The document presents a report on Target's social impact and the perception of college-aged consumers in the Muncie area. It highlights findings from focus groups and surveys that show a significant lack of awareness regarding Target's community engagement efforts among 18-25 year-olds, suggesting that social media could be an effective tool for improving communication about their social responsibility. The overall goal is to enhance Target's marketing and attract more consumers by better informing them of its philanthropic actions.

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Target Headquarters
1000 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Dear Target Corporation:
As expected, our report of Target’s social impact and local Muncie perceptions is
attached. The basis of our report is set on the lack of knowledge college engaged 18-25
year olds possess regarding how Target gives back to the community.
We learned more about the community’s engagement with Target through a social
media analysis and a focus group. We crafted a survey intended to gauge how
consumers view social responsibility when making purchase decisions and which social
media platforms they receive information from frequently.
Our social media analysis helped us realize that Target had not posted any messages
of social impact on their Facebook page. This again leads draws the conclusion that
Target is not effectively communicating their community enhancing social impact.
With the help of focus groups from members of the Ball State community we have
determined that there is a disconnect between Target and our 18-25 target group. None
of the participants were aware of the influence the Target Corporation has locally or
nationwide. In fact, many were curious as to what Target had done for their community.
They expressed that social media would be the best vehicle to to communicate this
community influence.
Through our survey we hoped to gain knowledge on which platforms were most
frequented among our target audience. We felt that expressing community impact
creates a high credibility with the company. As our focus group explains, our
participants felt more likely to shop at a company that gives back and makes a
difference in the area around them.
Please find a more detailed look into our research below.
Sincerely,
Griffin Buckley Brianna Beitzel
Madi Williams Madeleine Jordan
Johnnie Shelton Cassie Fasick

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………...…3
Summary of Report 1……………………………………………………............5
Summary of Report 2.……………………………………………………………7
Summary of Report 3...……………..…………………………..……………....10
Conclusion…………..…...…………………………………………………….....11
References………………………………………………………………………..13
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………..14
Focus Group Transcription……………………………………………………...14
Survey……………………………………………………………………………..26

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Executive Summary
Problem Statement
Target upholds a legacy of giving and service through donating money and
volunteer hours in the community. The problem is that consumers are not aware of their
social impact. Target Corporation needs to solve this problem by engaging the
community in its efforts.These efforts include education grants, wellness programs for
children, integrating sustainability into communities and more. Even though Target has
strong brand recognition and a loyal customer base, they still have room for
improvement in communication. One specific opportunity we see for Target’s
communication could be improving the process of informing consumers about Target’s
involvement in the community and social causes.
Problem Goal
Our overall goal is to understand how Target can better communicate their
generous social impact in communities around the country. Ultimately, understanding
this will help improve Target’s marketing as well as attracting new consumers and
informing current consumers about their social responsibility. With this in mind, we have
conducted a focus group, created a survey, and gathered secondary research to further
explore this subject. With our quantitative and qualitative research, we were able to
understand​ how consumers receive information about their community, how they see
Target as an influence in their community, the consumer’s own habits of community
involvement and how Target could better communicate their social impact.
Target Audience
Our primary audience targets college aged students, 18-25 years old, in the
Muncie area because there is a common desire to shop at places that provide a social
impact in the community. We reached out to this audience through a focus group in
which we discovered their desire to support socially responsible businesses and how

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they received information about this. Throughout our research, we enforced a
secondary audience of the Muncie community as they are involved in the community
impact efforts and would be directly affected by these efforts. Our tertiary audience
consists of regularly frequenting Target consumers who already shop at Target but may
be unaware of their social impact.
Key Research Findings
In conducting our focus group, we found that Target’s social responsibility has
gone unnoticed, especially in the Muncie community. In fact, during our focus group ​the
participants were curious as to whether or not Target even possessed a program for
giving back to the local community.Target’s impact was unrecognized in our target
demographic from what we could observe. We came to the conclusion that Target,
being such a generous corporation, has gone unnoticed in their social impact efforts by
our target demographic.
Amongst the focus group members, they suggested that social media could have
a big influence on raising awareness about Target’s efforts, and that it was definitely
important to use visuals showing Target is making a difference in the community. Given
the fact that our demographic was primarily college students, using social media to relay
this message will be impactful.
We concluded Target’s social impact needs to be known by communicating this
through social media campaigns in order to effectively reach their target audience.
Instead of highlighting promotions or new products, posting about specific events where
they are making an effort to give back to communities is important. Overall, we found
that this may increase Target’s credibility as a company if they focus on their social
impact. If Target creates widespread awareness of their efforts, this might entice the
target audience to shop at Target because of their increase in credibility and generous
social responsibility.

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Summary of Report 1
Research Procedure
In report one we focused on identifying our problem and creating a situation
analysis as well as an audience analysis. We started by identifying what Target’s
problem was when it came to their social impact on the community. Once we defined
our problem, we focused on the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. We researched Target’s website and social media accounts to gain the
information needed to see what their positive and negatives were as a whole.
First, we took a look at the internal factors. Our internal factors included
organizational history, services, products, and so forth. We looked at the founder of
Target, and what the company sells through their store and their digital channel. As we
went further into educating ourselves with the company, we started to dive deeper into
how Target gives back to the community. Later in key findings we will discuss all of the
various things Target does, including volunteer work, programs, and other efforts to help
benefit their local community. We also looked at Target’s finances and controlled media
content.
Next, we moved on to our external factors by performing a content analysis. Our
research question was “Is Muncie Target using Facebook to communicate that they
engage in the community and promote social cause?” Madde and I analyzed every 3
posts, and kept track of our data.
Finally, our next procedure was to complete an audience analysis. We defined
the situation, organization, communication, demographics, and personality preferences.
We did this by using the research we found and applying it to the audience we wanted
to reach out to. The demographics we chose were middle-class consumers between the
ages of 25 and 45.

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Key Findings
Our findings from Report 1 were greatly beneficial to our overall project. We
found that Muncie Target’s Facebook content is made up of is 46.7% product posts,
46.7% other-type posts, 6.6% promotion posts, and 0% community/social cause posts.
This data showed us that they are not effectively using their social media for community
and social cause outreach. We also found our target audience, middle class consumers
between the ages of 25 and 45.
Justification of each Research Method
Identifying Target’s problem was the most important thing we could have done,
this was the foundation of all of our reports. We turned to their social media to see what
they were doing and identify what they were not doing. By finding the problem, we could
help with a solution.
Our next research method was to do a SWOT analysis. This helped us identify
Targets strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. For example, we compared
their company to others and focused how they were making an impact on the
community.
Finally, our audience analysis. This helped us greatly. We were able to find the
target audience that needed to be reached and focused on the most. By choosing an
audience that was middle class between the ages of 25 and 45 we would have a large
audience, but a somewhat young audience. A lot of younger people in our day in age
love giving their time to volunteer and be the difference. Target must work on their
social impact and flaunt all of the good work they do within communities.

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Summary of Report 2
Research Procedure
In terms of protocol, we began planning our primary research on September 26,
2016. That day we discussed our problem statement and composed our research
problem as a team. After discussing possible research methods, we chose to conduct a
focus group and assigned team members different research roles, which are detailed
below.
Role Team Member
Scheduler Madi WIlliams
Moderator Madeleine Jordan
Recorder Brianna Beitzel
Analyst Griffin Buckley
Summarizer Johnnie Shelton
Recruiter Cassie Fassick
We held our focus group on October 4, 2016 at 6:30 pm in a conference room
located in Bracken Library. Brianna, Cassie, and Madeleine arrived at 6 to set up. At
6:25 Cassie retrieved the focus group participants from their meeting spot downstairs
and by 6:30 the focus group began. Free pizza and refreshments, along with an
icebreaker, were used to welcome participants and set a comfortable atmosphere for
those involved. The focus group’s content consisted of questions on target with our
research problem and was organized in funnel system. Further information on our
protocol can be found in the appendix.
In terms of our study population, our focus group included 8 Ball State University
students. These students carried a common interest; all were Juniors or Seniors at the
university. This was the main interest we focused on. We wanted people around this

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age because that is who we specifically wanted to target on the matter; the age ranged
from 20-23 years old. We wanted the focus group members to have a common interest,
but we also wanted them to have different personalities. A diverse group was chosen,
so that when we conducted our data analysis we would have different opinions on the
matter.
Our main recruitment strategy was to reach out to people who were diverse in
their opinions. The first thing that was looked for was our specific target audience. We
chose juniors and seniors as our sample because, if they didn’t have too much in
common, they would at least be able to share that common characteristic. After
choosing our sample in the recruitment process, we decided to look for people who
weren’t exactly friends with each other. People usually, not always, surround
themselves with friends who share the same beliefs and characteristics as themselves.
We were not looking for the same opinion on our topic. We did this focus group to get
an understanding from different point of views. That being said, our focus group
members were chosen based on their different personalities and views.
After specific people were chosen, Cassie our recruiter, reached out to them via
text message. Each person had another common denominator, they knew the recruiter.
Once texts were sent out to 15 different people, 8 were finally chosen. We reached out
to them via Email by confirming the date, time and place where the focus group was
going to take place. We also threw a little bribe in there, pizza. The sample and
recruiting process was a success. People were chosen based off personality,
differences and class status. All 8 members of the focus group showed up and gave
their opinion on the topic.
Key Findings
Our findings from this focus troup tell us that in order to make Target’s social
impact known, Target should make an extra effort to communicate this through social
media campaigns to effectively reach their target audience. Instead of highlighting
promotions or new products, they can post about specific events where they are making

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an effort to give back to communities, which in the end may increase their credibility as
a company. If Target creates widespread awareness of their efforts, this might entice
the target audience to shop at Target because of their increase in credibility and
generous social responsibility.
Justification of Research Methods
Our group chose to do a focus group. There was a panel of eight students from
Ball State that were split between 5 males and 3 females. We based the way we ran
the focus group off of our group member, Madeleine’s experience. She has run them
before and had personal experience with being in one too. We made our questioning
based on broad generic questions that funneled down into more in depth ones. Also,
the questions were aimed a lot more towards specifically Target in the late questions.
Within each question we had sub-questions ready to probe the group to add on to what
they just spoke about. We were trying to obtain the most qualitative information we
could surrounding the main question points. Our decision was based on the fact that
we wanted to gain multiple perspectives in a group setting. We also know that focus
groups allow for brainstorming to happen amongst the members and cause for more
elaborate answers to develop (Hagglund).

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Summary of Report 3
Research procedure
When creating our survey, our population was to consist of all Muncie students.
This would not only contain Ball State University students by also the community
college of Ivy Tech’s students. This would give us a very large diverse population to
choose from. We chose to not survey the entire population but save money and survey
a sample that would be about as effective and more time efficient. The sample size we
chose was about 200 people.We will have a complete list of all students and use
stratified random sampling. It will allow us to have completely random participants
chosen by the nth number. We will divide them into subgroups using to make sure that
an even number is chosen from each school, year and major. This will allow us to have
the most diverse sets as possible. Whomever participates will be eligible to win a $100
Target gift card. This incentive will hopefully persuade the population to take the
survey.
Plan of Analysis
Our plan of analysis would be to use correlation to compare the relationship
between our population hearing about Target’s social impact and their willingness to
buy from a company with a social impact. Our questions were interval and ratio based
allowing us to the correlation analysis. We believe we will obtain the best insights
through this analysis.
Justification of Research Methods
We chose to do 200 people out of the population to make everything more
efficient. We started off our survey with general questions about the participant to get
them comfortable and give us a general idea about them. Then we dove into questions
about social responsibility and how important it is to them. Then we had questions

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geared towards which social media platforms they use and obtain their information from.
We believed that this was vital to know for the fact that we want to reach them at the
best platform we can and the one they are using the most. Not knowing this, we could
end up wasting our time and resources. Others questions we had were to see if the
participants were more likely to connect with and buy from a company that they know to
be engaged in the community. This will give good insights to show the company that
people care about knowing about the social impact they have and the benefits they can
get from it. We also want to know why they follow companies on social media and if
they even know Target gives back to the community. All of these questions give further
insight into what needs to be changed in the way they communicate with their audience.
We tried to stray away from simple answer questions and went for more in depth ones
with likert scales and ranking type questions. We felt that it worked best with the type of
questions we had and knowing the order of social media they use would give us
stronger insights on how to communicate with them.
Conclusion
Throughout the research of our previous reports, we have been exploring
consumer unawareness of Target’s social impact. We have accomplished this by
evaluating their current communication plan,
In order for Target to make their social impact more known, we have found the
organization should make an effort to communicate this through social media
campaigns. ​ In addition of highlighting promotions or new products, they can also post
about specific events where they are making an effort to give back to communities,
which in the end may increase their credibility as a company. Most importantly, Target
must aim these communication efforts towards ​those who are highly involved in the
community and those with the ​intention to learn about various community activities.
As we have discovered in our research, customers feel more satisfaction when
they are aware of the company’s philanthropic actions. By communicating their social

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impact and creating a widespread awareness of their efforts, Target can increase their
credibility, attract new customers, and delight their current customer base.

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References
Briggs, E., Yang, Z., Harmon-Kizer, T. R., & Arnold, T. J. (2016). How Do Differing Community
Engagement Strategies Affect Consumer Responses to a Retailer?. Journal Of
Marketing Theory & Practice, 24(1), 109-127. doi:10.1080/10696679.2016.1089767
Ho, F., Biggeri, L., & Kalton, G. (2005). Survey as a Source of Statistics and Factors Affecting
the Quality of Survey Statistics. ​International Statistical Review / Revue Internationale
De Statistique, ​73(2), 245-254. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.proxy.bsu.edu/stable/25472664
Jones, S., & Hill, K. (2003). Understanding Patterns of Commitment: Student Motivation for
Community Service Involvement. ​The Journal of Higher Education, ​74(5), 516-539.
Retrieved from ​http://www.jstor.org/stable/3648282

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Appendix
Transcript from Focus Group
Madde: “We’re going to do an icebreaker. I’m sure that’s exactly what everyone wants
to do, but we’re going to each go around saying your name, your major, your favorite
place to shop, and your most used social media platform. I can start things off. So my
name is Madde. I am an advertising major. My favorite place to shop is probably H&M
even though I haven’t really been there in a while… And my most used social media is
probably Snapchat. So…”
“My name is Cassie. All of you know that. I’m going to have a laugh-attack. I’m a PR
major….”
“I got it… I’m Jordan. My major is Elementary Education. Um, I like shopping at TJ
Maxx, and what was the last thing? Oh, Snapchat!”
“Ok, I’m Megan. My major is advertising. My, what was it, favorite place to shop is Pac
Sun and my favorite social media is Snapchat too.”
“My name is Nicki. I’m a nursing major. My favorite place to shop is anything online.
And, Instagram.”
“My name is Kyle. I’m a marketing major. My favorite place to shop would be Urban or
American Eagle and, um, my most used social media would be Snapchat or Instagram.”
“My name is Richard. I’m Entrepreneurial Management. My favorite place to shop is
pretty much anything online and snapchat.”
“My name is Robert. Finance major. Favorite place to shop is Amazon. And… I use
snapchat mostly.”
“Jordan. Business major. Favorite place to shop, uh, TJ Maxx I guess, maybe. Um, and
Snapchat.”
“Hi, I’m Carly. I’m a Public Relations major. My favorite place to shop is TJ Maxx.
(inaudible comment). And… my favorite social media is probably Instagram or
Snapchat.”
Madde: “Alright, awesome. So first off to begin, you all are part of the Muncie
community, right? You all go to Ball State? Alright, so how do you guys typically receive
information about the Muncie community?
“Probably just word of mouth.”

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Madde: “Word of mouth?”
“Or Twitter I see a lot. If something is retweeted.”
“Facebook posts.”
“Sometimes on posters around campus too.”
Madde: “Okay. So, like, you guys are getting information online and also in print ads.
Okay. Um, what type of information are you typically receiving from that source? For
example, from Twitter, what kind of things are you seeing tweets about and what kind of
posters?”
“Like specific events.”
Madde: “Events, the type of events. Is it something for Greek life or is it some fundraiser
put on by a club, or different things like that?”
“Is this just in the Ball State area?”
Madde: “No, I guess, yeah. Yeah, it’s for all of Muncie. So…”
“I would say a lot of Greek Life. I’m involved in Greek Life so I follow a lot of different,
like, organizations. So… a lot of people retweet stuff.”
Madde: “Who said word of mouth?
“Me.”
Madde: “What types of events or what do you typically or what type of community
outreach do you typically hear of?”
“Um, like volunteer events. Percentage nights, especially I hear a lot of. Um, and then,
like, different food places if they’re having a sale, like, I always hear about.”
Madde: “Okay, like what food places?”
“Like, literally everything in the village I always hear.”
Madde: “Okay. Like restaurants?”
“Yeah. Like, I always…. Last night it’s all you can eat wings at Scotty’s so like a group of
us went. Yeah, all the specials I always hear about.”

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Madde: “And then what do you typically see on the posters?”
“Um, probably, you know something like different events, but then also when they’re
going on, what’s going to be there, that kind of thing.”
Madde: “So how involved would you guys say you are in the Muncie community? On
and let’s all go around the room on a scale of 1 to 10. One being highly involved, ten
being… No, one being not involved and ten being highly involved. Including Ball State
as part of Muncie.”
“Mm…. Like 5 or 6.”
“Yeah, I would say a 5. Most of it being from Ball State.”
“Same. 5”
“5”
“Probably like a 6”
Madde: “Is the number any different. If you were, if the question were to be specifically
for Ball State as compared to Muncie, just Muncie?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
Madde: “So which one would be more involved?”
“Ball State.”
“Ball State.”
Madde: “Ball State? Okay. So in where, in what ways are you typically involved in the
Muncie community if any of you are?”
“I volunteer at the food bank sometimes.
Madde: “Uh, what’s the food bank? Second Harvest?”
“Yeah, Second Harvest.
(inaudible male voice 5:45)

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“I would say that if I am its like through Ball State so like I would still give back to the
Muncie community but like through an organization or through a class.”
Madde: “Okay, okay. So any other specific places that you guys volunteer at?”
“I would just say its like one time events that kind of like working those or that kind of
thing.””
Madde: “Okay. And so how often would you guys say you’re involved?”
“Maybe like once a month”
“Yeah, once a month”
Madde: “So can you guys think of any specific organizations, it doesn’t have to be
something you’re involved in, but any specific organizations that you know of that
engage in the community?”
“SVS”
Madde: “SVS”
“Mhm”
“I know a lot of Greek organizations do.”
Madde: “Okay, yeah. Do you guys know of any things that aren’t affiliated with Ball
State?”
“Can you repeat the question?”
Madde: “Just any organization that are engaged in the community.”
“Um, Little Red Door is like a cancer agency that provides services to people in the
Muncie community.”
“Isn’t there that AARF, like animal relief?”
“The boys and girls club helps a lot
Madde: “So, um, another question. Do you guys know of any retail stores in the area
that you know that give back to the community?”
“Goodwill.
“Goodwill

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“Like the restaurants that are willing to do, like, profit nights”
Madde: “Oh, okay so like…”
“Percentage of their..”
Madde: “What restaurants are that, are those?”
“Well like we have one this Wednesday at Scotty’s, um from 4-11, but they donate like
10% of their profit they make towards Make A Wish for us.
Madde: “Oh, okay. That’s cool.”
“The last two years we’ve done our percentage night with Culvers.”
“Culvers?”
“Oh yeah I’ve heard of a lot through Pita Pit too”
(inaudible male voice)
Madde: “So does it seem like its mostly restaurants that are doing that?”
“Like a large portion”
“Yeah, I would say”
Madde: “So let’s say there were a retail store in the area that gave back to the
community. Would you be more likely to support that store and shop there if you knew
that?”
“Yeah.”
“Mhm”
Madde: “Like TOMS”
“Yeah exactly”
Madde: “Okay, so, we’re going to do a sticky note exercise now. So I’ll be around to
give you a sticky note. I’m going to say a company name and you’re going to write down
the first three things that you think of when you hear this company name. The company
is Target.”

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“I think about spending all my money that’s the first thing…”
“Money.”
(inaudible whispering among focus group participants)
(indecipherable small talk between participants about exercise answers)
(laughter)
(off-topic discussions among participants about schoolwork)
Madde: “Alright, did everyone get their three words written down? It can be a phrase.
Okay so let’s go around the room and start with Carly. What do you have?”
“So I had ‘cute home décor’ I thought we were just doing just three different things. And
then ‘clothes’ and ‘groceries’.”
Madde: “Did anyone else have any of those?”
(pause)
Madde: “So those were the first three things that came to mind?”
“Yes”
Madde: “So are those like what you when you’re looking for those items you go to
Target?”
“Typically, yeah.”
Madde: “What about you?”
“I think every time I go to Target it seems like it’s all women there. It’s really neat and I
guess higher quality than Wal-Mart. I think it’s also younger people.”
Madde: “Younger. So younger, high quality, neat… so that’s more so what you have
associated with the brand?”
“Yeah.”
“So mine were ‘red’, like the color red, ‘a bulls eye,’ and then popcorn.”
Madde: “Can you explain the popcorn?”

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“You buy it there.”
“It smells when you walk in”
Madde: “I don’t remember that, fair enough.”
“It’s right by the door”
Madde: “Anyone else have popcorn?”
(pause)
Madde: “What about you?
“I’ve got family oriented. Expensive compared to other places and like all in one stop
shop.”
Madde: “Anyone else have any of those?”
“Yeah, well I had ‘red’ as well because of their logo and their name. It’s the first thing I
thought of and then everything, like it’s an everything store, they even have groceries
now. And then, I put affordable because their clothing and shirts are super cheap and
good quality.”
Madde: “Would all of you agree… Well one of you said affordable and another said
expensive. How many of you would consider it to be expensive?”
“I think it depends on what you’re shopping for”
Madde: “Okay”
“Like I never get my groceries from Target.”
Madde: “Is that because they’re expensive?”
“Yeah, but I would get like clothes from there. Like if you’re comparing stores. So if
you’re comparing to Wal-Mart I would say Wal-Mart is cheaper, but like Target…”
(cut-off by someone else talking)
“And if you compare it to like Forever 21 you can get like a plain t-shirt at Forever 21 for
like $3 and then Target’s like $20, it’s terrific.”
“That’s true”
Madde: “No, that is true.”

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“It’s so expensive”
Madde: “In what ways would you consider it more affordable then?”
“Their shoes.”
“Shoes”
Madde: “So they tend to have trendier items, more trendy than Wal-Mart, but not as
expensive as other retailers.”
“And I think its better quality. I feel more confident buying something from there than
Wal-Mart so it makes me feel like it's cheaper because its better quality.”
Madde: “Okay. Alright, did we stop with you?”
“I put ‘dog’ from their advertising and then I just put commercials because they always
have those singing ones and then I put shoes.”
Madde: “Do you like the commercials they typically have?”
“They’re eye catching. I love their Christmas commercials. They’re funny”
“They’re like people singing and dancing”
“It’s not just a boring ad that talks about… There are bright colors.”
Madde: “Do you see any of their other types of ads besides TV?”
“Newspaper”
“We get their physical ad, yeah”
Madde: “Any social media or anything like that?”
“I always have on the tagline when I’m scrolling through it’ll say Target”
“They pop up on Twitter every once and a while”
“I think maybe because I’ve looked at their stuff online that the ads will pop up on my
browsers”
Madde: “Alright, what about you?”

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“I did the dog as well and then I said shopping because I just love to go there. I also
said spending and I meant to say ‘spending all my money’ because I blow all my money
every time I go.”
“Okay, I said the Target Red Card because every time I go they ask me about it. Money
because I spend a lot of money there and the dog kind of like what he said.”
Madde: “Thank you all for sharing your sticky-notes with us”
Madde: “Cassie is going to write something on the board for us now. So if you could all
turn your sticky note over and before we begin fill-in-the-blank. So if you want to fill in
the blank to what she writes you want to do that on the sticky note and we can go over
that afterwards.”
(pause)
Madde: “And you can write more than one word”
(pause)
(small-talk among participants)
Madde: “Alright, everyone done?”
Madde: “Let’s have you begin this time”
“So I learn information about Target through paper advertisement, word of mouth, their
website, and walking in and seeing their ads as soon as you walk in the door saying,
like, ‘two for one’.
Madde: “Did anyone else have any of those?”
“I had all of them.”
“I had newspaper, but I’m going to be honest if I know I need something I’m going to go
to Target.
Madde: “Okay, so that’s like your go to?”
“Yeah just for like one or two things”
Madde: “Awesome”
“I would just say when… (inaudible answer)

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“I would say print ads or if I tell somebody ‘oh I like your pants’ and they’re like ‘hey I got
them from Target’ here I go.”
(Indecipherable talking of participants over one another)
“I said commercials, ads in magazines, or… (inaudible answer)
“I said from shopping there, commercials, and online advertisements.”
“I said going there, paper ads and then on the computer.”
“I said their website or visiting the store.”
Madde: “Alright, awesome. So are there any of those outlets even word of mouth… Do
you ever hear anything about Target’s social impact and what they do for the
community? And if you don’t, that’s fine that’s what we’re here to figure out.”
“Not as much as I should”
Madde: “Okay”
(pause)
“Madde: How do you think Target could better communicate to you personally? In what
ways would you prefer to hear about their social impact?”
“I think if they did a commercial where they combined their products with the stuff they
do and they could tie them together that could be cool.”
Madde: “Kind of like TOMS shoes? Is that what you’re talking about?
“Kind of like whatever they use that they do for the community they could. If they put
that into the commercial but also tie that into the stores.
“Having commercials that highlight what they do not only what they sell?”
“Mhm.”
“Don’t they have a Red campaign? Is that what it is?”
“I was thinking that too.”
“I feel like I’ve seen it on a commercial”

24. 24
Madde: “Oh, Red is a campaign, but I don’t think it’s associated with Target. It’s for
AIDS awareness, but I don’t think it’s part of Target, but that could be a good
partnership with them.”
“Don’t they make greener household products? I don’t know if that’s like community
based, but that helps the world.”
“That’s true.”
Madde: “Do you guys have any other suggestions besides having a commercial that
would show what they do?”
“Social media.”
Madde: “Social media? So what types of things would you expect to see?”
“I don’t know I see a lot of stuff on like Twitter that’s promoted by businesses and I don’t
necessarily follow them but they still show up on my feed then like on TV because I
don’t really watch TV.”
“Sometimes there’s sponsor ads on Instagram. Those always catch my eye if I’m
scrolling and then they’re the ones that move.”
(Participants talking over one another)
Madde: “Do you think they could use those?”
“Yeah, but I think I would want it to be ones where you see what they’re doing. Like the
brand you see all the time, what impact they’re making. If they go somewhere and I
don’t know do, like, water cleaning or something like that I want to see that as opposed
to their brand.
Madde: “So instead of their brand or like hey we’re doing this you want to see like the
effects of what they’ve done?”
“Mhm, yeah. Or at least that’s me anyways”
Madde: “How could they showcase that?”
“So I guess for instance, I don’t even know how they impact or what they do but if they
are helping with natural relief, showing pictures of them volunteering there and then
maybe with their logo at the bottom, but just like more in action kind of pictures.
Madde: “Anyone else have any ideas?”

25. 25
“I think stuff that would make it on the news. I notice a lot of things pop up for example
on Yahoo! It always has the latest things that will pop up. I always glance at those or
usually watch some sort of short news document on my computer.
Madde: “Do you mean like national news as a nation wide thing or on a local level?
“I think on a national level”
Madde: “So we have social media, commercials, news… Any other ideas?”
(pause)
Madde: “Well, we’re pretty much all done for this focus group. But before wrapping up
do you have any more comments or questions based on what we’ve been talking about
today with Target and their social outreach?
“Do they have a program?”
Madde: “Yes they do actually. They’re pretty heavily involved in local communities and
also, like, have some nationwide campaigns going on. I can’t actually remember any of
the specific ones. Can you remember?”
Brianna: “They help out a lot with education so they give books and school supplies to
schools that need them.”
“That actually kind of rings a bell”
Brianna: “They also do a lot of volunteering in the community itself. They rack up hours
and different stores have different hours that they reach.
“So is this a Target thing or do the individual employees do it on their own?
Madde: “It’s a Target thing.
Brianna: “I don’t know if this is true in Muncie, but some Targets require their employees
to do volunteer work.”
Madde: “So they’re very heavily involved in communities. What we’re trying to learn
today was if our age group and demographic were aware of that and we were trying to
see if there was a better way for Target to communicate to this audience. So you guys
were very helpful in us discovering they’re really not doing the best job of that. So thank
you so much for your time and feel free to grab some more pizza on your way out.
That’s really all we have today.”

26. 26
Survey
1. What is your gender?
a. Female
b. Male
c. Other
d. Prefer not to answer
2. How old are you?
a. 18 or younger
b. 19
c. 20
d. 21
e. 22 or older
3. What year are you in school?
a. Freshman
b. Sophomore
c. Junior
d. Senior
e. Graduate +
4. What is your major? __________________
5. I consider myself to be socially responsible.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
6. Being socially responsible is _________ to me.
a. Very important
b. Important
c. Neutral
d. Not that important
e. Not at all important

27. 27
7. I am interested in being involved in my community.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
8. What types of causes would you be most likely to support? Check up to three.
❏ Social justice
❏ Educational
❏ Environmental
❏ Health/medical
❏ Food and hunger
❏ Financial
9. I make it a point to shop at stores that give back to the community.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
10.It is _____ to me to me to shop at retail stores that make an impact on the
community.
a. Very important
b. Important
c. Neutral
d. Not that important
e. Not at all important
11.Where do you get most of your information from on a weekly basis? Rank 1
through 5, with 1 being the most and 5 being the least.
____ Internet
____ Social Media

28. 28
____ Newspaper
____ Word of Mouth
____ Television
12.I have or am likely to engage with companies on (check all that apply):
❏ Facebook
❏ Twitter
❏ Instagram
❏ Snapchat
❏ Pinterest
❏ Other: ______________
13.I prefer companies that give back locally rather than at the national level.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
14.I know of retail stores that have an impact in my community.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
15.I would be more likely to shop at a store that has a significant social impact in my
community.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree

29. 29
16.How often would you shop at a store that you knew never gave back to the
community?
a. Never
b. Rarely
c. Sometimes
d. Often
e. Almost always
f. Always
17.Target is a company that gives back to the community.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. I’m not sure
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
18.Why do you follow companies on social media?
a. For entertainment
b. For information on the company
c. For information on products
d. For promotions and deals
e. Other: __________
19.I am more likely to follow a company on social media if they are socially
responsible.
a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neutral
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
20.I am more likely to share stories of social impact on:
a. Facebook
b. Twitter
c. Instagram
d. Snapchat
e. Pinterest

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f. Other: _______________
21.I follow Target on:
❏ Facebook
❏ Twitter
❏ Instagram
❏ Snapchat
❏ Pinterest
❏ Other:_________