X-Message-Number: 9721
From: "Scott Badger" <>
Subject: Re: Survey
Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 06:13:44 -0500

(1)  First let me unruffle some feathers. I have read the responses
posted to cryonet and those sent to me personally, and I have
spoken with some firms that specialize in conducting internet
surveys. Based on these exchanges, I'm rejecting the idea of
bulk e-mailing a survey. This problem is clearly more severe
than I was aware.  Thanks for enlightening me.  Three other
avenues have been recommended:

   (1) announce the survey to several relevant newsgroups and
       invite the members to participate;

   (2) set up the web-site and and just sign up with the various
       search engines out there;

   (3) sponsor an established e-mail newsletter service
       (e.g. http://www.tourbus.com )

Any other ideas are appreciated and thoughtfully considered,
despite Charles Platt's assumption that I am as obstinate as he.

(2) Charles Platt writes:

 >First, a survey of signed-up cryonicists may be more useful than
 >a survey of people who have chosen not to sign up, because it
 >teaches us who to look for, rather than who to avoid. I
 >already conducted a survey of signed-up Alcor members several
 >years ago; the results were tabulated in Alcor's CRYONICS
 >magazine.

If you've already conducted a survey of cryonicists, why do you
feel it would be useful to do that again? The recent discussion on
Cryonet has centered around why people *don't* sign up. I was
hoping to address that debate. BTW, you make a good point about
targeted vs. general markets.

 >Of course Scott Badger may have the notion that if he samples
 >people who aren't interested in cryonics, he will learn how
 >to CHANGE THEIR MINDS.

You seem to be mischaracterizing the nature of the survey. This is
not an attempt to find people who have said, "No, I don't want your
product." I think that most people are either uninformed or
misinformed. My main idea was to try to determine what people profess to
know about cryonics, how accurate their knowledge
is, and what attitudes they have toward various aspects of cryonics. The
secondary purpose was to help people become better informed about and
stimulate interest in cryonics. I'm not trying to come up with
a snappy slogan for the next big advertising campaign. Nor am I
looking for some quick and easy way by which we can CHANGE THEIR MINDS.
People change their own minds, but we CAN facilitate change through
education.

 >I believe this will not be very productive, because we should be
 >selling something that people do want, rather than something that
 >people don't want. [snip]

People typically say no before they say yes when approached to buy
something. It's a knee-jerk reaction. What people want to buy and
what they don't want to buy is always subject to change given new
information.

Bob Ettinger writes:

 >We have good indications of where to expect better than average
 >recruitment prospects, and where to find worse. (Better: Computer
 >people, Libertarians, physicians, psychologists, men, California,
 >entrepreneurs.  Worse: Blue collar, women, Alabama, communists.)

The demographics section would not be the meat of the survey, IMO.
I would think the data from the Quiz section and the Attitudes
section would be more valuable.

 >So what? How can we use this information?

Well, for one thing, the dialogue on Cryonet over why people don't
sign up may become better informed. For another, a better
understanding of consumer perceptions and attitudes could help
guide the design of the promotional information packages you mail
out.  For another, multiple surveys over time help identify
attitudinal trends. For another, understanding how much weight
consumers assign to various objections could tell you the order
by which you should discuss certain topics. I guess some
businessmen just have a greater desire to gather market data
than others.

 >It doesn't help much to know that computer people are
 >PROPORTIONATELY better prospects, because the absolute
 >numbers are so small.

The absolute numbers of computer people, physicians, psychologists,
Libertarians, and entrepreneurs is small? Aren't there plenty of
firms targeting those markets and doing quite well?

Well, it sounds like there are some who think a survey is a good
idea, some who don't, and some who don't care.  I was just hoping
this might be a way to make a useful contribution to the movement.
We'll see what develops.

Best wishes to all

Scott Badger

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