Using Cross-Tabs

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market research, analysis, cross-tabs, insights

Review the activity below or download the PDF student worksheet

Student Discussion Activity

This activity is designed to highlight the value of using cross-tabs to help analyze market research data.

In this exercise, you will start with the top-level results and then ‘drill down’ in the data through the use of cross-tabs. Hopefully you will find that, as you drill down, that more valuable information (and potentially market insights) are uncovered.

As you can see, there are two behavioral questions presented below:

  1. Do you like Pepsi Max? (Yes or no)
  2. How often do you buy it? (Daily, weekly, sometimes, never)

We have also captured two demographic variables:

  • Gender (Male or female)
  • Age group (Under 25 years, 25-44 years, 45 years and over)

For each of the two questions, we have included the overall result (all respondents), and then cross-tabulated results – first by gender and then gender and age combined.

As we include more variables in the cross-tab, we are “drilling down” and providing more depth to the analysis. This would be a standard analytical approach for marketing research survey and the analysis of customer databases.

Pepsi Max Survey Results

Download the above table in spreadsheet form to provide to students (optional): Pepsi Max

Student Discussion Questions

  1. Look at the results for ‘all respondents’ first; what do the responses indicate?
  2. Now look at the results for ‘all males’ and ‘all females’; what does the data suggest now?
  3. Finally, review the results by gender and age combines; what information can now be obtained?
  4. In what ways does the information obtained vary as the cross-tabs are added?
  5. Which box above, do you think provides the most valuable information? Why?
  6. What are the advantages and limitations of using cross-tabs to analyze market research data?
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