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Simmons Catalyst: Glossary

Glossary of Terms

  • Base: Limits your crosstab or quick report to only the group that you designate. For example, if you choose men as your base, you will only be comparing amongst men rather than against the general population.

  • Brand Development Index (BDI): Measures how well a brand performs within a specific group of consumers compared to the market as a whole. For example, you might track how well Ben and Jerry's ice cream sells in Vermont as compared to the United States as a whole.

  • Category Development Index (CDI): Measures how well a category of products performs within a specific group of consumers compared to the market as a whole. For example, you might track how well ice cream sells to people 18-34 as compared to the United States as a whole.

  • Crosstab: Short for crosstabulation, a crosstab is a chart that shows how many times combinations of variables coincided. For Simmons, the variables are the answers that people provided in the survey. For example, the chart could show how many people in the survey are men and also drink Snapple.

  • Definitions: Pre-defined variables that can be used to create a crosstab, used as a timesaver.

  • Experian Simmons Segmentations: Consumers are divided up into different possible themed groupings.

  • Lifestyle statements: Attitudes and opinions on various topics that consumers agree or disagree with.

  • Media quintiles: Users of a media are divided into five equal groups, according to how much they use that type of media.

  • Questions: Statements that refer to the actual questions asked on the survey.

  • Quick reports: Pre-formulated charts that you can use to run your custom base or target audience. For example, you can choose women as a target and get a quick report on demographic breakdown, social media use, etc.

  • Recycle: This tab allows you to choose variables that you had previously created.

  • SPC: A special file format for storing data. You can save your searches by exporting as a SPC from the Crosstab edit screen. These files can be opened again in Simmons by choosing to "Import SPC."

  • Target: In quick reports, this is the group that you are wishing to compare to the general population or to the base, if you choose one. You must set a target in quick reports, but you don't necessarily need to set a base.