|
|
1995 Consumer Panel Data
Description of the Data Set
GESIS-ZUMA´s Consumer Panel data is based on GfK's ConsumerScan Household Panel; it is structured as a quota sample and originally encompassed 12,000 households. The
GESIS-ZUMA dataset is a sub-sample of the GfK data that contains 9,064 households that kept a housekeeping book continuously throughout 1995.
GESIS-ZUMA´s Consumer Panel (available to researchers as a scientific use file) contains two types of data:
The goal of GfK´s ConsumerScan Household Panel survey programme is to continuously record, inasmuch as
possible, purchases made by a household (or persons in it). The households taking part in the panel note precise information about the time of purchase and the type of product bought in a housekeeping book that is
submitted on a regular, weekly, basis to the market research institute. The emphasis of GfK's ConsumerScan Household Panel is on so-called "fast moving consumer goods," in particular packaged foodstuffs and housekeeping products.
Methodologically, these are event history data that can be used to measure goods entering the household, whether on a continuous or an
occasional basis. In such data, the acquired product constitutes the observed unit. As a result, the dataset structure is asymmetrical, since each household varies in the number of products it acquires. However, in the dataset individual acquisitions are assigned to a specific household through the household identification number.
The following information is available for each product acquired:
- Date of purchase,
- Weekday
purchased,
- Class
of goods to which product belongs (a total of 81 classes of goods are
surveyed in the consumer),
- Product
segment (this usually corresponds to specific tastes),
- Place
of purchase,
- Number
of products purchased,
- Normal
or reduced price,
- Total
quantity,
- Total
paid for the purchases
- Amount
of time since the last purchase,
- Frequency
of purchase number (for any particular purchase, this number indicates
how often that particular product was bought since the beginning of
the year),
- Specific
attributes of that class of good, such as type of packaging, product
type, concentrated form, etc.
In addition to this on-going collection of consumption data, socio-economic and attitudinal data are collected at specific points in time for each
household.
- Individual
Data on the Socio-economic and Demographic Situation of the Household
and Attitudes held by the Head of Household.
The
socio-economic and demographic situation of the household is assessed at
the beginning of the year using a postal survey. The following
household characteristics are available in GESIS-ZUMA´s dataset and are derived
from three survey waves that were conducted in 1994, 1995, and 1996:
- Household
location (by German federal state)
- Community
size
- Age
of the head of the household
- Number
of children (categories are: under 6, under 14, and under 18)
- Occupation
of the head of the household
- Current occupation of the main wage earner
- Previous
occupation of the main wage earner
- Education
of the main wage earner
- House
size
- Household
equipment (washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, VCR, etc.), yard ownership or use, size of
yard, pets (cats, dogs, birds, etc.)
The data from the three panel waves can be linked through the household identification number, and thereby make it possible to follow specific household changes related to changes in the social and economic situation of that household.
By use of a self administered questionnaire, GfK´s Consumer Panel also surveys attitudes about nutrition, diet, and environmental issues. Ordinarily, the
head of household functions as a gatekeeper over purchases, and as a result it is worth knowing something about
his/her attitudes toward matters relevant to consumption. GESIS-ZUMA´s dataset contains the results of two attitude surveys conducted in October of 1994 and
1995. They are to be found in the same dataset as the socio-economic data, so they can be linked to
actual consumption patterns and behaviour as well as to the household identification
number.
The data on attitudes include the following items:
- Nutrition and diet:
- 41
items are used to establish foodstuff purchasing preferences (for
example, whether products labeled as 'healthy' or 'natural' are
preferred, to what extent criteria such as the discovery of a new
product, the origin of a product, labeling as 'high quality' or 'plain
fare', freshness, trademark, vitamin or mineral content, or ease of
preparation play a role).
- Attitudes about everyday life:
20
items are used to measure the extent of interest in new products, a
traditional lifestyle, attitudes about 'quality of life', adventuresomeness, etc.
- Environmental
views: 13
items capture environmental awareness and behaviour, as well as
attitudes about the relationship between the environment, government, and
industry.
- Price sensitivity
of the head of household: a summary index derived from the answers to three pairs of
contrasting items (for example: "When I shop, I look particularly for
reduced price items because that way I can save quite a lot"
versus "When I shop, it's too much bother to look for reduced
price items; it just isn't worth the effort")
An interdisciplinary working group convened to examine the research potential in such data. This group discussed the results of their analyses in a 1999
symposium; these reports have been published as Special Volume 7 of the ZUMA-Nachrichten. In addition to detailed insight into the practices and survey programme of consumer panels, as exemplified by the market research conducted by GfK, this volume contains reports on the flexibility and processes of price
changes, the relation of lifestyle to everyday consumption, attitudes about health and consumer behaviour, the connection of environmental views to decisions to purchase housekeeping products, habit-formation and risk orientation in purchasing decisions, and the socio-economic embeddedness of decisions to acquire particular products like alcoholic drinks. These investigations provide numerous starting points for basic and applied research questions about consumption that can emerge from the use of consumer panel
data.
Additional Information about the datasets may be found here.
Please note, however, that the information is only available in German.
© GESIS Georg Papastefanou
02. Januar 2008
|
