Since their introduction in 1950 the five versions of "Betty Crocker's Cookbook' ' have been best sellers with over 22 million copies sold. Many, if not most, are probably still being used by cooks around the world. With as many as 1,840 recipes in a publication it is unlikely that any one cook has been able to try all of them.

So, how does one get cookbook users to purchase the 1986 edition which includes 400 new recipes out of 1,400? That was the problem facing Tom Kirwan, assistant manager of marketing research at General Mills, Inc. As the flagship of its publishing line it was important that "Betty Crocker's Cookbook" continue to lead the field in order to get adequate shelf and display space in book stores and departments.

General Mills has a cooperative agreement with Western Publishing's Golden Press on this venture. General Mills is responsible for editorial content including recipes while Western takes responsibility for publishing and distribution. Thus, both groups would be involved in the decision-making process.

Setting the Objective

"Determing what we were testing and what was important were the most important decisions we had to make," Kirwan said. "After that it was mostly a matter of proper execution of the study. "

As the cookbook buyer is often a collector or someone who wants to add to her existing sources it became important that the potential buyer recognize this version as being "new and different." Thus, Kirwan said, the decision was to test cover creations because it would be the cover which would tempt a prospective buyer to pick it up. The collective judgment of the business group were that the important elements were name recognition and eye appeal. Name recognition would be obtained by printing the name in large letters. Thus, the testing would be done on eye appeal.

Two studies conducted

Originally, it was planned to conduct only one study. However, the project ended up with two studies since some of those responsible wanted more options available. Both studies used the same technique of bringing qualified respondents into interview situations where they were asked to specify the covers they would prefer. The project was conducted by an outside supplier using its technique known as "Sales Impact Research."

Phase one tested very different cover designs which could be used on the new cookbook. Four designs were used along with the cover of the most recent version. All were in final form. They were: a picture of "Betty Crocker"; a borderless portrayal of a table scene with a meal; a framed table scene with a meal; a collage of food snapshots; and, the cover of the previous version.

Respondents interviewed during phase one showed a clear preference for the framed table scene showing a meat dish, salad and vegetable. During the interviews it also became apparent that the Betty Crocker signature as well as the familiar red used on the three previous editions and on the spoon used on the Betty Crocker packages would be immediately recognizable.

Phase one settled the question of overall appearance of the publication. Discussion among those responsible indicated a need to improve on the photo itself. It was decided to conduct phase two by testing table scene covers of a pork dish, a beef dish and a chicken dish to determine which would be preferred. Each of these meat dishes would be photographed with a salad and vegetable. The photos would then be individually positioned into the identical framed setting inside the red border so that the only change would be the meat dish. This time, however, the covers were not tested against each other but rather against three of the major competitive cookbooks.

Betty Crocker's Cookbook

The results of the study indicated that the framed photo which showed the chicken dish did significantly better against competitive cookbooks in generating purchasing interest than the other two meat varieties. Based on these results the decision was made to publish the new version using the photo of the chicken, vegetable and salad framed by the familiar Betty Crocker red border and the Betty Crocker signature. It was released in late summer this year.

Mall Intercepts Used

As mentioned earlier the techniques used in both phases were similar. Each used mall intercepts in five cities. All participants were female between the ages of 20 and 65 years and who intended to purchase a cookbook within the next 12 months. In addition there were the usual security questions. There were also some preliminary questions relating to predisposition toward the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Panelists were shown a stimulus board which measured approximately two feet square. Positioned on the board were the covers. In phase one they were the four new designs plus the cover of the most recent version. Phase two participants viewed the three major competitors and only one test Betty Crocker cover which was in finished form. Thus, there were three matched groups in phase two. In addition to the covers of the competitive cookbooks the panelists in phase two also saw the suggested price of each cookbook next to its cover.

The panelist was given coins and told that since she had already said she planned on purchasing a cookbook within the next 12 months how likely would she be to purchase one or more of these. The number of coins was one more than the number of publication choices. She had to allocate her coins among the publications shown. She could put all coins on just one publication; she could put two coins on one publication and one each on the remainder; or allot them any way she wished as long as she used all of the coins. In this way a decision was forced. Participants had to show a preference. At the same time it was possible to allocate the coins in such a way that variations in preference could be determined.

Kirwan, who received his MBA from the University of Rochester has been in the marketing Research Department of General Mills for four years. During that time he has worked on frozen pizza, Gorton's Frozen Fish, Leeann Chin's Restaurants along with some international work. He says that the cookbook business is a different animal. The buying habits are not at all similar to the other products General Mills markets. But after determining what was most important in the purchasing process Kirwan found it was possible to develop a research methodology to supply the marketing group with the necessary information. They felt secure that the cover showing the framed table scene setting with a chicken dish would be most widely accepted.