Form CFI 172 CFI 172 USDA Marketing News

USDA Market News Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire

USDA Market News

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2008

Final Version

Introduction

Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. The USDA Market News is committed to providing you, our customers, with information that meets your needs. Gathering your feedback helps to ensure that we are delivering on our commitment to you.

This survey is being administered by CFI Group, an independent third-party research group. This brief survey asks about your satisfaction with our products and services as well as ways that we can improve our service to you. Your answers will remain anonymous and will be combined with those from other respondents for research and evaluation purposes only.

This survey is authorized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Control No. 1505-0191.

Screener: Have you used USDA Market News information in the past 12 months?

1. Yes (CONTINUE to Q1)

2. No (TERMINATE SURVEY)

3. Don’t Know (TERMINATE SURVEY)

Usage

Q1. How frequently do you receive or access information from USDA Market News?

1. At least once a day

2. At least a few times a week

3. About once a week

4. About once a month or less

Q2. How long have you been a user of USDA Market News information?

1. Less than one year

2. Between one and five years

3. More than five years

Q3. For which of the following marketing-related activities do you use USDA Market News information? (Select all that apply)

1. Dispute resolution

2. Value determination (e.g. loan values and insurance settlements)

3. Contract settlements or formula pricing

4. Production intentions

5. Analyzing markets

6. Policy analysis and decision-making for policy

7. General market awareness

8. Develop marketing strategy

9. Product pricing (e.g. for markets/sale to consumers)

10. Other (Specify)

Q4. Now thinking about those same marketing-related activities that you just selected, to what extent does USDA Market News information influence decisions you make concerning those market-related activities. Please use a scale from”1” to “10” where “1” means “very little influence” and “10” means “great deal of influence.”

Access

Q5. How do you receive or access USDA Market News information? (Select all that apply)

1. E-mail

2. USDA Market News website

3. Website other than USDA

4. Fax

5. Media – including radio, television and periodicals

6. Other (Specify)

(IF Q5 = 1,2,4 go to Q6-Q8, otherwise go to Q9)

USDA Market Reports

Thinking only about the market reports that you receive or access from USDA Market News and not those market reports you may receive or access from other sources, please rate the market reports on the following. Use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.”

Q6. Clarity of writing style in the reports

Q7. Clarity of tables and graphics used in reports

Q8. Layout of reports being easy to read and use

Information

Thinking about the information that you receive or access from USDA Market News, please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the information on the following:

Q9. Information being available in a timely manner

Q10. Information being reliable and accurate

Q11. Relevance of information to your needs

Q12. Information being impartial and free from bias

Types of information

How important are each of the following types of information to you? Please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “not very important” and “10” means “very important.”

Q13a. International market information

(IF Q13a is rated “6” or higher go to Q13b, otherwise go to Q14a.)

Q13b. Is USDA Market News meeting your international market information needs?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t Know

Q14a. Organic market information

(IF Q14a is rated “6” or higher go to Q14b, otherwise go to Q15a.)

Q14b. Is USDA Market News meeting your organic market information needs?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t Know

Q15a. Retail advertised specials

(IF Q15a is rated “6” or higher go to Q15b, otherwise go to Q16.)

Q15b. Is USDA Market News meeting your Retail advertised specials information needs?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t Know

Customer Service

Q16. Have you contacted a representative of USDA Market News in the past 12 months with a question or a request for service?

1. Yes (CONTINUE TO Q17)

2. No (SKIP TO Q21)

3. Don’t Know (SKIP TO Q21)

Thinking about the customer service that you received from USDA Market News, please rate USDA Market News on the following using a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.”

Q17. Courtesy of individual(s) who helped you

Q18. Knowledge of USDA Market News staff

Q19. Timeliness in responding to your question or request

Q20. Effectiveness in resolving your question or request

ACSI

Q21. Overall, how satisfied are you with the services from USDA Market News? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 10 is very satisfied?

Q22. How well do the services from USDA Market News meet your expectations? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means falls short of expectations and 10 means exceeds expectations.

Q23. How do the services from USDA Market News compare to the ideal? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means not very close to the ideal and 10 means very close to the ideal.

Outcomes

Q24. Using a 10-point scale where “1” means “Not very likely” and “10” means “Very likely”, please rate the how likely are you to recommend USDA Market News to others, if you were asked?

Q25. Please rate how confident you are in using information and reports that you receive from USDA Market News. Use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” is “not very confident” and “10” is “very confident.”

Areas of Interest

Q26. Which of the following is your primary area of interest? (Select one)

1. Fruit, vegetables and ornamental crops

2. Poultry

3. Eggs

4. Grains

5. Livestock and meat

6. Cotton

7. Dairy

8. None of the above

Q27. Which of the following is your secondary area of interest? (Select one)

1. Fruit, vegetables and ornamental crops

2. Poultry

3. Eggs

4. Grains

5. Livestock and meat

6. Cotton

7. Dairy

8. No secondary area of interest

9. None of the above

Demographics

Q28. Please indicate which of the following best describes you. (Select all that apply)

1. Producer

2. Processor

3. Marketer

4. Distributor

5. Retailer

6. Government

7. Researcher/Analyst

Open End

Q29. Please share any other comments that you have about USDA Market News.

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CFI GROUP – 7/18/2008 AMS Revised Draft Final Version