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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Randy Unsbee, MA, ABC is a strategic expert, consultant and analyst in Marketing
Communications via Social, Mobile and Traditional Media for Small Business, Non-
Profits and Corporations. He is a recognized expert at blending New with Traditional
Media.
Unsbee is an award-winner in corporate and agency B2C and B2B communication with
such powerhouse agencies as Burson-Marsteller and Cushman & Associates (Chicago),
Franson & Associates (San Jose), Waggener-Edstrom and Young & Roehr Group
(Portland), and Sindt Advertising & Public Relations (Colorado Springs).
He is accredited by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
with public relations credentials recognized worldwide (ABC), and recipient of the
international Master of Arts with Merit Award in e-Communications (MA) from
England's third largest university.
A winner of more than 35 industry awards from multiple professional organizations,
Unsbee has been an adviser and thought leader to over 100 companies in more than 10
distinct industry categories.
He developed the Marketing Communications program that introduced GPS worldwide
and was first demonstrated with the America's Cup. His concept is now standard
internationally in all competitive events, and led to a sports Emmy for ESPN and a major
paradigm shift in broadcasting and consumer understanding of daily navigation.
Unsbee also created and implemented the award-winning "most effective product launch
ever" for a Microsoft programming language, Visual Basic, and created and managed the
product launch for world's first tablet computer.
An Expert Source and on-air PR consultant for several television stations, he is also a
professionally trained international high performance driver, six-time sports car racing
champion, stage actor and public speaker.
www.facebook.com/thiswerks
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Twitter: @randyunsbee
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration 1 – Methological Triangulation…………………………………..page 19
Illustration 2 – Chi-Squared Test, Average Age and Years a Member………page 28
Illustration 3 – Chi-Squared Test, Education Completed……………………page 29
Illustration 4 – Chi-Squared Test, Member Totals Responding……………..page 30
Illustration 5 – Chi-Squared Test, Electronics Used………………………...page 31
Illustration 6 – Chi-Squared Test, Online Media Used……………………...page 32
Illustration 7 – Chi-Squared Test, Receive Magazine Preference……….….page 34
Illustration 8 – Chi-Squared Test, Primary Interest (Rally Combined)…….page 35
Illustration 9 – Chi-Squared Test, Written Survey Results…………………page 37
Illustration10 – Print and Digital Text Experiment Results……..………....page 40
Illustration 11 – Print and Digital Text Experiment Comments………...…page 43
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ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS
Many people have contributed to this 3 ½-year journey while developing and researching
this project. First and foremost are all the instructors and staff at Sheffield-Hallam
University who have been so supportive and helpful throughout all the peaks and valleys
while I sought a Master of Arts Degree in E-Communication. Special appreciation goes
to Claire Rayner, Dr. Anne-Florence Dujardin, Dr. Mike Beaken, and all of my course
professors. Thank you to the members of the Oregon Region Sports Car Club of America
(ORSCCA) in Portland, Oregon, USA for their cooperation in this study, and especially
to my wife Julia and our children who have patiently supported the long years of study,
late hours and financial sacrifice to complete this study.
ABSTRACT
The advent of faster, more powerful and less expensive personal computing devices has
helped increase the controversy of organisational communication via printed text versus
digital text. The literature and experimentation to date has been led by references to
difficulties of legibility and comprehension with text read on a screen, and the ability to
navigate within articles. Of late, there have been advances in graphic design and screen
quality which has narrowed, if not eliminated, the gap between the digital and print
mediums. This study considers the differences between the two in terms of preference,
readability and comprehension as described by the members of a not-for-profit
organisation in the United States, and concludes the death knell for print media, though a
distinct future possibility, may have sounded too soon for some.
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INTRODUCTION
There has been an explosion of digital communication and social media channels that are
now competing with traditional information vehicles such as printed paper magazines and
newsletters.
Debates regarding the effectiveness and value of traditional vs. digital communication are
ongoing in the business, consumer and academic worlds. However, there is little, if any,
definitive research that pertains specifically to effective communications in a
membership-based, non-profit organisation.
Non-profit organisations that previously relied on printed materials to communicate with
their membership are now faced with the question: do we move our organisation’s
communications solely to digital means, do we still maintain our print publications, or
develop a combination of the two? My research was prompted by the desire to answer
this question.
Organisations that are struggling to identify the most effective and least expensive
methods of community building with their stakeholders. Those stakeholders may be
customers, employees, members, or constituents. There are multiple communication
choices available with traditional and new media. Traditional media may be considered to
include printed magazines or newspapers, radio or television. New media would include
email blasts, digital editions of newspapers and magazines, social media such as
Facebook, and content delivered via smart phones.
The group is now experimenting with additional digital channels including email
marketing and various types of social and interactive media. However, the cost
effectiveness and impact of such efforts on the membership are merely conjecture at this
time. The purpose of this literature review, in relation to the stated problem and key
issues, is to identify sources from the business and academic worlds that have considered
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a similar issue to the one facing ORSCCA, to compare their findings and critically
evaluate them.
The intent of this research is to determine the communications preferences of a not-for-
profit organisation’s individual members. The general field of research relates to print vs.
digital text within organisational communication channels.
The organisation I am studying was established in the 1960s and consists of slightly more
than 1,000 members. It is part of a larger national corporation called the Sports Car Club
of America (SCCA) which is comprised of some 55,000 across North America. It is a
member oriented, non-profit member operated club with the primary purpose of
promoting, maintaining and improving automobile sports and interest in the ownership,
operation of, and safety of sports cars.
Each member pays an annual fee to belong to ORSCCA which hosts a wide variety of
mostly amateur competitive events throughout the year. ORSCCA has active programs in
Club Racing, Vintage Racing, Road Rally, Rallycross, and in Solo (SCCA's autocross
program where competitors compete against the clock in a controlled atmosphere). The
Oregon region also provides workers and officials to major professional international
racing competitions here in Oregon and across North America.
From Dec. 2005 through May 2011 I was retained as an editor and publisher of the
monthly magazine, The Loud Pedal, and conducted advertising and sponsorship sales,
along with public relations.
The ORSCCA currently shares information with the membership via The Loud Pedal
print publication, region Web site (http://www.oregonscca.com), and occasionally via
Facebook, Twitter, and email. There is an ongoing discussion among the organisation’s
board of directors as to the cost effectiveness and justification for printing a monthly
magazine. There are those who argue that the printed piece is the most effective means
for reaching the members, connecting with the community and for recruiting new
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members. Others argue that the Web site, direct mail and social media are the best means
for communicating with the membership, and that a monthly printed piece is too costly to
justify.
This research was conducted in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, USA and
specifically at gatherings hosted by ORSCCA, such as awards banquets, technical
inspections of vehicles and at the automotive events hosted and sanctioned by them.
The aim for my research was two-pronged. I used questionnaires and surveys to
determine member channel preferences for receiving a monthly publication (print, digital,
both, neither), along with member testing for determining delivery effectiveness and
retention of information by those channels. This constitutes mixed methods research.
My research question relates to determining the proper mix between print and digital
communication within the organisation, determining which the members prefer, and
discovering which prove most effective in message recognition and retention. My
research question is, to what extent is it possible to determine which method(s) proves
most effective for a non-profit organisation to deliver and exchange information with its
members?
