Information Sources

The survey examined the respondent’s usage of 13 information sources that Cary employs to communicate with its citizens.  A 9-point scale was used that ranged from never use (1) to frequently use (9).  Table 44 indicates the most frequently used information sources in order were Cary News (5.62), word-of-mouth (5.57), Raleigh News & Observer (5.54), BUD (5.47), television (5.23), and Cary’s website (4.56).  This represents significant changes from 2008.  The media sources that moved up were Cary News from 4^th to 1^st, word-of-mouth from 3^rd to 2^nd, BUD from 5^th to 4^th, and Cary’s website moved from 7^th to 6^th overall.  The media sources that fell were Raleigh News & Observer from 1^st to 3^rd, television from 2^nd to 5^th, and radio from 6^th to 7^th.  Homeowners’ association was a new information source examined this year.  This source had limited usage finishing 11^th in the rankings; although, it was used more than the Independent Weekly and the Block Leader Program.  Tables 45-50 show all the information sources’ usage in previous years.

A new set of questions examined the respondent’s usage of social media sources if Cary were to use them to communicate with its citizens.  The social media sources include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Flickr.  There was minimal overall usage to these media sources.  The highest mean was only 2.54 for Facebook with 16.6% responding above the midpoint of 5.  Note that 67.8% indicated they would never use this source.  There was even more limited potential usage for YouTube (1.78), Twitter (1.69), LinkedIn (1.54), MySpace (1.48), and Flickr (1.39).  Overall, Facebook has the highest potential among the social media sources.

Information Sources Crosstabulations

Crosstabulations for the information sources were conducted on age, education, housing type, income, race, voter status, and years in Cary are shown in Appendix B (Tables B306-B312).  Instead of examining each demographic variable separately, it would be more informative to examine where each information source was most effective.  To accomplish this, each source was rated in effectiveness as excellent, very good, good, or fair by its relative ranking within a subgroup.  If the information source finished in the 1^st or 2^nd spot within a subgroup, then it rated excellent, 3^rd or 4^th rated very good, 5^th or 6^th rated good, and 7^th and 8^th rated fair.  There were no ratings for 9^th and beyond.  Only subgroups with sample sizes over 10 will be considered.  This results in 26 total subgroups used for comparisons.     

The two top information sources were the Cary News and word-of-mouth.  Cary News was a broad-based (impacted all 26 subgroups) and effective (ranked high within the subgroups) information source to disseminate information.  It garnered 11 excellent ratings (first in over 65 age group, those with PhD/JD/MD degree, $50,001-$70,000 income level, over $100,000 income level, Caucasians, Asians, registered voters), 14 very good, and 1 good rating.  Word-of-mouth earned 13 excellent ratings (first in $20,001-$30,000 income level, $30,001-$50,000 income level, those with high school/some college, those with college degree, 2-5 year residents, other races), 12 very good, and 1 good rating.  Both Cary News and word-of-mouth were effective and broad-based.  Word-of-mouth had more excellent rankings (13 verses 11) but Cary News had more first place finishes (7 versus 6).

Another relatively strong information source was Raleigh News & Observer even though it has fallen off since 2008.  This source was rated excellent in 10 subgroups (first in 56-65 age group, African-Americans), very good in 15, and good in 1 other subgroup making this source both effective and broad-based.  However, it was not quite as effective as Cary News and word-of-mouth as evident in only 2 first place rankings.  BUD was also a very good information source.  It was excellent in 7 subgroups (first in 26-55 age group, single family households, $70,001-$100,000 income level, 6-10 year residents, over 10 year residents), very good in 6, good in 9, and fair in 4 others.  Television was also relatively effective.  It ranked excellent in 11 subgroups (first in 18-25 age group, apartment dwellers, townhouse/condo dwellers, Hispanics, those not registered to vote, and 0-1 year residents), very good in 3, and good in 12 others.  Overall television was a good information source but lacks some of the broad-based appeal of the top sources due to the lower ratings in many of the subgroups.  Cary News, word-of-mouth, Raleigh News & Observer, BUD, and television were the only information sources to earn rankings in the excellent category (first or second).    

Cary’s website was also a relatively good information source.  It received 2 very good ratings (18-25 age group, Hispanics), 22 good ratings, and 2 fair ones making it somewhat broad-based with a relatively strong degree of effectiveness.  Radio was less effective and not particularly broad-based.  It earned only 4 good ratings (apartment dwellers, 18-25 age group, Hispanics, 0-1 year residents) and 20 fair ratings.    

Parks & Recreation Program earned only 14 fair ratings in all the subgroups.  Cary TV Channel 11 was somewhat surprising in that it earned 2 good ratings (townhouse/condo dwellers, over 65 age group) and 12 fair ratings.  All the ranks for Cary email, homeowner’s association, Independent Weekly, and Block Leader Program were below the fair category. 

The crosstabulations on social media sources (Tables B313-B320) were conducted on age, education, housing type, income, race, voter status, voted in 2009 local elections, and years in Cary in Appendix B.  The highest usage of Facebook were for 18-25 age group (4.48), Hispanics (4.00), African-Americans (3.53), apartment dwellers (3.20), and $30,001-$50,000 income level (3.00).  The lowest usage was for townhouse/condo dwellers (1.21), over 65 age group (1.24), and 56-65 age group (1.81). 

YouTube’s highest means for usage were from Hispanics (3.00), 18-25 age group (2.21), those not registered to vote (2.08), $30,001-$50,000 income level (2.00), Asians (2.00), and other races (2.00).  The lowest usage was from over 65 age group (1.05), (1.14), townhouse/condo dwellers (1.16), and African-Americans (1.25). 

The highest usage of Twitter was from 18-25 age group (2.76), $30,001-$50,000 income level (2.40), apartment dwellers (2.19), Hispanics (2.00), and 6-10 year residents (1.99).  The means for the lowest usage were for townhouse/condo dwellers (1.00), over 65 age group (1.21), and African-Americans (1.25). 

LinkedIn’s highest means for usage was from 18-25 age group (2.48), apartment dwellers (1.87), $20,001-$30,000 income level (1.83), and Hispanics (1.83).  The lowest usage were for townhouse/ condo dwellers (1.00), other races (1.06), and over 65 age group (1.07).

The highest usage of MySpace were for 18-25 age group (2.35), $30,001-$50,000 income level (2.26), apartment dwellers (2.16), and Hispanics (2.00).  The lowest means were for over 65 age group (1.00), townhouse/condo dwellers (1.00), those with PhD/JD/MD (1.11), and 56-65 age group (1.14).

Flickr’s highest means for usage was from 18-25 age group (2.21), $20,001-$30,000 income level (1.96), and those not registered to vote (1.80).  The lowest usage was from African-Americans (1.00), other races (1.06), townhouse/condo dwellers (1.05), and over 65 age group (1.10).      

The crosstabulations for potential usage of new internet based bill services were conducted on age, education, housing type, income, race, and years in Cary (Appendix B).  The crosstabulations for electronic bill presentment are show in Tables B321-B326.  The groups with the highest mean or highest potential usage were Asians (6.73), over $100,000 income level (6.22), 26-55 age group (5.98), and those with PhD/JD/MD (5.93).  The lowest potential usage was from over 65 age group (1.83), $20,001-$30,000 income level (3.26), 56-65 age group (3.86), and those with high school/ some college (3.88).  As for online bill analysis (B327-B332), the highest potential usage was from   Asians (6.32), those with PhD/JD/MD (6.15), over $100,000 income level (6.13), and 26-55 age group (5.85).  The lowest means were from over 65 age group (2.33), $20,001-$30,000 income level (3.17), townhouse/condo dweller (3.58), 56-65 age group (3.83), those with high school/some college (3.84), and apartment dwellers (3.90).  Finally, the highest potential usage for online bill comparison (Table B333-B338) was from over $100,000 income level (6.02), Asians (5.73), 26-55 age group (5.65), and those with PhD/JD/MD (5.63).  The lowest means were for over 65 age group (2.24), $20,001-$30,000 income level (2.78), townhouse/condo dwellers (3.16), apartment dwellers (3.52), 56-65 age group (3.74), and those with high school/some college (3.76).