| A
readership survey attracts more than 500 responses as APEGGA
re-evaluates its major communications tool.
Most Association members are regular readers of The PEGG
and believe the publication is of acceptable or better quality.
Nearly 40 per cent of members, however, favour a switch to
a magazine format if costs are comparable, and about 60 per
cent would prefer only six editions a year if The PEGG were
a magazine.
Those are among the key indications from about 500 members
who generated a wealth of data to help chart The PEGG’s
future, by participating in an online and e-mail readership
survey over the summer. A random e-mailing of 2,500 members
generated a response of nearly 17 per cent – 421 of
the members APEGGA e-mailed completed and returned the survey.
The survey was also available and promoted online. Any APEGGA
members visiting the Association site were welcome to participate,
but only 85 responded in that fashion.
Among the findings:
- Nearly 90 per cent of the membership read The PEGG
at least occasionally. About 40 per cent read every issue,
and about 30 per cent usually read The PEGG.
- Although a small percentage of members read all of an edition
of The PEGG, nearly all members read at least some of it.
About 30 per cent read most of it, 64 per cent some.
- Most members spend up to half an hour reading an edition
of The PEGG. Fewer than 10 per cent spend longer than 30
minutes. More than 27 per cent spend less than 10 minutes,
nearly 38 per cent spend 10 to 20 minutes, and 26 per cent
spend 20 to 30 minutes.
-
The PEGG has been available online in its entirety since
January 2003, yet most members are not readers of The PEGG
Online. About 90 per cent do not usually visit The PEGG Online
and nearly 75 per cent don’t know it exists.
The survey asked eight questions about the quality of The
PEGG, with members giving their opinion on general acceptability,
readability, writing quality, photo and graphic quality,
relevance of information, completeness of articles, how well
The PEGG meets respondents’ needs, and how well it
promotes the professions. In all cases, the higher percentages
were in the acceptable and high categories.
In the quality questions, The PEGG is strongest in general
acceptance, readability, writing quality and completeness
of articles. The survey suggests that 96 per cent or more
of members find The PEGG, acceptable, of high quality or
very high quality in these categories.
The PEGG may need to do a better job of meeting reader needs
and promoting the professions, the survey suggests. The survey
indicates that fewer than 75 per cent of members believe
The PEGG is acceptable or better at meeting reader needs,
88 per cent acceptable or better at promoting the professions.
Interestingly, as a group the respondents who were not e-mailed
directly are the most thorough readers – and the most
critical. More than 65 per cent of the 85 online respondents
read every issue of The PEGG, compared with about 40 per
cent from the random sample. Also, more than 60 per cent
of the online respondents read all or most of an edition
of The PEGG, compared with about 35 per cent.
In most of the quality question categories, online respondents
rated The PEGG lower than those in the random sample. For
example, in general acceptance, just over 91 per cent of
online respondents rated The PEGG acceptable or better, compared
with 96.6 per cent in the random sample.
Online respondents were more likely to refer to hardcopy
back issues of The PEGG and use the online version of The
PEGG than those in the random sample. Nearly 48 per cent
of them had heard of The PEGG Online.
The PEGG is also re-examining content – section by
section, regular feature by regular feature – with
the help of survey responses.
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