Final Post!

Can you believe this is our final blog post?! I know I can’t! This semester has flown by and I have very much enjoyed reading all of my fellow bloggers posts. I now understand the world of blogging and may even continue with it once our assignment is complete!

While reading through my classmates blog’s I came across a post titled, “Experimental Research in PR” written by Casey Farricielli. She begins talking about a social media study that involves the audience. She explains the YouTube experiment that my group decided to show in class. It is good to know that people were interested in the video that we showed. The experiment involves the audience in which 6 people pass around a basketball and there are three people in white shirts and three others in black shirts. The catch that gets most people is the black gorilla that is jumping around and passing the basketball among the participants. When told to count how many times the basketball is passed most people do not notice the gorilla, but after telling the class to look out for him they counted correctly. Casey relates this experiment to people who are caught up in the common responsibilities of their everyday lives and fail to notice what is surrounding them. I found this to be a very good point. I had never looked at it like that before. Casey writes, “Walking around the QU campus, I see many student robots texting on their cell phones failing to look up to see where they are going. It has come to my attention that people are so reliant on technology that it is making our culture like robots or zombies. This experiment proves that people are overlooking everyday experiences. I think this change in behavior has a lot to do with the increase of technology.” I completely agree with Casey. In an older post I had blogged about the increase of technology and whether it is a positive or negative thing. Technology is beginning to take over our lives and in my opinion it will not stop. But the question is how far will people take it considering the affect it has on our lives today?

Now I would like to take a look at a blog about experimental research in fashion. After all, my blog is all about the entertainment industry and world of fashion. In the blog post titled, “The Cause and Effect of the Fashion World” Kayla writes, “By controlling a variable or variables researchers are able to see the change in one variable and its affects on another. Incentives are a good way to get the public to participate in an experiment. Who wouldn't want a free Gucci bag or a pair of Carlos Santa shoes just for giving a little bit of their time?” From personal research I can say that when an incentive is offered people go crazy. Especially when the incentive is a free Gucci bag! I know I would jump at that opportunity. For our final project my group is considering giving an incentive as well! This way we can be sure that we will have enough participants in our focus group. Kayla then goes on to talk about retail testing in the fashion industry. Certain stores are chosen to test clothing and see how the customers react towards certain brands or products. What we can take from all of this is that research is prominent in the public relations industry. We have learned about all different forms of research and each kind has its positives and negatives. One thing for sure is that the public relations profession will never run out of jobs for people to conduct research! After taking public relations research I think I would be interested in a job in PR research. Research is never a bad thing and will always help when analyzing results.

Thank you to my fellow classmates and professor for a great semester! I have thoroughly learned a lot and cannot wait until my next Public Relations course! I want to wish my classmates Goodluck with finals and the rest of their semester!

Blog # 10

We have all heard about Nielson in class and maybe even have filled out one of their surveys! I recently read an article that sparked my interest! The Nielson Company is testing an online social network site for a diverse range of pop culture fans who are eager to make their voices heard in the entertainment industry. Nielson is using this site to explore and define experimental research in the media. Karen Watson, Senior Vice President of Communications at The Nielsen Company, and Executive Sponsor of Hey! Nielsen said, “If you’re passionate about any aspect of the entertainment world, you will find like-minded consumers on Hey! Nielsen. We hope this will be a fun place to share opinions and discuss your favorite shows, movies and music. And because we will be providing our clients with insights from Hey! Nielsen members, joining the network is a way to let the entertainment industry know what you think.” Members can contribute to the Hey! Nielsen Score, which will measure the “buzz” on a star, TV show, movie and other entertainment property. Data will also be taken from Billboard and The Hollywood Report. What a clever way to measure results! Nielson has been extremely successful over the past few years and I cannot wait to see what the results entail from their experiments on the social networking site. What will Neilson bring to the table next? Stay tuned until next time to find out!

Surveys!

Surveys, surveys, and more surveys! In one semester I have learned about surveys and even conducted surveys more than I ever had before. Surveys are important to sociologists, public relations practitioners, and marketing researchers. After conducting and learning about surveys in three of my classes I think I can safely say that I will be an expert on surveys once this semester is finished with. This just goes to show you that everyone conducts them. Without a doubt most likely everyone sitting in our PRR 332 classroom has taken a survey from someone else including our Professor. Professor Laskin pointed out an important fact about surveys in our last class. He snagged a survey from a hotel room that when first glanced at seemed like a normal survey, one that they would collect the research and try to fix the problems the customers were having. However, when you take another glance you can see that the survey was laminated. Now who in their right mind would laminate a survey if they are trying to get results? Professor Laskin answered by explaining that this was all a marketing stunt, they didn’t really care about your opinions. They just wanted to publicize themselves in a good light. Lesson learned never try to write on a laminated survey, because they do NOT care.

Surveys are very influential in public relations research to gain information efficiently and are used in every aspect of public relations. This summer I had an internship at a theater in Baltimore, Maryland. The company I interned at constantly took part in survey research. I found it interesting that they constantly cared not only about the research they needed to conduct for major events or shows but for their own benefit of the company to see how the interns were doing. I received a few surveys directed at me, the intern, asking how I was enjoying the program and what I was learning throughout the process. After I had left CENTERSTAGE I received a final survey asking the interns how they enjoyed their overall experience and if they would have changed something. Sending out this survey gives the impression that they care about their employees and really want to do all that they can to improve the company and the status of the company’s workers. Surveys are the easiest way to conduct research immediately and results can be produced in minutes when the internet is used. So keep the survey’s coming!!