UNITED STATES MINT
QUANTITATIVE CONSUMER RESEARCH
UNITED STATES Mint New Customer Acquisition Research Study
OMB Clearance Request
6/18/2015
Introduction / Purpose of the Research
This collection request is for the United States Mint to conduct a quantitative research study with Mint customers and non-customers to explore and identify new customer acquisition opportunities in order to grow the current customer base, which is declining. This research study is similar to the quantitative study that was previously conducted in Fiscal Year 2011 under OMB number: 1525-0012-0152.
The results from this survey research project will assist the United States Mint’s Brand Management Division in getting a more comprehensive understanding of the market opportunity that exists among current non-customers, evaluating the prospects for acquiring business from these consumers (especially those within key underpenetrated demographic subgroups), and identifying how to reach these prospects through digital opportunities. The data collection will help ensure that customer interests and preferences inform the development of new products and marketing strategies, which will in turn help ensure customer satisfaction and that the investment of organizational resources is maximized.
Part of the United States Mint’s mission is to produce and make collectible coin products available directly to the American public. Executive Order No. 12862 (September 1993), titled “Setting Customer Service Standards,” establishes a mandate for the government to improve and adhere to best practices when providing customer service directly to the American people, such as by conducting research to determine satisfaction with existing services and to ensure the kind and quality of services offered are aligned with those the public wants (Section 1b). To effectively accomplish these goals, the United States Mint utilizes a combination of accepted research methods that shed light on the awareness, satisfaction and preferences among the public as they relate to collectible coin products and services. The United States Mint New Customer Acquisition Refresh Research survey is one of these instruments.
Conducting market research in advance of introducing new products and services, or before making changes to existing products and services, is vital to ensuring those decisions are as likely as possible to enhance customer satisfaction and maximize organizational efficiency. The United States Mint knows from experience that making new product and service decisions in the absence of a reliable information collection is likely to lead to undesirable outcomes in terms of customer satisfaction and organizational performance. The United States Mint is placing renewed emphasis on advance testing of new product concepts and changes to existing products to inform our decision making and improve customer and operational outcomes.
The consequences of not performing this collection are the United States Mint’s diminished ability to produce and offer collectible coin products that the public is interested in, and to maintain service levels that satisfy customers.
The United States Mint Customer Acquisition Refresh Survey is designed to be web-based, with customers and non-customers. Customers will receive an invitation via United States postal mail, and take approximately 35 minutes to complete the survey. Non-customers will receive an e-mail invitation, and take approximately 25 minutes to complete the survey.
We will survey a total of 3,100 non-customers from a consumer panel. This sample will include a demographically balanced sample of 2,500 respondents who are not currently customers of the U.S. Mint, to ensure that at least 700 (30%) of these consumers currently save or set aside coins (e.g., saved 50-state quarters, ATB quarters, etc.). We will augment this base sample as indicated in Figure 1, below, with an additional 200 African American consumers, 100Hispanic consumers, and 300 Asian consumers.
Additionally, the survey will include a sample of 900 current U.S Mint customers, to provide a basis for comparing affinities, experiences, and influences which will support analyses to determine key life experiences and motivations that precipitate U.S. Mint purchasing.
This will yield a total pool of 4,000 individuals, as outlined in Figure 1, and also provides an ample basis for a focused analysis of each of the underpenetrated groups.
Figure 1 -Survey Sample Allocation
Target Group |
Sample |
Base Sample (demographically balanced) |
2,500 |
Augment 1 (African American) |
200 |
Augment 2 (Hispanic) |
100 |
Augment 3 (Asian Americans) |
300 |
|
|
Non-customer Subtotal |
3,100 |
U.S. Mint Customers |
900 |
Grand Total |
4,000 |
The customer sample for the survey will be obtained from the customer database lists and will be selected randomly among the population of customers fitting the defined criteria.
Based on our historic response rates and our experience with this type of survey, we anticipate inviting 14,000 customers to respond to the survey in order to achieve the targeted 900 sample size. Collected survey data will be cleaned, weighted and tabulated.
The non-customer sample for this survey will be obtained through Research Now (an e-Rewards company), which is our research contractor’s preferred partner. Research Now (RN) is one of the largest panel companies in the world (38 countries) and in the U.S. (over 3 Million U.S. consumer panelists) and their primary business is providing online research only panels. RN is a member of the major market research organizations, including CASRO, the MRA and ESOMAR, and adheres to all of their quality standards including recruitment, confidentiality, compensation and accuracy of the data. RN’s panel is recruited from a diverse group of over 300 online and offline sources including airline clubs, department store and restaurant credit card lists, and website advertising.
Panelists receive either money or redeemable point incentives for completing surveys. All panelists fill out a registration survey when they join which includes demographic and profile questions (such as hobbies, product usage, etc.) as well as name and address. RN performs multiple checks on this information to identify fraudulent or duplicate panelists. The panel is actively managed which means, among other things, that the registration survey is updated periodically and panelists that don’t respond to survey invitations over several months are removed from the panel. In addition, Naxion has very strict sample requirements and RN is their preferred panel partner because of their consistent ability to adhere to our survey specifications and to provide sample that is balanced to census demographics (e.g., age, income, gender) and representative of our target populations.
Survey Design
As stated earlier, this will be a web-based survey, which will be completed by customers and non-customers.
The survey is designed to explore and identify potential marketing opportunities that exist among non-customers and evaluate the likelihood for acquiring business from these consumers, especially within key underpenetrated demographic subgroups. The survey will also evaluate current United States Mint customers, to provide a basis for comparing affinities, experiences, and influences which will support analyses to determine key life experiences and motivations that precipitate U.S. Mint purchasing.
Initially, participants will be asked some standard screening questions pertaining to occupation, sources of collectibles used in the past, coin selling history, age, gender and income. Then, participants will be asked questions related to the following subjects:
Collectibles behavior and coin awareness – to gauge participants current collecting behaviors and collecting motivations.
Coin Collecting Behaviors, Attitudes, and Motivations – to gauge participants on behaviors and motivations related specifically to coin collecting.
Coin Purchasing Interest and Past Experiences/Exposures – questions related to experience purchasing United States Mint products and key influences to purchasing coin related merchandise.
Purchasing/Communications Channels and Spending Potential – questions related to the likelihood of purchasing coins by advertising type, advertising and event exposure and current hobbies.
Internet activity – questions related to the participant’s Internet habits and most visited websites.
Additional Demographic Information – standard questions related to the participant’s demographics.
This survey approach is designed to minimize the amount of intrusion and burden that is placed on customers. Accordingly, calls will not be made to them, nor will other “intrusive” measures that normally might be used to maximize response rates. We plan to send invitations to respondents explaining that participation is totally voluntary and that their feedback will be used to help improve the products and services we offer. For non-customers, a reminder email will also be sent to follow-up with potential respondents to invite them to complete the survey. Respondents can complete the survey at a time convenient to them.
The United States Mint deals with non-response bias in a number of ways. First, question non-response (those who don’t answer a question but would otherwise complete the survey) is minimized by the survey tool, which requires respondents to make a selection for all questions. Second, survey non-response (people who don’t respond to the survey invitation and those who respond but don’t complete the survey) is minimized by keeping the survey short and as simple as practicable. Third, non-response biasness is accounted for by weighting the survey data and applying other adjustment techniques where appropriate and available.
The collection of information will involve completion of the survey via the Internet with up to 4,000 randomly selected individuals (900 customers / 3,100 non-customers). The average time to complete the survey will be approximately 35 minutes for customers and 25 minutes for non-customers. Therefore, the total estimated burden for this survey is 1,817 hours.
|
UNITED STATES Mint New Customer Acquisition Research Study |
All respondents (customers/non-customers) |
4,000 (900 / 3,100) |
Average minutes to complete survey (customers / non-customers) |
35 mins / 25 mins |
Total estimated burden hours |
1,817 hrs. |
If you have questions related to the review of this collection request, you may contact any of the following individuals at the United States Mint’s Sales and Marketing Department:
Kathy Chiarello – [email protected]; 202-354-7809
Manoj Pillai – [email protected]; 202-354-7255
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Purpose of the Research |
| Author | Kathy Chiarello |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-27 |