NEW
BEGINNINGS Survey Results
by Nichole L. Reber
York PA USA
From NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 17 No. 1, January-February 2000, p. 28
For those members wondering
about your impact in the survey you filled out in the November/December
1998 NEW BEGINNINGS, the reports are in!
Of 2,000 surveys inserted
into randomly chosen copies of the magazine, we received 153 responses.
In general, the results showed that our readers buy goods from our advertisers
and NEW BEGINNINGS is a valuable part of membership and a good find
for non-members. Most of our readers seek out La Leche League assistance
after their babies are born. Most people who learn about LLL during
pregnancy do so through childbirth classes.
In the past, the comments
we've heard most often about NEW BEGINNINGS have been "I read it cover-to-cover
as soon as I get it." or "It always seems to come just when I need it."
Survey results confirm this, since well over 90% of respondents say
they read NEW BEGINNINGS cover-to-cover all the time or nearly all the
time. We were truly delighted by the fact that so many of you share
your copy with family members, friends and your local doctors' office.
More than a quarter of respondents indicated that more than one person
in her household read the magazine. In fact 88% of respondents said
they recommend this magazine to someone not involved in LLL.
It appears our advertising
efforts are serving our audience well: 56% of respondents had purchased
merchandise from an LLLI catalogue and 52% had bought from a NEW BEGINNINGS
advertiser. A whopping 62% were "very satisfied" with these purchases.
Of those who responded to
our survey, 77% told us they become members while nursing. Concurrently,
5% of respondents were pregnant at the time of the survey.
Mothers said they discovered
LLL through a variety of means: 69 respondents through family or friend,
28 through books or magazines, 28 from childbirth classes, 18 from a
local ad or flyer, 13 through a lactation consultant, six on our web
site, six from their midwife, six from their physician, and five had
previous knowledge of LLL.
Among respondents 133 had
two children or less. Also, 99.3% were married and 0.7% were divorced
or separated. The highest percentage of respondents were between 33
and 36 years old. Half of the respondents hold a college or university
degree.
A large number of respondents
(65%) were at-home mothers, while 26% worked at least part-time outside
the home and 13% worked from home. Of those who planned to return to
work outside the home, 90% said they would breastfeed, however less
than 20% would pump at work.
On a local level, 80% of
respondents still attended LLL meetings. Schedule conflicts and lack
of sufficient time were the main reasons given for those who no longer
attend. Approximately 21% of respondents nursed for more than one year.
The survey showed us that more than 13% of mothers nurse for 30 months,
followed by 12.7% for 36 months and 7% for a full year. Related survey
questions showed that 20% of respondents introduced their babies to
solids at less than six months, and about 60% did so between six and
nine months.
More than 50% of respondents
had attended LLLI conferences, especially area conferences (94%). About
half rated the experience satisfying.
The "Mothers Stories" column
received the highest ratings by more than three quarters of respondents,
with "Toddler Tips" (64%), "Staying Home Instead" (56%), and feature
stories (53%) following. Respondents showed us our top competing magazines
include Mothering (55%), Parenting (nearly 22%), Parents (21%), and
Child ( just over 13%).
Forty-four percent of respondents
were "very satisfied" and 33% were "somewhat satisfied" with the quality
and benefits of LLL membership. Ninety-four respondents in total said
LLL has been "very helpful" with their needs; 46 ranked LLL as "somewhat
helpful."
To those who responded to
our survey: Thank you for your time and efforts to critically consider
our questions. We have already begun implementing the findings to serve
our membership best and in the future we will again survey our members
to see how we're doing.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:18 UTC 2007.
