EXPLANATION OF SURVEY DESIGN:

InthispartofmyOriginalWork,Iwantedtoincorporatebothmyinsightonmarketing
informationmanagementandtacticalknowledgethatIvegainedintheclassofAP
Statistics.Byintegratingmypriorexperiencewithexperimentaldesignandthe
informationprovidedtomebymyMentor,IwasabletocreateaA/BSplitTest
Experimenttoanalyzetheefficacyofdifferentbrandingelementsinthecontextofthe
NasherSculptureCenter.

MethodologybehindSampleSize:
AccordingtoacceptedAPStatisticsstandards,toassumethenormalityofasample
withoutcreatinganormalprobabilityplot,thesizeofthesamplemustbelessthan10%
ofthepopulation.AssumingthatmypopulationisLibertyHighSchool,which
accommodatesapproximately2000students,Ichoseasamplesizeof150students
throughoutallgrades.

MethodologybehindTestingMethod:
Thefirstversionofmyexperimentaldesignreliedonatraditionalsurveystructure
whichaskedquestionsregardingeachrespondentspersonalpreferencesinregardsto
brandcolorpalette,typeface,andlogoshape.OnceIconferredwithmyMentor,Icame
torealizethatthissurveydesignwouldonlyprovidemewithinformationabout
respondentsfavoritebrandingelements,withnoconsiderationgiventotheactual
effectivenessoftheelements.Thus,IswitchedtoaA/Bsplittestingmethodtocompare

theefficacyoftwodifferentoptions.Toquantifytheinherentlyqualitativenatureof
consumerpreferencesIimplementedaSemanticDifferentialScale,measuring
effectivenessonascaleof1(forveryineffective)to5(forveryeffective).Specifically,I
wouldtesthalfofthesamplewithonesetoffivebrandingelementsandthentestthe
otherhalfofthesamplewithanothersetoffivebrandingelements.Then,bycomparing
theiraverageSemanticDifferentialScoreforeachbrandingelement,Icouldfindwhich
oftheoptionswasactuallymoreeffective.(Formoreinformationregardingthischange
insurveydesignpleasevisit:bit.ly/1LfWdUJ.)

MethodologybehindSurveyQuestions:
Duringmysurvey,Iaskedallrespondentstorateoranswerthefivetopicslistedbelow.
Notethateachrespondentonlysawoneoutoftwopotentialoptionsforeachtopic.
1. Mosteffectivecolor(colormostassociatedwithSculptureCenters)
2. Mosteffectivelogoshape(squareorcircle)
3. Mosteffectivephoto(daytimephotowithoutpeopleornighttimephotowith
people)
4. Mosteffectiveslogan(sloganfocusedonactivitiesattheSculptureCenteror
sloganfocusedontheaestheticoftheart)
5. Mosteffectivetypeface(seriforsansseriffont)

Furtherexplanationofeachofthesefivetopicswillbeincludedlaterinthisreport.

OverallProcedures:
AllofthesurveysthatIconductedhappenedinagroupsettingwhererespondentscould
keeptheiranswersconfidential.Essentially,Ivisiteddifferentclasseswithvarying
demographicsandsurveyedgroupsofbetween1525studentsatatimebyreadingfrom
asetscript.

Respondentswereallencouragedtowritetheirresponsestothequestionsontheirown
paper,andresultswerethenmanuallytranscribedintoanExceldocumentforfurther
organizationandanalysis.Therawdataappearsonthenexttwopages.

Version1ofSplitTest

Version2ofSplitTest

FULL SCRIPT:

ThisisafulltranscriptoftheexactscriptthatIusedduringthesurveyingportionof
myOriginalWork.ImustnotethatwhensurveyingaSpanishclass,Iuseda
translatedversionofthescript.However,Ibelievethatanybiasinducedbythat
translationcanbeconsiderednegligible.

IamdoingastudyonbrandingfortheNasherSculptureCenter:anartmuseumin
DowntownDallas.Iamgoingtoasksomequestionsabouttheirbrandingelements.

1. C
ouldIpleasegetyournameandage.

2. WhatcolordoyouassociatemostwithaSculptureCenter?

3. Couldyouratethelogoyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisatmakingyou
wanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?Onebeingnotat
alleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

4.

C
ouldyouratethephotoyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisatmakingyou

wanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?Onebeingnotat
alleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

5.

C
ouldyouratethesloganyouareabouttoreadonhoweffectiveitisatmaking

youwanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?Onebeing
notatalleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

6. Couldyouratethefontyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisatmakingyou
wanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?Onebeingnotat
alleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

SURVEY QUESTION 1:
DemographicBackgroundInformationCollected:
Name:(Firstnameonly)
Age:(Between1418)
Gender:(MaleorFemale)
Race:(AfricanAmerican,Asian,Hispanic,MiddleEastern,MixedHeritage,orWhite)

PurposeofDataCollected:
Bycollectingsomebaselinedemographicinformationaboutmysample,Icouldidentify
potentiallimitationsinmyexperimentaldesign.Forexample,theremightbeanuneven
distributionofmalestofemalesbecauseoftheinherentdemographiccompositionof
LibertyHighSchool,mysamplepopulation.Additionally,Icouldorganizedataby
variousdemographiccharacteristicstoanalyzewhetherornotspecificpreferences
existedamongstudentsofdifferentgenders,ages,orraces.

ProfileoftheSampleGroup:
AverageAge:
16.17yearsofage

GenderDistribution:
51%Male,49%Female

RacialDistribution:

3%ofrespondentsidentifiedasAfricanAmerican.
51%ofrespondentsidentifiedasAsian.
8%ofrespondentsidentifiedasHispanic.
4%ofrespondentsidentifiedasMiddleEastern.
2%ofrespondentsidentifiedasMixedHeritage.
32%ofrespondentsidentifiedasWhite.

SURVEY QUESTION 2:
WhatcolordoyouassociatemostwithaSculptureCenter?

(The options were: Red, Grey, Purple, Blue, and Green)

fbfbknflbnflnbfb
Version A

Version B

PurposeofDataCollected:
Withtheassumptionthatifconsumerscanrelateacolortoacertaincompany,theywill
bemorelikelytorecognizethatcompany,Idecidedtotestwhichcolormytarget
demographicmostassociatedwithSculptureCenters.Theideawastofindacolorthat
serveasthebestvisualcuetoinciteteenagerstolearnmoreabouttheNasher.Itis
importanttonotethattraditionally,theNasherhasusedgreeninamajorityofits
promotionalmaterials.

Inthisinstance,therewasnoneedforA/Bsplittestingsoasimplesurveymethodwas
utilizedhowever,itmustbenotedthatthecolorsarerearrangedinthetwoversionsto
reduceanyeffecttheorientationofthecolorshadonthecolortherespondentchose.
Thishopefullyreducedbiasandincreasedthevalidityoftheresults.

ResultsYielded:

21.3%ofrespondentsidentifiedblueasthecolortheyassociatethemostwith
sculpturecenters.
3.3%ofrespondentsidentifiedgreenasthecolortheymostassociatewith
sculpturecenters.
49.3%ofrespondentsidentifiedgreyasthecolortheymostassociatewith
sculpturecenters.
12%ofrespondentsidentifiedredasthecolortheymostassociatewithsculpture
centers.
14%ofrespondentsidentifiedpurpleasthecolortheymostassociatewith
sculpturecenters.

SURVEY QUESTION 3:
Couldyouratethelogoyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisatmaking
youwanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?One
beingnotatalleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

Version A

Version B

PurposeofDataCollected:
IntheInterpretiveResearchportionofmyOriginalWork,Iresearchedtheimpactof
shapesonconsumerperceptionsofbrands.Intheory,circlessuggeststabilityand
interconnectednesswhilesquaresemphasizereliabilityandbalance.Iwascuriousasto
whichshapewouldbemosteffectiveamongmytargetdemographicandsoIcreatedtwo
versionswhichwereeachtestedwithonehalfofthetotalsample(75respondentssaw
versionAand75respondentssawversionB).

ResultsYielded:
Onascaleofonetofive(onebeingnotatalleffectiveandfivebeingveryeffective),
theaveragescoreswere:
VersionA:
1.667
VersionB:
1.920
VersionBsscoreis14.107%greater.

SURVEY QUESTION 4:
Couldyouratethephotoyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisat
makingyouwanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?
Onebeingnotatalleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

VersionAVersionB

PurposeofDataCollected:
Thestockphotosusedoncompanywebsitescanhaveaverysignificantimpactonthe
wayconsumersperceivedifferentbrands.Thus,inSurveyQuestion4,Itestedtwo
distinctphotoswhichcouldpotentiallyindicatepreferencestowardsalighterv.darker
colorscheme,towardsadayv.nightscene,ortowardsanemphasisonartv.an
emphasisonthevisitorexperience.Ialsowantedtotestmypersonalhypothesisthat
teenageaudienceswouldreactmorefavorablytoversionBbecauseofitsemphasison
thevisitorexperienceandimplicationsofacceptanceandbelonging.

ResultsYielded:
Onascaleofonetofive(onebeingnotatalleffectiveandfivebeingveryeffective),
theaveragescoreswere:
VersionA:
3.200

VersionB:
3.893

VersionBsscoreis19.540%greater.

SURVEY QUESTION 5:
Couldyouratethesloganyouareabouttoreadonhoweffectiveitisat
makingyouwanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?
Onebeingnotatalleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

VersionAVersionB

PurposeofDataCollected:
Surveyquestion5servesasabriefexplorationintothefieldofsphericalbranding,
whichemphasizesbrandvisionandaffiliationinadditiontomoretacticalvisualbrand
cues.BothsloganstestedinthissurveyquestionwerecommonlyusedbytheNasher
SculptureCenter.Byanalyzingwhichversionwasmoresuccessful,Icanalsomake
someassumptionsabouttheoptimallengthandcontentofabrandslogan.

ResultsYielded:
Onascaleofonetofive(onebeingnotatalleffectiveandfivebeingveryeffective),
theaveragescoreswere:
VersionA:
2.653
VersionB:
3.320

VersionBsscoreis22.334%greater.

SURVEY QUESTION 6:
Couldyouratethefontyouareabouttoseeonhoweffectiveitisatmaking
youwanttolearnmoreaboutthemuseumonascaleofonetofive?One
beingnotatalleffectiveand5beingveryeffective.

VersionAVersionB

PurposeofDataCollected:
Outofapersonalfascinationwiththeeffectsoftypefaces,Iusedsurveyquestion6to
explorewhethermytargetdemographicactuallyhadapreferenceforSerifv.SansSerif
fonts.Intheory,SansSeriffontssuggestmodernityandelegance,whileSerifFonts
alludetomoretraditionalvalues.Interestingly,TheNasherSculptureCenterusesa
Seriffontontheirwebsite,yettheirlogostillreliesonaSansSeriffont.Throughthis
study,Imaybeabletodecipherwhichtypeoffontisactuallymoreeffectiveinpeaking
consumerinterest.

ResultsYielded:
Onascaleofonetofive(onebeingnotatalleffectiveandfivebeingveryeffective),
theaveragescoreswere:
VersionA:
2.307
VersionB:
2.453

VersionBis6.135%greater.

LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH

IrealizethatmyObservationalStudyisnotperfectinitsdesignandparameters,soI
hopetobrieflydiscussimprovementsthatcouldpotentiallybemadeinfuturestudiesas
wellasareasofresearchthatIwouldliketodelveintoasaresultofmyfindings.

ResearchLimitations:
Primarily,IrealizethatA/Bsplittestingismoreeffectivewhenconductedwithamuch
largersamplesizethan150students.Mysamplesizeisrelativelysmallandskewedin
termsofitsrepresentationofaverylimiteddemographic.Inanimprovedstudy,there
wouldbeanequalproportionofmalesandfemalesfromvariousschoolstoeliminate
anypsychographicbiasesthatexistspecificallyinLibertyHighSchool.

IfIcoulddothisstudyagain,IwouldalsoincreasethespecificityoftheSemantic
Differentialratingscale,orsimplyshifttoawhollyqualitativeanalysisofdata.For
example,Icouldrecordconsumerresponsestoeachofthedifferentbrandingelements
andthenidentifycommonphrasesthatcouldcontributetobrandinginnovation.
Theoretically,Icouldcreateacomputeralgorithmtoidentifytrendsinconsumer
responsestobranding,whichwouldultimatelybemorevalidthanasimplified
numericalscalecodedwithvaryingdegreesofattitudes

Intermsofsourcesofbias,Iconcedethatthereareseveralareasofimprovementinmy
experimentaldesign.Forexample,tosavetimeduringsurveyquestion5,Iwouldread
aloudtheslogansfortheNasherSculptureCenter.Myvoiceandtonalinflectionswere

inherentlydifferenteachtimethatIreadtheslogans,andbiascouldvebeenintroduced
duetomyownsubconsciouspreferenceforonesloganoveranother.Additionally,more
contextcouldhavebeengivenbeforethefirstsurveyquestioninquiringaboutthecolor
respondentsmostassociatedwiththeNasher.Itwouldbehighlyinterestingtoseeif
studentswhohadvisitedtheNasherhaddifferentcolorassociationsthanstudentswho
hadnevervisited.

Finally,duringtheresearchprocessvariousconfoundingelementsarose.Forexample,
insurveyquestionfour,Idesiredtofindthemoreeffectivephoto.Yet,therearesomany
differencesinthetwophotosthatitmaybeimpossibletoseparatewhichunderlying
attributescausedconsumerpreferences.Forexample,arespondentcouldlikeordislike
aversionofthephotoduetoanynumberofreasons.

AreasforFurtherStudy:
DespitelimitationstotheresearchgatheredinthisportionofmyOriginalWork,the
studydidyieldsomeconclusiveresultsthatIplantoincorporateintomycreationofa
brandstylingguidefortheNasherSculptureCenter.

Whilethistacticalapplicationofknowledgeisagreatwaytopracticeaplethoraofskills,
Ivealsocometorealizethroughmymentorvisits,justhowsmallofascopemyOriginal
Workfeatures.Thus,inthefutureIhopetousetheconceptofsphericalbranding,
whichencompasseselementslikebrandpersonalityandaffiliation,togreatlyexpand
myfindingsandincreasetherealworldusabilityofmydata.

Forexample,Icouldcreateanactionablepromotionalplanthatincorporatesoptimized
brandingthroughinnovativeadvertisements.Thispromotionalplancouldalsoafford
meachancetousemyinterestingraphicdesigntocreatemockpromotionalitems.
Additionally,Icouldusemyfindingsonthevisiblebrandcuestoassumecertainthings
aboutthebrandsperceivedpositionandmessage.Then,Icouldcomparepublic
opinionwithwhatthecompanyactuallydesiredintermsofbrandaffiliation.

Ultimately,theseareasforpotentialfurtherresearchcouldbeusedinthedevelopment
ofmyFinalProduct.

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS:
SurveyQuestion1:DemographicInformation
Whiletherewasaprettyevendistributionofgender,theunevenracedistributioncould
beapotentiallimitationtomyresearch.Furtherstudycouldalsobedonebyanalyzing
howeachage,gender,andracialgroupreactedtoeachofthebrandingelementsandif
thosefactorsactuallymadeadifferenceintheanswersyieldedinthestudy.

SurveyQuestion2:ColorAssociation
Surprisingly,greywasbyfarthecolormostpeopleidentifiedwithasculpturecenter.
AccordingtoBournCreativeagency,greyisacolorassociatedwithformal,conservative,
andsophisticatedtraits.Surprisingly,thecolortheleastamountofpeopleassociated
withsculpturegalleries(green)isactuallythecolortheNasherusesinitspromotions.
Whilethiscolorsymbolizesmanypositivetraitslikevitalityandfreshness,thereisa
definitedisparitybetweenwhatconsumersthinkbrandelementsareandwhatbrand
elementsactuallyare.Thus,toincreasebrandrecognitionamongthedemographic
testedinthisstudy(highschoolageadolescents),acolorschemewithmoregreytones
couldbeimplemented.

SurveyQuestion3:LogoShape
Overall,thesquarelogohadgreatersuccessinmakingsurveyrespondentswanttolearn
moreabouttheNasherSculptureCenter.Thiscouldbeduetothefactthatlinearityof
theshapeparallelsthelinearityoftheNinitialfoundinthelogo.However,onemust
notethattheeffectivenesslevelofbothversionswasbelow2(outofascaleof5),thus

indicatingtheywerebothinefficientatincitingconsumerinterest.Possible
improvementstothelogocouldincludecreatingasquareorrectangularimagethathas
actualsculpturalimagerytocueviewersinonwhichorganizationthelogoisusedby.

SurveyQuestion4:StockPhoto
Mypersonalhypothesis,thatteenageaudienceswouldreactmorefavorablytoversionB
becauseofitsemphasisonthevisitorexperienceandimplicationsofasenseof
acceptance,wasconfirmedbya19.540%disparitybetweenthetwoversionsofthe
photos.Icanthusconcludethatgenerally,thedemographicItestedpreferedphotos
withanemphasisonthevisitorexperienceratherthansolelytheart.Lookingatother
differencesbetweenthetwoversionsshedsinsightintoapossiblepreferencefora
darkercolorschemehowever,IrealizethatIcannotpinpointexactlywhateach
respondentpreferedinthemorepopularversionofthephotoandthismaybeapossible
limitationonmyresearch.

S
urveyQuestion5:Slogan
Insurveyquestion5,versionBofthesloganwas22.334%moreeffectiveininspiring
interestintheNasherSculptureCenter.IncontrasttoversionA,versionBisalmost
twiceaslongandfocusesmoreonthevisualaestheticoftheNasher.Thisdatashows
thatlongerslogansarenotnecessarilyineffectiveandthatthephysicalappearanceof
theNashercouldbeusedtoitsadvantageinpromotingtohighschoolagedadolescents.

SurveyQuestion6:Typeface
Interestingly,respondentstothissurveyfavoredtheSeriffont(VersionB)overtheSans
Seriffont.Whilebothtypefacesweremoderatelyeffective,themoretraditionaloption

actuallywonout.ThiswassurprisingconsideringtheNashersemphasisonmodernand
contemporaryart,howeverthefontdoesalignwithwhatisalreadybeingusedat
NasherSculptureCenter.org.Withthisinformation,Iwouldprobablysuggestusinga
SeriffontforheadlinesandtitlesandaSansSeriffontforsubtextorbodycopy.

NextSteps:
UsingtheinformationthatIvegatheredinthispartofmyOriginalWork,Iwillproceed
towardsshowingthecomprehensivestyleguide,optimizedtowardshighschoolaged
adolescents,thatIcreatedfortheNasherSculptureCenter.