing)
9. Other (SPECIFY)
67
17. Which of the following types of advertising or publicity, if any, do
you recall seeing or hearing for fresh tomatoes during the past two or
three years? (ENTER "1" IF MEDIA TYPE RECALLED, "2" IF NOT RECALLED)
T.V. commercials (IF RECALLED): What specific settings, charac-
ters, and messages do you recall fromthe commercialss? (SPECIFY)
Other T.V. such as food shows, feature stories, news stories
SMagazine ads (IF RECALLED): What message do you recall from the
magazine ad(s)? (SPECIFY)
SMagazine feature stories
SNewspaper food page stories and recipes (but not price ads)
Radio commercials
Posters in stores (IF RECALLED): What specific message do you
recall from the posterss? (SPECIFY)
Tomato recipes, leaflets or booklets
18. During the winter and early spring months, if you had a choice of round
tomatoes grown in either Mexico or Florida, which source would you
prefer?
1. Mexico (IF MEXICO): What is the one most important reason
that you prefer Mexican tomatoes? (CHECK OR SPECIFY)
1. Taste better
2. Lover prices
3. Good color
4. Fresher
5. Better texture; not
mealy or dry
S6. Good image of Mexico
S7. Smell good
_ 8. Other (SPECIFY)
2. Florida (IF FLORIDA): What is the one most important reason
that you prefer Florida tomatoes? (CHECK OR SPECIFY)
1. Taste better
2. Lower prices
3. Good color
4. Fresher
5. Better texture; not
mealy or dry
6. Good image of Florida
7. Smell good
8. Pesticides are regulated
in Florida
9. Sanitation better
10. Other (SPECIFY)
3. Indifferent
19. What major concern, if any, do
(CHECK OR SPECIFY ONLY THE ONE
1. No concerns at all
2. Bad taste
3. Not ripe enough;
4. Too ripe; too soft
5. Texture; too mealy
or dry
you have about tomatoes grown in Mexico?
MOST IMPORTANT REASON)
6. Pesticide residue
7. Sanitation
8. Loyalty; should buy
American products
9. Other (SPECIFY)
20. Within the past two years, which of the following magazines, if any,
have you received regularly, either by subscription or from another
person? (ENTER "1" IF RECEIVED, "2" IF NOT RECEIVED)
Ladies Home Journal Southern Living
SFamily Circle Better Homes and Gardens
Woman's Day McCalls
Good Housekeeping Redbook
21. How long have you lived in the greater (SPECIFY CITY)
area?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Less than one year
At least one year, but less than two
At least two, but less than three years
Three or more years
22. During a typical weekday (Monday through Friday) in the two-hour period
between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning, how many minutes do you spend
watching T.V.?
minutes
23. About how many hours do you spend watching T.V. on a typical weekday in
the seven-hour period between 9:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the
afternoon?
hours
24. How many adults (18 or older) are in your household?
25. How many children (under 18) are in your household?
69
26. What is the highest grade of school that you have completed? (CIRCLE)
Some grade school: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Grade school graduate: 8
Some high school: 9 10 11
High school or technical school graduate: 12
Some college or vocational school: 13 14 15
College graduate: 16
Advanced college degree: 17+
27. To which
1.
2.
of the following age categories do you belong?
Under 18 3. 25-34 5. 50-64
18-24 4. 35-49 6. 65 and older
28. Which of the following classifications best describes your annual
household income? (AFTER TAXES)
1. Under $10,000 4. $35,000-49,999
2. $10,000-19,999 __ 5. $50,000 and over
3. $20,000-34,999 6. Refused (DO NOT READ)
29. Do you classify yourself as:
1. White (not Hispanic)
2. Black (not Hispanic)
3. Hispanic
30. Are you:
1.
2.
4.
5.
Asian
American Indian
Male or
Female
31. One last question: Because your number was selected randomly, is your
phone:
1. Listed or
2. Unlisted
TOMATO ADVERTISING STUDY
MEMBER QUESTIONNAIRE
Firm:
Name:
Telephone Number:
1. How long has your firm been a member of the Florida Tomato Exchange?
seasons
2. During the past three seasons, how many times have you served on the
Board of Directors?
times
3. Are you serving on the Board of Directors now? ] Yes [] No
4. During the past three seasons, how many times have you served on the
Executive Committee?
times
5. Are you serving on the Executive Committee now? 7 Yes
D No
I want to ask you about some specific program areas in a moment; but
before we get into details, how would you describe the overall effectiveness
of advertising and public relations efforts by the Exchange, using a rating
scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 = totally ineffective?
6. Would you like to see the overall advertising and promotion budget:
7 Increased [F Remain the same L Decreased
7. What would you estimate the total expenditures of the Exchange to be
during the current season for the promotion and public relations pro-
gram?
$________S
We have classified the various promotional efforts into several major
categories, although there is some overlap. I want to describe each cate-
gory to you and get your opinion of it.
8. The first category is food publicity. This includes such things as
press releases mailed to food editors of 200-300 major papers, mater-
ials to facilitate color photos to major newspapers, television
releases (200 stations), radio scripts (250 stations), mat columns
(1,000 papers), a three-minute T.V. publicity tape (50 stations), and
arranging guest appearances on T.V. shows for industry representatives
(primarily Wayne Hawkins). Considering the current season's budget is
about $30,000:
A. Using a rating scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
totally ineffective, how would you rate this effort?
B. What do you think should be budgeted, given what you know
about this part of the program?
9. The second major area is the retail promotion program. This has been
called the "Great Tomato Crusade." Kits consisting of recipe leaflets,
a news release which can be used in shoppers' bulletins, ad slicks, and
POP pricecards and kitchen ripening information signs are made avail-
able through personal contacts to produce merchandisers and consumer
information specialists of major retail chains. This program has been
used in anywhere from 2,500 to 4,500 stores per season. The current
season's budget is about $60,000.
A. Using a rating scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
extremely ineffective, how would you rate this retail program?
B. What do you think should be budgeted? $
10. The third major item is classified as public relations. This consists
of general interest press releases and feature stories dealing with a
wide range of industry topics and releases which refute adverse publi-
city, dissemination of public service announcements (radio spots) to
stations east of the Mississippi River and preparation of miscellaneous
items such as bumper stickers, buttons, calendars and the slideset used
by Mr. Hawkins. The approximate cost of this program is $27,000 this season.
A. Using a rating scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
totally ineffective, how would you rate the public relations
program?
B. What do you think should be budgeted? $
11. Another major area is paid advertising. A 30-second T.V. commercial
has been aired in 20 major U.S. markets on daytime T.V. The number of
spots varies from city to city; but in most cities, commercials
appeared 15-20 times per week from two to four weeks during the season.
$400,000 will be spent this season.
A. Using a rating scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
totally ineffective, how would you rate paid T.V.?
B. What do you think should be budgeted for paid T.V.?
12. Paid magazine ads were also used. One-third paid, full-color ads were
placed in five major women's magazines such as Better Homes and Gar-
dens, Southern Living, etc. The ads cost about $20,000 each, for a
total expenditure of about $100,000.
A. Using a rating scale where 1 = extremely effective and 9 =
totally ineffective, how would you rate paid magazine adver-
tising?
B. How much do you think should be budgeted for magazine ads?
13. What proportion of the households in our survey store tomatoes cor-
rectly; that is, at room temperature?
%
14. What proportion of households that currently store tomatoes at room
temperature switched to room temperature within the past two to three
years?
15. What proportion of shoppers prefer Mexican tomatoes? %
16. Have past evaluations of the Exchange's promotion and advertising pro-
grams been:
SToo thorough [ About right [ Inadequate
17. To what degree do you feel the current program represents the desires
of the membership, using a rating scale where 1 = extremely well and
9 = not at all?
18. What one thing, if anything, do you like best about the current promo-
tion and advertising program of the Exchange?
19. What one thing, if anything, do you dislike most?
20. If the assessment were increased to cents to cover the cost of
the P & A Program, would you continue to support the Exchange?
Cents Yes No
2.0
2 3/4
3.0
3 1/2
4.0
5.0
21. Which do you prefer for the industry: ] Mandatory assessments
] Voluntary assessments
22. What suggestions do you have to make the overall program more effec-
tive?
APPENDIX B
Tables
Appendix Table 1.--Proportion of households using fresh tomatoes, by demo-
graphic characteristic.
Characteristic
Households
Number Percent
Household Size
326
657
405
407
322
4
5 or more
Education Level
Some grade school or high school
High school or technical school graduate
Some college or vocational school
College graduate
Income
Under $10,000
$10,000-19,999
$20,000-34,999
$35,000-49,999
$50,000+
Under 25
25-34
35-49
50-64
65 or older
224
375
436
377
143
188
505
664
445
313
Race
White (not Hispanic)
Black (not Hispanic)
Hispanic
Asian/American Indian
1,867
178
25
34
Sex
Male
Femal e
All Households
477 86.7
1,645 89.4
2,133 88.6
aChi-square analysis indicates that fresh tomato
cally different for several demographic groups. They
income, and age. Respective Chi-square probabilities
.0001.
usage was statisti-
were household size,
were .0001, .0005 and
Age
80.7
87.0
90.4
92.1
94.7
84.8
89.1
89.3
89.7
83.6
89.1
91.8
93.5
89.9
85.4
89.1
91.8
89.5
82.2
88.5
92.2
80.6
87.2
Appendix Table 2.--Primary reasons given for never buying tomatoes.
Reason Number Percent
Do not like taste 153 57.3
High price 27 10.1
Health reasons (allergies, etc.) 26 9.7
Not ripe 17 6.4
Use only home-grown tomatoes 14 5.2
Not fresh 6 2.2
Bruised or damaged 5 1.9
Poor texture 3 1.1
Do not or seldom buy groceries 3 1.1
Package size too large 2 0.7
Short life 2 0.7
Miscellaneousa 3 1.1
Do not know 6 2.2
Total 267 100.0b
aMiscellaneous includes "use only canned tomatoes," "not readily
available," and "don't eat enough to buy them."
Does not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
Appendix Table 3.--Primary reasons given for not buying tomatoes within the
previous three months.
Reason Number Percent
Do not like the taste of those available 49 33.6
Use only home-grown tomatoes 23 15.7
Not ripe 18 12.3
High price 14 9.6
Not fresh 12 8.2
Only buy them when locally in season 6 4.1
Poor texture 5 3.4
Health reasons (allergies, etc.) 6 4.1
Short life; bruised, damaged 4 2.7
Miscellaneous 4 2.7
Do not know 5 3.4
Total 146 100.0b
package size too
aMiscellaneous includes dislike of hothouse tomatoes,
large, and size of tomatoes too small.
Does not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
Appendix Table 4.--Primary reasons
winter and early spring.
given for buying tomatoes available in
Reason Number Percent
Good taste 802 38.9
Essential in recipes 330 16.0
Habit 328 15.9
Nutritious; low calorie 160 7.8
Only type available 122 5.9
Good color 112 5.4
Fresh 87 4.2
Low price 56 2.7
Texture 27 1.3
Easy to prepare; many ways to prepare 14 0.7
Advertisements 7 0.3
Miscellaneous 2 0.1
Don't know 13 0.6
Total 2,060 100.0b
aMiscellaneous includes attributes such as long shelf
size, and those who like all aspects of tomatoes but could
one reason.
bDoes not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.
life, smell,
not isolate any
Appendix Table 5.--Average overall satisfaction ratings of winter and early
spring round tomatoes, by selected socio-economic and
demographic characteristics.
Mean
Characteristic Number Value
Household Size
1 316 4.1z
2 642 4.0z
3 398 3.8z
4 403 4.0z
5 or more 315 3.8z
Education Level
Some grade school or high school 320 3.5y
High school or technical school graduate 917 4.2z
Some college or vocational school 304 4.0zy
College degree or more 534 4.0zy
Age
Under 25 186 4.0zy
25-34 498 4.1zy
35-49 652 4.0zy
50-64 435 4.1z
65 and older 303 3.6y
Income
Under $10,000 219 3.7zy
$10,000-19,999 370 3.7zy
$20,000-34,999 425 3.6y
$35,000-49,999 374 4.1z
$50,000 or more 140 4.6
Race
White (not Hispanic) 1,830 4.5z
Black (not Hispanic) 175 3.9y
Hispanic 24 4.1zy
Other 33 3.2y
Sex
Male 468 3.8
Female 1,611 4.1
Overall 2,090 4.5
aMeans with the same letter are not significantly different at the
0.05 probability level. The mean values shown here are least squares means
obtained with a general linear model which expressed the overall rating as
a function of all socio-economic and demographic variables. Probabilistic
choice models such as the multinomial logit or multinomial probit model
would have been more technically correct, but computer software for these
models was not readily available. The results shown are thought to be
reasonable approximations, however.
Appendix Table 6.--Average household tomato purchases, by ADI.
ADI Average Numbera
Times Purchased per Household per Month
R/L-2 3. 3
New York 3.3zy
R/L-1 3.1y
Boston 3.0y
Philadelphia 2.6x
Pittsburgh 2.6x
All ADI's 3.0
Number of Tomatoes Purchased Each Time
New York 4.6z
Boston 4.5z
R/L-1 4.4z
Pittsburgh 4.4z
R/L-2 4.2z
Philadelphia 4.1z
All ADI's 4.4
Tomatoes Purchased per Month
R/L-1 16.7z
R/L-2 16.3z
New York 14.9zy
Boston 14.9zy
Pittsburgh 12.2zy
Philadelphia 11.0
All ADI's 14.3
aAverages (means) with the same letter are not significantly different
at the 0.5 profitability level.
Appendix Table 7.--Average quantity of tomatoes purchased per month, by
socio-economic and demographic characteristic.
Characteristic Meansa
Number of Tomatoes
Household Size
5 19.4z
4 18.6z
2 17.0z
3 16.9z
1 12.7
Education Level
Some grade school or high school 19.6z
High school or technical school graduate 17.1z
Some college or vocational school 15.7zy
College graduate 15.2y
Age
50-64 19.2z
35-49 17.0z
Under 25 16.4z
25-34 16.0z
65 or older 15.8z
Income
Under $10,000 19.7z
$10,000-19,999 16.6z
$35,000-49,999 16.5z
$20,000-34,999 16.1z
$50,000 or more 15.6z
Race
Hispanic 21.1z
Other 17.6z
White (not Hispanic) 14.9z
Black (not Hispanic) 13.9z
Sex
Male 19.3
Female 14.4
aMeans used are least squares means. They were estimated using a
general linear model which expressed fresh tomato purchases as a function
of the above socio-economic and demographic variables. Means with the same
letter are not significantly different at the 0.05 probability level.
Appendix Table 8.--Serving methods, by significant demographic characteristic.
In a In a as an
Tossed Tossed On a Ingredient
Sliced Sliced Salad Salad Sandwich In a Stuffed
Without With Without With or Cooked but Not
Characteristic Dressing Dressing Dressing Dressing Hamburger Dish Cooked
----------------------------- Percent a-- ---- -----
Household Size
4
5 or more
Education Level
Some grade school or
high school
High school or technical
school graduate
Some college
College graduate
Age
Under 25
25-34
35-49
50-64
65 or older
53.1
49.2
49.7
53.8
42.7
56.4
47.3
43.8
40.8
43.8
41.8
46.5
50.8
50.2
74.9
76.5
82.2
75.4
73.9
20.9
16.2
23.2
23.3
24.9
Continued
Appendix Table 8.--Serving methods, by significant demographic characteristic continued.
In a In a as an
Tossed Tossed On a Ingredient
Sliced Sliced Salad Salad Sandwich In a Stuffed
Without With Without With or Cooked but Not
Characteristic Dressing Dressing Dressing Dressing Hamburger Dish Cooked
------------------------------Percenta ......
Income
Under $10,000 53.4
$10,000-19,999 49.6 -
.$20,000-34,999 48.6
$35,000-49,999 41.5
$50,000 or over 39.2
Race
White (not Hispanic) -- -- 81.2 -- 43.8
Black (not Hispanic) -- -- 74.7 -- 46.3
Hispanic -- -- 68.0 -- 64.0
Other -- -- 67.6 -- 61.8
Sex
Male -- -- 74.7
Female -- -- -- 81.8
Overall 43.9 50.3 32.1 79.9 75.6 44.0 21.3
percentages are based upon 1,540 to 2,119 observations, depending on serving method. Statistical
significance was determined with Chi-square analyses. For all categories where percentages are reported,
P < 0.05.
Appendix Table 9.--Respondents' willingness to serve a tossed salad without
fresh tomatoes, by ADI.
ADI Would Would Not Total
--------------- Percenta ------
Boston 66.6 33.4 100.0
R/L-l 62.7 37.3 100.0
R/L-2 65.4 34.5 100.0
Philadelphia 70.8 29.2 100.0
New York 73.9 26.0 100.0
Pittsburgh 78.3 21.7 100.0
All ADI's 69.6 30.4 100.0
percentages are based upon 2,127 tomato-using households. Totals may
not sum due to rounding. Chi-square analysis indicates there are signifi-
cant differences among ADI's, P = 0.0001.
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