strategies or a combination of both. The purpose of the attitude
survey is to gain an open and objective insight into the feelings of
past, present, and potential attendees. You will want to construct
the questions to address only those issues that are pertinent to
your marketing efforts, inasmuch as the length of the survey will
impact the number of responses (the longer the survey instrument,
the fewer responses you may expect to receive).
A typical attitude survey will include questions such as the
following:
■Have you attended our event in the past? Please check the
years (list years).
■How many miles did you travel to attend?
■How would you rate the event? (Indicate Excellent, Good,
Fair, Poor, or a numerical scale for rating.)
■Are you a member of the association?
■Did you register in advance or on site?
■Do you feel the registration fee is commensurate with the
value of the event?
■Did you attend as a single participant, or with spouse, friend,
or family? If not with family, why not?
■Please list the five educational programs you felt were most
valuable. (List sessions by name, with check boxes.)
■Are the spring dates convenient for you? If not, please indi-
cate which month fits your schedule best.Obviously, the questions are as open ended as your need to
know for the particular event you are marketing. Bear in mind,
however, that while many commercially oriented surveys are off-
putting to many, opinion and attitude surveys are more warmly re-
ceived. People often enjoy having their opinions queried, and
heard. You may not like the answers, but you can be assured they
will guide a much more effective marketing campaign in the
future.
Specialty Advertising
Creative marketers will find that advertising is not limited to mag-
azines, newsletters, and brochures, but rather to virtually any item
that will accept print.
We all have seen coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, calendars,
and note pads with advertising messages that the user sees daily.
Never Forget the Five Ws 45