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PL Survey Results

*Do not reproduce, quote, cite or publish this information in any way without the prior written consent of the author, Michael S. Garver.

**This write up is a brief description of the study and results. A much more in-depth examination and research paper will be conducted and published at a later time and date.

Purpose

The purpose of this study includes the following:

1. With current and future owners of PLs, to examine their preferences and importance values that they place on different attributes or characteristics of PLs.

2. To use two new research methods (MaxDiff and Choice Based Conjoint Analysis) to examine these preference and to compare the results.

Research Methods

MaxDiff (MD) and choice based conjoint analysis (CBC) were used to examine preferences of PL owners. Both methods are tradeoff methods, known to deliver more accurate preference and importance values compared to direct rating methods.

68 web-based surveys were completed by members and guests of americanpointinglabs.com and pointinglabs.com, online forums for PL enthusiasts. A thread was started on both forums inviting members to take the surveys. Because email invitations were not used, it is possible (although not likely) that one respondent may have filled out numerous surveys.

Research Limitations

Based on the relatively small sample size, the results may not generalize to the population. Furthermore, it is likely that PL owners who visit online forums are “more enthusiastic” about their dogs than the average PL owner. Thus, generalizing the results to the population is not appropriate.

Research Results

The results described here examine the importance of 8 different PL attributes or characteristics. To interpret the results correctly, it is important to understand the scale being used. The data is ratio level data, with all of the importance values for all of the attributes summing to 100 points. The more points associated to an attribute, the more importance placed on that attribute by PL owners.

Research Design 1

Research design examined 8 PL attributes, with the importance scores for these attributes listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Comparing MD and CBC Results for the Importance of PL Attributes
Attributes	MD Results	CBC Results	Total Scores for Both Methods
Excellent Point	19.1	29.53	48.6
Can Relax or "turn it off" in the house	23.9	23.36	47.3
Excellent Drive	14.7	8.32	23.0
Excellent Temperament (Personality)	15.1	6.12	21.3
Excellent Trainability (Easy to Train)	12.5	8.42	20.9
Excellent Nose & Scenting Ability	10.2	8.97	19.2
Excellent Marking Ability	4.5	7.46	12.0
Color	0.0	7.82	7.8

Examining the entire sample, results from Table 1 suggest that “point” and the ability to “relax or turn it off in the house” are the most important to PL owners. Surprisingly, “marking ability” and “color” have the lowest importance to PL owners.

Color may be a “must have” attribute or a “first cut” attribute, suggesting that owners may pick a color, then examine the other attributes of a PL. I believe that the low importance score for color may be a limitation of MD, suggesting that MD may not be appropriate for "must have" attributes.

Research Design 1

Research design examined 17 PL attributes, with the importance scores for these attributes listed in Table 2.

Table 2: MaxDiff Results for 17 PL Attributes
PL Attribute	MD Results
Dam and Sire have all health clearances (Hips OFA, Eyes CERF, etc.)	45.9
Excellent Bird Finding Drive in the Uplands	11.9
Can Relax or "turn it off" in the house	8.8
Excellent Point	6.9
High Desire to Please	5.8
Excellent Temperament (Personality)	3.9
Excellent Trainability (Easy to Train)	3.6
High Intelligence	3.3
Excellent Marking Ability	3.0
Excellent Nose & Scenting ability	2.8
Excellent Retrieve Drive	1.8
Excellent Marking Memory	1.2
Great Athleticism	0.6
NOT a vocal dog, NOT a "barker"	0.3
Speed & Style in the field	0.1
Great Looking Dog	0.0
Color	0.0

Exciting to see, “health clearances” is clearly the most important to PL owners, garnering almost 50% of the total importance.

“Bird finding drive in the uplands” has the second most importance, followed closely by “ability to turn it off in the house” and “point.”

“High desire to please,” “temperament,” “trainability,” and "intelligence" are the next set of most important attributes to PL owners.

Different Segments of PL Owners

The previous results are an average of all respondents in the sample. The following quote summarizes my feelings on averages:

“If I put my right foot in ice cold water and my left foot in boiling hot water, on average I should be comfortable.”

Performing a cluster analysis, the following segments of PL owners arise from the data (see Table 3). Each segment has different preferences and importance values placed on different attributes.

Table 3: Segments of PL Owner
PL Attributes	Segment 1	Segment 2	Segment 3	Segment 4
Excellent Point	76.8	5.1	0.2	3.1
Can Relax or "turn it off" in the house	2.5	8.4	89.4	1.6
Color	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Excellent Marking Ability	2.2	1.3	0.0	11.6
Excellent Nose & Scenting Ability	6.0	8.4	2.2	20.1
Excellent Temperament (Personality)	4.1	55.2	4.9	2.8
Excellent Trainability (Easy to Train)	5.2	19.0	3.0	19.9
Excellent Drive	3.4	2.7	0.2	41.0
% of the Sample	22%	22%	24%	32%

Segment 1 (22% of the respondents) place the overwhelming majority of importance on point.

Segment 2 (22% of the respondents) place the overwhelming majority of importance on temperament and trainability.

Segment 3 (24% of the respondents) place the overwhelming majority of importance on the ability to “turn it off” in the house.

Segment 4 (32% of the respondents) are more balanced in their preferences, placing high importance on 4 attributes: Drive, trainability, nose, and marking ability.

Describing the Sample of PL Respondents

This purpose of this section of the results is to describe the sample of respondents and their characteristics.

Hunting Characteristics & Priorities

Upland Vs. Waterfowl

· 68% of their time & emphasis in the uplands

· 32% of their time & emphasis in the duckblind

Upland Hunting

72% of their time & emphasis chasing wild birds
25% of their time & emphasis on bird preserves
3% of their time & emphasis on upland competitions

Overall Priorities

52% of their time & emphasis on upland hunting
28% of their time & emphasis on waterfowl hunting
15% retriever hunt tests & FT
6% of their time & emphasis on upland competitions

Other Characteristics

38% of the sample have kids under 8
35% of the sample have their dogs primarily living in an outside kennel
40% of the sample have their dogs primarily living in the house (75% or more of the time)
51% of the sample trains their own dogs
18% of the sample sends their dog to a pro
30% of the sample work with a pro for some time/aspect but also train themselves
70% of the sample never breeds dogs
75% of the sample plays some sort of “dog games”
85% of the sample participates in APLA hunt tests, with 55% of this group having a CPR title, and 16% having a GMPR title
82% of buyers would NOT buy a dog without OFA hip health clearances (good or better), yet 12% said “maybe” they would buy a dog without OFA hip health clearances (good or better)
70% of buyers would NOT buy a dog without an annual CERF health clearances, yet 22% said “maybe” they would buy a dog without an annual CERF health clearances

Conclusions

I first want to thank everyone who participated in this study, it is greatly appreciated.

While the study was meant to examine PL customer preferences, I hope that this serves as a guide for new PL owners, to help them think critically about all the characteristics that are important to them before selecting a breeder, litter, and puppy.

Given the importance placed on “health” issues to respondents of this survey, I hope breeders will understand the importance of “health” and do everything in their power to breed healthy dogs.

At this point, my baby is fussing, and I must go back and be a good dad, my new favorite job!