Can marketing make better researchers?

I'm glad to share with you a marketing research project I've been working on with Dr. Deborah Cowles of the VCU Marketing Department. The project evolved from a research paper I wrote for a Buyer Behavior class I took with Dr. Cowles. The topic of my paper was self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, as defined by Albert Bandura, is

the certainty one possesses that he can successfully execute a behavior that will result in a desired outcome.

Unlike self-confidence which is a more general feeling of mastery, self-efficacy is task-specific. Moreover, the more self-efficacy one possesses, the more likely a person is to persist in the task and be more successful at it. Therefore, high self-efficacy is linked to improved performance.

Many academics and practitioners are interested in self-efficacy. Marketers are interested in it as a means of encouraging people to use self-service options. Librarians and teachers have studied self-efficacy as a factor in achieving improved learning outcomes.

Why did I choose to write about this topic? And what does it have to do with libraries? There's been a lot of talk in library circles about the need to promote electronic resources (i.e. databases). I thought, perhaps, that boosting students' self-efficacy as it relates to electronic library resources would encourage them to utilize them more often and more effectively. According to Bandura, there are 4 main ways of fostering self-efficacy: (In order of effectiveness) past performance, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. The problem is that it's difficult to give students the benefit of past performance because, at least at my library, it's impossible to reach every student through library instruction. However, it's possible to use promotional methods to model behavior (vicarious experience) and persuade students that they are up to the challenge of using e-resources (verbal persuasion). Our study will test our hypothesis that promotional treatments can be used to beef up students' library e-resource self-efficacy, which in turn will encourage them to use those resources more frequently and effectively.

Our initial study, in a nutshell, found that library e-resource self-efficacy is positively related to students' intention to use those resources, their attitude toward them, and the amount of time they spend using them. Also, we found that instructors' encouragement and expectations played a significant role in shaping students' self-efficacy.

So far, this research has been well-received. Our first report of the findings won the O.C. Ferrell Marketing Award/best paper on the track for the 2007 Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators Conference. To top it off, we received a grant from the VCU School of Business to continue work this summer on testing our promotional treatments that could foster self-efficacy among students. I'm grateful to Dr. Cowles for introducing me to marketing research design and analysis. It's been quite a learning experience!

I hope this project demonstrates that marketing can be used to achieve positive ends, like more sophisticated researchers. Granted, there is some self-interest at work here (I'd like for students to use our stuff), but the ultimate aim is to equip students to participate in the research taking place on campus in an informed way. Ultimately, by being knowledgeable about the possibilities available to them through online databases, students will become savvy about how the find, use, and evaluate information - a skill that will help them further their goals throughout life.

Getting a handle on WOM through focus groups

Though the usefulness and applicability of focus groups continues to be debated, one market researcher contends that they are an excellent tool for understanding how word-of-mouth works. George Silverman's article, How and Why to Research Word of Mouth outlines a methodology for uncovering the WOM process including the source, sequence, and content of messages.

In other WOM news, I found an article from Pittsburg's Post-Gazette.com that gives a good overview of how modern WOM marketers use technology to track buzz, and it describes the history of the company BzzAgent (Marketing: 'Word of mouth' enters 21st century). BzzAgent, by the way, is an interesting company and I recommend reviewing their site as well as how it works. I think the company has some lessons to teach about how we can engage our own patrons and support them in spreading the word.

Mom power

We hear a lot about Gen Xers and Yers, but what about Gen X and Gen Y moms? This influential, Web-savvy consumer segment is the topic of an Intelligence Group report, Mom Intelligence, which is discussed in a recent iMedia piece. These busy moms rely on the Internet to conduct banking and other transactions, learn about child care, socialize with other mothers, keep up with family, and get the scoop on products and services. Even though their schedules are full, they make time for using the Internet in search of people and things that will make their offline lives better, according to the research findings. They're also more likely than non-moms to spread the word on the useful services and products they encounter.

If these women are among your target patrons, this report offers lots of service ideas for you. For example, why not provide online tutorials, blogs, or webcasts to teach parents how to identify and evaluate quality information on child care? Librarians could also sponsor reading groups (online or in-person) that focus on childhood development issues and that perhaps draw in local service providers. The key, it appears, is to make services for this group quick, convenient, and online if possible by creating more specialized online content and taking advantage of the social networks they rely on for quality information. Is anyone currently reaching out to Gen X/Y moms with stories to share? Post them in a comment!

Note: The Intelligence Group offers a free daily newsletter on its Trend Central site (registration required). The focus is on youth culture, and recent topics include smartpox, gaming theaters, and popular music artists. This newsletter looks like it would be particularly great for you youth services librarians in the crowd, or those interested in pop culture.

Update: I just found a Trend Central report on Teen Websites to Know - neat!

Marketing metric: Attitudes

One fun way to measure attitudes is by using a Semantic Differential Scale (at least, I think it's fun). This scale is used by marketers to measure things like attitudes toward a brand. If you're interested in finding out what patrons' image of your library is, this could be the scale for you.

It works like this: Subjects make judgements about your library based on a series of 7-point scales (Note: Some scales have more or fewer points). On either end of the scales, there are polar-opposite adjectives, such as "Fast"/"Slow", "Modern"/"Old-Fashioned," and so on (example). Patrons indicate how strongly they relate to these concepts by marking the point on the scale that most closely matches their attitudes. You could also ask patrons to evaluate your library and a competitor of interest to see how attitudes vary.

You would score the scale by assigning scores (7,6,5,4... or +3...0...-3) then take the mean or median to compare results with a competitor, if you'd like. (There are other statistical tests you can perform also, but I would recommend getting a book on the topic for details).

I terrific and concise article, Considerations When Constructing a Semantic Differential Scale by Jayne Al-Hindawe delves into more detail, including how to pick appropriate adjectives, how many pairs of adjectives to present, etc.

Influencing the influential influencers

If you're like me, you're probably excited about the possibilities presented by word-of-mouth marketing, but are less certain about how to identify the influencers who will pass along their positive library experiences. We're not alone. Marketers are trying to answer the same question. I found a few pieces that address this topic that may help:

1. ClickZ mentions a study conducted by Yahoo! and comScore Networks that found that Brand Advocates (WOM spreaders) tend to spend more time online than non-advocates conducting searches and using social media. As the article states, "Researchers believe that as these advocates are investing more time and effort into their own decision making process, they are more compelled to talk about their purchases with others."

2. On Adotas, Jim Calhoun writes about a planning tool called a Viral Marketing Matrix in his piece, "Enter the Viral Marketing Matrix: Exploring the Template to Motivate Your Word-of-Mouth Revolution." The two dimensions of this matrix are Personal Appeal and Social Appeal (high/low). Simply stated, items of high personal appeal are things people want, and those of low personal appeal are unwanted. Similarly, items with high social appeal entail a social benefit; those with low social appeal entail a stigma. By figuring out where your services fall in this matrix, you can determine how to best present your message and what incentives you may need to offer. This approach appealed to me because I think library services can easily be thought of in these terms.

3. DoubleClick Inc., a digital marketing technology and services provider, released survey results in its report, Influencing the Influencers: How Online Advertising and Media Impact Word of Mouth (PDF). The study produced a number of interesting results, including the fact that "Influencers use more of all media, especially digital media. When building a marketing campaign that aims to reach influencers and tap the potential of word of mouth, digital media needs to be a critical part of the plan. Emerging media platforms such as online video, mobile web content, and blogs are also highly concentrated with influencers." Page 9 of the report lists recommended books for leveraging WOM.

Influencers are not necessarily the patrons who use our services the most. By learning about the characteristics of the patrons who influence others, we can better identify and engage them in our marketing efforts.

Top trends

The January 2007 Trend Briefing from Trendwatching.com has been making the rounds on in the blogosphere, but belongs here as well. Take a look at what Trendwatching foresees as the Top 5 Consumer Trends for '07.

In other trendy news, It's All Good reports on the PEW Internet study, "Social Networking Websites and Teens" and adds that OCLC will be publishing a complementary report in the spring. As an increasing number of non-teens are using these sites, I'd also be interested in knowing more about their social networking behavior. The OCLC study appears to have a broader age range (14+ years) than the PEW study (12-17 years).