Form 483 AMS MN 2011 Cust Sat Survey

USDA Market News

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2011

Final Version

Introduction

Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. The USDA Market News is committed to providing you, our customers, with information that meets your needs. Gathering your feedback helps to ensure that we are delivering on our commitment to you.

This survey is being administered by CFI Group, an independent third-party research group. This brief survey asks about your satisfaction with our products and services as well as ways that we can improve our service to you. Your answers will remain anonymous and will be combined with those from other respondents for research and evaluation purposes only.

This survey is authorized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Control No. 1505-0191.

Screener: Have you used USDA Market News information in the past 12 months?

1. Yes (CONTINUE to Q1)

2. No (TERMINATE SURVEY)

3. Don’t Know (TERMINATE SURVEY)

Areas of Interest

Q1. Which of the following USDA Market News commodity areas is your primary area of interest? (Select one)

1. Fruit, vegetables and ornamental crops

2. Poultry and eggs

3. Livestock, meat, and grains

4. Cotton and tobacco

5. Dairy

6. Other (please specify)

Q2. How frequently do you receive or access information from USDA Market News?

1. At least once a day

2. At least a few times a week

3. About once a week

4. About once a month or less

Q3. How do you use USDA Market News information? (Select all that apply)

1. Assist in resolving legal disputes

2. Determine commodity values for business purposes (e.g., assess loan values, settle insurance claims, settle contract payments, compute final prices under formula pricing arrangements)

3. Plan for production intentions

4. Analyze markets

5. Assist in analysis and decision-making for policy

6. Gain or maintain general market awareness

7. Develop marketing strategy

8. Establish product prices (e.g. for markets/sale to consumers)

9. Assist in gauging the effectiveness of marketing or promotional campaigns

10. Other (Specify)

Q4. To what extent does USDA Market News information influence or impact your business? Please use a scale from”1” to “10” where “1” means “very little influence” and “10” means “great deal of influence.”

Access

Q5. How do you receive or access USDA Market News information? (Select all that apply)

1. E-mail

2. USDA Market News Portal/website

3. Website other than USDA

4. Fax

5. Media – including radio, television and periodicals

6. Other (Specify)

Q6. What existing or new ways would you like to have available for receiving USDA Market News information? (Select all that apply)

1. E-mail

2. USDA Market News Portal/website

3. Website other than USDA

4. Fax

5. Mass Media – including radio, television and periodicals

6. SMS messaging

7. App for a mobile device such as a smartphone or iPad

8. Social media, such as Facebook or Twitter

9. Other (Specify)

Reporting of USDA Market Information

(IF Q5 = 1, 2, 4 ASK Q7-Q10, otherwise go to Q11)

Thinking only about the ways that you receive or access reports and information from USDA Market News and not those ways you may receive or access market reports and information from other sources, please rate the USDA market reporting mechanisms on the following. Use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.”

Q7. Clarity of tables and graphics

Q8. Layout being easy to read and use

Q9. Ease of finding the reports and information that you are seeking

Q10. Ability to perform custom queries for information

Quality of Information

Thinking about the quality of information that you receive or access from USDA Market News, please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent” to rate the information on the following:

Q11. Information being available in a timely manner

Q12. Information being reliable and accurate

Q13. Relevance of information to your needs

Q14. Information being impartial and free from bias

Types of information

Q15. How important are each of the following types of information to you? Please use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “not very important” and “10” means “very important.”

1. Organic market information

2. Retail advertised specials

3. International market information

4. Auction markets

5. Direct trade

6. Wholesale markets

7. Shipping point market information

8. Movement

9. Inventory

10. Other (please specify)

Q16. Does USDA Market News meet your market information needs for the following types of information? Please indicate “Yes”, “No” or “Don’t Know.”

1. Organic market information

2. Retail advertised specials

3. International market information

4. Auction markets

5. Direct trade

6. Wholesale markets

7. Shipping point market information

8. Movement

9. Inventory

10. Other (please specify)

Customer Service

Q17. Have you contacted a representative of USDA Market News in the past 12 months with a question or a request for service?

1. Yes (CONTINUE TO Q18)

2. No (SKIP TO Q22)

3. Don’t Know (SKIP TO Q22)

Thinking about the customer service that you received from USDA Market News, please rate USDA Market News on the following using a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent.”

Q18. Courtesy of individual(s) who helped you

Q19. Knowledge of USDA Market News staff

Q20. Timeliness in responding to your question or request

Q21. Effectiveness in resolving your question or request

ACSI

Q22. Overall, how satisfied are you with the services from USDA Market News? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 10 is very satisfied?

Q23. How well do the services from USDA Market News meet your expectations? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means falls short of expectations and 10 means exceeds expectations.

Q24. How do the services from USDA Market News compare to the ideal? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means not very close to the ideal and 10 means very close to the ideal.

Outcomes

Q25. Using a 10-point scale where “1” means “Not very likely” and “10” means “Very likely”, please rate the how likely are you to recommend USDA Market News to others, if you were asked?

Q26. Please rate how confident you are in using information and reports that you receive from USDA Market News. Use a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” is “not very confident” and “10” is “very confident.”

Demographics

Q27. Please indicate which of the following best describes you. (Select all that apply)

1. Producer

2. Processor

3. Marketer

4. Distributor

5. Retailer

6. Government

7. Researcher/Analyst

8. Media

9. Educator/extension

10. Other (specify)

Open End

Q28. If USDA Market News no longer provided this service, how would you obtain the information you need for your business?

Q29. Please share any other comments that you have about USDA Market News.

2011 Customer Satisfaction Survey 8 Final Report