[Survey] EN World's ads... and you.

[Sandalphon]

Hi, folks. Long-time lurker, first-time poster, and I sincerely hope future posts will be a little less self-serving than this one. I apologise in advance, but bear with me.

As a part of my BSc, I'm taking a module in Market Research. After two years of reading EN World on and off - and following some of the financial stuff behind the scenes when I briefly toyed with getting into e-publishing - I thought it would be a nice idea to do a project looking at how folks here view the ads EN World runs as opposed to the other promo work the site does. I'm hoping this doesn't step on any toes - I checked in with Morrus beforehand to make sure doing this wouldn't cause a problem.

This questionnaire's composed of a quick series of statements to be rated from 1 to 5, with ‘1’ being ‘strongly disagree’, '2' 'disagree', ‘3’ 'neutral’, '4' 'agree' and ‘5’ ‘strongly agree’. The exception are the questions with an asterisk (*), which are free-response, though one-word answers are more than OK. I've thrown in a few options to save time.

If you're willing to give it a shot, answer as many questions as you're willing to, post a response (just needs to list question number and response, IE: 1 - 4, 2 - 3, 3 - 1...) to this thread or - if preferable - send it to my university e-mail account at du636@city.ac.uk. Thanks in advance, and sorry for any inconvenience caused!

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. I generally take notice of banner ads presented on ENWorld.
2. When looking at ads, I take more notice of the content than the presentation.
3. I generally prefer looking for more information on advertised products to clicking through on the ad itself.
4. I am more likely to take notice of an advertised product if I have seen it referenced elsewhere first.
5. The ads currently run on the site appeal to me.
6. How frequently do you purchase products based on advertising run on EN World?* (Never, Rarely, Occasionally, Frequently, Exclusively)
7. Rate the following by the level that they influence your purchasing decisions, out of a total of 100 points.*

- News posts:
- Reviews:
- Forum posts:
- Banner ads:
- Other:

(Personal example for me: News posts - 13, Reviews - 50, Forum posts - 35, Banner ads - 2)

7. What products are you most interested in, generally speaking?* (Campaign settings, GM tools, adventures, play aids, etc.)
8. How would you improve the utility of the site’s advertising in guiding your purchasing decisions?*

 

[Desdichado]

1. 4, agree
2. 4, agree
3. 2, disagree
4. 4, agree
5. 4 agree
6. Occasionally
7. - News posts: 5
   - Reviews: 40
   - Forum posts: 40
   - Banner ads: 10
   - Other: 5
8. Settings, toolkits, alternate rules.
9. I wouldn't, I'm fine with it the way it is.

 

[Crothian]

1. 3
2. 2
3. 4
4. 4
5. 4
6. 2
7. Rate the following by the level that they influence your purchasing decisions, out of a total of 100 points.*

- News posts: 15
- Reviews: 40
- Forum posts: 25
- Banner ads: 10
- Other: 10


7. Creative items. It doesn't matter what typoe of book it is as long as the creativity is there.

 

[EricNoah]

1. 2 (I generally visit with an ad blocker, except when I'm at work)
2. 2 (both are important to me in an ad)
3. 2 (I avoid clicking banner ads out of habit as much as anything)
4. 3
5. 4 (when I see them I am grateful that they are related to the site's content -- I don't want to see viagra etc. ads here)
6. Rarely
7.
- News posts: 20
- Reviews: 5
- Forum posts: 50 (positive ones where ordinary folks are explaining how they used the product or what they got out of it)
- Banner ads: 5
- Other: 20 (Other being publisher reputation and level of positive participation on the forums; and seeking out particular products based on my current need)

(Personal example for me: News posts - 13, Reviews - 50, Forum posts - 35, Banner ads - 2)

8. GM tools
9. Maybe have forum-specific ads? Not that we have a ton of different ads as it is. Would like to see more non-RPG stuff advertised (but still stuff that appeals to RPGers -- DVDs, comic books, etc.). Discounts offered through these ads?

 

[Thanee]

1. 4
2. 3
3. 3 (normally, I do not click banners at all, but on this site it's a bit different, since I expect to find actual information about a possibly interesting product behind the link)
4. 4
5. 3
6. never (but that doesn't mean, that it isn't possible, in fact I'm considering to buy a product, which I got initially aware of through the banner ad )
7.
- News posts: 0
- Reviews: 5
- Forum posts: 90
- Banner ads: 5
- Other: 0 (not considering sources outside of this site, then it would be higher, of course)
8. Campaign Resources
9. I think it's fine.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Piratecat]

Threads about the forums belong in Meta, so... off we go!

 

[Arnwyn]

1. 2, disagree
2. 4, agree
3. 4, agree
4. 4, agree
5. 2, disagree
6. Never
7.
- News posts: 10
- Reviews: 30
- Forum posts: 40
- Banner ads: 1
- Other: 19
8. adventures
9. full discussion and list of content, table of contents...

 

[Fester]

1. 4 (I check them out from time to time, if they look interesting enough)
2. 3 (I look at both content and presentation - if it's well presented, I'm more likely to click on it)
3. 3 (I will generally go and look for information after clicking through - I don't just click and buy)
4. 3 (it doesn't make any difference)
5. 3 (some suck, some don't)
6. Occasionally
7.
- News posts: 20 (I check the News all the time to see what's new)
- Reviews: 25 (Reviews are important)
- Forum posts: 50 (best way to find out what people think)
- Banner ads: 5 (only occasionally)
- Other: 0 (other what?)

8. GM resources (ie adventures, rules and expansion books, etc)
9. It seems fine to me.

 

[Teflon Billy]

1. 4
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 3
6. Rarely (as a reviewer, I don't really buy alot of stuff)
7.

- News posts:0
- Reviews:40 (Psion's Mostly)
- Forum posts:40
- Banner ads:10
- Other: 10

8. Different Genres.

9. The banners would need to be more eye-catching. That one for those Dice Sellers really caught me.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

1. I generally take notice of banner ads presented on ENWorld. 4

2. When looking at ads, I take more notice of the content than the presentation. 3

3. I generally prefer looking for more information on advertised products to clicking through on the ad itself. 3

4. I am more likely to take notice of an advertised product if I have seen it referenced elsewhere first. 2

5. The ads currently run on the site appeal to me. 3

6. How frequently do you purchase products based on advertising run on EN World?* (Never, Rarely, Occasionally, Frequently, Exclusively) 2

7. Rate the following by the level that they influence your purchasing decisions, out of a total of 100 points.*

- News posts 15:
- Reviews:35
- Forum posts: 30
- Banner ads: 10
- Other: 10

(Personal example for me: News posts - 13, Reviews - 50, Forum posts - 35, Banner ads - 2)

7. What products are you most interested in, generally speaking?* (Campaign settings, GM tools, adventures, play aids, etc.) In order of interest: GM Tools (By how likely I am to use them, for these PDFs tend to win out.) Play Aids (Systems that both the players and the GM are likely to use.) Settings within my interests (historical period, likely plots, etc.) and a very few adventures.

8. How would you improve the utility of the site’s advertising in guiding your purchasing decisions?* More variety of advertising - seeing the same product 50 times does not make it 50 times more likely that I will buy it.

The Auld Grump, repeating the questions so folks signing in late can reference them more easily...