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Running head: CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 1
Christmas Jubilee Demographic Segmentation
Courtney P. Willamor
Spring Hill College
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 2
Abstract
This study examined the Facebook analytics and collected the event demographics of the Junior
League of Mobile’s 33rd Annual Christmas Jubilee. Social media has become a significant
platform used for advertising and demographics have been used to help organizations target a
specific audience. The purpose of this study was to collect and compare the demographics from
the event to the Facebook analytics in order to determine if the analytics are an accurate
representation of the actual event demographics. It was examined through the lens of Altman and
Taylor’s (1973) social penetration theory to determine answers to this research question: how
will the Facebook page analytics and the event’s actual demographics compare? Once paper
surveys were collected from the event, the researcher analyzed the data through the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results from this study showed that the event
demographics did not directly reflect the Facebook analytics.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 3
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5
Rationale ............................................................................................................................ 6
Purpose ............................................................................................................................... 6
Theory ................................................................................................................................ 6
Research Question ............................................................................................................. 6
Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 7
Social Media and Brand Followers .................................................................................... 7
Social Media .......................................................................................................... 7
Brand Trust and Brand Followers .......................................................................... 8
Demographics .................................................................................................................. 10
Social Penetration Theory ................................................................................................ 11
Method ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 13
Materials and Procedure .................................................................................................. 14
Survey .............................................................................................................................. 14
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ...................................................................... 15
Results .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Table 1.1 .......................................................................................................................... 18
Crosstab with Pearson’s Chi-Square ................................................................................ 19
Frequencies ...................................................................................................................... 19
Descriptives ...................................................................................................................... 20
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 20
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 4
Research Question Answered .......................................................................................... 20
Usefulness of Theory ....................................................................................................... 20
Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 21
Reflection ..................................................................................................................................... 22
References .................................................................................................................................... 24
Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 26
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 5
Social Media Demographics and Event Demographics
Demographics in the public relations and advertising industry are constantly being used
to target a company’s or organization’s specific audience. Sissors and Baron (2010) defined
demographic characteristics as being “the physical characteristics, such as sex, age, education
and occupation, used to describe a population” (p. 438). Demographics can be acquired in
different ways and through various types of platforms. Demographic segmentation is described
as “a type of market segmentation that is based on differences in demographic factors of groups
of consumers that are not alike. It aims to define specific niches that require custom promotion”
(“Business Dictionary,” n.d.). Custom promotion allows organizations to advertise and provide
products that fit certain consumers’ needs.
The Junior League of Mobile (JLM) is a major organization whose mission statement is
centered on volunteerism, charity and education. According to the JLM (2017) each year the
organization holds an extensive three-day shopping event, known as the Christmas Jubilee,
where more than 100 merchants gather together to show off their products and promote their
services. The event is the only major holiday market in the coastal Alabama, Mississippi and
Florida Panhandle Communities (¶ 2). The organization has been holding the event for 33 years
with an estimation of 10,000 attendees each year. Advertising for the event is mostly digital and
print which includes: TV, radio, billboards, posters, magazine ads, news broadcast and car
decals. The Christmas Jubilee’s Facebook page has over 7,000 likes and followers, and it
happens to be the only basis of knowledge available concerning the event’s audience
demographics. This means that the organization is unaware of exactly who is attending its event
each year.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 6
Therefore, it is significant to know if the Facebook analytics and actual event
demographics will or will not reflect one another. This difference can create a grey area for
communications experts and can prevent the implementation of useful advertising methods.
Brantner (2017) reported “understanding public relations demographics can help take your
business to the next level by allowing you to better communicate with your audience. PR
demographics can also help you save money by showing you which advertising methods work
and which do not” (¶ 1).
Rationale
The organizers of the event need to know who the target audience is so that the most
fitting merchants can be recruited. If the target audience is known, merchants will be more apt
and able to provide necessary products to their consumers. Acquiring the event’s demographics,
along with the Facebook analytics, has the ability to save and generate more money, which will
serve the organizers in the future. Aside from collecting the event’s demographics to have an
indication of who the target audience is, comparing the Facebook analytics to the event
demographics will reveal if the Facebook followers are representative of the larger group or not.
This is important for the organization to know for planning and advertising purposes.
Purpose, Theory and Research Question
The purpose of this study is to collect and compare the demographics from the Junior
League of Mobile’s Christmas Jubilee Facebook page to the actual event’s demographics in
order to determine if the Facebook analytics are an accurate representation of the actual event
demographics. Results of the work will be explained through the lens of Altman and Taylor’s
(1973) social penetration theory to determine answers to this research question: how will the
Facebook page analytics and the event’s actual demographics compare?
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 7
Literature Review
Research concerning social media and demographics has emphasized how significant it is
to have a general idea of who a company or organization is advertising and selling products to.
Researchers in the area of social media explain how it has become a prominent form of
communication and connection between consumers and businesses. Social media platforms, such
as Facebook, have become a way for consumers to feel and stay connected with a brand.
Researchers and demographic analysts have most often explored how demographics can affect
PR and organizations and have found the benefits of targeting a specific audience through the
use of demographics are great.
Social Media and Brand Followers
Social media. Social media have become very popular platforms used amongst various
individuals. It is often used in the professional setting as a form of advertising and as a tool to
stay connected with media audiences. Lewis and Nichols (2011) conducted a study and its main
purpose was to expand the understanding of the impact of social media on certain audience
groups. They examined if attitudes and perceptions of social media had something to do with
being a business professional or a college student in a strategic communications field (p. 111).
Lewis and Nichols (2011) found business professionals and students who were classified as
strategic communications majors rated social media more positively than other students. When it
came to gender, the authors discovered that females favored social media significantly more than
males (p. 115). Understanding who the individuals or media consumers are can help portray their
attitudes and perceptions towards a product, organization or types of communication platforms.
Lewis and Nichols (2011) found in their results “a simple linear regression that indicated
age was not a significant predictor of attitude toward social media” and that there were no
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 8
significant relationships of participants between the ages of 25-49 (p. 115). According to a more
recent social media report by Nielsen, “Generation X (ages 35-49) spends the most time on
social media: almost 7 hours per week versus millennials, who come in second, spending just
over 6 hours per week” (Casey, 2017, ¶ 4). Gallagher (2017) reported 21% of the total time spent
on Facebook is by users aged 45-54 (¶ 5). This recent research gives the impression that an older
age demographic is spending the most time on social media platforms like Facebook.
Knowledge of who is following a brand, or in this case a Facebook page, is vital for an
organization. “By learning consumers’ interests and lifestyles, as represented in their social
media networking profiles, marketers can deliver messages and information that is customized to
the individual” (Lewis & Nichols, 2011, p. 110). Social media users also think it is important to
follow brands and organizations on social media platforms. Casey (2017) stated “39% of heavy
social users believe that finding out about products and services is an important reason for using
a social network” (¶ 6).
Brand trust and brand followers. Moorman, Zaltman, and Deshpande (1992) defined
the concept of trust as the willingness of the average consumer to rely on an exchange partner (or
brand) in which their confidence lies in the performance of the brand’s stated function (p. 315).
Aside from brand trust, there is another relational variable known as brand commitment. In the
words of Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2002), “brand commitment reduces uncertainty and saves a
customer the cost of seeking new relational exchanges with other brands” (p. 37). If a consumer
follows a brand, then they are more likely to stay committed to that brand. This may give an
explanation of why the event’s actual demographics either do or do not reflect the Facebook
demographics.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 9
Social media have become a way for businesses to stay connected with their followers
and build trust between the product and the consumer. Brands have noticeably realized the
benefits of inserting their products and services directly into their followers’ newsfeed (Fridge,
2017, ¶ 1). Incentives tend to compel users to follow a brand and in a study conducted by
MarketingSherpa, 56% of social media users surveyed said they originally followed brands to
see promotions or coupons (Fridge, 2017, ¶ 2). Leading up to the Christmas Jubilee shopping
event are several smaller events hosted by the JLM. A preview gala, VIP shopping, Girl’s Night
Out and Santa’s Workshop are just a few of the extra events taking place. Each event is posted
on the Facebook page and eventually someone is selected to receive a Golden Ticket to
Christmas Jubilee, which includes free admission to each special event, entrance to all days of
market and a parking pass.
In a study concerning how a company’s social media strategy could be tailored to drive
sales, researchers found that about 40% of social media users have purchased an item after
sharing, liking or commenting on a Facebook post (Seave, 2013, ¶ 1-2). Seave (2013) reported
social media as a driving force for not only online purchasing but also in-store purchasing and
almost at equal rates (¶4). This works in favor for the JLM because its shopping event does not
offer the selling of merchandise online. It is strictly face-to-face marketing interactions between
consumer and merchant. Staying connected with consumers through the platform allows for JLM
to build trust, stay connected and have a sense of familiarity with its consumers. Seave (2013)
also stated “Facebook as being the network most likely to drive customers to purchase” (¶ 3).
Since a Facebook page is the Christmas Jubilee’s only social media platform used, followers of
the page are most likely to attend the event because of the brand recognition and trust Christmas
Jubilee has strategically formulated with its followers.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 10
Demographics
As defined previously in the introduction, demographics are the physical characteristics
that make up a certain population. Peter Francese, a demographic trends analyst for Ogilvy &
Mather, wrote “ignoring demographic changes in your geographic market really means you are
not paying attention to your future” (as cited in Spiro, 2009, ¶ 2). Demographics are important
and allow organizations to get the most out of their public relations research by helping
determine target audiences, producing better-targeted campaigns and establishing relationships
with audiences, which builds long-term success (Brantner, 2017, ¶ 3-5).
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the American Statistical
Association (ASA) produced a guide that discussed best practices for use of statistics in public
relations. It was designed to help PR professionals communicate reliable and meaningful
information to employers, clients and the public (PRSA & ASA, 2011, ¶ 3). “To accurately
understand and communicate results, it is important to look at the underlying data (the
frequencies and percentages of responses in each category) that the statistics are describing as
well as the statistics themselves” (PRSA & ASA, 2011, ¶ 10). Frequencies and percentages are
significant factors when collecting quantitative data and testing and comparing data sets.
Each year a population census is conducted and demographic, economic and social data
are collected on the citizens of a certain country. According to the United States Census Bureau
(2016), last year’s population estimates in Mobile County, Alabama, revealed that the total
population was 414,836 (Population section). The Census Bureau (2016) found that persons 65
years and over made up 15.3% of the population and female persons made up 52.2% (Age and
Sex section). When it came to race and Hispanic origin, Asian alone made up 2.0%, Black or
African-American (35.8%), Hispanic or Latino (2.8%), American Indian or Alaska Native
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 11
(1.0%) and White alone at 59.6% (United States Census Bureau, 2016, Race and Hispanic Origin
section). The Census Bureau (2016) estimated that 85.3% of the population was high school
graduates or higher and 22.0% had a Bachelor’s degree or higher (Education section). Although
the Facebook analytics show that several of the page’s followers are from different states and
counties, since the event takes place in Mobile County, the event demographics may reflect the
Census Bureau’s population estimates. The Mobile County census can be used by the
organization once the demographics have been collected to compare how many people from the
Mobile area attended the event compared to how many people actually live in Mobile.
Morrison (2015) argues that demographic targeting can be too broad and can lead to
inaccurate targeting and wasted resources (¶ 1). She goes on to explain how targeting marketing
around life events may be a much more effective strategy, because it brings the right content to
the right people (Morrison, 2015, ¶ 1-3). While this makes sense there are some flaws with this
idea of targeting marketing around life events when applied to the Christmas Jubilee’s case. As
of right now, the organization only has a slight interpretation (Facebook analytics) of who its
shoppers might be. If the organization is knowledgeable about its consumers and their
demographics, then life event marketing strategies can be used to help target those consumers
even more efficiently. The organization is a shopping event stringently focused on Christmas and
holiday shopping. While Christmas is not necessarily a life event, it is a holiday that is celebrated
by several families and people throughout the city of Mobile. This is a considerably large event
that helps prepare consumers for a significant holiday; therefore, it could be marketed as a life
event.
Social Penetration Theory
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 12
Altman and Taylor’s (1973) goal was to “describe the course of development and
dissolution of relationships, and to portray what happens as individuals form and manage various
types of social bonds” through the social penetration theory (p. 3). The theory focuses on social
relationships and how they progress or do not progress. Altman and Taylor (1973) focused on
three main factors that restrain the growth of interpersonal relationships:
1. Personal characteristics of participants: Includes biographical properties, personality
features and social need characteristics.
2. Outcomes of exchange: If people “like” one another or feel that something is gained
from a relationship compared to an exchange process that does not end in satisfaction.
3. Situational context: Development of social bonds takes place within an environmental
or situational context (p. 4).
Restraining the growth of interpersonal relationships in business or social interactions between
an organization and its consumers can limit the amount of trust a consumer has in a brand. The
term social penetration includes three types of behaviors known as verbal, nonverbal and
environmentally oriented (Altman & Taylor, 1973). A deeper look into verbal behaviors, which
include information exchanges, will be applied in this study.
While Altman and Taylor (1973) stated that demographic determinants of social
penetration was more of a possible area of future study, they did find the results of one or more
studies that supported four findings related to demographics and self-disclosure (p. 154). Three
of those findings relate heavily to this study. As cited in Altman and Taylor (1973):
“Self-disclosure increases with age, and there is more disclosure to opposite-sex targets
and gradually less to parents and same sex persons (Jourard, 1961a; Rickers-Ovsiankina,
1956). Females tend to be higher disclosers than males (Jourard, 1958, 1961a, 1961b;
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 13
Jourard & Lasakow, 1958). Whites were higher self-revealers than blacks” (Jourard &
Lasakow, 1958) (pp. 154-155).
These studies proved early on that there are some demographic differences in self-disclosing
behavior, which may explain why the Christmas Jubilee demographics or the Facebook analytics
may show higher percentages in the different demographic characteristics.
Research has proven that social media are a useful way for businesses and organizations
to stay connected to their brand followers. Those who use social media regularly or work with
different platforms in a professional setting tend to have more positive attitudes and perceptions
of social media. There is a correlation with age and usage, and it seems as if Generation X (ages
35-49) spend the most time on social media. If a business or organization is aware of who their
online followers are then they are more likely to build beneficial relationships with those
followers, which increases brand trust between the organization and its consumers. The majority
of social media users follow brands in order to see or receive promotions and coupons. Building
trust encourages users to stay committed to a certain brand. Acquiring an organization’s
demographics can help determine target audiences, which allows for better audience
relationships. They also help organizations produce better-targeted campaigns and give ideas for
better budgeting, which is more effective and cost efficient.
Method
Purpose
The researcher conducted a study using a survey in order to obtain the demographic
characteristics of the Junior League of Mobile’s Annual Christmas Jubilee event. The purpose of
the survey was to collect the demographic backgrounds of consumers at an event. Acquiring
these demographics helped answer the research question: how do the Facebook page
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 14
demographics and the actual event demographics compare? Knowing the demographics will give
the organization a more targeted audience, which will provide necessary information on who the
organization should bring in as vendors for the following years.
Materials and Procedure
The researcher met early on with Stacy Wellborn, Christmas Jubilee Chair, and Lucy
Pryor Slaton, the Research Manager on the leadership team for JLM. The current forms of
advertising being used were discussed along with how the survey should be distributed during
the event. The researcher was given access to the JLM’s Christmas Jubilee Facebook page to
have a full understanding of the page’s analytics. The event took place indoors at the Mobile
Convention Center in the heart of downtown Mobile. The event was set up in an auditorium big
enough to accompany approximately 100 merchants along with the Christmas Jubilee guests and
shoppers.
Survey. The survey was disseminated at different times at the three-day event in
November according to high volume traffic times. An extra 150 surveys were printed off, in
addition to the 100 surveys already printed, to make sure there was enough and an abundance of
pens and clipboards were provided by the JLM for the consumers. A table was set up by the exit
and surveys were completed and collected onsite. It was distributed from noon to 3 p.m. on
Thursday and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday. The researcher coordinated groups consisting of 3 to 4
people to help distribute the survey. The researcher originally chose 5 to 10 helpers with
anticipation that a few of those helpers may not have shown up to the event. With more surveys
being passed out more people could be reached resulting in the collection of more demographics.
The researcher used systematic sampling and the paper surveys were handed out to every fifth
person leaving the event in order to insure accurate results. The researcher collected 94 surveys
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 15
from participants. Although this sample type did not represent the entire population, it did
provide results by testing with an instrument.
The majority of questions were focused on each consumer’s demographics (see Appendix
C for survey questions). It provided a chance for the organization to understand who its audience
was. The survey consisted of a series of nominal and ordinal questions with one scale question
that asked participants to rate their overall perception of the event on a scale of 1(extremely
negative) to 10 (extremely positive). The nominal questions provided were the ones concerning
demographics: gender, ethnicity, marital status, employment status and current location of
residence (zip code). There were also a few ordinal questions involving the amount of years the
participant has attended the event, the participant’s satisfaction with the event, if the participant
follows the Christmas Jubilee Facebook page and a estimation on how much money they spent at
the event. The survey also asked a familiarity question that informed the researcher if the
participants knew which organization is affiliated with Christmas Jubilee. These different types
of questions were necessary when analyzing the data through SPSS.
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Once the researcher acquired all of the data
from the event, it was then inputted into the data computing software known as SPSS. The tests
that were conducted included frequencies, crosstabs and Chi-Square. Frequencies are the counts
for each variable and this test allowed for the researcher to know how many respondents
answered in which ways and how many questions were left unanswered or marked Prefer Not To
Answer. The frequencies were used when comparing the Facebook analytics to the sample of
attendees that were surveyed at the event. After running frequencies, the researcher ran crosstabs
between the questions related to gender, age and location of residence in order to see if these
questions have any relation to each other. Crosstabs between gender, age and provided zip codes
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 16
were run in order to see if there was any comparison between those three questions and the
Facebook analytics. Since there was only one scale question being asked, descriptives were run
solely on that question. The scale question allowed for the researcher to run Chi-Squares
between nominal and ordinal variables. Chi-Square tests have the potential to show which
questions answered by participants correlate with each other. The zip code variable was entered
as a string variable in SPSS, since it is a ratio variable and must be written down by participants.
The researcher also searched each zip code to see exactly where each respondent was from in
order to compare the Facebook analytics to the event’s demographics.
This data helped the researcher better understand who attended the event, which gave the
researcher and the organization an idea of who the target audience is and if it closely relates to
the Facebook audience.
Results
The tests ran on the quantitative data revealed that there were some differences and
similarities between the Facebook analytics and the event’s demographics that were collected via
survey. The researcher chose to focus on comparing age, gender and location from the two
samples because that is what the Facebook analytics provided from its followers. The Facebook
analytics showed that 98% of its followers were female and 2% male (see Appendix D for
analytics). The event demographics were similar in that out of N = 94, n = 89 (94.7%) were
female and n = 5 (5.3%) were male (see Appendix E in the frequencies section). The researcher
found, by respondents providing their zip codes, the majority of attendees were from the Mobile
area. The survey question concerning the respondents’ current location of residence tended to
reflect the location demographics of the Facebook followers (see Appendices D and E). The
researcher found that there was a slight difference in the percentages of age between the two
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 17
samples. The Facebook analytics showed a higher percentage of 35 to 44 compared to the other
age brackets and the event demographics showed 25 to 34 as being the largest percentage. Table
1.1 illustrates these percentages.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 18
Table 1.1
Christmas Jubilee Demographics: Age
13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Facebook Analytics
0.0144% 3% 27% 31% 19% 12% 6%
Event Demographics
2.1% 14.9% 29.8% 7.4% 18.1% 22.3% 5.3%
Note. These two data sets are representations of two different demographic samples and the event demographics only represent a small portion of the attendees, not the population as a whole. The Christmas Jubilee’s Facebook page has over 7,000 followers and the estimated average number of attendees for the event is 10,000. This chart is used to represent how the Facebook analytics and the event’s demographics do not directly reflect each other.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 19
Crosstab with Pearson’s Chi-Square
The researcher ran the three questions related to age, gender and location and crossed
them with the nominal question that asked respondents if they followed the Christmas Jubilee
Facebook page. Pearson Chi Square values were used to determine if the three demographic
characteristics and the Facebook page followers were mathematically connected. The researcher
found, after running crosstabs between age and if the respondent follows the Facebook page or
not, a significant mathematical correlation between the two variables. The results of the Pearson
Chi-Square test showed a value of 22.018a, degrees of freedom (df) as 6 and the asymptotic
significance (2-sided) as 0.001 (see Appendix E in the crosstabs section). Mathematically, 0.05 is
greater than 0.001 meaning these two variables do move together. When gender and location
were crossed with the Facebook page variable, neither one showed a mathematical connection to
one another (see Appendix E in the crosstabs section).
Frequencies
The frequencies revealed that the majority of attendees, n = 60 (63.8%), have only
attended the event for 1 to 3 years. The researcher found that for the demographic question
pertaining to ethnicity and race n = 88 (93.6%) because the majority of respondents were White,
while the rest of the categories were either n = 2 (2.1%) or less. A Bachelor’s degree, n = 52
(55.3%), received the highest frequency under the education level. Married or Domestic
Partnership is what n = 66 (70.2%) respondents marked for marital status, and out of five choices
on the survey the only other frequency was the Single category, n = 28 (29.8%). The most
frequent choice for employment status was employed full-time, n = 46 (48.9%), and the most
frequent choice for the estimation of how much money each respondent spent was $100 or less, n
= 47 (50.0%). A greater percentage of people answered that they did follow the Facebook page
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 20
(53.2%) than those who answered that they did not. Ninety-two respondents answered, correctly,
that the Junior League of Mobile was the organizer of the event. One respondent left it
unanswered and another chose Chamber of Commerce as the answer. The overall perception was
a 10, n = 43 (45.7%), and the event seemed to meet most of the attendees’ expectations (see
Appendix E in the frequencies section).
Descriptives
Through descriptive statistics, the researcher found that the one scale question tested had
a M = 8.34 and a SD = 1.954. The scale question asked the respondent to rate, on a scale of 1
(extremely negative) to 10 (extremely positive), his or her overall perception of the event. The
standard deviation (1.954) implies that on a scale of 10, most answers were close to the mean.
Most of the answers to the scale question were close to the average, while relatively few answers
were extreme.
Conclusion
Research Question Answered
The data from both samples helped answer the research question of how the Facebook
analytics and the event’s demographics would compare. The researcher found that the
demographic characteristics collected from the event did not directly reflect the event’s
Facebook page. This could mean that the sole use of social media for the organization is not
directly influencing its target audience.
Usefulness of Theory
According to the social penetration theory, certain demographics are willing to disclose
more information about themselves such as age, education, gender and race. Different behaviors
explain different interpersonal exchanges and social bonds. The researcher quickly realized that
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 21
social outcomes did pertain to this study because respondents felt more compelled to answer the
survey if the researcher and respondent had a conversation before the respondent agreed to
taking the survey. Although parts of the theory did relate to the study, the researcher found that
the theory was not as useful in explaining the results found or the attitudes of respondents at the
event.
Limitations
There were limitations to the researcher’s work. Ultimately, the researcher was only able
to collect 94 surveys to represent a small sample of the Christmas Jubilee attendees. The
researcher originally anticipated using two Apple iPads at the event to give attendees the option
between paper and electronic surveys and to help administer the survey quicker. The iPads
connected to the WiFi, but once a survey was submitted the connection would fail which resulted
in paper surveys only being administered. The researcher was well aware that the two samples
were of completely different sizes and that they were simply a representation of the population.
The results from this study cannot be generalized and applied to the entire event’s attendees.
The researcher found that people who had graduated college or were currently in school
had a more positive response towards filling out the survey. The older demographic tended to
reject the idea of taking the survey. The researcher understands that this could have affected the
survey results. The researcher also realized that each day and time seemed to bring in different
demographic types and different times were busier than others. If the researcher were to attempt
this study again, Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon would have been added to the surveying schedule.
The researcher might consider using intercept interviews next time to collect demographics and
feedback from participants. The penetration theory might be more useful when implementing
intercept interviews.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 22
A well-known organization like the Junior League of Mobile, which has organized an
event like Christmas Jubilee for the past 32 years, should know who their target audience is.
Especially since it is apparent that the social media analytics do not always reflect the event
demographics. While social media plays an important role in advertising for an event, it is
obvious that the Facebook demographics are not the most reliable source. Knowing the event’s
demographics is important for JLM, because it gives a more efficient idea of the event’s target
audience.
Reflection
Fall of 2016, is when I really noticed that I was meant to be a PR student. I was taking
Communication Research at the time, which directly influenced me to write a research paper for
Senior Seminar. I remember working very diligently on a research assignment for the entire
semester and absolutely loving the way I felt when I was able to collect feedback from a
convenience sample and compare the data results.
What worked well for me concerning this project was time management and the choice of
executing it independently. I started early on and constructed a realistic agenda of how and when
I would complete parts of the paper. I also stayed very organized throughout this entire process,
which I soon realized was a major factor in my success.
Throughout this process, I also figured out what my weaknesses may be and how I could
have done things a little differently. I realized how much I do not like surveying people and how
much people do not like being surveyed. I quickly caught on to the fact that different times of the
day brought in different types of people. There were a lot of people on their lunch breaks or on
their way out to pick up their kids. Some people were more susceptible to filling out the survey
earlier in the day than they were at night, and certain events and shows taking place also affected
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 23
how people responded when approached by a survey administer. I would have liked to have gone
early Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. but I was ill. I think there would have been a
bigger crowd on Saturday and people would have been more open to filling out surveys because
they were not on a time constraint.
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 24
References
Altman, I., & Taylor, D. (1973). Social penetration: The development of interpersonal
relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Best practices guide for the use of statistics in public relations (2011). In Public Relations
Society of America and American Statistical Association. Retrieved from
http://apps.prsa.org
Brantner, E. (2017). Public relations demographics. Business.com. Retrieved from
https://www.business.com
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APPENDICES
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 27
Appendices
Appendix A General Agreement
Appendix B Collection of Materials
Appendix C Survey/Questionnaire
Appendix D Facebook Analytics
Appendix E SPSS Data
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Appendix A
General Agreement
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 29
Appendix B
Collection of Materials
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 30
Appendix C
Survey/Questionnaire
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 31
Appendix D
Facebook Analytics
CHRISTMAS JUBILEE DEMOGRAPHICS 32
Appendix E
SPSS Data