Christmas Market of 2013 - Significance of age, Gender, Income, and Ethnicity of the Event Participants - Research Paper Example

Quantitative Research Report

1. Evaluation of Questionnaire Design

a) The aim of the paper is to provide an insight of Christmas markets and also to add a research on the topic. The objective is to highlight the economic value of such markets and to identify and elaborate the contemporary event practices. The research uses primary and secondary data sources including a literature review and questionnaire or survey strategy (Hamilton, 2010; Bordens, 2006; Bryman & Bell, 2015). The case of Lincoln is helpful to understand the issues and problems relating to the success of the Christmas market and the processes and practices to overcome and manage these issues. The paper also includes the processes to evaluate the potential in the market and to spread awareness about the outcomes. The paper also discusses the significance of strategic vision and its importance in the real world.

The University of Lincoln decided to conduct an independent survey of visitors to the Christmas Market for 2013. Questions relating to the experience of visitors and other demographic characteristics were included in the questionnaire to identify and evaluate the visitor profile. The economic impact of the event is evaluated with the use of a question regarding the actual expenditure of individual visitors during the Christmas market. The undergraduate students of Lincoln University included the total sample of 708 visitors. The researchers noticed that the Christmas market took place for four days in December and decided to conduct the survey on two days from 12 o'clock till 5 o'clock. The questionnaire was distributed and filled away from the busy market, and the researchers use next to pass method to attain the representative sample for the study (Balnaves & Caputi, 2001; Muijs, 2010).

b) The overall format of the questionnaire is somewhat not satisfactory as mostly the demographic information must be presented at the beginning of the questionnaire (Brace, 2008). The questions are extremely well developed and designed and are by the requirements and objectives of the research paper that are to identify the economic impact, experience of visitors, and finally, to evaluate the measures of success or failure of the Christmas market in 2013. The questionnaire includes some open-ended questions that are without the Likert scale options. Such questions cannot be coded into Excel or other statistical testing software, and therefore, are not attractive for the current paper. The questions support the qualitative researchers and help to identify and explore meaningful responses with encouraging the respondents to share their thoughts and knowledge (Johnson & Christensen, 2010; Vaus, 2013). The researchers must have designed all close-ended questions to support the statistical analysis and evaluation of the data set. Finally, the real questionnaire seems congested, and the options available to respondents are so close to the questions that can have a negative impact on the perception of the respondents. The introductory sentences of the questionnaire are exceptional as it clarifies and ensures security and respect of the research team and builds trust between the respondents and the team.

c) The researchers of the Lincoln University used next to pass method to collect the data of the questionnaire. The next to pass method can be referred to as a method to ask every person after one questionnaire is completed by one respondent to present their opinions on the research questionnaire about their experience. The method is most effective when a representative sample is required for the study. A representative is known as the subset of a specific population that reflects the views and decisions of the majority (Morgan, 1996). The representation of the entire population must include an equal sample of both the genders and it is important to understand the overall representation of the population to decide for the number of males and females.

2. Analysis of survey data

2(a). Provide an analysis of Sample Composition

The analysis of demographic characteristics of the respondents of the questionnaire is carried out with the use of Frequency distribution. Frequency distribution displays the total number of outcomes for a specific sample; it helps to understand the occurrence of values from the overall responses (McBurney & White, 2009). In the current analysis, the frequencies facilitate to determine the summary of all the demographic characteristics of the sample. The frequency distribution of individual characteristics allows the researchers to evaluate the overall sample and to interpret the results with numerical justification.

Frequencies

Statistics

Q13. Gender

Q14. Age

Q15. Household Income

Q16. Could you please indicate your ethnicity?

N

Valid

Missing

699

8

693

14

538

169

697

10

Mean

1.65

2.94

2.80

1.05

Median

2.00

3.00

3.00

1.00

Mode

2

3

3

1

Std. Deviation

.476

1.321

1.355

2.987

Range

1

4

5

17

Minimum

1

1

1

1

Maximum

2

5

6

18

Table 1- Statistics

The overall demographic characteristics of the current paper include gender, age, income of households annually, and ethnicity. The results show that the greater proportion of respondents are females since the mean value is greater than 1.5 (i.e. 1.65). The researchers of Lincoln University aims to take a representative sample, but the values of gender do not show the equal participation of males and females. The mean value of age shows that most of the respondents belong to the age group of 36 to 50 since the value is 2.94. The results presented in the frequencies table also highlight that the average annual income of households that visited the Christmas Market ranges between £26,000 - £44,999, the value of average income of households is 2.80 (equal to 3 when round off to zero decimal places). Finally, the question relating to the ethnical background of the respondents highlight that the major proportion of the respondents are White since the mean value of ethnicity is 1.05. The individual demographic characteristics are also presented in different frequency tables that allow the readers to understand the value of responses on the options available to the respondents.

Pie Chart

Pie charts show the graphical representation of the frequency tables. And present that for Gender, the frequency table shows that out of 699 individual respondents for the survey 242 are males whereas, the remaining (i.e. 457) are female respondents. The table also highlight that there are eight missing values that make a total of 707 responses (699+8= 707).

The results support that most of the respondents belong to age groups of 36-50 years since the valid percent is 27 percent (presented in Frequency Table of output file).

The frequency table for household income shows that 24 percent of respondents who visit the Christmas market have an average annual salary of £26,000-£44,999 (valid percent is 31.6 percent in Frequency Table of output file).

The biggest proportion of the respondents is White people that are visitors and also locals from Lincoln.

2b. Analysis of satisfaction levels reported in the Questionnaire

The analysis of satisfaction is done with the use of Descriptives that provide the overall summary of responses gathered for question 4 (Anderson et al., 2016; Field, 2013). The analyst has prepared the following ranking for the responses to identify the most attractive and satisfactory part/factor of the Christmas market.

i) Ranking for Descriptive Statistics

The ranking for mean values is designed and developed to identify the most attractive and least attractive activities of the Christmas market for the year 2013. The rankings are divided into three different ranges the rank 1st is provided to all those activities that got the average/mean value from 1.7 to 2.0. The value closest to 1.70 is the most effective activity/factor of the event. Rank 2nd is offered to all the activities that have a mean value from 2.1 to 2.4, these activities and tanking provides the second most attractive activities of the Christmas Market. Finally, the 3rd rank is provided to the activities that got a mean score of 2.5 to 2.7 (i.e. Overcrowded). The 3rd rated activities are the least attractive factors of the market.

Values

Ranking

1.7-2.0

1st

2.1-2.4

2nd

2.5-2.7

3rd

Table 2 - Ranking

i) Descriptives

N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Rank

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Welcoming.

705

1

5

1.77

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Signage is visible.

702

1

5

2.16

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Signage is informative.

675

1

5

2.10

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Good number of toilets.

643

1

5

2.30

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Toilets are clean and tidy.

527

1

5

2.32

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: An authentic experience.

701

1

5

1.92

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Christmassy atmosphere.

707

1

5

1.71

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Layout is appropriate.

705

1

5

1.92

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Quality of stalls is good.

707

1

5

1.93

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Range of stalls is good.

705

1

5

2.00

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Good local produce.

688

1

5

2.08

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Good announcements.

650

1

5

2.32

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Safe.

700

1

5

1.74

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Overcrowded.

697

1

5

2.69

3rd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Good entertainment.

690

1

5

2.10

2nd

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Good fun.

703

1

5

1.84

1st

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Very enjoyable.

703

1

5

1.77

1st

Valid N (list-wise)

475

Table 3 - Descriptive

The highest level of ranking is provided to the Christmassy atmosphere of Christmas Market (mean= 1.71), followed by safety of the event (mean= 1.74), level of enjoyment and welcoming attitude of the Christmas market (mean= 1.77 for both the variables), Good fun (1.84), Authentic experience and appropriate layout (1.92), quality of good stalls (1.93), range of stalls (2.00), Good local produce (2.08), Good entertainment and Signage is informative (2.10), Signage is visible (2.16), Good number of toilets (2.30), Toilets are clean and tidy and Good announcements (2.32), and Overcrowded (2.69). People mostly enjoyed the Christmassy atmosphere as most of the respondents support the point to strongly agree that the atmosphere was excellent. The least attractive point of the Christmas market of 2013 was that it was overcrowded, and people were uncomfortable with a huge number of crowd in the event.

ii)

Crosstab

Count

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about the Lincoln Christmas Market: Christmassy atmosphere.

Total

Q1. Are you a resident of Lincoln?

Yes

Strongly Agree

120

Agree

174

Neither Agree nor Disagree

18

Disagree

13

Strongly Disagree

3

No

189

157

16

13

4

379

309

331

34

26

7

707

Table 4 - Crosstab

Chi-Square Tests

Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square

12.930a

4

.012

Likelihood Ratio

12.991

4

.011

Linear-by-Linear Association

6.336

1

.012

N of Valid Cases

707

a. 2 cells (20.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.25.

Table 5 - Chi-Square Tests

The results of Chi-Square also show that the majority of visitors enjoy the Christmassy atmosphere whereas, visitors do not like the level of the crowd in the Christmas market in 2013.

2c. Analysing expenditure

The analysis of overall expenditure by the visitors of Christmas Market for 2013, is evaluated with the use of descriptive statistics. The descriptive statistics provide a summary of the overall results and also explains the average total spending on individual factors including Food and Drink, Accommodation, Shopping, Entertainment, and a total expenditure.

i) Descriptives

Descriptive Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Food and Drink

611

23.25

30.489

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Accommodation

107

82.04

116.459

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Shopping

610

37.86

43.502

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Entertainment

609

9.99

24.549

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Total Expenditure

635

86.04

114.137

Valid N (list-wise)

106

Table 6 - Descriptives

The output of the Descriptive Statistics table shows the value spends on each activity. The results show that on average the total spending on Food and Drink is 23.23, that represents that visitors of the Christmas individually spend this much amount on their food. On the other hand, the amount spent on accommodation is 82.04 Pound Sterling that is the highest amount paid by individuals. The amount of money spent on Shopping is greater than that spent on food and drink but less than that on accommodation (i.e. 37.86 Pound Sterling). Finally, the amount spend on entertainment is lowest that is 9.99 Pound Sterling.

The result shown for Total Expenditure show that the total spending per individual is 86.04 Pound Sterling.

ii) Means

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Included

Excluded

Total

N

Percent

N

Percent

N

Percent

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Total Expenditure * Q1. Are you a resident of Lincoln?

635

89.8%

72

10.2%

707

100.0%

Table 7 - Means

The main objective of using the compare mean of the data set included in question 1 and 9 is to highlight the difference in between the level of spending by individuals that are locals of Lincoln and others who visit the Christmas Market from different regions other than Lincoln. The identification of expenditure can highlight the importance of visitors and the level of their spending. The event organizers can use the information to build strategies to attract new customers and audience to visit Christmas Market in future. The Case Processing Summary table provides the information that a total of 635 valid responses are included in the report table. It also tells that a total of 707 respondents responded the question out of which 72 are excluded from the results.

Report

Q9. Can you please estimate the amount of money that you will spend or have spent at the Lincoln Christmas Market and surrounding area?: Total Expenditure

Q1. Are you a resident of Lincoln?

Mean

N

Std. Deviation

Yes

58.50

308

60.763

No

111.98

327

143.063

Total

86.04

635

114.137

Table 8 - Report

The results of the compare mean presented in the Report table show that out of the 635 included responses 308 are local people who visited the market and remaining 327 are people from other areas. The value of mean represents the average value of spending by individuals who are locals and visitors from other cities, and the results show that the average spending of local individuals is lower than that of other visitors. The value of local spending is 58.50 Pound Sterling and not local spending totals to an average of 111.98 Pound Sterling by each. The total spending is the average of local and nonlocal visitors and is equal to the mean total spending of individuals presented in (Table 8 - Descriptives for total expenditure). The results show that the visitors are the main source of profits and economic benefits for the Christmas market.

Conclusion

Based on the of Christmas market of 2013 it can be stated that the event is a success and must be continued in the upcoming years. The core findings of the research include the significance of age, gender, income, and ethnicity of individuals who mostly visited the event. The research helps to draw the conclusion that visitors of the event both locals and not locals like the atmosphere of the business more than any other factor and find the event crowdie. The visitors least like the level of a crowd of the event and find it unattractive. The results also show that not locals who visit the Christmas market are the major contributors as the level of spending/expenditure is higher than other local visits of 2013 Christmas market. The findings highlight that the organizers must facilitate the more visitors except Lincoln to enhance their profitability as not local visitors spend more on the market that creates economic benefits to Lincoln and the business.

Future researchers can use other statistical tests to identify in-depth relationship between the variables of the study to explain the significance to organizers to help them to improve the future markets. The future researchers can also use a qualitative study to identify the in-depth analysis and opinion of individuals about the Christmas market to give suggestions for future improvements.

Future researchers can use other statistical tests to identify in depth relationship between the variables of the study to explain the significance to organizers to help them to improve the future markets. The future researchers can also use a qualitative study to identify the in depth analysis and opinion of individuals about the Christmas market in order to give suggestions for future improvements.