1525-0012-0127 - Evaluative $1 Coin Research - Retail and Consumer Acceptance Survey

United States Mint

Evaluative $1 Coin Research – Retail and Consumer Acceptance and Usage Research in Retail ENVIRONMENTS SURVEY

11/04/2008

Purpose of the Research

The United States Mint plans to conduct research through retail shopping visits in all of the four pilot markets to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program at driving actual acceptance and use of the $1 Coin among store managers, cashiers and consumers in the retail environment.

Evaluative Research Outline

1. Observe a variety of retail environments to determine the extent of marketing collateral materials used in store

2. Interact with cashiers to determine acceptance and use of $1 Coin

• Gauge willingness/ability of cashiers to provide a $1 Coin in change when requested in change

• Gauge willingness/ability of cashiers to accept a $1 Coin when offered in payment

• Assess ability of store managers, cashiers or other relevant store personnel to promote/facilitate use of $1 Coin

Research Design and Methodology

The United States Mint will conduct a series of mystery shopper visits at participating retailers in each of the four pilot markets; Austin, Charlotte, Grand Rapids and Portland.

• Shops will occur over a two week timeframe at the end of the pilot program

• 20 shops per market/week (40 shops per market x 4 markets); Total: 160 shops

• Each shop will take approximately 15 minutes per interview, with an additional 10 minutes for researcher to complete a 2-page questionnaire; total of 25 minutes per shop.

• All mystery shops will be conducted by trained researchers; training for the project will be conducted via teleconference.

Estimate of the Burden Hours

The total estimated burden for the groups is between 30 to 50 hours.

	Survey
# of Respondents	160
Average interview minutes	15
Estimated Burden Hours	40