Report Prepared for: Charlie Goodyear,

Marketing Manager, The Vidette

Illinois state university,April 25, 2016

Contents
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL........................................................................2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................3
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................4
BACKGROUND........................................................................................5
METHOD................................................................................................8
RESULTS..............................................................................................10
DISCUSSION.........................................................................................11
CONCLUSION........................................................................................11
SURVEYS..............................................................................................12
SURVEY FOR VIDETTE READERS.................................................................................... 12
SURVEY FOR NON-READERS.......................................................................................... 13
SURVEY FOR MOBILE APP USE....................................................................................... 14
WORK CITED........................................................................................15

Letter of Transmittal
Marketing Research
College of Business
Illinois State University
470 S. University St.
Normal, IL 61761
April 20, 2016
Charlie Goodyear
The Vidette
500 W. Locust Street
Normal, IL 61761
Dear Charlie Goodyear,

In January, you asked our class to help you find out ways to increase readership for the
content offered by The Vidette in order to be more appealing to the student body. After
presenting material to the Illinois State University student body via email, and putting together a
focus group; we better understood the organization and its offerings. Also, became determined to
be the most help as we would.
Throughout the semester we have learned various marketing research practices through
class discussion and hands-on experience in our research activities to be able to relate as much as
possible to The Vidette. The results you will see are a combination of survey respondents as well
as our application of material that we have learned in class throughout the semester. We
appreciate the opportunity to gain this real-world experience associated with you and The
Vidette.
Our report is attached, including our objectives, background information, methodology,
and recommendations. You will also see a copy of the actual survey used at the end of the report.
Should you need further assistance or information please do not hesitate to contact us. Again,
thank you for the opportunity to assist you with this project and we hope our findings are useful
in your decision making process.

Best regards,

Evan Nowak, Garrett Brock, Kasia Kalka, Brandon Tran

Executive Summary
The objective of our research is to determine the best way to appeal to students at Illinois
State University about the content offered by The Vidette. We administered the survey to a large
number of students on campus as well as a more concentrated amount of people in a focus group.
This was done to find the current and potential interest and readership of The Vidette from a
students perspective. We used a variety of objectives such as: (1) What types of topics and
content are of greatest interest to Vidette readers, (2) What are reactions to the revised online
Vidette format, (3) How to improve mobile app usage, (4) How to improve Vidette online usage,
(5) How to increase paper Vidette pick up rates, (6) How does interest in content and
advertisements vary by Class? (7) What types of promotional events are of greatest interest to
students? (8) What types of promotional material or incentives of interest to students, (9) What
are the demographics of the Vidette readers?
Our marketing team developed a survey based on these objectives and went out on the
quad to present materials pertaining to The Vidette to the student body. After sending the survey
out, we have gathered over 700 completed surveys, throughout this semester. Upon further
organizing the data, our group began to analyze the data. The goal has been to help the Vidette
gain richer insight on how to appeal to students and to seek ways to increase readership in the
Illinois State University student population. Past research studies have shown that ISU students
spend on average $8,000,000 per year on food, liquor, and other products and services. This
information is what entices local companies to advertise in The Vidette. However, in the recent
years, The Vidette readership has declined and clients are backing out on advertisements. Unless
The Vidette boosts readership and regains advertisements they will not be able to stay in

business. The following pages detail the procedures for data collection and our findings. These
findings can then be used by The Vidette to regain their readers and continue to operate.

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to assist The Vidette in determining what types of topics are
of greatest interest to Vidette Readers. While doing this study we are looking to gather
information on what types of content would attract more readers both online app and in print.
After speaking to the current Vidette employees, we have come to the realization that The
Vidette readership is not where it should be. As a consequence, there are less companies who are
willing to advertise in the paper making The Videttes budget decrease dramatically. The
opportunity we have been presented with is to help The Vidette make the paper more appealing
to students and in turn make the paper more appealing to advertisers.
The first objective is to perform exploratory research in regards to The Vidette and find
out what type of content is most appealing to its audience. Once we understand what the target
audience prefers we will be able to focus on what type of content should be continued and what
type should be scrapped.
The second objective is to identify how that content can be included and used in the
newspaper. This may be in the form of an article or an advertisement. This will give us an idea of
how we can incorporate the desired content into the paper to boost readership.
The third objective is to gain knowledge on the reactions Vidette readers have towards
the revised online format of The Vidette. In this we will have an understanding for what the

readers like and dont like. Furthermore, we will see if there are any recommendations from the
readers.
The fourth objective is to improve The Vidette Online viewership. The Vidette Online is a
particular outlet that is newer to The Vidette. It has a lot of potential but currently does not have
many views.
The fifth objective is to increase pickup rates. Producing print advertising is very
expensive so it is a large waste if the papers being produced are not being read.
The sixth objective is to determine what types of content each class would like to see.
This would help the sales team sell more ads to specific businesses by knowing what market they
should target.
The seventh objective is to determine what types of promotional events students would
like to see used in support of the vidette. Currently they do promotions like Hot Chocolate On
The Quad and Doughnuts For Downloads but are looking to expand.
The eighth objective is to determine what types of promotional materials (e.g., gift cards,
t-shirts, Vidette lanyards, etc.) are incentives of interest to students, and effective motivators to
download the mobile app?
The ninth objective consists of determining the demographics of the respondents. Gaining
rich insights on the demographics will allow us to know more about the level of interest to be
able to appeal more effectively to the student body.

Background
There are many ways that other colleges have measured the readership in their
newspaper. In the newspapers article Level on On-Campus Activities Predicts Student Paper
Relationship the survey's measures the correlation between involvement in their community and
readership throughout college newspapers (Collins and Armstrong). There were 24,000 students
that were interviewed at the University of Texas at Arlington and were asked How many issues
of the Shorthorn do you typically read each week. In this survey, there was no correlation
between the amount of time a student spent at the university and the times a week they read their
newspaper. A significant correlation existed between ones frequency of participation in campus
activities and exposure to the student newspaper. There was also a little correlation between
students who lived on campus and reading the college newspaper (Collins and Armstrong).
In Estimating the Value of Newspaper Content for Readers: A comparison of two
methods, 322 students from the University of Indiana were randomly-selected to be interviewed
by researchers. The interviewer asked the student if they read the college newspaper, if they did,
they were then asked what categories of the newspaper they read. After, the interviewer would go
through the list, and ask students how much they would miss the categories if they were never
published. There were 28 article categories in the list and out of those 28 only 4 would be
missed highly. Page location, size of headline, and the amount of space were big indicators of
readership and were all structural characteristics of a newspaper that had high degree of being
missed (Weaver). The study also concluded that asking open ended question about which
subjects had the greatest degree of interest to readers, would increase readership.

In the article U of Florida Students Prefer Campus Paper to Free Daily, this article
said Many young adults find newspaper to be irrelevant in their lives. The article also said that
college students were more interested in fluff than any hard news (Collins).
In all three of these research articles, its main job was to find a way to get students to read
their college newspaper more. There were different platforms that the researchers took;
correlation between community involvement and readership, finding out what articles students
would miss, and finding out what content students prefer. Readership in all college campuses
is going down due to the irrelevance they think it plays in their lives. Finding a way to interact
with students, not necessarily by news, but by content that is more enjoyable for them can
increase readership.
The Vidette has many different ways with communicating with Illinois State University
students and the Bloomington-Normal community. Of course, the most obvious form of
communication is The Vidette newspaper. However, The Vidette also has many forms of social
media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Vidette has also launched a new mobile
app.
The Vidette newspaper consists of fifty percent advertisements and fifty percent editorial.
The advertisements consist of local business of Bloomington-Normal. Some examples of
advertisements in The Vidette are the Bloomington bars specials, which seem to be the most
popular with Illinois State students. The bar specials include daily specials for each day of the
week. What college student is not trying to save money, especially when hitting the town for the
weekend? A Vidette reader can find the bar specials in the paper that is distributed bi-weekly on
Mondays and Wednesdays. The Vidette also distributes The Bird issue, which is more
entertainment based articles and its handed out on Thursdays for the weekend. Also, a lot of the
7

articles have to do with sports, politics, Illinois State University issues, and movie or music
reviews. The sports articles are primarily about Illinois State University athletics. Additionally,
if the sports articles are not Illinois State related they are about current sports events like the
Super Bowl or updates on former Illinois State athletes.
Furthermore, The Vidette does a lot of promotional things to spread the word about their
company. The Vidette has a marketing team, which helps hand out the newspaper during the
week. The marketing team also does a lot promotional events. An example of a promotional
event would be Downloads for Donuts. At this event, students would have to download The
Vidette mobile app to receive a free donut. Another example an event the marketing would
create is related to social media. To help increase viewership of their social media The Vidette
creates a post saying to share and like this post and they can be entered to win a gift card.
Everything that The Vidette does on the marketing and promotional side helps raise awareness
about The Vidette and is creating a well-known brand.
Compared to other student newspapers The Vidette has always had room for
improvements. Research shows that a college newspaper called The Daily Barometer of
Oregon State University was rated the nations best Society of Professional Journalists of 2002
(Johnson and LaPlante 2002, p.40). Although The Vidette is all student run and all the editors
are students of Illinois State University. However, not all the articles in The Vidette are about the
students or what the students prefer to read. One thing The Daily Barometer does differently
than The Vidette is that the students writing the articles are writing about themselves and their
majors (Johnson and LaPlante 2002, p.41). This technique makes Oregon State University
students intrigued to pick up and read the paper because perhaps they will open and find an
article that they could relate to.
8

As stated above, the bar specials sections is most popular with Vidette newspaper readers.
A way The Vidette can increase mobile app downloads is to create a tab or box in the mobile app
that advertised the bar specials. This would be a simple change and the mobile app would be a
lot more useful to college students. Mobile app downloads and usage could increase a great deal
if this was something Illinois State University students were interested in using. Another thing
that The Vidette could create are articles with more student interests. For example, they could
ask the Illinois State student body to answer a poll on their app to see what topic would have
their greatest interest. We hypothesize that can topics such recipes for a college budget or RSO
events going on on-campus could be tested in The Vidette Readership Survey and greatly
increase readership of The Vidette or the mobile app usage.

Method
To begin, Charlie Goodyear, the Marketing Manager, addressed our marketing research
class about the problem that The Vidette is facing pertaining to readership. The problem arises as
The Vidette has needed to increase readership in terms of how to appeal more to students. This
can consist of the editorial paper itself along with the app of The Vidette. Therefore, in order to
gain valuable knowledge about The Videttes problems, we chose to perform exploratory
research to gain some additional background information about what will appeal to students at
Illinois State University and The Videttes current process. Charlie Goodyear provided some rich
insights during his presentation that consisted of the problem and some research objectives.
Therefore, we decided to create and conduct a survey concerning the problem of The Vidette.
Once the surveys were collected, it was our responsibility to analyze the data by incorporating
our market research skills in which we acquired during class discussions and material. After we
analyzed all of the data, our findings will then be presented to Charlie Goodyear and the class to
9

aid in his decision about a better strategy to implement towards increasing readership from the
students.
We began our research going out to the quad to effectively capture and gain the attention
of the students first. We had to properly gather two different front pages of The Vidette to be able
to present them in front of students on the quad. We found that presenting material in front of
students would help us give us valuable insight towards our research objectives, specifically the
students level of appeal. This would give us a better understanding of what would interest the
students the most versus what would interest them the least. The size of the sample of students in
which we presented the material to was around 50 students in a total of 2 days.
Another method that we determined would be effective would be to form a focus group
for additional concentration from a group of six respondents. We conducted the survey after
having a brief discussion about The Vidette and general information about newspapers and
editorials. This survey was a strategic questionnaire, provided in hand-written form and online,
for the respondents to complete. Therefore, our survey was consistent toward the research
objectives while also discussing other questions that would arise from a personal perspective
from individuals of the focus group. Once the survey was completed and collected, our group
further analyzed and reviewed the results as well as consulting Charlie Goodyear. After
collecting the results from the students, we further analyzed it and discussed within our group
and Charlie Goodyear to come up with ideas towards implementing a good strategy related to
proposing positive improvements aimed at The Vidette operations.
Finally, we will further analyze the data we have collected and then present it to Charlie
Goodyear and the class. Once the data was appropriately organized into the SPSS program, we
then further analyzed the information that we were able to gather from the quad and surveys. Our

10

team was able to run a variety of tests to answer the research objectives to be able to come up
with effective solutions towards the problem. Once all of the data was collected and then
analyzed, our team prepared a visual presentation of our findings to Charlie Goodyear.

Results
Research Objective #1: Determine which type of topics and content are of greatest interest
to Vidette readers.
Looking at the SPSS data there are three different topics that are significantly more
popular than others. In fact the three topics were the only topics with favorable results over 10.
Coming in first with 14.3 is Job/Employment related topics. This would make sense because we
are all in college to receive a higher education and eventually get a job. In second is the
Coupons/Offers category of topics. This category would also make sense because paying for that
higher education is expensive and a lot of college students search for small deals to save
money where they can. With a score of 12.1, Campus Related News came in third by only a little
bit. The Vidette is a campus newspaper so that is why their readers would prefer this topic. The
Vidette can not compete with larger news sources but they are strongest in local and campus
news due to the fact they are one of the only few papers reporting this type of news.
Considering the three topics that are of most interest to The Vidette readers we can
suggest that the following changes be made as far as content goes. In order to appeal to the group
that prefers Job/Employment The Vidette editorial should include a weekly internship posting. In
the posting they can include a brief description of the position as well as the company offering it
and the hiring manager's contact info. For the Coupons/Offers category we suggest that The
Vidette start placing more coupons in the regular issues of the paper. Currently they offer two
11

different coupon book supplements but an addition to the regular paper might boost reader
interest. The third suggestion that we offer The Vidette is in regards to the Campus Related News
category. For this category we suggest that The Vidette bring back the ISU Police Blotter. That
way students can hear about local news.
Research Objective #2: Determine reactions of the online format of The Vidette.
The reactions to the revised online Vidette were split between three different areas. These
areas were the home page, sections, and the article page. Each area had a fairly similar response
to their respective redesigns. The home page received a mean rating of 3.81, sections received a
3.76, and the article page received a 3.79. This puts all three fairly close to a good rating.
Ideally The Vidette would want readers to rate the redesign as very good, but it is a step in the
right direction. The Vidette can continue to improve upon the recent redesign to make readers
more interested in using the site over reading a physical copy of The Vidette. However, no matter
the way the site looks, the content still has to be intriguing to readers. For this we can look at
certain quality ratings for The Vidette.
Areas in which the quality was rated include news reporting, sports writing,
editorials/opinion writing, and advertisements. The highest rating was for news writing at a mean
of 3.81. Following news reporting was sports writing with a mean of 3.77, editorials at 3.71, and
advertisements at 3.60. In general we can say the quality is from average to good but that
The Vidette may want to work on their editorials/opinion writing and advertisements. A low
score for advertisements is not surprising, as many students suggested readership would increase
with an increase of desirable coupons. The Vidette needs to get into touch with more local
businesses to capture more deals for the students.
Research Objective #3: Decide how to improve mobile app usage.
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The Vidette can increase the amount of mobile app downloads and mobile app usage by
providing information that has students greatest interests. The Vidette should include drink
specials for Bloomington-Normal bars. These specials are included in both Monday and
Thursday issues of The Vidette. This could be an easy improvement and addition to the mobile
app to increase the amount of downloads and usage. Also, the mobile app can include coupons
to local stores and businesses in Bloomington-Normal that are not offered in the newspaper.
This will make it more likely for students to download the mobile app.
There is also many ways The Vidette can get the word out about the mobile app. The
Vidette marketing team can create promotional events to get students to know about The Vidette
mobile app. During these events if people were to download the mobile app they could receive a
koozie or other free promotional items. This will help create awareness that The Vidette has a
mobile app and could increase mobile app downloads.
Research Objective #4: Determine how to improve Vidette online usage.
There are many recommendations to be made based on how to improve The Vidette
online usage. First off, marketing/advertising the online format to the student body would be a
great way to expose the content of The Vidette. As students access content, The Vidette should
make the layout easy to find things and navigate through so there is less difficulty. The home
page of The Vidette should stand out and feature interesting and appealing articles and
promotions so that users are more inclined to stay on the website and read articles. Improvements
can be made on the website by featuring RSO organizations so that members and interested
members have more incentive to be up-to-date on organization news, events, and promotions.
Another recommendation would be highlighting the bar deals so that the upperclassmen will be
attracted more to using the online format. For the underclassmen, exposing this demographic on
13

the screens in the dining centers would be an effective way to capture the attention and keep
underclassmen up-to-date on content and advertisements.
Research Objective #5: Determine how to increase paper Vidette pick up rates.
Looking at the SPSS data for who picks up The Vidette we can see that seniors have the
highest percentage of pickup rates. This is good because seniors generally have more time on
their hands to read the vidette and go to events. Where we need improvement is in the freshman
and graduate students. In order to improve pickup rates in those demographics we suggest that
the brings the street team closer to the dorms.
Research Objective #6: Determine how interests in content and advertisements vary by
class.
The level of desirability is fairly similar between all classes, which include: Freshman,
Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. However, for the graduate student demographic, there is a lower
level of desirability on certain content and advertisements. For example, the graduate students
had a lower level of desirability (in opposition to the other classes) on Crime News, Campus
Sports, National Sports, The Horoscope, Coupons, Classified Ads, Job Employment Listings,
and Advertisements. It makes sense that the graduate students are less interested in Job
Employment Listings and Coupons, for example, because their time at the University are not as
long as the other classes. They will not have much of an incentive to be interested in this
content/advertisements compared to the other classes who deem it more valuable and will be able
to make more use of it. However, Cultural Events and Crime News are content that become of
high interest to the graduate student demographic. This can potentially be because when graduate
students are on the website, they are more inclined to be more interested in events that they can
participate in such as cultural events (dealing less with class-related or organizational-related
14

events) and crime news which deals with the safety of the university in comparison to Campus
Sports which could be news about intramurals, things that arent important or necessary for
graduate students to be desiring more insight about.
Research Objective #7: Determine what types of promotional events are of greatest interest
to students.
The promotional events that we tested in the survey were a cook out, spike ball
tournament, coffee and hot chocolate on the quad, and others. We also hads a open-ended
question about what events students would like to see The Vidette sponsor. The events that
received students greatest was the cook out with a frequency of 419 and the greatest percent
which was 59.2. The event that had students least interest was the spike ball tournament. For
the open-ended question, a lot of students commented on how they disliked spike ball and
thought that event would not be a great idea. However, many students commented on how they
would prefer events with free food, which is why most students had the greatest interest in the
cook-out as promotional event.
Research Objective #8: Determine what type of promotional materials or incentives have
the greatest interest to students.
The promotional materials that are the greatest incentives to students are t-shirts and gift
cards. Of the survey respondents, 66.1% selected gift cards and 50% selected t-shirts. If The
Vidette wants to improve the downloads of the mobile app, we would suggest that they give gift
cards or t-shirts in return for downloads. We would not recommend Vidette lanyards as only
9.9% of respondents viewed lanyards as an incentive. Additionally, 4.2% of respondents said that
other items would be an appropriate incentive to download the mobile app. These items include
event tickets, water bottles, mugs, coupon books, beanies, hats, and sunglasses. In order to
15

properly incentivize students to download the mobile app The Vidette might want to try out these
recommended items.

Promotional Item Interest

Valid %

Missing %

Research Objective #9: Determine the demographics of Vidette readers.

Looking at the demographics the survey asked about, year in school, gender, college
affiliation, and RSO affiliation. Looking at the SPSS data we had the clearest results when it
came to college affiliation, gender, and age/year in school. It turns out that there is a larger
female base when it comes to reader population. This is probably due to the fact that there is a
larger female population on campus. As far as the different colleges on campus, the State Farm
College of Business students has the highest readership. When it comes to the ages of the
readers, the amount of ISU Juniors is higher than other ages.

16

17%

20%

Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
21%
22%

Senior
Grad Student

21%

Discussion
By looking through The Vidette Survey results there are several ways to interpret the data
given. There were many test to run in order to appropriately address the clients research
objectives.
After looking at the data from the SPSS document we have a better understanding of who
reads The Vidette. In our findings that the majority of The Vidette readers were juniors. In
addition to that, we found that the population of grad students generally do not read The Vidette.
From this we can suggest to the client that they create a study in order to find out what content
grad students would like to see. As grad students are an important part of the student body, The
17

Vidette should apply more concentration on the freshman and sophomore class due to the higher
student population, in which can potentially result in more readership and viewership. The client
should interview the grad student population and determine what type of articles they would
prefer to read. Furthermore, they can look into what types of ads the grad student population
would like to see. In addition to the research on grad students, the client should focus their
marketing team towards freshman and sophomores. This is because the data has shown that most
of that population is not a Vidette reader. Additionally, this may be because they have no interest
or they are not familiar with The Vidette itself. However, the data shows that the freshman and
sophomore class has a more consistent interest in the content and advertisements as opposed to
the upperclassmen. The younger class demographic are more inclined to want to know more
about the content since they are new to the school experience and need more insight on content
and advertisements such as coupons, campus-related news, and opinion columns and editorials.
So, when comparing the lowerclassmen to upper, there should be a strong focus to market to the
lowerclassmen mainly because their time at the university is at a longer extent, causing the
incentive to desire more knowledge and exposure to content and advertisements.
Since paper becomes the biggest expense to The Vidette, higher app usage can benefit
both the student body and The Vidette. The app should be more marketed and advertised to the
students so that they are more exposed to The Vidette content due to high mobile phone usage.
Students will be able to reek the benefits of not carrying a Vidette newspaper with them at all
times but instead can check the app to be up-to-date on events, sport schedules, weather, and bus
routes; things that can be deemed very valuable from a students perspective.

18

Conclusion
Following the creation of the school in 1888 The Vidette newspaper was founded and
served as Illinois State Universitys number one source of information for all things ISU.Today
The Vidette has over 253 drop off locations located both on and off campus. With a circulation of
over 6,000 papers going out bi-weekly The Vidette serves readers both current events and
campus news. In addition to the regular paper The Vidette publishes 8-10 supplements per year
including the Preview Guide for incoming freshman and the Best of Guide where readers can
vote on the best shops around town and the winners will be featured.
With an organization that focuses so much on the quality of content it produces the cost
of running has become extraordinarily expensive; especially for a media outlet that is considered
to be a thing of the past. Due to this, it is up to The Vidette sales staff to fund the operations on
a monthly basis. The purpose of this research study was to assist the vidette in boosting their
readership by providing them with valuable information on what students want to see.
Furthermore, The Vidette can use this information to help sell more advertisements in the paper.
After going through the results of the study we can conclude that students have lost
interest in The Vidette because of the lack of interest in editorial. What we mean by this is the
readers want to see a larger presence of campus related news, coupons, and employment
opportunities. They have also stated that they think editorial is somewhat biased. We suggest that
The Videte re-evaluates the content of their current papers and makes the proper changes.
After analyzing the data, we concluded that The Vidette needs to make changes. As for their
marketing street team they can increase the amount of people on their team to increase their pick
up rates. They could also improve on marketing the paper and mobile app to freshman and

19

graduate students by going to events where these students are at and handing out promotional
items that these students want the most.
Looking at the data as whole we can conclude that The Vidette has some areas in need of
improvement. However if they take into consideration the advice we have given them they will
improve. They will boost readers and in turn have a more successful paper.

Surveys
The Vidette Readership Survey
20

The Vidette wants your ideas on how to improve the delivery of relevant news and information to the
Illinois State University community. We want to get your feedback on current content and design of the
paper, online and mobile app versions, and find out what other topics youd like to read about.
Please take a few minutes to complete the following brief survey prepared by students in a Marketing
Research course offered by the Department of Marketing. Survey responses will be analyzed by the
students as part of their semester group project, and the results reported to the marketing team of The
Vidette.
The survey is brief and should take no more than about 10 minutes of your time. Your participation in
this study is voluntary, and if you choose not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time,
there will be no penalty or loss of benefits. Any information that might allow someone to identify you
will not be disclosed. Individuals who complete the survey can enter a Vidette prize drawing to win an
Apple TV or one of two $25 Flat Top Grill gift cards.
If you have any questions concerning this study, you can contact Dr. Horace Melton for questions about
the research at (309) 438-3845 or [email protected], or the Research Ethics & Compliance Office for
questions about participant research rights at (309) 438-2529. Thanks for your cooperation!

Do you want to participate in this survey? Clicking on Yes indicates that you consent to participate in
the research.
Yes ____
No ___

1. What is your current academic level?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Graduate student

2. Have you ever read The Vidette?

a. Yes [continue to question 3]
b. No [continue to questions 2B and 2C, and then go to prize drawing question at end of survey]
2B. What is the primary reason you dont read The Vidette?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Lack of awareness
No interest
Get what I need to know elsewhere
Other (please specify ______________________________________________)

2C. What types of topics or content would attract you to reading The Vidette?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. When was the last time that you read The Vidette?
a. Within the last week
21

b. More than one week ago, but within the last month
c. More than one month ago
4. When you dont read an issue of The Vidette, what usually is the reason? (Check all that apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Not available at convenient place

Dont like The Vidette
Dont read newspapers
No time to read The Vidette
Almost always read it
Other reason (please specify) _____________________________________________________

5. On average, how often do you:

Read the printed issue of The

Vidette?

Read The Videttes Thursday

edition, The Bird?

Almost
every
day

A few
times a
week

At
Least
Once a
Week

A few
times a
month

At
Least
Once a
Month

A few
times a
year

Never

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

Visit The Vidette Website,

www.videtteonline.com?

Read The Vidette using the

mobile app?

Read a newspaper other than

The Vidette?

6. What is the most frequent way you access content from The Vidette.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Out of The Vidette newspaper racks

From a bundle in an ISU building
From a bundle at an off-campus location or business
Pick up someone else's left over copy
Visit www.videtteonline.com
Read using The Vidette mobile app
Read on Facebook
22

h. Read on Twitter
i. Other, please specify ___________________

7. Do you prefer to read the printed or the online version of The Vidette? (Choose one response and
explain why.)
a. Prefer print
b. Prefer online
c. Prefer both equally
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

8. Have you downloaded The Vidette mobile app?

a. Yes [go to 8C]
b. No [go to 8B]

8B. If you answered no, why havent you downloaded the app? (check all that apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

Not aware of The Vidette mobile app

No interest
No smart phone
Prefer to read online or in print
Already have too many apps on my phone
Dont like reading long articles on my phone
Other reason (please specify) _________________________________________________

8C. If you answered yes, how did you learn about the mobile app? (check all that apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Advertisements
Word of mouth
Vidette marketing team
Mobile app promotional activity
Other (please specify) _______________________________________________________

9. Please indicate the extent of your agreement with the following statements.

The Vidette is:

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

23

Neutral

Agree

Strongly
Agree

Informative

Interesting

Useful

Very Poor

Poor

Average

Good

Very Good

News reporting

Sports writing

Editorials/Opinion writing

Advertisements

Poor

Average

Good

Very Good

10. Please rate the QUALITY of The Vidette.

QUALITY Rating

11. Please rate the DESIGN of The Vidette.

DESIGN Rating

Very Poor

24

Front page

Sports page

Editorials/Opinion page

Features page

12. Please rate the DESIGN of the recently redesigned www.videtteonline.com. [skip this question if you
have not seen the redesigned videtteonline.com this semester]

DESIGN Rating

Very Poor

Poor

Average

Good

Very Good

Home page

Sections (News, Features, etc.)

Article Page

13. Please provide an OVERALL rating of The Vidette on the following dimensions.

25

OVERALL Rating

Very Poor

Poor

Average

Good

Very Good

Readability

Accuracy in reporting

Quality

14. Please indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements.

I read The Vidette

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly
Agree

To keep aware of what

is happening at ISU

To learn others opinions

and views

To choose evening or
weekend
recreation/entertainment
To choose products or
services to purchase

Other, please specify

26

__________________________

15. The Vidette editorial page includes editorials and opinion pieces from columnists. How often do these
reflect issues that are of interest to you?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Never
Sometimes
Often
Very often

16. The ISU student population consists of many different kinds of students, with differing
backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles. How well does The Vidette content cover and reflect the variety of
students on campus?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Very poorly
Poorly
Neither well or poorly
Well
Very well

17. How often has reading The Vidette led you to do the following during the past year:

Never

One to three times

Four or more times

Attend a campus event

Volunteer on or off campus

Show an article to someone else

Do further reading on a subject

27

Write a letter to the editor

Use a coupon from the paper

Inquire about a job or career

18. Please indicate how interested you are in each of the following types of content currently in The
Vidette.

Type of story or
feature

Very
Disintereste
d

Disintereste
d

Neutral

Interested

Very
Interested

Illinois News

National News

International News

Crime News

Campus/CampusRelated News

BloomingtonNormal News

28

Campus Sports

National Sports

Horoscope

Sudoku Puzzle

Sciences

Cultural Events &

Activities

Opinion
Columns/Editorials

Coupons/Special
Offers

Classified Ads

Job/Employment
Listings

29

Advertisements

19. Which of the following would you be interested in The Vidette adding to its content? (Check all that
apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

Articles featuring a different RSO each week

Business news
Faculty member profiles
Daily menus in dining centers
Cultural events/activities
Alumni success stories
Expanded on-campus events section
Sports focused on Cubs, Cardinals, White Sox, and Bears
Political cartoons
Other (please specify) _________________________________________________________

20. Overall, how would you rate The Vidette?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Very Poor
Poor
Average
Good
Excellent

21. Please list any suggestions you have for improving The Vidette or The Bird (print version).
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

22. Please list any suggestions you have for improving the online version of The Vidette at
videtteonline.com.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

23. Please indicate your level of interest in these added features for The Vidette mobile app:

Type of story or
feature

Very
Disintereste
d

Disintereste
d

30

Neutral

Interested

Very
Interested

Receive updates on
ISU sports teams via
mobile app

Receive notifications
about local events
via mobile app

Receive coupon
offers via mobile
app

24. What suggestions do you have for increasing the number of downloads and usage of The Vidette
mobile app?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

25. What type of promotional materials are of greatest interest to students as incentives to download The
Vidette mobile app? (check all that apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.

Gift cards
T-shirts
Vidette lanyards
Other (please specify) ____________________________________

26. What types of promotional events would you like to see The Vidette sponsor for students? (check all
that apply)
a. Cook out
b. Bags, Kan Jam, Spike Ball tournament
c. Coffee and hot chocolate event in Milner library
d. Other (please specify) ____________________________________________________________

Background Information (Please check or fill in the appropriate response)

27. Which college are you affiliated with?

a.
b.
c.
d.

College of Applied Science and Technology

College of Arts and Sciences
College of Business
College of Education
31

e. College of Fine Arts

f. Mennonite College of Nursing

28. Are you a member of a registered student organization (RSO)?

a. Yes [if yes, go 28B]
b. No [if no, go to 29]

28B. Please list the RSOs you are affiliated with?

_______________________________________________________________________________

29. What is your gender?

Male _____

Female _____

30. How would you describe your racial/ethnic group? (Check all that apply)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

African American/Black
Asian American
Native American
Caucasian/White
Hispanic
Other
Prefer not to answer

31. What is your age?

_________ years old

32. [This question is accessed through a separate redirect survey link after prior questions are completed.
Contact information is collected separately from the rest of the survey data.] If you would like to be
entered in The Vidette Readership Survey prize drawing, please provide your name and email address.
Researchers will keep your prize drawing contact information separate from your survey responses.
________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your participation in our Vidette Readership Survey!

Work Cited
32

Collins and Armstrong (2008). U of Florida Students Prefer Campus Paper to Free Daily. Vol.
29 Issue 1. Accessed February 10th 2016 Retrieved

Collins, Steve J.(2003). Level on On-Campus Activities Predicts Student Paper Relationship.
Vol. 24 Issue 4.Accessed February 10th 2016

LaPlante, M. D., & Johnson, S. (2002). Want a strong college newspaper? The Quill, 90(8), 4041. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219770702?accountid=11578

Weaver, David H. Estimating the Value of Newspaper Content for Readers. Prototype Edition,
p7-13. Accessed February 10th, 2016

33