Day 065 - 09 Dec 94 - Page 59

     
     1        advertised foods or drinks which I would not otherwise buy
     2        because my children ask me to".  There was no supplementary
     3        question and to this effect:  "And why was that?" or "Why
     4        is that?" was there?
     5        A.  No.
     6
     7   Q.   It would be dangerous, would it not, to draw any very firm
     8        conclusion from the answers to this question 3?
     9        A.  I think there are conclusions which can be drawn.
    10
    11   Q.   Conclusions one might like to draw, but what do you say are
    12        the firm conclusions, using due objectivity, that one can
    13        safely draw from that question?
    14        A.  A certain proportion of parents felt in a position to
    15        agree with this statement.  This was likely to increase
    16        with age because what is quite clear that children under
    17        five, and particularly included in that category are
    18        children who are not yet able to speak or to talk and less
    19        likely to be able to make their feelings so directly felt,
    20        the numbers of parents who agreed with that was,
         understandably, lower.  As children get older parents in
    22        this survey, a larger proportion of them, felt they bought
    23        foods they would not otherwise buy.  What this question did
    24        not ask was:  "Do you buy advertised foods or drinks
    25        because your children ask you to?"  It says, "Foods or
    26        drinks you would not otherwise buy".  So, obviously, if one
    27        were just to ask them if they ended up buying advertised
    28        foods or drinks because their children asked them to, it
    29        may be one would get higher figures.
    30
    31   Q.   That is exactly what you can not tell.  Since nobody asked
    32        the parents what the reason was, nobody asked them, for
    33        example:  "Do you buy those foods because the children have
    34        seen them on television", you cannot base any firm
    35        conclusion on it, can you, beyond what is actually stated
    36        in literal terms?
    37        A.  This particular question does show that a number of
    38        parents varying with age range, being seemingly the most
    39        important variable, do say they buy advertised foods or
    40        drinks they would not otherwise buy because their children
         ask them to.
    42
    43   Q.   You can try to infer cause and effect for as long as you
    44        like, Ms. Dibb, but unless you have asked the right
    45        question you cannot as a matter of logic, good sense,
    46        prudence or wisdom actually do it, can you?
    47        A.  In the same way one cannot disprove it either.
    48
    49   Q.   No, I am not suggesting one is trying to disprove it.  What
    50        I am suggesting is that it is unsafe to build a house on 
    51        this sandy basis? 
    52        A.  I am not certain what house one might be seeking to 
    53        build.
    54
    55   Q.   What I am suggesting is that it is not right simply because
    56        you have these answers to these questions, or these
    57        proportion of answers to these questions, to go around the
    58        country trumpeting about the effect of advertising in
    59        creating pester power.  Do you follow me?
    60        A.  Oh, but I think this is just one of many pieces of