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real thing!" he proclaimed. "It's bound to click." Fortunately, surveyminded associates prevailed upon him to hire 50 interviewers at eight dollars a dayplus expenses. These men and women distributed 10,000 free samples and questionnaires to homes, restaurants, hotels and lunch wagons.
After three months of coast-tocoast checking, they came up with a firm opinion: resistance to the synthetic drink was solid, and it might take five years and $5,000,000 to give the new drink a favorable name. Confronted with the survey which had cost him only $10,000, the manufacturer wisely shelved his ambitious program to put coffee out of business.
One time, a refrigerator company conceived the idea of a transparent icebox which would enable housewives to see its contents without having to open the door. When drawings of the proposed glass box were shown to "consumer panels," the company heads were startled to learn that 70 per cent of the women turned up their noses at the idea.
"We don't want our nosey neighbors to know what we're going to have for supper!" was the general criticism. As a result, the transparent box was forgotten and a $250,000 failure was averted.
Surveys cost anywhere from a modest $300 to $50,000. A manufacturer may pay from 25 cents to $10 for each opinion or questionnaire. In most cases, this is the cheapest and soundest investment he can make. One crockery maker, for example, thought that square dishes would be a blessing to
November-December, 1949
housewives with small kitchens and tiny cupboard space. He was prepared to spend $100,000 in marketing the line before he was persuaded that a $500 survey should be conducted before the new dishes went into production.
To his amazement, an overwhelming number of women laughed at the
idea of square dishes — and even the men said they preferred a round plate. ; ;
"It goes to show," sighed the crock' )l D ery king, "that the big idea we business men launch may founder on the hard rock of public opinion. In the end, the customer is still boss in America."
Despite the gibes hurled at polltakers after the last national election, advertising agencies and large companies have no reason to doubt the reliability of their non-professional consumer panels. Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public are quite honest and vocal about their likes and dislikes. If a new orange juicer has an undetected "bug" in it, its maker is certain to receive a speedy rejection from the 1,000 housewives who may test it for a month.
Women testers far outnumber men for several reasons: they like to earn small amounts of money for their services; they want to keep the products tested; they have a keener feeling | for style and color — important factors I a man may overlook. I «