Over-The-Shoulder and Buying-Trigger Pictographs About Airlines

For those of you who read my previous two blog entries you know that I will be doing some research on the airline industry. To start, I will be developing some “Over-the-Shoulder” and “Buying Trigger” pictographs to answer the question, what goes through someone’s mind when they have to or choose to book a flight?

In an early blog entry on why use pictographs, I noted that they allow people to understand a purchasing or usage situation without getting bogged down with details. In fact, the person tends to put himself or herself into the situation being depicted.

Recall that we are trying to understand what is going on when one thinks about booking a flight. This means that the respondents should see themselves in the situation. For example, they may show a person looking at a Web site or reviewing an ad. Consequently, over-the-shoulder shots will be used. Respondents tend to start saying “I feel, I think, or I believe” when viewing over-the-shoulder shots.

Uncovering Attitudes Related to the Airlines

Well, the time as come to determine the goal of this pictographic research. As I mentioned, I want to know the underlying attitudes about the flying experience and the reasons people make the choices they do. These will include the decision to fly, their pet peeves, and the reasons that they choose one airline over another. I will start by constructing a series of pictographs that show the flying experience. At first, emphasis will be placed on reasons related to flying, perceived alternatives, and attitudes toward various airlines. Send comments via e-mail AllegianceResearch@gmail.com

I’m On My Way to the Airport, Oh Goodie

If there is an industry that has more long-standing and chronic problems than the airline industry, I don’t know which it is. The auto industry you say - no, they have been in the dump for only a few years. The airlines have been perceived as a necessary evil for far longer than that. They are a great candidate for open-ended, emotion-capturing research like my methodology.

Therefore, I am going to pictographically interview those poor captive souls who are about to board airplanes. After all, they have been told to arrive early to have the oft-times privilege of waiting on the tarmac while they become intimately acquainted with their knees.

Do I sound bitter? Fear not, I will allow the pictures to do the talking. In the coming blogs I will discuss how I will develop this project and I will report some findings. I welcome suggestions via e-mail AllegianceResearch@gmail.com.