Running head: DOWNY Q

`1

Business Research 5910

Individual Work One Week Ten
Downy Q
Loraine J Jackson
Everest University

DOWNY Q

2
Downy Q

What course of action would you recommend to Downy Qs management based on the
available descriptive statistics to the advertising campaign? Explain the rationale for your
recommendation.
According to the text, descriptive analysis is the elementary transformation of data in a
way that describes the basic characteristics such as central tendency, distribution, and variability
(Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2013, p. 484). Descriptive analysis also entails a level of
scale measurement which will influence the choice of descriptive statistics. Additionally,
statistics appropriate for lower- order scales, nominal and ordinal, are appropriate for higherorder scales, interval and ratio (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2013, p. 484). Research must
also be tabulated, which is an organized arrangement of data typically seen in a table, and this
can also be done by hand.
This particular research for Downy-Q was conducted when an advertising campaign for
this brand had come to an end in regard to its popularity. The modified campaign which was
dunned Fighting the Cold, emphasized that Downy-Q was an extra-warm quilt (Zikmund,
Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2013, p. 503). In addition, previous research established that extra
warmth was an important and deliverable product quality. The commercial assessment was asked
in order to measure the ability of the campaign to produce additional interest for consumers
interested in purchasing this product. This revised advertising campaign was recommended by
the marketing division, and are interested in these results and just how effective this
advertisement would perform among the target market of consumers. I have come to the
conclusion that the Fighting the Cold advertisement was a very credible and believable
commercial, and that the revised campaign would be very attractive to specific market sectors.
After interpreting the research data and statistics, Fighting the Cold seems to be an
extremely convincing advertisement, predominantly with married, employed, female respondents

DOWNY Q

in their mid-30s. Because of these statistics, I would strongly recommend that this advertisement
be added to the rotation of commercials in addition to those that are aired during the fall and
winter months as a potential method of increasing the overall amount of consumers that use the
brand, as well as to boost the number of consumers who will purchase the same product again
and again when the need arises for a replacement product. I would also recommend this
commercial advertisement be aired during prime-time hours as well as on certain television
networks that have women specifically in mind such as Lifetime.
Respondents were asked to measure overall brand choice based on the responses before
the advertisement was presented as well as those obtained after the advertisement was shown.
The commercial seemed to display an increase in choice for Downy-Q. Additionally, the results
indicated that Fighting the Cold scored a +15 pre/post increment, which is above average for
this type of advertisement for quilts, with a result of +10. The test commercial had a higher
pre/post among married women, scoring a +17, than among unmarried women, where the score
was +12. The pre/post measurement was particularly high, +18 among respondents who are
employed. Among respondents who are not employed the pre/post score was +13. These results
indicated that employed women responded highly to these commercial advertisements.
In addition, respondents were asked to choose adjectives that were used to depict the
advertisement. Particular adjectives where Fighting the Cold scored lower than average were
associated to the entertainment aspects of the commercial, whereas on adjectives relating to the
content of the commercial, Fighting the Cold scores equal to the norm. The norm: all quilt
commercials scored a high percentage in relation to overall appeal and effectiveness, being
known as very clever, convincing, and original (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2013, p. 504).

DOWNY Q

In addition, respondents listed the attributes of being extra warm, light weight, or having a
pretty design, in the survey results.
What additional data might be useful in determining an appropriate course of action? Why
would it be useful?
Additional data that may be useful in determining the best course of action would be
what part of the country respondents reside. Reasons being, different climates and areas of the
world may or may not have an impact on purchasing habits. I would recommend that Downy Q
run this advertisement in the months where the weather is cooler and in the cold and flu season.
In addition, I would recommend that they air these advertisements during the time that women
watch television the most, on the specific networks and television channels that advertise and
cater to women and mothers.
What warnings would you give to Downy-Q related to the interpretation of the data?
The warning would be that data transformations are many times required in order to
assist in the analysis of the data. Further, make sure that the statistics are significant in the
research performed in order to allow for accurate interpretation of the data. Processes in
statistical interpretation come with their own set of expectations, and it must be assured that the
assumptions that are being made parallel to the appropriate statistical test.

Reference

DOWNY Q
Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods (9th
ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved September 19, 2015, from
https://everest.vitalsource.com/#/books/9991133473633/pages/192658792