Help requested! very important

[Intrepidation]

I'm working on a research paper for Social Psychology. Basically we have to make a paper about a social phenomenon of sorts and make an experiment to prove for it or against it. We make an experiment up although we don't test it for real we make the conditions realistic. As well as expected outcomes.

Naturally I chose America's bias against American cars (and to an extent, badge snobbery). Here's how it breaks down:

There will be 2 groups of people selected that are of various age and genders, and own or believe that Japanese cars are superior to their American counterparts, although no little about cars themselves (such as distinguishing car types).

Group A will be given a chance to sample 2 midsize cars, a Toyota Camry XLE V6 and a Saturn Aura XR. The cars will have all of their badges on.

Group B will get the same type of vehicles but without any of the badging, so they will be unaware what type or brand each car represents.

They will both be given the opportunity to test drive the cars in various conditions (highway, city, twisty roads) as well as their convenience features.

At the end of the experiment the majority of Group A will choose the Camry as the car they think is better, but the majority of Group B will choose the Aura, then they will be told what the cars they drove were.

So does this sound good?

Here's the fun part. I need reliable references to back up the bias, the Aura as a good car, and most importantly references of experiments similar in nature to this (although not necessarily about cars. Help is much appreciated! Than you!

Edited April 19, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Ravenfreak13]

You could mention the aura being 07 NA car of the year

Hidng badges could be hard tho,...since you could find a little company symbol on just about anything

Edited April 19, 2007 by Ravenfreak13

[Enzora]

After just briefly looking on google scholar, I see a lot of stuff on consumer ethnocentrism, which is pretty closely related to this idea. Blackwell-synergy.com might also have some good articles on that, but you'll probably have to subscribe to read them. But I assume that subscribing to a website isn't that big of a deal in an experiment of this scale.

Good luck on this experiment. I'm interested to see what you can find, especially since a friend who drives a Camry said that she'll probably always drive a Camry, because they're just the best cars out there. It was a very depressing moment for me.

[regfootball]

toyota blandness is hard to cover up. even if had no badges, you would know its a toyota.

you could even include 2 other cars. a milan/fusion and a mazda6. it would be interesting since the fusion milan and mazda6 are pretty close to the same car.

to really cover your bases you could even add a passat or 9-3.

a good car to test this on would be dual branded cars with nearly identical underpinnings. the old Dodge Stealth / Mitsubishi 3000GT. IDENTICAL. more or less, except for badging. same with the sebring / avenger coupes and the eclipse. or ford ranger/mazda b or escape/tribute. saab 9-2 and subaru imprezza.

isuzu assender/gmc envoy/saab9-7.

i have brand ethnocentrism. most often (but not entirely) i buy US cars. i bought a philips plasma tv, dvd player, mp3 player, and office stereo because i like their stuff but also so i wouldn't have to buy sony or other asian named stuff. my home theater components are sherwood newcastle. my speakers are advent and paradigm. i also have an ipod. oddly, i think sony makes apple laptops. i occasionally will stoop and buy pioneer products if it has to have a japanese name. i am fine with samsung as a korean name too.

Edited April 19, 2007 by regfootball

[regfootball]

After just briefly looking on google scholar, I see a lot of stuff on consumer ethnocentrism, which is pretty closely related to this idea. Blackwell-synergy.com might also have some good articles on that, but you'll probably have to subscribe to read them. But I assume that subscribing to a website isn't that big of a deal in an experiment of this scale.

Good luck on this experiment. I'm interested to see what you can find, especially since a friend who drives a Camry said that she'll probably always drive a Camry, because they're just the best cars out there. It was a very depressing moment for me.

"you know, .....it's... the best... car"

I so want to punch that lipstick wearing jerk-off on that commercial.

Edited April 19, 2007 by regfootball

[loki]

I'm working on a research paper for Social Psychology. Basically we have to make a paper about a social phenomenon of sorts and make an experiment to prove for it or against it. We make an experiment up although we don't Test it for real we make the conditions realistic. As well as expected outcomes.

fixed and repeated for these guys that missed this note.. unless dodgefan says different

[Intrepidation]

What are some good questions to determine someone is bias? I have these so far:

• Have you had past experiences with domestic vehicles?
• If so, were they positive or negative experiences?
• What prompted you to buy a Japanese vehicle?
• Would you consider buying domestic again?
• If no, why? (Please briefly explain)

[Z-06]

"you know, .....it's... the best... car"

I so want to punch that lipstick wearing jerk-off on that commercial.

Punch her in the ovaries, straight shot to the Baby Maker.

[Intrepidation]

fixed and repeated for these guys that missed this note.. unless dodgefan says different

That's correct, sorry for the typo. While it would be interesting to actually do the experiment, we're just supposed to simulate it using our knowledge, what we've learned in class, and articles relating to the subject (people's bias) to back it up. The come up with results using an educated guess. I need psychological articles that have researched people's bias before, it doesn't matter the topic. That would be very helpful.

[regfootball]

do you think domestic automakers should be held to a much higher standard than non domestic automakers?

do you know that even the domestic automakers are in fact global companies building cars all over the world?

do you feel buying a japanese branded vehicle hurts or helps the US economy?

do you feel that the perception of imported autos being superior has even been proven statistically?

[Intrepidation]

do you think domestic automakers should be held to a much higher standard than non domestic automakers?

do you know that even the domestic automakers are in fact global companies building cars all over the world?

do you feel buying a japanese branded vehicle hurts or helps the US economy?

do you feel that the perception of imported autos being superior has even been proven statistically?

A helpful start. Keep in mind that the goal of the Questionnaire is to identify people who know a Japanese car because they feel it's superior...not because they happened to like it on it's own merits.

[Enzora]

That's correct, sorry for the typo. While it would be interesting to actually do the experiment, we're just supposed to simulate it using our knowledge, what we've learned in class, and articles relating to the subject (people's bias) to back it up. The come up with results using an educated guess. I need psychological articles that have researched people's bias before, it doesn't matter the topic. That would be very helpful.

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/1...80.2006.01829.x

Like this?

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

There will be 2 groups of people selected that are of various age and genders, and own or believe that Japanese cars are superior to their American counterparts, although no little about cars themselves (such as distinguishing car types).

So you can choose these people indiscretely at random by screening them out with the questions below. That will eliminate bias because they will not know what the experiment is about. (See Below)

Group A will be given a chance to sample 2 midsize cars, a Toyota Camry XLE V6 and a Saturn Aura XR. The cars will have all of their badges on.

Group B will get the same type of vehicles but without any of the badging, so they will be unaware what type or brand each car represents.

This is your independent variable with 2 levels (Group A & Group B) The dependent variable will be whether or not the participant chooses the import or domestic. (If I'm interpreting this correctly)

At the end of the experiment the majority of Group A will choose the Camry as the car they think is better, but the majority of Group B will choose the Aura, then they will be told what the cars they drove were.

This would be the hypothesis which will reinforce your ideology that the brand and manufacturer of the car (Canry) does matter despite equal or better performance by the Aura.

What are some good questions to determine someone is bias? I have these so far:

• Have you had past experiences with domestic vehicles?
• If so, were they positive or negative experiences?
• What prompted you to buy a Japanese vehicle?
• Would you consider buying domestic again?
• If no, why? (Please briefly explain)

This is a suggestion, so take it for what it's worth.

I would be a bit more vague with the questions about bias because if the people know exactly what you're trying to measure they can skew the results and throw off your reliability and validity. (What the study TRULY measures and how well the study measures it)

So instead of the first question being so straight forward, maybe you could ask something like; what was the brand of your last car purchase? Then the people who answer with a domestic brand could be screened out of the study. The second question (For the import owning participants) would be; did you enjoy the car? For the third question could be something like why did you decide to go with that brand or something similar? (I wouldn't go with the term "japanese" because that will tip them off that something you are measuring has to do with their decision) For the next question, you could ask them to list 5 brands of cars they would consider buying for their next purchase and then screen for the desired responses. Then for the last part you could ask them what positive aspects of those brands they listed prompted them to choose the brands.

Next you'll need some way for the participants to numerically rate the vehicles, maybe 1-5 on each characteristic with 1 being Strongly Disagree and 5 being Strongly Agree. For example: "The enigne in this car is smooth and free of vibrations" (Then 1 -5 with the strongly disagree - strongly agree ratings)

Group A would serve as a sort of standard or measuring stick... If these people are biased then naturally they will show that bias by rating the Camry superior to the Aura in almost every aspect.

Group B is where you'll see your result... If the group rates the Aura higher than the Camry, then your desired result will be the outcome and you could argue that bias exists because the ratings from Group A and Group B contradict each other. But, if Group B rates the Camry higher, then it disproves your hypothesis becuase the two groups concur.

I'm sure this is too technical for what your professor wants, but it's what I would do and I figured, what the hell, at least some of it might help you out.

BTW, is this a college Social Psychology class?!? If it is I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did. Social Psychology was probably one of the best and most useful classes I've ever taken. (I took two versions of it; a psychology perspective as well as a Sociology perspective) The subject fascinates me to the point that I've thought about specializing in that field.

P.S. If you have a library database you could access you might be able to find tons of peer reviewed articles to reference. I've never searched anything like that, but I'm sure there has been studies about it.

Edited April 19, 2007 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Intrepidation]

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/1...80.2006.01829.x

Like this?

Yeah, it helps to back up the my hypothesis. If you can find any other studies like this it'd be great!

Edited April 19, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Intrepidation]

So you can choose these people indiscretely at random by screening them out with the questions below. That will eliminate bias because they will not know what the experiment is about. (See Below)

This is your independent variable with 2 levels (Group A & Group B) The dependent variable will be whether or not the participant chooses the import or domestic. (If I'm interpreting this correctly)

This would be the hypothesis which will reinforce your ideology that the brand and manufacturer of the car (Canry) does matter despite equal or better performance by the Aura.

This is a suggestion, so take it for what it's worth.

I would be a bit more vague with the questions about bias because if the people know exactly what you're trying to measure they can skew the results and throw off your reliability and validity. (What the study TRULY measures and how well the study measures it)

So instead of the first question being so straight forward, maybe you could ask something like; what was the brand of your last car purchase? Then the people who answer with a domestic brand could be screened out of the study. The second question (For the import owning participants) would be; did you enjoy the car? For the third question could be something like why did you decide to go with that brand or something similar? (I wouldn't go with the term "japanese" because that will tip them off that something you are measuring has to do with their decision) For the next question, you could ask them to list 5 brands of cars they would consider buying for their next purchase and then screen for the desired responses. Then for the last part you could ask them what positive aspects of those brands they listed prompted them to choose the brands.

Next you'll need some way for the participants to numerically rate the vehicles, maybe 1-5 on each characteristic with 1 being Strongly Disagree and 5 being Strongly Agree. For example: "The enigne in this car is smooth and free of vibrations" (Then 1 -5 with the strongly disagree - strongly agree ratings)

Group A would serve as a sort of standard or measuring stick... If these people are biased then naturally they will show that bias by rating the Camry superior to the Aura in almost every aspect.

Group B is where you'll see your result... If the group rates the Aura higher than the Camry, then your desired result will be the outcome and you could argue that bias exists because the ratings from Group A and Group B contradict each other. But, if Group B rates the Camry higher, then it disproves your hypothesis becuase the two groups concur.

I'm sure this is too technical for what your professor wants, but it's what I would do and I figured, what the hell, at least some of it might help you out.

BTW, is this a college Social Psychology class?!? If it is I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did. Social Psychology was probably one of the best and most useful classes I've ever taken. (I took two versions of it; a psychology perspective as well as a Sociology perspective) The subject fascinates me to the point that I've thought about specializing in that field.

P.S. If you have a library database you could access you might be able to find tons of peer reviewed articles to reference. I've never searched anything like that, but I'm sure there has been studies about it.

This is excellent FOG and exactly what I had in mind. Everything you've mentioned is spot on with the idea. You bring up good points about the questions being a bit more vague, as well as using the Likert scale. Yes this is indeed Social Psychology. I'd probably enjoy it more if I wasn't so burned by my Advanced Animation and Photography class...but this is one aspect of the class I do like a lot...a chance to deal with bias.

[Intrepidation]

Could my essay be posted as part of the C&G Featured Articles? Could that count?

[aaaantoine]

To completely mask the brand identity, you would have to not only cover up the badges, but do what manufacturers do with prototypes and camoflage the crap out of them.

[Drew Dowdell]

might want to have a Euro brand in there too... maybe a Passat or Jetta <it's grown a lot in size>