GGMMUMCATEQN, RISK, AND; éNVESTMEM
DECESEQNMAKENG .I‘N COSTA RICA

fézes‘ss for the Degree of Ph. 3.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSE‘E’Y
WELLEAM R. LASSEY
1.967

 

 

Lib; ‘iRY

Michigan Sm:
University

 

' ~16 ”7 fl ”7“?) '
M 33‘")

COMMUNICATION, RISK, AND INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING

IN COSTA RICA

BY

William R. Lassey

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Communication

1967

Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Communication, College
of Communication Arts, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree.

 

Director of Thesis

Guidance Committee: , Chairman

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Particular thanks are due to F. B. Waisanen and Hideya Kumata,
whose projects were the primary source of data, and who supported and
guided the study in its entirety. David K. Berlo, Ralph Smuckler,
Lawrence Witt, and Daniel Goldrich, all members of my graduate committee,
provided inspiration and direction throughout the years of graduate study,
and helped to focus the thoughts which are expressed on the pages that
follow. Paul Deutschmann, now deceased, must be credited with the
initial direction of my exposure to cross-cultural research, and his
helpful counsel and encouragement made that enterprise more exciting and
fruitful.

H. Schuyler Bradt provided support and encouragement throughout;
his wide-ranging contacts in Costa Rica had much to do with the opportu-
nity for studying stockholders. Jack Harris is a true entrepreneur in
the classical economic sense; his assistance at many points in the
initial and later phases of the investigation was critical to the success
of the project.

‘Maria de Ville, Edgar Arias, Eugenio Ponseca, and Luis Peralta
were of immense help in preparation for and conduct of interviews. Olga
de Sanchez and Ileana de Pacheco contributed many hours of typing and
good cheer to all phases of the project.

Contributing directly to the financial and organizational support
of the project were: The Interamerican Communication Program (Programs
Interamericano de Informacion Popular), a joint project of the Inter-

iii

american Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the OAS and the American
International Association (originated by Nelson Rockefeller and his brothers);
International Programs of Michigan State University; and the Department

of Communications of Michigan State University. RandallHarrison, Jerry
Durlak and Fred Selak of the latter department contributed much to the
processing and analysis of data from which the endless numbers in the pages
that follow are a result.

Wives often receive little credit for the academic endeavors of Ph. D.
candidates. There is little doubt, however, that they play a crucial role;
my wife, Mickey, encouraged, typed and re-typed, and had her patience
taxed beyond measure during the years of study and writing. She therefore
deserves the strongest and most vodferous credit for helping to complete

this task.

iv

ABSTRACT

COMMUNICATION, RISK, AND INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING
IN COSTA RICA

by William.R. Lassey

Investment in new enterprise is one of the critical requirements
for economic development. This study examines selected aspects of in-
vestment decision-making, with particular attention given to communi-
cation behavior patterns, attitudinal risk orientation, aspirations and
expectations, and the relationship of each of these sets of variables to
several socio-economic-demographic measures.

The data were gathered by interviews with two probability samples,
one drawn from.investors in a Costa Rican cement manufacturing company
and the second from the total adult population of Costa Rica. The focus
is primarily on comparison of stockholders with non-stockholders, in an
effort to determine the principal bases for investment in new industrial
enterprise.

Findings from theory and research in economics, psychology, soci-
ology and communications, are examined and used to develop a series of
hypotheses predicting differences between the two samples, and relation-
ships among the variables within samples. The nature of the socio-
cultural-economic environment of Costa Rica is taken into account in
development of the hypotheses; generally speaking, the country is con-
sidered to be in a transitional stage of development--relatively well
developed around urban centers, but under-developed on the periphery.

Stockholders were expected to rate higher on socio-economic
measures than non-stockholders (members of the national sample); these
predictions were generally supported by the data, with stockholders

William.R. Lassey
indicating higher educational levels, higher income, higher occupational .
status, greater urbanisation, greater business ownership, more inter-
national mobility, and greater occupational mobility. No differences
were found on percentage of home owners, although stockholders owned
higher value homes. Non-stockholders were more often land-owners than
stockholders; however, stockholders may indirectiy'tontroi land that
was not indicated by the measures used.

When each socio-econcmic-demographic measure is controlled by
education, differences between stockholders and non-stockholders remain.
Intercorrelations indicate generally'significant'withinpsample relation-
ships among income, education, occupational status, urbanization, and
international mobility. Business ownership and occupational mobility
are related to male sex and high occupational status, but do not cor-
relate significantly with the other measures.

Stockholders are greater users of printed.mass media, but none
stockholders tend to be greater users of radio. Although stockholders
indicate greater exposure to television, control by education suggests
the difference is significant only at high and low educational levels.
Stockholders indicate greater preference for magazines with instrumental
(educational) content. Results on use of mass media were, therefore,
generally as predicted.

Findings on interpersonal communication patterns were less consis-
tent, and failed to support the predictions in some instances. There
were no differences between samples on measures of interaction with
friends, relatives, and neighbors, but stockholders at middle educa-
tional levels had more visitors in their homes from outside the immedi-

ate community than comparable non-stockholders. Higher educated

vi.

William R. Lassey
stockholders received more letters from other communities than equally
educated non-stockholders. Stockholders at lower educational levels
are more often members of formal and semi-formal groups than equally
educated non-stockholders.

Stockholders appear more "risk" oriented than non-stockholders as
predicted; however, control by education indicates this finding is appar-
ently a function more of higher stockholder education than the fact of
stock ownership. Nonustockholders are more "chance" (see p. 34 of
manuscript for the distinction between "chance" and "risk") oriented
than stockholders at upper educational levels, but no differences are
significant at lower educational levels. Greater stockholder aspira-
tions are apparently a function of educational level, somewhat contrary
to predictions.

Levels of uncertainty regarding the investment situation are
greater among non-stockholders than stockholders, as predicted. Stock-
holders have greater investment dividend expectations than non-stockholders;
but, contrary to predictions, these expectations appear to be as much a
function of education as of stockownership.

Few differences are found between samples on sources of first in-
formation about the investment opportunity. Stockholders were more often
first informed by cement plant representatives, and non-stockholders were
more often first informed by radio. Predictions were that mass media
sources would predominate for stockholders and personal sources would
predominate for non-stockholders. However, the effectiveness of cement
plant representatives in informing stockholders complicates results if
they are considered personal sources. Stockholders indicate a greater
number and variety of secondary sources of information, and have greater

vii

William R. Lassey
specific knowledge of the investment situation; both findings were sup-

portive of predictions.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ADKN OWLEDGEMENT S O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C 0

ABSTRACT

O O O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

LIST OF TABLES O O O 0 O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

LIST OF

FIGURES O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O 0

LIST OF APPENDICES O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Chapter
I.

II.

III.

INTROD‘JCTION O O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O

The Problem: Rationale and Justification . . . .
The Project Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Investment Situation Central to This Study .
The Plan of Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . .

EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . .

Principal Areas of Concern . . . . . . . . . . .
Individual Economic Behavior . . . . . . . . . .
Aspirations, Expectations and Uncertainty . . .
Savings and Investment . . . . . . . . . . . .
Economic DevelOpment . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Communication Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mass Media Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Interpersonal Interaction and Influence . . . .
Channel Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Factors Affecting Communication Behavior.
Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Risk Orientation, Uncertainty and Expectations .
Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Socio-economic-demographic Factors . . . . . . .
Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary of Variables with Hypothesized Direction

DESCRIPTION OF METHODS AND SAMPLES . . . . . . . .

The Schedule of Questions and Pre-testing . . . .
Operationalizing the Hypotheses . . . . . . . . .
Specification and Drawing of Samples . . . . . .
Interviewer Selection and Training . . . . . . .
The Interviewing Process . . . . . . . . . . . .

ix

Page

iii
xi
xiv

XV

\O\IU‘ll—'

11

ll
12
13
15
16
18
19
25
28
30
31
33
36
37
40
4O

42

42
43
45
48
48

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter

Coding and IBM Punching . . . . . . .
Data Processing and Analysis . . . . .
Statistical Tests of Major Hypotheses
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . .
Socio-economic-demographic Characteristc
Intercorrelations . . . . . . . . .
Summary..............

00”....

Iv. RESULTS 0 O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O 0

General Communication Behavior . . . . .
MassMediaExposure .........
Interpersonal Interaction . .

Basis for Decisions about Stock Purchase
First Information Source . . . . . . .
Supplementary Information Source . . .
Specific Knowledge and Expectations of

the

Cement Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Principle Influences on Purchase or Failure

to Purchase Stock . . . . . . . . .
Sma W O O O O O O O I O O O O O O 0
Channel Orientations . . . . . . . . . .

Risk Orientation and Associated Attitudes

Preference for Risk-taking . . . . . .
Preference for Chance-taking . . . .
Attitudes Related to Risk-taking . .
Aspiration Levels . . . . . . . . .
Correlates of Risk Orientation . . .
Smary O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
Correlates of Number of Stocks Purchase

d

V. DISCUSSION, INTERPRETATION AND IMPLICATIONS

Characteristics of the Investor . . .
MassMediaInfluence.........
Interpersonal Influence . . . . . . .
Risk Orientation and Related Attitudes
Communication and Economic Behavior .
Economic Development . . . . . . . . .
Implications for Businessmen with Shares

StOthOSelleeeeeeeeeeee
Implications for Further Research . . .

REF'ERENCBeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
APPENDIX A“Intemew SChOdule e e e e e e e e e e

APPENDIX B--Uncontrolled Frequency and Percentage Results

of

for Important Variables e e e e e e e e e e

Page

“9
so
50
51

of Samples 53

58

66

66
66
73
79
79
83

83

89
9o
92
92
95
97

101
102
103

106
106
108
111
114
117
120

121
122

125
130

inc

Table

3-7

3-8

4-4
u-5
4-6
4-7

4-8

u-9

LIST OF TABLES

Description of the Population from which the Five
Nation Study Sample Was Drawn e e e e e e e e e e

Income, Education, and Urbanization of Samples . .
mmnw .....................
Urbanization and Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sub-sample Controlled by Sex and Urbanization . . .

Means and Standard Deviations of Socio-economic-
demographic Variables e e e e e e e e e e e e e e

Inter-correlation Matrix among Socio-economic-
demographic Variables e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0

Income, Occupational Level, International Mobility,
and Urbanization Controlled by Education . . . .

Education and Newspaper Reading . . . . . . . . . .

Newspaper Reading of an Urbanized Male Sub—sample
at Five Educational Levels . . . . . . . . . . .

Newspapers Read by Metropolitan Females at Five
EducationalLevels ...............

Mean Hours of Daily Radio Listening . . . . . . . .
Education and Television Exposure . . . . . . . . .
Income and Television EXposure . . . . . . . . . .

Correlations of.Mass Media Exposure with Socio—
economic-demographic Variables . . . . . . . . .

Visitors in the Heme from Outside the Immediate
Community, by Levels of Education . . . . . . . .

Education and Mean Letters Received in the Past
mnth O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Page

1+7

55
57
57

59

6O

63
67

68

68

69
71
71

72

7a

76

Table Page
4-10 Membership in Formal and Semi-formal Groups--
Urbanized Male Sub-samples at Five Educational
IBVOlSeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee76

4-11 Membership in Formal and Semi-formal Groups--Metro-
politan Females at Five Educational Levels . . . . . 76

4-12 Intercorrelations between Mass Media Exposure and
Inter-action Measures--Nationa1 Male Sub-sample . . 77

4-13 Sources of First Information about the Cement Plant . 80
“'14 Education and FirSt Infomation Source e e e e e e e e 81

4-15 Supplementary Sources of Information about the
cementplanteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee81+

4-16 Education and Knowledge of Cement Plant . . . . . . . 85

4-17 Knowledge of the Cement Plant--Male Sub-samples at
five Educational Levels e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 86

4-18 Dividend Expectations for Stock--Ma1e Sub-samples . . 87

4-19 Education and Mean Dividend Expectations--Male
sub‘sampleseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee88

4-20 Principal Influences on Purchase or Non-purchase
OfStOCKeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee89

4-21 RiSk orientation 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 93

4-22 Attitude toward Risk Orientation Controlled by
Education 0 O O O O I O O I C O C C O C O O O O O O 93

4-23 Investment of Meney Gift by Urbanized Males at Five
Educational Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

4-24 Investment of Money Gift by Metropolitan Females at
FiveEducationalLevels .............. 95

4-25 Education and Preference for Risking a Little to
MakOaIJOteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee96

4-26 Preference for Risking a Little to Make a Lot among
Urbanized Males at Five Educational Levels . . . . . 96

4-27 Attitudes Related to Risk Orientation--Male
Sub‘sampleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee97

[4-28 mSt Of Non'friends and Non-relatives e e e e e e e e 98

xii

Table

4-29

4-30

4-31

4-32

Educational Aspirations for Children--Urbanized
Males at Five Educational Levels . . . . . . . .

Favorability to Mebility of Children--Urbanized
Males at Five Educational Levels . . . . . . . .

Correlates of Risk Orientation for Urbanized Male
sub - S ampl e O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O

Correlates of Number of Shares of Stock Purchased
by Stockholders--Male Sub-sample . . . . . . . .

xiii

Page

100

100

101

104

Figure

2-1
4-1
4-2
4-3

LIST OF FIGURES

Summary of Variables with Rypothesized Direction
conditions or Ilife O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O
HopesforCountry................

D651ret0mNOWThingSeeeeeeeeeeeee

Page

99

Aggendix

A.

B.

LIST OF APPENDICES

Interview Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . .

Uncontrolled Frequency and Percentage
Results for Important Variables . . .

CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION

This study examines the relationship between communication behavior
patterns, risk orientation, and investment decision-making. The data were
gathered by interviews with probability samples from, (1) stockholders in
a Costa Rican cement manufacturing company and (2) the adult population of
Costa Rica. The focus is primarily upon comparison of stockholders with
non-stockholders, in an effort to determine the principal bases for in-
vestment in a new industrial enterprise.

Findings from theory and research in economics, psychology, soci-
ology, and communication are examined, to construct and test a tentative
theoretical frame of reference for investment decisionpmaking. The
nature of the situation in which this study was conducted enables direct
comparison of verbal behavior (attitudes, opinions, expectations,
aspirations) with accomplished action; we are able to compare what
people say they believe, and what they say they would do--with physical
behavior already undertaken.

The E:obleg--Rationale and Justification

Investment in new enterprise is one of the critical requirements
in developing nations. Etamination of issues related to the generation
of new and greater investment has occupied many economists, sociologists,
anthropolgists, psychologists, and development planners over the years
since economic underdevelopment was recognized as an unnecessary state.
Economists have tended to dwell upon the need for capital and mobili-

zation of required resources for investment. Sociologists have been

-1-

-2-
concerned with problems of social and cultural change, particularly
social inhibitions and obstacles to investment. Anthropologists have
contributed detailed case studies of investment activity. Psychologists
have studied and theorized on the personality factors which contribute
to entrepreneurship and innovation. Development planners have been con-
cerned.with the complex of these factors, often without a clear under-
standing of the specific issues relevant to an investment situation.

Ragnar Nurske, representing the point of view of many economists,
has this to say about the importance of capital formation to economic
development:

Capital formation lies at the very center of the problem of
development in economically backward countries. The so-
called "underdeveloped" areas, as compared with the advanced,
are underequipped.with capital in relation to their population
and natural resources. (51:1)
Nurske emphasizes that funds must be available to build the institutions
and industries that go to make up a modern society.
Hewever, capital is by no means the only requirement: it is a nec-
essary but not a sufficient condition for growth. There must also be
means of mobilizing available capital, and means to create new capital
producing institutions. Hirschmann expresses some dissatisfaction with
our knowledge of investment theory:
The theory of investment has remained the most unsatisfactory
aspect of the growth models of advanced economies. In spite
of empirical studies and periodic surveys of investment pro-
grams of business firms, investment decisions have not been
adequateLy explained by other observable economic variables. . .
investment is still comparatively the most volatile and least
predictable among the more important variables that are in-
volved in the growth process. (28:33)

He emphasizes further that any theory of development must start with a

consideration of forces which determine investment, particularly when

shortage of savings may not be the only limiting factor (28:35).

-3-

wolf (77) and Lambert (#0) cite considerable evidence, based on
empirical studies, that savings do in fact exist in many of the more
impoverished countries, which could be used for investment if a means
to tap them is found. Lambert has this to say about the domestic capital
formation potential:

. . . it is the scarcity of household savings that sets a

limit to the domestic capital formation proportion. In

addition, one of the most important problems in under-

developed countries is the conversion of household savings

into corporate investment, particularly in the manufacturing

sector, whose relative contribution to the gross national

product can serve as a good index of the domestic capital

formation proportions. This problem involves the dis-

couragement of direct investment in the household sector,

greater monetization of savings, and the transfer of

savings to the corporate sector, where the marginal pro-

pensity to save and invest is highest and where savings

will be allocated to producer goods rather than to inven-

tory or housing. (40:264)
In addition to the possibility that substantial quantities of capital may
be available in the form of household savings, there is considerable evi-
dence that large quantities of money leave many politically or economically
unstable developing countries for foreign banks rather than being saved
or invested at home (77)° At present,international banks and credit
institutions are generally willing to support worthy industrial projects
in politically stable and development oriented countries.

A.major part of the capital formation problem, therefore, seems to
lie with forces other than the availability of funds. Among these other
forces are the mechanisms which cause capital to be productively used,
including the individuals who have the necessary understanding and ability
to make appropriate decisions. Much more detailed knowledge of the char-
acteristics of these individuals is needed if we are to understand the

investment process.

Although Lerner and Schramm (u5,60) have clearly identified the

.4.
apparent relationship between economic behavior and communication pat-
terns in economically developing countries, they provide little detailed
empirical basis for the inferences made. Studies in Latin America by
Deutschmann, Rogers, and collaborators (16,17,58) have begun to uncover
interesting relationships, but the focus of these studies has been pri-
marily on diffusion of innovations and adoption of new ideas and prac-
tices, rather than specifically on the correlates with, and causes of,
behaviors in the field of investment activity.

Hagen (24) and McClelland (48) have produced detailed treatments
of psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs, innovators, and other
leaders of economic change and advancement. They are concerned prin-
cipally with personality factors, and have not provided the kinds of
empirical evidence which directly touch the problems of concern here.
They do provide interesting hypotheses which deserve testing: possibly'
the present study lends itself to approaching the problem with which
they are concerned, albeit in a manner somewhat at variance with their
approach.

There appear to be no studies which have specifically attempted
empirical examination of investment deoisionsmaking in developing nations.
If capital formation through the investment process is as critical to
economic development as economists indicate, it deserves careful investi-
gation. Communication and related behavioral science theory is concerned
with the probable influence of communication patterns on behavior, and it
seems worthwhile to attempt to relate such theory directly to economic

behavior.

The Project Setting

Verbal and other behavior which express attitude are in part a

function of the physical and social environment. It is therefore in
order to describe briefly the physical characteristics of Costa Rica and
the nature of the social environment under study.

Costa Rica is one of the smallest Latin American republics, with
only 19,653 square miles of territory and a population of 1,402,000
(19614)."I The estimated per capita income in 1963 was $402--one of the
higher levels in Latin America.

Agriculture employed 53% of the economically active population in
1962; production increased by 72% between 1950 and 1962, but has been
declining as a percentage of gross domestic product due to the establish-
ment of new industries and increasing industrial productivity per worker;
agricultural productivity per worker has tended to remain stable. The
industrial sector increased its production by 168% from 1950 to 1962.

The major industries are wood and plywood, vegetable oils, cookies and
candies, tanned leather and clothing.

The growth of Costa Rica's Gross National Product has been very
erratic since 1960, largely due to falling export prices in some of these
years, and declines in investment during 1961 and 1963.

Increases in manufacturing and agricultural output have been
achieved on the basis of a continuing high level of capital formation,
despite a decline in domestic savings. Gross capital formation averaged
18.5% of Gross National Product during 1960-1962, accounted for in.major

___ A_

a"l‘liost of the recent data on Costa Rica are taken from the Fourth

Annual Repgrt of the Social Progress Trust Fund, Inter-American Development
Bank, 19 5’ We 253-2 0 Reference 69

-6-
part by net foreign capital inflows. Net capital inflow in 1962 was
29 million dollars. Costa Rica has consistently carried a balance of
trade deficit in recent years, amounting to 2h million dollars in 1960,
21 million in 1962, and 32 million in 1963.

The cumulative annual population growth rate is “$, one of the
highest in the world. This gives rise to serious employment problems,
since over 15,000 persons are added to the labor force annually: the situ-
ation is complicated by the apparent fact that the growth rate is highest
among the agricultural population in which employment opportunities are
growing at a slower pace than in manufacturing. The 1955 agricultural
census indicated that 45% of the gainfully employed population in agri-
culture were wage earners rather than farm operators: 88.9% of the farm
operators own their own land, and another 8.5% own at least some of their
land. This is one of the highest proportions of owner-operators of any
Latin.American country.

Costa Rica also has one of the lowest illiteracy rates in Latin
America, at approximately 14.5% of the population over ten years old in
1963. Nevertheless, there is an acute shortage of schools and teachers,
particularly in rural areas.

Costa Rica has been burdened much less that most of her neighbors
with the vestiges of Spanish colonialism. The absence of large quan-
tities of gold or of a large Indian population meant that the area was
not very attractive to the treasure seekers. Rather, the people who
settled the Central Plateau were apparently interesting in creating a
permanent community. An entrenched aristocracy of the kind common in
many other Latin American countries failed to develop.

There has existed relative freedom of access to knowledge, freedom

-7-
to criticize the government, freedom of speech and discussion, and an
important tradition of respect for individual rights. One attempt to
seize the government by force (in 1948) was met by a popular uprising
led by Jose Figueres. Since 1948, Costa Rica has had only a national
police force to maintain internal order and provide defense from outside
forces.

One of the interesting features of Costa Rica, particularly in the
Central Plateau area, is the abundance of mass media. There are approx-
imately 30 radio transmitters in the San Jose area, and radios are widely
available. Five major dailies and several smaller newspapers are available
in San Jose; some of these find their way to the most remote parts of the

country. Two television stations have been in Operation for five years.

The Investment Situation Central £2_Ihig_§£gdy

Until approximately 10 years ago there was no effort to sell shares
of stock to even a selected segment of the general public of Costa Rica.
There is no stock exchange of the kind familiar in the United States.
However, during the past 10 years several companies have been formed
which made shares of stock available on a limited basis to individuals
able to invest fairly substantial sums of money. {$232, a home building
and financing company, was one of the first and appears to have been
reasonably successful, both in selling stock and in making profit for
its investors. The company had 130 stockholders in 1960 and available
stock was then selling at a premium (47:122).

The largest corporation until recently was the Florida l22.£22.§2£fla

which produces most of the country's beer. It has approximately 500

-8-
stockholders in 1960, and was earning between 8% and 10% annual return
on stock (47:123).

These two illustrations serve to indicate some of the background
experience in the selling of corporation stock. Although no data is
available on the characteristics of the stockholders in these enter-
prises, it is probably accurate to suggest that they are a select group
of relatively high income individuals, most of whom live and work in the
capital city. It is probably also true that until recently no sub-
stantial effort had been undertaken to sell shares of stock through a
public campaign, using the mass media as well as interpersonal means.

It is of interest, therefore, that an enterprise has come into
being whose initiators were able to secure nearly one-half of $5,200,000
in needed capital by selling shares to more than 3000 Costa Ricans. This
is undoubtedly the first time that many of the middle and lower income
individuals among these shareholders have participated in large business
enterprise; quite likely they are unique not only in their own country
but probably in most countries of Latin America.

Indugtgia Nacional de Cementg had as its objective the construction
and operation of a cement manufacturing plant which began operation in
the summer of 196A.‘ The shares of stock were sold under conditions
designed to make it relatively easy to acquire; an initial payment of
$4.50 was necessary to reserve a share, which could be paid off in in-
stallments of 50 cents per month until the $15 cost of the share was
reached. A breakdown of the stockholders shows some 85 occupations rep-
resented. Five shares or less are owned by 2000, while the remaining

1000 stockholders have more than five shares. 0f the total investment,

 

I"Most of these data on the Cement manufacturing Plant were obtained
in private communications from Dr. Jack Harris, San Jose, Costa Rica.

-9-
$2,900,000 was raised by stock sales, and the balance, $2,800,000 was
obtained through a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, and
is to be repaid over twelve and one—half years at an interest rate of
five and three-fourths per cent.

The new factory will employ approxtmately 130 people at the be-
ginning and will supply all of Costa Rica's cement needs; it will market
any surplus in other member countries of the Central American Common
Market. A substantial quantity of foreign exchange will be saved, making
the cost of cement somewhat less expensive to Costa Rica than previously.

The shares of stock were sold during the course of an intensive
campaign through newspapers, radio, television (on a limited scale), per-
sonal letters, and personal contact. IMuch of the radio time and newspaper
space were paid for in shares of stock. A determined effort was made to
inform 5;; Costa Ricans who might be in a position to purchase shares,
while creating a favorable climate of opinion about the national nature
of the enterprise, its potential contribution to the development of the
countny, and its potential profitability. Private agents were given a
commission for contacting people and selling them stock. Relatives and
friends of the initiators were encouraged to buy, and in some cases, like-
wise encouraged other friends to buy.

Since the selling of shares was completed there has been continuing
publicity about the plant, including pictorial displays of the con-
struction process in public buildings, and newspaper articles about cur-

rent development.

Ihe Plan of Presentation
Chapter II discusses the potential contribution of communication

and related behavioral science theory to understanding of economic

-10-

behavior. Studies from economics, psychology, social-psychology, and
communication are reviewed and relevant quotations are extracted for con-
sideration. Chapter II also provides a broader review of relevant re-
search in communication behavior, attitude studies, risk, uncertainty,
and decisionrmaking, to develop a more complete background and a specific
theoretical basis for a series of hypotheses to be tested. A summarizing
frame of reference attempts to formalize the variable values for stock-
holders and non-stockholders.

Chapter III traces the methods used to select the samples, gather
data, test relationships, and describes the socio-economic-demographic
characteristics of the samples, as indicated by the interviews.

Chapter IV presents results, testing the predictions made in Chap-
ter II. Chapter V interprets and discusses the results, compares them
with findings from studies reviewed in Chapter II, and draws conclusions,

implications, and suggestions for additional research.

CHAPTER II - EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The process of reorganization of economic images through
messages is the key to the understanding of economic dynamics.
The great overall processes of economic life--inflation,
deflation, depression, recovery and economic development--
are governed largely by the process of reorganization of
economic images through the transmission of messages. (8:90)
. . . in the concept of message-image relationship there

is a conceptual and theoretical scheme of remarkable
unifying power. It is one important thread that seems

to run through a number of different disciplines and
sciences. (8:148)

The two preceding quotations are from Boulding's pioneering effort
to relate communication theory to economic behavior. Boulding suggests
that "economists have badly neglected the impact of information and
knowledge structures on economic behavior and processes.” Furthermore,
they have generally "abstracted from the untidy complexities of social
life a neat world of commodities. It is the behavior of commodities
not the behavior of men which is the prime focus of interest in economic
studies" (8:82). Boulding's assertations may overstate the issue, but
nevertheless it is clear that much remains to be understood about the

relationship between how men communicate and their actions in the market

place 0

Principal Areas of Concern

The range of variables and concepts in economics to which communi-
cation theory might have application is here limited to those related to

investment in new enterprise and investment aspects of economic development.
-11-

-12-
Uncertainty, expectations, and decision-making are concepts within the
investment process which would seem particularly amenable to consideration
from a communication point of view. Areas of communication theory which
would seem to have most application to the investment process include
analysis of the relationship between communication exposure and economic
behavior of individuals, including reference group influences, and mass

media exposure, effects and preferences.

Individual Economic Behavior

Economics is a social science concerned with the administration
of human and material commodities which exist in limited quantities.
Resources are scarce in comparison with human and animal needs or desires,
and therefore decisions must be made about how to produce, distribute, and
consume. Economists study the behavior of firms and economic systems in
allocating and disposing of these scarce resources (32:4;68:25h).

The principal focus of economics can be classified along two major
dimensions: (1) study of individual economic firms (microeconomics), or
industries and whole economies (macroeconomics), and (2) description and
explanation of economic behavior (descriptive economics), or attempts to
guide decisions either at the level of public policy (normative macro-
economics) or at the level of behavior of the individual consumer or
businessman (normative microeconomics).

However, "economists have been relatively uninterested in descrip-
tive microeconomics--understanding the behavior of individual economic
agents--except as this is necessary to provide a foundation for macro-
economics" (68:254). This is reflected in the economic journals, where

only occasionally does an article appear with focus on individual

-13-
economic behavior.

The general assumption of most theories is that human beings behave
mechanistically: for example, in many cases business investment is con-
sidered to be a function of profits, without due consideration of how
businessmen perceive their profits or their economic situation, what they
want to achieve other than profits, or other hopes and fears that might
be relevant.

Several criticisms may be leveled at "profit" theories of economic
behavior: (1) many of the theories leave ambiguous whether it is short-
run or long-run profit that is to maximized, failing to take account of
the relative impact on behavior of the time element; (2) a businessman
may obtain many kinds of psychological rewards from business involvement,
quite apart from.monetary rewards; and (3) a businessman may not attempt
to maximize profits, but rather may be interested simply in a return which
is satisfactory in terms of his individual aspiration levels: various
studies have shown aspiration levels to vary widely among business
leaders (68:262).

The major point to be emphasized is simply that man.may often be
motivated to earn as much income as he can, but this motivation is modi-
fied, and probably often superseded, by other important influences on his
behavior. Man is more likely a ”satisficing" animal whose decisions are
based on efforts to meet a variety of aspiration levels, rather than a
Fmaximizing” animal who attempts to resolve all his desires by securing

the highest monetary return (68:27?).

As at one ctations and Uhcertaint

The concept of "aspirations" has often been recognized by economists

{LI-L—
as highly relevant to economic behavior, but little systematic treatment
of it is evident in the literature. Aspirations may be defined as
"expectations, adjusted in the long run to realities, of the results
that can reasonably be obtained" (67:27). Clearly, there would seem to
be a logical relationship between aspirations and "expectations"--
another concept recognized by economists as important to economic be-
havior, but not often systematically treated. In any given decision-
making situation, the degree of "uncertainty” existing in the mind of
the decision-maker may influence both aspirations and expectations.
Uncertainty has more than one meaning. First, it may stand for
the absence of definite expectations, or simple lack of knowledge about
what to expect in the way of future economic conditions. Secondly,
uncertainty may imply concern with future contingencies--fear of adverse
developments or definite unfavorable expectations. ”Lack of confidence"
might be the most appropriate label for this kind of uncertainty.
Katona defines expectations as attitudes with a future time

orientation:

Attitudes are generalized viewpoints, usually with some

affective connotation, which influence perceptions and

cognitions, and above all behavior . . . Expgctations are

those attitudes that represent the extension of the time

perspective into the future and shape current behavior . . .

Attitudes and expectations are intervening variables in the

sense that they intervene between stimuli (changes in the

environment) and response . . . They originate in the in-

dividual and are partly responsible fer the fact that two

people do not necessarily react in the same way to the same

stimuli, and that the same person does not necessarily react
in the same way to the same stimulus at different times.

(33:60)
Simon discusses uncertainty and expectations as they relate to
decision-making by distinguishing two major categories of decision.

Habitual, routine, or programmed decisions are based on experience and

-15-
require very little genuine decision, since the alternatives and effects
of the behaviors are largely known in advance. very little uncertainty
is involved. Genuine, critical, unprogrammed decisions, on the other
hand, involve a relatively unsystematic search for answers, because the
alternatives are in some part unknown and effects of the decision may
be uncertain (67:49).

These three concepts--uncertainty, expectations, and aspirations--
are all fundamental to economic decision-making, and seem.amenab1e to
examination in terms of communication theory, particularly as they relate

to the economic activity called investment.

Sa n s and vest nt

As noted earlier, most of the economic literature on savings and
investment is on the level of macro-analysis, with little evident concern
for the behavior of the individual saver or investor. Eisner, for example,
discusses investment in terms of current profits, sales changes, and
expected permanent demand.

Eisner's major argument is based on expectations of future demand
and potential future profitability, but he makes no effort to seriously
analyze the nature of expectations or how they are formed. Apparently
he assumes that such an analysis is not a relevant concern of the
”economics” of investment (18:237-246).

The expectations which Eisner considers basic depend largely on
several dimensions of communication patterns. Particularly relevant
would be the kind of information provided and attitudes expressed by the
investor's reference groups and mass media sources. If the information

received through these sources is optimistic, the investor is likely

-16..
to be optimistic; if the information is pessimistic and attitudes negative,
the decisiondmaker is likely to be pessimistic. Messages change the rela-
tive value position of the various alternatives for use of savings, and
the view the individual has of the alternatives themselves (8:87-89).

Both past experience and communication behavior of the moment are
likely to influence individual and aggregate decisions about use of
savings. If the individual saver is exposed to information regarding
attractive investment opportunities, whether the information source be
personal or via the mass media, the likelihood is increased that he will
use available funds for investment rather than other alternatives. The
tendency to invest or not invest depends in part on the levels of uncer-
tainty and expectation involved, which may be largely dictated by the
nature (content, and sources) of the information available about the

investment situation.

Egonomic Developmgnt

Boulding asserts that economic development, and all other kinds off?
changes, start with new ideas or new images of what is possible. Any
change from settled ways of living and doing involves a "fearful plunge
into the unknown" and will not be undertaken unless the individuals in-
volved are convinced that change is necessary, because they are thoroughly
dissatisfied with the existing state of things, or because they see some
positive value in change (8:9h). "}

But what is the source of the new ideas, or new messages which cause
re-orientation of attitudes and behavior associated with change?

McClelland suggests that traditional behavior often is perceived as

unsatisfactory because of new norms dramatized in the mass media. The

 

l II'I'II'II"

 

 

-17-
media become a new voice of authority replacing the authority of tra-
dition. Societies which have successfully made the transition from
traditionalism to modernism without undue disruption have done so by
effectively "switching loyalties" from tradition to organized public
opinion as represented in the mass media (h8:193). This develops in
part simply because of increased communication-~roads, cheap public trans-
portation, electricity, radios, telephones, newspapers, etc. (h6:396).

Meier insists that increased volume of communication is the crux of
economic development. Befbre growth can occur there must be an expansion
of communications in the sectors of the economy most responsible for the
change. Individuals must be persuaded to stop activities which con-
tribute little to the economy, and take up tasks of greater significance.
Consumers must be encouraged to alter buying habits in favor of investment
rather than consumption. Each change involves an increase in the flow of
information. In fact, Meier suggests, the flow'of information may serve
as a good predictor of economic growth (50:100-101).

The total flow of communications, and the varieties of individual
communication behavior, are much greater in the more advanced societies.
Educational institutions and libraries abound, and tremendous resources
are expended simply to handle the flow. we are quite aware that a large,
continuous flow of information makes it possible to rapidly mobilize the
resources needed for important economic action. Appropriate communication
channels are necessary to the smooth functioning of the market place and
the individual firm, and many of the complications that arise in the
growth process can be traced directly to difficulties in communication
(50:112-113360).

-18-
Qommggication Theogy

Communication theory begins with the assmmption that all human
behavior, and in some sense the fact of being human, arises frmm communi-
cation. The newhborn baby has few "human" characteristics until be begins
communicating with those around him (6:10-11:56z37).

Our present behavior is largely governed by past experiences, and
all such experience is a consequence of messages received in some form
through the senses. These messages come from all manner of sources, be-
ginning primarily through contacts with mother and the immediate family,
and gradually expanding to include other primary group relationships, the
natural environment, secondary relationships, and the mass media. As this
contact with individuals, groups, nature, and mass media grows, the in-
dividual's image of himself and other objects expands and his behavior is
affected according to the impact of messages from, and interaction with,
each contact. we build up a background of subjective knowledge about the
nature of reality, as a function of perpetual exchanging (or simply re-
ceiving) of messages with individuals and objects in our environment.

The emphasis is on subjectiye knowledge, because this background of
experience provides an image of what we believe to be true--some of which
may be fact and some of which may be otherwise. Much of this experience
arises from.symbolized.messages, while other parts of it arise through
"messages from nature."

The messages, in any case, largely structure our world, whether they
be of "fact" or "value." They are the raw material for the formation of
value scales or attitudes--predispositions to respond in a particular
way--towards other messages. These value scales, then, "are perhaps the

most important single element determining the effects of messages it

-19-
(an individual) receives on its image of the world” (8:12).

If our attitude and value system arises from communication, it
follows that such attitudes and values are governed in large part by out-
side forces, rather than any inherent characteristics of our physical and
mental make-up. In the words of Hickman and Kuhn:

Attitudes are social products, even though individuals may
consider them as their own creations. It is certainly possible
for a given individual to hold attitudes that are held by no
other individual. But it is still apparent that such attitudes
can have had no other source than the social matrix which pro-
duced the individual who holds them. (27:29)

An individual learns his roles and occupies his statuses in society
through the same process. He learns to govern his behavior in relation
to other human beings according to the information he secures from others,
through responses to his communication, or from.communication initiated by
others. His very position in society has no meaning except in the context

of the social relationships which he develops.

Mass Media Influence

There are far too many aspects of mass media impact to fully
examine in this study. Discussion and data will therefore center pri-
marily on the correlates of general "exposure" to the media, specific
”effects" of the media, and media "preferences."

Several recent books have attempted to summarize and integrate
research relating mass media effects to social and individual behavior
(7,35,36,55,61,62). Some of these are concerned principally with mass
media in the United States, while others attempt to apply findings of
U.S. research to the underdeveloped nations or compare research con-

ducted in such areas with 0.3. studies.

-20-

The findings generally indicate that mass media have a signifi-
cant impact on behavior. However, the impact may be indirect (via a
one, two, or three step flow) and may influence the individual in a man-
ner somewhat at variance with earlier expectations. Katz and Lazarsfeld
conducted extensive studies of mass media exposure and opinion leader-
ship (35). They posited a "two-step flow" of communication, in which an
intermediary between the mass media source and the ordinary individual
serves a transmission and interpretation function; there is a ”sensitive
interaction between professional communicators and those in influential
positions in the networks of personal and face-to-face communications
channels" (55:25). Deutschmann and Fals Borda tested the ”two-step flow”
concept in an underdeveloped, rural, Colombian community, and concluded
that similar "steps” exist there (17).

Recently, waisanen suggested the need fer consideration of a three-
step flow of information regarding idea diffusion in traditional societies;
a change message might be transmitted from a technical source (such as an
agricultural extension agent or experiment station) through the mass
media to an innovator in the community, who passes the information to
opinion leaders, who then transmit it to other members of the community
(75)-

‘Mass media impact and influence varies considerably depending on
the nature of the social system in which it operates. Lerner and Schramm
provide some helpful hypotheses in this respect (#5,h6,60,62). In a pio-
neering study in the Middle East, Lerner gathered data suggesting that
various communities might be meaningfully divided into ”traditional,”
"transitional," and "modern” depending on their general degree of pro-

gressivemess and level of per capita income. Ordinarily the traditional

-21-
society would have a very poorly developed mass media system, but as
modernity increases mass media availability and exposure increase.
Schramm elaborates on the same point:
Thus the structure of social communication reflects the
structure and development of society. The size of the com-
munication activity - the development of mass media, and
their audiences, the transfer of the individual communication
roles of traditional society to organizations, the stretching
out and multiplying of communication chains - reflects the
economic development of society. (60:34)

It is not necessary to insist that mass media development is a
gaggg of economic development or vice versa; rather the more appropriate
and useful approach may be from the "phenomenistic" point of view sug-
gested by Klapper, in which mass communications media are regarded as
”influences, working amid other influences, in a total situation”

(36:5).

Deutschmann has conducted a number of studies attempting to relate
mass media contact to other behaviors. He concludes that exposure to one
or more of the media is in itself indicative of a predisposition to change
or innovate since it suggests an openness to persuasive communication and
a positive attitude toward change (16,17).

Klapper and others have noted that mass media operate most effect-
ively to reinforce existing attitudes and values. People attend most con-
sistently to those items of information from the media which support their
present predispositions. There is an openness to being "persuaded" about
something which is already known and at least partially understood
(36:15).

The findings are less clear, however, on the effects related to

creation of opinions and attitudes on g§!_issues (such as an investment

opportunity). Although Klapper can point to little research which

-22-
directly tests this issue, he notes the following findings and hypotheses:

Studies performed both in the laboratory and in the social world
indicate that communications are extremely effective in creating
opinions on matters about which the audience is unlikely to have
pre-existing opinions. Communications on such topics have been
found capable of "innoculating" audience members, i.e., of ren-
dering them more resistant to later communications or experi-
ences suggesting a contrary view. Mass communication has also
been found effective in "structuring" events for audience members.

The basis of mass communication's capability in these regards
has not been demonstrated, but seems easily, tentatively, OX!
plicable. To the degree that the issue is really "new", the
communication is unlikely to run afoul of unsympathetic predis-
positions, unsympathetic group norms, or unsympathetic opinion
leaders. In short, mediating ferces which normally hinder con-
version seem likely to be inoperative. By the same token, the

mediating forces seem unlikely to assist the persuasive effect,
as they frequently do when communications are reinforcing.

(36:60-61)

If Klapper's explanation is correct, we would expect that one or
more of the mass media could have a substantial impact in structuring
audience attitudes on a particular new issue. If a large proportion of
an audience is ”exposed” to a new message from.the media, structuring of
attitudes may follow, particularly if the message is repeated regularly
for reinforcement, and opportunities exist to receive the message from
more than one media source.

In addition to structuring new attitudes, the mass media have proved
themselves highly efficient at conveying facts (36:111). A large number
of studies have thoroughly examined this issue for relatively high lit-
erate audiences, and in a few instances, low literate groups (49,5#,70,
72,73), but there have been relatively few investigations in the so-

called less developed countries.‘

 

*Studies of the impact of radio (in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and
Colombia) and TV (in Guatemala) for teaching illiterates and low literates
are presently under way or have recently been completed.

-23-

A potential media effect of particular relevance to the present
study can be labeled "conversion," or major alteration of attitude and
behavior. It is this kind of impact which would appear to be important
in encouragement of the innovation process, whereby an individual is not
only convinced that something different is "good," but he proceeds to
act upon it. Research on conversion by the mass media suggests that it
is a rare phenomena, except in isolated incidents in which the message
and the situation were particularly appropriate for media transmission.
Other mediating influences appear almost always to control the fact of
conversion, in addition to, or in conjunction with, the mass media. In
other words, before an individual changes, he usually checks with sources
other than the media, such as members of his primary groups, opinion
leaders, and experts or other "personal" sources (36:69,57).

At least two kinds of "preference" variables are related to effects
of communication. One of these has to do with the inclination of indi-
viduals (or groups) toward primary reliance on a particular media channel;
the other involves preference for media as opposed to nonrmedia sources;
i.e., mass media vs. family members, community opinion leaders vs. family,
television vs. opinion leaders, and so on.

.Katz and Lazarsfeld made preferences a central focus of their classic
studies on voting behavior (35). The Yale Communication.Research Program
has examined in depth the credibility of various kinds of sources (29,59).
McNelly and Torres made channel preference an important element of a
study in San Jose, Costa Rica (49), and Deutschmann and Fals Borda did
likewise in a Colombian village (1?).

The findings generally suggest that source preference depends on the

tastes or characteristics of the receiver, the nature of the information

-24-
being transmitted, and the expected activity (or non-activity) to follow
as a consequence of the communication event. People prefer one kind of
media for some kinds of information and another kind of media for other
information; some individuals have a definite preference for one kind of
media; or among the media of a particular kind (such as newspapers) there
may be a preference for a particular source.

Deutschmann, Fals Borda, and Mendez included in their studies (in
villages of Colombia and Guatemala) an examination of the relationship
between degree or extent of mass media exposure, and innovativeness in
the use of several agricultural and household items. They conclude that
a positive relationship does indeed exist (16,17). Although the data
reported do not clearly demonstrate which of the media are most per-
suasive, there is a strong indication that for these low literate vil~
lagers radio is a particularly important source of first information.
Probably the most recent study focusing on a particular media is ””7
from a project in Ecuador. Spector and others instituted a major experi-
ment using radio in combination with various other audio-visual aids to
encourage the adoption of a series of practices in agriculture and home-
making. Reports indicate a high level of success in the experiment; radio
is found to be quite effective in encouraging certain kinds of changes
which can be learned by verbal instructions only (70).

Carter and Sepulvedo found radio to have a much higher credibility
in Santiago, Chile, than newspapers. Radio was considered more respon-
sible and dependable than available newspapers (11). UNESCO is presently
sponsoring major studies in Costa Rica and India, comparing radio with
printed materials and literacy improvement, in an attempt to establish

definitively the usefulness of radio for teaching.

-25-
In summary, general exposure to mass media is apparently related
to general knowledge and adoption of specific ideas and actions. The mass
media can effectively reinforce existing beliefs, and introduce new infor-
mation or ideas, but appear to be less effective in causing conversion of
attitude, opinion, or action. Media preferences vary with availability,
quality (as judged by the user), interests and characteristics of the in-

dividual receiver, and kinds of information transmitted.

Interpgrsonal Interagtion and Influence

The importance of peer and reference group influences on behavior
has been well established in social science literature (13,20,26,27, etc.).
Many specific studies of small groups and interpersonal behavior have docur
mented the fact that individual economic behavior is governed strongly by
the influence of family and other groups with which the individual associ-
ates (27,33,3#). Several studies have attempted to focus on the relation-
ship between mass communication media and group influences; the substance
of findings from this research is summarized by Lazarsfeld and Menzel in
their discussion of the 1940 election campaign:

. . . people appeared (in the 1940 election campaign) to be much
more influenced in their political decisions by face-to-face con-
tact with other people - members of their family, friends, and
neighbors, and people with whom they worked - than by mass media
directly. ,

They (persons) are somewhat more likely than the mass media to
reach people who are as yet undecided. Personal influence about
an issue is often exerted unexpectedly as a sideline or marginal
topic in a casual conversation. It therefore is more likely to
"get through" to the undecided or the opposed: mass media mes-
sages, by contrast, are more often approached with an awareness
of their purposefulness. Face-to-face contact is also more
flexible and provides immediate response to instantaneous feed-
back. A person, unlike a mass medium, is likely to raise issues
and arguments of immediate personal relevance to the listener.

-26-
And finally, when someone yields to personal influence in
making a decision, the reward in terms of approval is immediate
and personal (61:96-97).

In this context, we should differentiate between ”communication" and
”interaction," since the two terms are often used interchangeably and some-
times inappropriately. In the group influence context'both terms refer to
the same general processes, but it is helpful to distinguish the aspects
of the processes to which they refer. The concept of social interaction
or interpersonal interaction focuses usually upon the formal character-
istics of contacts between individuals and other individuals or groups.

In this sense, one speaks of the frequency, duration, persistence, and
range of interactions or group involvements. The concept of communication
on the other hand, is more generally limited to transmission of meaning
and content through contacts or encounters. Here we speak of message flow,
barriers to transmission of meaning, effects in terms of positive and
negative reactions, and response patterns (1#:l66). Both interaction and
communication can be measured, but the instruments and procedures for
doing so would usually be somewhat different.

Fbstinger summarizes some of the effects of informal social communiJ)
cation on opinion formation and change:

. . . the amount of change in opinion resulting from receiving
a communication will increase as the pressure towards conformity
in the group increases. . . the amount of change in opinion
resulting from.receiving a communication will increase as the
strength of the resultant force to remain in the group increases
for the recipient. . .

. . . the amount of change in opinion resulting from receiving
a communication concerning 'item X"will decrease with increase
in degree to which opinions and attitudes involved are anchored
in other group memberships or serve important need satisfying
functions for the person.

Infrequent contact in the ordinary course of events tends to

erect restraints against communication. It is undoubtedly
easier to communicate a given item to a person whom one sees

-27-

frequently or to a person with whom one has communicated

similar items in the past. The structuring of groups into
hierarchies, social clusters, or the like, undoubtedly tends

to restrict the amount and type of contact between members
of certain different parts or levels of the group and also
undoubtedly restricts the content of the communication that

oes on between such levels in the ordinary course of events.
(20:271-282) - 3

Communication serves to increase the uniformity of opinion among
members of a group, providing the group maintains regular opportunities
for interaction (lh:l66). Fhmily'members who can develop comfortable and
satisfying interactions on a regular basis are more likely to effectively
communicate with one another and develop uniform opinions. Similarly,
formal and informal groups which meet regularly and have a well developed
procedure for effectively communicating with one another will develop
relatively uniform opinions about the content of which they communicate.

Interaction is obviously more likely to take place among individuals
in close physical proximity, such as family or fellow workers, or members
of other formal or informal groups. Therefore communication will be dir-
ected to and among these individuals and relative uniformity of attitudes
is likely to develop. Similarly social proximity, such as membership in
the same socio-economic or racial group, is likely to result in more fre-
quent interaction within this status group, with consequent greater com-
munication and uniformity of opinions (14:178-179).

In other words, the group can be thought of as the center of the
influence process, since it effectively structures our attitudes and be-
havior, along with cultural and normative forces and individual idio-
syncracies of a non-social nature. Communications from the mass media
will be mediated through the various group influence processes under

most circumstances.

Considering the basic nature of Costa Rican social structure, it is

-28-
particularly important to examine the relevance of the family group in-
fluences on decisions of the kind under investigation here. As a general
rule, studies of Latin American businessmen indicate that he tends not to
consider business as an impersonal activity (as an "economic man” would)
directed at maximization of profit, but as an extension of his family's
drive fOr social status. The family probably has supplied his initial
financial contacts, his initial job, and the non-family group associations
without which it is nearly impossible to get business done (43:5). In
other words, business appears to have a strong social orientation related
to personal ties and relationships which often supersedes the profit-

making purposes of an enterprise.

Cha el enta s

In attempting to examine the relative influence of mass communi-
cation as compared to interpersonal communication, Deutschmann developed
a communication "channel orientation" scheme. Channel orientation refers
to the tendency of individuals to use particular sources or channels of
information more heavily than others and is related to the media pref-
erence factors discussed earlier. Channels of information are "a complex
resultant of the habits and characteristics of individuals, the social
structure in which they are imbedded, and the modern, impersonal methods
of communication which are increasingly being developed” (16:4).

The channels as defined by Deutschmann are as follows:

1. Egocggtgic - refers to the tendency of some individuals to
obtain information on a kind of "see-fordmyself” basis.
Most people are inclined to secure some information in this
way, but some are particularly oriented this way. It is

non-social since in its purest form it requires no other
person for communication to take place.

-29-

2. Internal to ngmugity - refers to the tendency of indi-
viduals to obtain information primarily from people whom
they know and see regularly in their home community. Most
people use this channel, of course, but some.kinds of in-
dividuals rely on it to the exclusion of other alternatives.
It is a social and geographically local channel. It its
pure form, it is essentially communication within one's
most relevant social group.

3. ‘Egternal to Community - refers to the tendency of indi-
viduals to secure information primarily from people outside

the immediate social environment. It is also an inter-
personal social channel, but is probably less personal than
the internal community channel. In terms of psychological
distance, it is characterized by communication with indi-
viduals more distant from the "self” and the primary group.

4. Impegggggl - refers to the tendency of individuals to secure
information primarily from impersonal sources. In most
cases this would be some form of the mass media, although
there are many impersonal media which could not be con-
sidered "mass” in the full sense, such as limited circu-
lation journals, newsletters, and even correspondence
between persons unknown personally to each other.

5. family - for some kinds of societies, where the family is
the dominant social group, there may be a strong tendency
for individuals to secure information primarily through
family members: this is likely to be particularly true for
female members of families. (16:4-5)

This scheme can be applied and tested by measuring the tendency of
individuals to secure first information about particular issues or inno-
vations through these channels, as Deutschmann and his collaborators did
in Colombia and Guatemala. Similarily, it is possible to measure the
degree to which these channels served as secondary sources of infor-
mation. Diffusion research suggests that channels used might vary con-
siderably as an individual learns more about an issue or an innovation
(57:98)-

For example, studies in the United States indicate first infor-
mation about innovations is most often secured through the mass media.

But as the time approaches to act on the information, supplementary

sources tend to be personal and are often local opinion leaders and

-30-
neighbors. Personal sources of high credibility are particularly impor-
tant when a critical decision.must be made (34,55). The Deutschmann
"egocentric” channel may also become more operative at the decision-
point, as individuals attempt to find out for themselves how something
is likely to work, by seeking a demonstration to lower uncertainty and

increase expectations of positive outcome.

cher Factors Affecting Communicatiog Behavior

High socio-economic status should contribute to relatively high
exposure to mass communication media and a greater variety of inter-
personal contacts. In addition, studies suggest that the innovative
type of person may be a greater consumer of mass media, somewhat inde-
pendent of his socio-economic status (17). The innovator or early
adopter of new ideas appears by nature to be inquisitive and a seeker
after new information from many kinds of sources, both mass and personal.
His sources are likely to include individuals outside of the immediate
geographical area where he resides: reference groups are likely to be
varied and include individuals and organizations other than immediate
family and close friends.

The demands of this wider circle of associations should lead to
less association with relatives and close friends than would be expected
of less innovative individuals. There is the additional possibility that
innovative types are more egocentric and less concerned with inter-
personal relations than the less innovative (41:126-138).

Studies of innovators indicate they tend to be achievement oriented
(48); they might therefore be expected to have particular interest in.mass

media sources which make a contribution to long range achievement goals

-31-
(instrumental purposes), rather than short range satisfactions
(consummatory purposes).

In terms of the Deutschmann Channel Orientation scheme, an inno-
vative type should be oriented towards the more impersonal or mass media
and of the continuum, with preference for personal sources more distant
from the self (or outside of the immediate geographical community). If
innovators tend to be egocentric and goal oriented, some reformulation
of the Deutschmann scheme may be in order; possibly a second ”egocentric"
channel should be added at the mass media extreme of the continuum. Inno-
vators may tend to make many of their decisions on the basis of internal
manipulation of symbols and personal goals, rather than necessarily on

the basis of mass media or reference group influences.

fixpgtheses: Commgnication Behavior

The following specific hypotheses seem tenable:

I. Stockholders will indicate greater exposure to mass media than
non-stockholders and relatively more exposure to printed media
than oral media.

a. {Mass media exposure will be in some part independent of
socio-economic-demographic measures; control by one or
more of these measures will not destroy the relationship
between stockownership and mass media exposure.

b. Stockholders will tend to be more oriented towards the
impersonal end of the Deutschmann Channel Orientation
Scheme than non-stockholders.

II. Stockholders will be less concerned than non-stockholders with

reference group relationships involving groups and individuals

-32-

close to the self, and more involved with individuals and groups

distant from self.

a. Stockholders will indicate lower levels of interaction with
relatives, close friends, and work associates, and greater
interaction with individuals from outside the immediate com-
munity.

b. Stockholders will indicate greater involvement in formal and
informal organizations.

III. A significant inter-relationship will appear between measures of
mass media exposure, group involvement, and socio-economic-
demographic measures, within both samples.

a. Mass media exposure will correlate positively with measures
of interpersonal interaction outside the immediate community,
and with measures of formal and informal group involvement.

b. Mass media exposure will fail to correlate or will correlate
negatively with measures of within community or fellow worker
associations.

Studies of relationship between sources of information and adoption
of new ideas and practices suggest several generalized predictions about
the sources of information for decision-making. Innovators and early
adopters credit mass media or personal sources outside the community as
the most important sources of figgt information about new ideas (55:99).
Although no firm evidence is available on the level of knowledge held by
innovators and early adopters, as opposed to later adopters, it seems
reasonable to expect that generally higher educational status would lead
to more complete information about a specific innovation prior to adoption.

More complete information (greater knowledge) might arise in part from

-33-
the greater number and variety of secondary information sources indi-
cated by innovators as compared to later adopters.
The following hypotheses, therefore, seem in order as well:

IV. Stockholders will have received first information about the
stock investment opportunity from mass media, or personal sources
originating outside the immediate community, more often than non-
stockholders; non-stockholders will have received first infor-
mation more often than stockholders from personal sources within
their immediate community.

V. Stockholders will indicate a greater number and variety of sec-
ondary sources of information about the investment situation than
non-stockholders.

VI. Stockholders will demonstrate greater specific knowledge about

the investment situation than non-stockholders.

sk entat on Uncertaint and ctat one

The relationship between risk and uncertainty has been defined as
follows: Although both risk and uncertainty refer to circumstances in
which outcomes are imperfectly known, a situation can be characterized by
risk only if the probabilities of alternative possible outcomes are known
(18:2). Further, to qualify as a risk situation there must be the possi-
bility of repetition from which a frequency distribution could be defined,
allowing for inferences to be made by objective, statistical methods
(38:237). ,1

Uncertainty exists when the situation cannot be replicated. It is
a unique situation and its frequency distribution cannot be objectively

specified (18:2). Georgescu-Roegen suggests that risk and uncertainty

-31;-
are two extremes of a continuum: expectations are held with relative
certainty at one and (risk) and complete uncertainty at the other (23:12).

Most genuine decisionrmaking will be based on a state of mind somewhere

.1

V

between these extremes.

Under these definitions the degree of risk or uncertainty might
vary from one investor to another. Some investors will have sufficient
quality and quantity of information to be considered in a risk situation,
while others investing in the same enterprise might be characterized as
in an uncertainty situation.

These considerations lead to definitions of risk and risk orien—
tation as they will be used here. fiink,will be interpreted as a char-
acteristic of the object of a particular decision rather than of the
individual making the decision. In this sense the situation in which
the probabilities of outcomes are perfectly known or knowable is the
pure risk situation: this does not mean that the probability of success
is guaranteed, but rather the statistical probability of success can be
calculated. Investment opportunities, for example, can vary from this
pure risk situation to the opposite end of the continuum, perfect uncer-
tainty - the case in which there is no basis for estimating the proba-
bilities of outcomes.

Rink inentation may then be defined as the attitudinal inclination
of a person to participate in risk situations, or more specifically, to
invest funds in enterprises in which risk is high, but potential outcomes
are known. This is contrasted to the person who is willing to take chances
in the face of high uncertainty, in which possible outcomes are unknown;
we will define this second kind of person as "chance" oriented rather

than risk oriented. Among individuals investing in a single enterprise,

-35-
those who have investigated the possible outcomes, and know the proba-
bilities of success, might be termed "risk" oriented, while those who
invested with little specific knowledge would be "chance” oriented. Both
might have high ennnctations of success.

As noted earlier, expectations appear to be a critical aspect of
decisionemaking involving risk or uncertainty, particularly in a decision
to invest or not invest. Expectations will only be as reliable as the
information on which they are based, and will probably depend on a
variety of factors, including the credibility attached to the sources
and channels from which the information entering into a decision is
secured.

Positive attitudes toward risk-taking have traditionally been asso-
ciated with entrepreneural or innovative activity, but little effort has
been.made to study risk orientation except in contrived games of chance
(48:210-225). Studies of innovation suggest that innovators generally
indicate a higher risk orientation than non-innovators (39).

Research results also suggest that risk orientation is associated
with "need for achievement” but the precise relationship is not clear
(48:211-216). However, a positive relationship between inning for
achievement and risk orientation might reasonably be expected.

Perceived ability to control or affect the outcome is associated
with willingness to accept risks. If an individual with knowledge about
a risk situation, and available funds to invest, is led to believe that
he can positively affect the operation of the enterprise his willingness

to invest may be increased (48:231-232).

-35-
Asnirations

Simon defines aspirations as, ”expectations - adjusted in the long
run to realities - of the results that can be reasonably obtained”
(67:58). Aspirations are treated simply as one facet of expectations,
and by Katona's definition, are attitudes "that represent the extension
of the time perspective into the future and shape current behavior
(33:60). More specifically, aspirations can be considered as the goals,
or desired attainments and should (by Katona's definition) structure
current behavior so as to make the desired goal or attainment possible,
to the extent that the aspiring person understands how current behavior
can lead to such a goal. Level of aspiration will be operationally de-
fined as the expressed desire of an individual for a particular set of
achievements, for himself or members of his family.

Hypotheses:

VII: Stockholders will exhibit a greater attitudinal favorability to
risk-taking than non-stockholders, when presented with several
alternatives varying in uncertainty of outcome and potential
returns.

a. Stockholders will exhibit less attitudinal favorability to
taking chances, when uncertainty is high.

b. Stockholders will indicate greater certainty than non-
stockholders about the possibility of stockholder influence
on operations of the enterprise.

c. Stockholders will indicate higher expectations than non-
stockholders for dividends or returns from the investment.

d. Correlates of risk orientation will include: educational
level, international mobility, mass media exposure, atti-

tudes toward change, and aspiration levels.

-37-
VIII. Stockholders will exhibit a more positive attitude than non-
stockholders toward change in their own behavior, changes for
their children, and will indicate higher levels of aspiration

for self and children.

Socio-Economic-Demogranhic Factors

Examination of the physical, economic and social setting of Costa
Rica leads to the conclusion that this is a transitional culture, where
the action of selling shares of stock in new enterprise by public sub-
scription is an innovation, or at least a novelty, to most citizens.
Studies of innovation and innovators contribute to the expectation that
more individuals willing to involve themselves in the first such under-
taking are likely to have unique characterisitcs when compared with the
general population (41:103-138,57:l93-207).

Education is generally considered to be a contributor to the kinds
of skills and analytic ability which enable an individual to make rational
decisions. It should increase individual ability to comprehend the rele-
vance of various alternatives, and to consider the facts and information
pertinent to specific choices. The educated person should have a wider
range of knowledge on which to base decisions, and a relatively more
sophisticated set of expectations about the future, than persons less
educated.

To make an investment, large or small, an individual must have some
minimum level of income. The basic essentials of sustenance for self
(and family in most instances) must be met before consideration of alter-
native uses for income is probable (2:11). The relatively low standard

of living and per capita income of Costa Rica (compared with countries

-38-
where investment is a normal phenomenon)probably do not allow many of
the lower income members of the population to consider the possibility
of using income for other than daily subsistence needs. Only those in-
dividuals with above subsistance incomes or extraordinary interest in
investment can seriously consider alternative "discretionary" expendi-
tures (34:17).

Occupational status is generally associated with educational level
and income. In addition, higher status occupations are often in the
field of business enterprise, or in government, universities, and similar
pursuits, where reference groups are likely to include business people.
Businessmen should generally be more knowledgeable about investment oppor-
tunities and considerations than non-businessmen; likewise, businessmen
should generally be more cognizant of, and more able to evaluate, inno-
vations in business.

Of similar relevance but with less empirical verification, (par-
ticularly in cross-cultural research) are influences of mobility, urbani-
zation, and property ownership. Lerner emphasizes the importance of
mobility in.modernization, and defines some of the principle dimensions
of it:

. . . there are two main sets of problems that confront the
development process everywhere: mobility and stability. By
mobility we mean the problems of societal dynamism; by stability
we mean the problems of societal equilibrium. Mobility is the
agent of social change. Only insofar as individual persons can
change their place in the world, their position in society,
their own self-image does social change occur. Social change

is in this sense the sum of mobilities acquired by individual
persons. (48:332)

Geographical mobility is one of the important indicators of open-
ness to change; the mobile person will in all likelihood have wider

opportunities for exposure to new ideas and new behavior possibilities

-39-
than the stationary individual. Studies of innovators indicate that
mobility contributes to innovativeness (57:204).

In U.S. studies, urbanization has often been associated with in-
creased change orientation of attitudes and activities. However, there
has been little study in less developed countries of precisely the kinds
of changes in attitudes that take place as individuals become urbanized,
and what differences there are in general change orientation and tendency
to innovate.

Urban centers are generally the focal points of business activity;
most large business activity is transacted in cities. This is particu-
larly true in Costa Rica, where all of the major cities are in close
proximity to each other, and the capitol city is the center of political,
social and economic activity. The capitol is also the source of most of
the mass communication activity, has a higher level of literacy than
other areas of the country, and therefore contains a population that is
probably better informed than outlying towns and rural areas.

Property ownership would ordinarily be subsumed under socio-
economic status, but is of importance as a separate control because of
the nature of this study. we are interested in several aspects of prop-
erty as they might relate to investment behavior: home ownership, land
ownership, business ownership, and stock (in business) ownership. Pre-
sumably these areas of ownership provide alternative opportunities for
investment of available funds. If an individual owns shares of stock,
but owns no other property, this should tell us something about his
system of preferences for expenditure of income. The quantity of prop-
erty owned also gives us a measure of economic welfare independent of

self-defined income level.

Hypotheses:
IX. Stockholders will have a higher mean rating than non-stockholders

on measures of educational level, income level, occupational

status level, urbanization, property ownership, and geographical

mobility.

8.-

b.

Go

Figure 1:

Holding any one of the measures constant (as a control),
stockholders will have a higher mean rating than non-
stockholders on each of the other measures.

There will be a significant inter-relationship among each of
these socio-economic-demographic measures; correlations between
any two of them will be significant, ginnin both stockholder
and non-stockholder samples.

In the Costa Rican cultural situation, men will exhibit consid-
erably greater incidence of stock ownership than women; sex
will generally be a significant determinant of attitudes and

bahaflor 0

Summary of variables with Hypothesized Direction

 

veriable

Stockholder Non-stockholder

 

General communication behavior

Mass media High Lower
Printed media High Lower
Oral Low' Higher
Instrumental High Lower
Consummatory Low Higher

Channel orientation Impersonal Personal

Reference group influence

Close to self Low Higher
Distant from self High Lower

-#1-

Figure 1 (continued)

 

variable Stockholder Non-stockholder

 

General communication behavior (cont.)

Organizational involvement

 

Informal High Lower
Formal High Lower
Communication basis for the investment decision
First information source
Mass media High Lower
Personal--outside the community High Lower
Personal in-community Low High
Number of secondary sources High Low
variety of secondary sources High Low
Knowledge of investment situation High Lower

 

Risk orientation and related attitudes

Favorable Less favorable
Unfavorable More favorable

Attitude toward risk-taking

Attitude toward chance-taking
Expected influence of stockholders

 

on enterprise operation High Lower
Expectations of enterprise success High Lower
Change orientation High Lower
Aspirations for self and children High Lower

Socio-economic-demographic characteristics

Education High Lower
Income High Lower
Occupational status High Lower
Urbanization High Lower
Property ownership High Lower
Geographical mobility High Lower

 

CHAPTER III - DESCRIPTION'OF'METHDDS AND SAMPLES

A field survey was the general methodological approach used for
data collection. The steps and procedures are described below, while
detailed sample descriptions, and the schedule of questions are included
as Appendices A and B. The chapter is organized approximately in the
order of tasks undertaken: (1) construction of the schedule of questions
and preliminary pro—testing, (2) drawing and smary description of
samples, (3) interviewer selection, training, and final schedule pre-
testing, (4) the interviewing process, supervision, checks and controls,
(5) coding of data and ID! card preparation, and (6) data processing,

analysis, and statistical treatments.

he Schedule of Questions and Pro-testng

The directors of a study of ”Proclivity Towards Change in Five
Nations“ had constructed and extensively pre-tested an English language
version of a basic instrument to be used in each of five nations, including
Costa Rica. Several new items were added to examine the issues of risk
orientation and communication behavior as related to the purchase of
shares of stock in the cement plant. The new items were in some cases
original, while others were drawn from earlier studies by Deutschmann,
Mendez, and McNelly (16.17.19), and from studies of risk end achievement
motivation by McClelland (48).

 

*Drs. F. B. Waisanen and Hideya Kumata. Dr. Waisanen was also
director of the sub-project from which data for this thesis was taken.

-uz-

 

 

du

85

1‘8

in

al:

in

so!

str

-u3-

The first pro-tests of the Spanish language questions were con-
ducted by two Costa Ricans, both fluent in English. They were able to
assist in increasing accuracy of translation, while checking on the
adequacy of "meaning” transferral.

A final pre-test and slight alteration of the instrument, before
reproduction for use by the interviewers, was undertaken as a part of
interviewer training. Trainees were asked to assist in this task, partly
to give them some feeling of responsibility regarding the questions, but
also to take advantage of their experience and knowledge of the culture

in which they were working.

Operationalizing the Hypotheses

This section relates the individual items from the interview
schedule (Appendix A) to the hypotheses proposed in Chapter II.

§ggio-gcongmic-demographic characteristics are measured with
straight-forward information questions. Educational level is determined
by exact years of school completed and occupation by name and nature of
work performed. The respondent was handed a chart containing 18 income
categories, and asked to choose the appropriate category.

Property ownership was measured on three dimensions: home owner-
ship, business ownership, and land ownership. In each case an effort
‘was made to secure information on size or value of the property, by
asking for rental value of the house, number of employees, and number
of acres of land owned. Mobility was considered on four dimensions:
travel outside of Costa Rica, residence change, length of time in
present job, and Job changes. .Urbani ation is measured simply by placing

the individual's present residence, as recorded by the interviewer, in a

-44-
seven category classification varying from remote rural to metropolitan

San Jose (the capitol city).

Communication Begagior: Respondents were asked to estimate the average
time spent each day watching television or listening to radio, and to
name the newspapers and magazines read regularly or occasionally; the
consummatory or instrumental nature of each source was determined on a
Judgmental basis by coders, in consultation'with project directors: In-
terpersonal communication and interaction.was measured in several ways:
respondents were asked to estimate the number of persons from outside the
immediate community who had visited their home in the past month, letters
received from other communities, number and type of formal group member-
ships, regularity of informal social events with neighbors, relatives,
and number of close friends. Channel orientation is determined by ten-
dency to use some of the various interpersonal and mass media channels

more than others, and indicated first sources of information about the

cement manufacturing enterprise.

Risk Orientation and Related Attitudes: Ownership of stock indicates one
dimension of risk orientation. In addition, a measurement of attitudinal
risk orientation was attempted. Respondents were requested to select
among three alternative uses for a gift of money equal to their income
for the previous year. The alternatives included: (1) a high risk in-
vestment with opportunity for great profit: (2) a moderate risk with
opportunity for a small profit: and (3) a low risk or savings alternative.
A "chance" orientation.measure requested an indication of favora-
bility (on a five point scale) toward "risking” a little money to make a

lot, with no indication of the certainty of returns.

-u5_

The certainty of knowledge about the investment opportunity was
measured by a series of specific questions about the nature of the cement
plant. Expectations for the investment were determined by asking for an
estimate of annual returns or dividends on the stock. Uncertainty was
considered a function of "don't know" or "uncertain" responses to the
knowledge questions and the expected dividend question.

Expected influence of the stockholders on the operation of the
enterprise was determined by a direct question regarding the potential
possibility for affecting the operation of the cement plant.

Aspirations were measured in part by the future dimension of a self-
anchoring ten-step ladder device (10), but also by asking respondents how
much education they would like their children to receive, what kind of
occupation they would prefer for children, and what they are doing to

get ahead in life.

qumggication Basis for the Igggstggnt Qgcisiog: Respondents were asked
to recall (if they could) the iirst source, personal or mass media, from

which they had heard about the cement plant (if they were aware of it),
and then to locate personal sources inside or outside their immediate comm
munity, differentiating between relatives and non-relatives. They were
then asked if they had received additional information from mass media
and personal sources. Knowledge of details about the cement plant is
measured through a series of direct questions. Specific influences on
purchase or non-purchase of stock were examined by direct questions re-

garding the most important influences.

Spgcificatiog ang Drawing of the Samples
The size of the national probability sample for the Five Nation

-46-
Study was specified in advance fer each country, on the basis of require-
ments for statistical comparisons between the principal variables. The
required size was determined to be approximately 1200.

To secure such a sample for Costa Rica, the Five Nation Study
directors obtained the services of a statistician from the University of
Costa Rica. The statistician had extensive experience in drawing samples
for the Census Bureau, was familiar with the terrain of Costa Rica, and
could estimate for us the relative costs of various methods of sampling.
On the basis of his recommendations, it was determined that a several
stage sampling procedure would secure a relatively accurate, precise, and
unbiased sample within the range of the project budget. (See 21:230-235
for discussion of a similar procedure).

In summary form, the procedure was as follows: Costa Rica is
divided into provinces (corresponding to states in the U.S.), and prov-
inces are divided into districts (approximately the same as U.S. counties).
Maps are available which identify each district in the country and each
dwelling within each district. Some districts are primarily urban or met-
ropolitan (areas around the capitol city), while others are primarily
rural. To assure that the sample selected would represent approximately
the correct proportion of rural and urban residents, a decision was made
to draw separate samples from the rural and urban districts in approxi-
mately the same proportion as the 1963 national census indicates the popu-
lation is distributed. A further decision was made to limit the rural
districts sampled to those with.more than 1500 population: this was based
on the practicalities of cost, since it would be unreasonably expensive
to interview widely scattered rural people in the most remote areas of

the country.

-47-

TABLE 3-1 Description of the population from
which the Five Nation Study
national sample was drawn

 

 

Sigatgm Po at n No, Q; Distgicts No. of Emailies
Metropolitan 280,596 20 48,596
Urban 147,070 3“ 27,387
Rural 762,127 206 126,599
Total 1,189,803 261 202.532

 

 

 

 

For the ”metropolitan" and ”urban" strata, districts were considered
as primary units, city blocks as secondary units, and dwelling units
(families or households) as tertiary units. For the "rural” stratum,
districts were considered first units and dwellings as second units. The
total sample (originally consisting of 1200 persons) was allocated.among
the strata in proportion to number of dwelling units. Districts (primary
units) to be included in the sample for each stratum were selected
according to probabilities proportional to their size, with 12 metro-
politan, 8 urban, and 30 rural districts finally selected.

This provided us with two groups of districts from which individual
households could be systematically sampled (see 21:198-202 for methods of
systematic sampling). The procedure then determines the necessary number
of households from each district to provide the correct total number of
interviews, and systematically chooses every Nth dwelling on the basis of
a proportion between the number of dwellings needed from the district and
the total population of dwellings. The final stage was to randomly
select the person to be interviewed within each household.

The stockholder sample was much easier to select, since lists of

-48-
all stockholders were made available to the investigators by the manage-
ment of the cement plant. The stockholders were stratified in two parts,
on the basis of those owning five shares or less and those who owned six
shares or more, to secure a total sample of 10% (arbitrarily chosen as
large enough to perform the statistical treatments contemplated, and in
accord with funds available for interviewing) of the 3000 stockholders.
Since there were approximately 2000 persons with five shares or less, and
1000 with six shares or more, 75% of the larger group and 15% of the
smaller group were randomly selected for a total sample of 300.

Since refusals and other losses from both of the samples were fore-
seen, an additional sample of one-third of each population was drawn in

the same manner as the original sample, to serve as substitutes.

Integyiewer Selection and Trainigg

Securing of qualified interviewers is one of the more difficult
problems involved in any survey research project, but is particularly
difficult in developing countries. Ideally we would have preferred pro-
fessional interviewers or individuals with university level training.
However, neither of these alternatives was possible in Costa Rica.
Through the cooperation of census bureau officials, we publicized our
needs among the enumerators for the 1963 national census. More than 100

applicants appeared, from.which 50 were selected for training.

The Interviewing Process

Because of other employment, approximately one-half of the inter-

viewers selected could work only part-time. This group was assigned to

i‘fllf‘l

 

-ug-
work in and near the capitol city, while those without conflicting work
commitments were assigned to more remote cities, towns, and rural areas.
Travel and living expenses were paid for all interviewers required to
live away from their homes while interviewing.

In order to insure that the interviewers were following instructions
and securing reliable data, a number of checks were instituted and imple-
mented by the supervisors. Approximately 10% of all interviews were
checked directly. Of those checked, less than five per cent were in
error. In the cases where errors were discovered which were the direct
responsibility of the interviewer, he was not paid for the error inter—
view, and it was removed from the sample if the error was of serious
consequence.

As an incentive for high quality performance, two kinds of awards
were offered: The individuals who completed the most interviews of the
best overall quality, or who completed their work satisfactorily in trying
circumstances, were to be given a money bonus: a second award involved
selection to work in the central office checking interviews and coding

data.

Coding and IBM Punching

Upon satisfactory completion of interviews, coding the results for
transfer of data to IBM cards began. Although all of the coders selected
had first been interviewers, they were given additional training in the
use of the coding manual and in practice coding.

.Reliability checks at regular intervals revealed less than two per
cent coding error per schedule (of five IBM cards each, and more than 400

individual coding decisions). Approximately six weeks were required to

-50-

complete the coding task.

Data Processing and Analysis

 

The first analysis step involved computation of frequencies and
percentages on each field of data, providing the basis for description
of the samples and preliminary uncontrolled testing of hypotheses.

A second step consisted of contingency table analysis, to examine
the relationship between control variables, critical fields of data for
later analysis, and some of the checks of validity and reliability. In
addition, the computer program for contingency table analysis provided
inter-correlations between controls and selected dependent variables,
plus means and standard deviations for each variable. The frequency-
percentage results, contingency tables, correlation matrices, means, and
standard deviations provide the basis for description of the samples and

testing of hypotheses.

Statistical Tests of Major Hypgtheses

 

The differences between the samples on measures that are of a nom-
inal or ordinal nature, or which exhibit a curvilinear relationship with
control variables are tested for significance by 12. Sample differences
on measures that appear to meet the measurement requirements are tested
by the ”Student's" t test for independent samples. Within sample re-
lationships between variables which approach linearity and the interval
level of'measurement are examined by means of the Pearson Product-Moment

Correlation.

-51-

Limitations of the Study

Examination of the data disclosed several kinds of problems; two of
these were relatively serious:

(1) Interviewers tended to secure a higher proportion of females
than males in the urban areas, and a higher proportion of males than
females in the rural areas (see Table 3-U), in the national sample. This
resulted from misuse of the random selection system for choosing members
of the individual households. The difficulty was discovered very quickly
in the interviewing process, but too late to avoid the rather substantial
increase in cost that would have been involved in re-doing many of the
first interviews.

(2) There is too high a proportion of highly educated people in
the remote rural segment of the national sample: interviewers apparently
tended to interview school teachers and farmers with large farms, regard-
less of whether or not their households appeared in the random sample.
The wide dispersion of the rural population and difficult travel con-
ditions meant that interviewers spent a disproportionate amount of time
searching. For the same reasons, field checking in remote rural areas
'was often extremely difficult.

The effects of these two major problems are somewhat lessened by
the use of certain controls in the analysis process (which in some sense
*wastes data, since we necessarily must drop the biased portions of the
sample from certain analyses to check the effects).

The differences in sample size between stockholders and non-
stockholders gives rise to another limitation: For some kinds of con-
trolled statistical comparisons, the smaller stockholder sample limits

some analysis possibilities, or requires elimination of substantial

-52-
segments from the national sample to make it comparable to the stock-
holders for purposes of exercising controls. The variability between
the samples on the major control variables aggravates this difficulty.

The level of measurement for individual variables within the study
varies from nominal to ordinal and interval. This creates certain prob-
lems in the kinds of statistics that can be used to measure significance
of differences.

The reliability of the data is, of course, affected by the precision
of instrumentation and the general skill level of the interviewers. As
noted earlier, the interviewers were relatively sophisticated people, but
they did not, even after intensive training, fully understand the concept
of scientific method well enough to devote themselves to gathering the
data with unqualified precision. They tended to become bored and probably
used less care as the period of interviewing wore on.

However, these interviewer-related problems should only increase
random error, decreasing the possibility for differences between samples
and sub-groups: to the extent that significant differences are found, we
can be reasonably confident the measurements are reliable.

Intensive effort was expended in developing the interview schedule;
despite this, many imprecisions of language and measurement instruments
remained. The possibilities for varied interpretations of meaning and
response are difficult to eliminate when the population under study varies
widely in literacy and sooio-economic characteristics. Additional sam-
pling problems arose from "natural" causes: during the process of inter-
viewing, a volcano overlooking Costa Rica's central plateau began serious
eruptions. The eruptions grew in gravity to the point that it was nec-

essary, to avoid serious biasing of some of the data on attitudes and

'-53-
expectations, to discontinue interviewing before the samples were entirely
completed. The number of subjects, therefore, fell short some 160 cases
from our original plan for the national sample, and 53 cases from the
stockholder sample. Some data checks give reason to believe, however,
that these ommissions were largely random, and should therefore not seri-

ously affect the overall results.

§ocio~economic-demographic Chargcteristics of Samples

The stockholders’ are clearly a select group within the population
of Costa Rica, if the national probability sample with which they are come
pared represents with any accuracy the parameters of the total population.
They are higher than average receivers of income, have more education,
belong to higher status occupations, are more mobile internationally and
locally, are more urban, and are greater owners of property. The extent
of this is demonstrated in summary fashion by Table 3-2 for income, edu-
cation, and urbanization (and in.more detail in Appendix B).

The mean income for stockholders is approximately $2265, and is
$696 for the national sample.*‘ The stockholders have (on the average)
completed approximately 9.1 years of school, compared to 4.5 years for
the national sample. This difference between samples is undoubtedly re-

lated to differences on many other measures.

 

*I will refer to the stockholder sample throughout as simply ”stock~
holders,” and the national sample generally as "non-stockholders.”

I”However, a rather substantial portion of both samples failed to
report income, as indicated by the "No Response” category in the income
section of Table 3~2. When income is controlled by education and occu-
pation, the non-responses on income tend to fall towards the lower cate-
gories, in both samples, suggesting that the larger proportion of non-
responders are from the lower income levels.

-54-

TABLE 3-2 Income, Education, and Urbanization
of the Samples

Stockholders National Sample
i ._i

 

 

 

 

 

N=247 N=1040
Ingome in dgllars
Less than $451 2 32
452-902 8 26
903-1813 19 19
1814-3759 26 7
3760-6015 17 l
6016 or more 12 *
No response 16 . 15
Mean Income $2266 $696
Xeazs of schogl
No school 1 13
1-3 years 6 28
4-5 years 12 24
6-8 years 26 20
9-12 years 31 7
13 or more 20 3
No response 4 5
Mean years of schooling 9.1 4.5
urbanization
Capitol city area 52 20
Other large city 29 22
Remote city (not on the central
plateau or main railways) l 8
Rural town 6 12
Rural plateau 6 2
Remote village 2 22
Remote rural l 14
No response 3 *

 

I"Less than .5$.

-55-

In terms of urbanization, we find that more than 50% of the stock-
holders live in the capitol city metropolitan area and nearly 30% in other
urban centers near the capitol: in the national sample, approximately 20%
are metropolitan and 22% are urban. Nearly twice (proportionally) as many
stockholders are, therefore, of urban residence. This means essentially
that meaningful comparisons between the two samples must be controlled by
income, education, urbanization or other demographic variables if the
findings are to be fully interpreted. It also means that one of the major
hypotheses is supported: Educated, urbanized and higher income individuals
are more likely to be investors than individuals on lower scale levels
within each of these measures.

Findings on mobility are presented in Table 3-3.

TABLE 3—3 Mobility

 

 

International: Stockholders an-stockholders
__% %
N=247 N=1040
Has visited other countries 53 13
For more than one month 46 10
Parents from other countries 30 ll

 

Occupgiional:

 

Jobs held - Only 1 17 47
2 31 22
3 21 13
4 15 7
5 & up 12 8
No response 4 4
Residence change:
No change 50 31
Change in same Province 1? 33
Change in different Province 20 29
Change in countries 4 1

Indeterminate change 8 6

 

-55-

Stockholders have much higher incidence of international travel,
and tend to have parents from other countries in considerably higher pro-
portion than the national sample. Similarly, they have held more jobs,
which are generally in higher status occupations. However, they also
tend to have been in their present work longer than the national sample.
In terms of residence mobility, the stockholders have made fewer changes
than the national sample. This may be due largely to the higher pro-
portion of stockholders who were born and have lived all their lives in
the San Jose area - the "most urban" location in Costa Rica.

The national sample is almost evenly split between males and
females, but the stockholders are approximately 73% male and only 27%
female (Table 3-4). Income levels are higher for males than females in
both samples, but educational levels are approximately equal. The
national sample contains a disproportionately high number of females in
the urban and metropolitan areas,"I as indicated in Table 3-5, while the
proportion of males is clearly higher among stockholders in the same two
urbanization categories.

This will require the elimination of all but metropolitan females
in the stockholder sample to control by urbanization, since the numbers
at other levels are too small for meaningful comparison with the larger
national sample. The male sample of metropolitan, urban, and rural
(including towns) residence is of sufficient size for meaningful com-
parisons.

An important section of the analysis will, therefore, consider only
a subsample of Table 3-4, as described in Table 3-5: the sub-sample in-
cludes approximately 40% of the national sample and 83% of the stock-

holder sample.

 

‘(Z=l.73 and 2.02 respectively, significant at p<;05)

 

-57-
TABLE 3—4 Urbanization and Sex

 

 

 

 

National Sample Male* Female"I Distribution of
N=1037 Total Sam les‘“I
7 f S
Metropolitan (capitol city area) 43 57 20
Urban (other large city) 44 56 22
Rural urban (remote city) 53 47 7
Rural town 53 “7 12
Rural plateau 44 56 2
Remote rural town 52 48 23
Remote rural 64 36 14
Total 50 50 100

 

Stockholder Sample

 

 

N=239

Metropolitan 65 35 53
Urban 79 21 30
Rural urban 100 .. 1
Rural town 77 23 5
Rural plateau 93 7 6
Remote rural town 100 .. 2
Remote rural 75 25 3

Total 73 27 100

 

I"Percentages represent the proportion of males and females witpin
each urbanization level.

**Percentages are of the total sample.

TABLE 3-5 Sub~samp1e Controlled by Sex and Urbanization

National Sample Stockholder Sgpplg

 

 

Urbanization Males Females Males Females Totals
N N N N N
Metropolitan 89 120 83 45 337
Urban 102 .. 57 .. ’ 159
Rural urban 41 .. 3 .. 44
Rural plateau 64 .. 60 .. 74

 

Totals 296 120 153 45 614

 

-58-

Eighteen per cent of the national sample and 38% of the stockholders
own their own businesses: businesses owned by stockholders tend to employ
more people than those owned by'members of the national sample. Roughly
69% of the stockholders and 61% of the national sample own their own
homes; however, the estimated rental value of the homes is much higher
within the stockholder sample. Surprisingly, 19% of the national sample
indicate ownership of land, while only 5% of the stockholders so report.*

Table 8 of Appendix B contains more detail on property ownership.

Intpr-correlations

Since the determination of what is a "good" or a "meaningful" cor-
relation is often somewhat arbitrary, it is important to specify what is
meant in the following discussion of the inter-correlations among socio-
economic-demographic and other variables. Fbr present purposes we will
consider a correlation meaningful if it is significantly different from
zero at a probability level of .01 (noted by asterisks in Table 3-7). we
will consider a correlation "strong" if it accounts for more than ten per
cent of the variance of the variables correlated (r2). A "modest" cor-
relation is significant but accounts for less than ten per cent and more
than five per cent of the variance. A ”weak" correlation accounts for
less than five per cent of the variance.

Under these definitions, a correlation of .07 is significant in the
national sample (N=1040) and a correlation of .15 is significant in the

stockholder sample (N=247). In either sample a correlation of .32 or

 

fl

I"The low proportion of reported landholding by stockholders does
not reflect the actual situation, since many Costa Ricans who control
land have it listed officially in the name of other family members.

-59-
greater is considered "strong": a correlation between .22 and .32 is
considered ”modest": and a correlation of .22 or less is considered
”weak."
The ranges, means, and standard deviations of each of the prin-
cipal socio-economic-demographic variables are shown in Table 3-6, and
the inter-correlations in Table 3-7.

TABLE 3-6 Means and Standard Deviations of
Socio-economic-demographic Variables

 

fiv—

 

 

 

 

Variables National Sample Stockhglder Sggplp
W112i; 8-d-

Urbanization Urban=1 3.75 2.20 1.91 1.42
Rura1=7

International mobility Some=l 1.87 .34 1.46 .50
ane=2

Age Exact 39.67 14.02 41.15 12.45

Education None=0 4.38 3.25 9.11 4.12
High=l6

Occupational status" High=l 13.0a 6. 35 7.07 5.97
Low=20

Business ownership les=l 1.82 .38 1.62 .49
No=2

Occupational mobility None=0 1.10 1.49 2.22 1.37
High=5

Income Low=0 3.93 2.99 10.83 4.43
High=l8

 

*It should be noted that "housewives" were coded as the lowest
status occupation. The mean, standard deviation, and intercorrelations
are considerably affected by this factor, particularly in the national
sample which is 50% female.

-50-

TABLE 3-7 Intercorrelation Matriszmong
Socio-economic-demographic variables"I

 

 

 

Male Int. Owns Occup.
Sex** Urb. Mob. Age Educ. Occup. Bus. Mob.
National Sample
Urbanization -.12*
Inter. mObility -.10‘ .19*
Age .15"l .03 .03
Education -.01 .34* .33‘ --.20"l
Occup. status .55 .04 .21"I .08* .30"I
Bus. ownership .33"I -.O3 .10"I .15"I .04 .30*
Occup. mobility .45"I .13* .15* .10* .10* .48* .17*
Income -.03 .25* .23* .04 .48* .27* .12* .10*
Sppckholder Sample
Urbanization -.18"K
Inter. mobility -.05 .20"I
Age .08 -.11 .06
Education -.02 .32* .3oi -.15*
Occup. status .29* .32* .29* .06 .43*
Bus. ownership .33* .10 .22* .22"' .15* .11
Occup. mobility .15* .03 .04 .00 .01 .08 .09
Income .17“I .20* .41‘ -.02 .38* .33‘ .17* .03

 

I"A significant correlation at p<.01 is:

(N=1040); Stockholder sample--.l5 (N=247)

National sample--.O73

I”A positive correlation on the sex variable indicates male dom-
inance, since ”male" was coded g and "female" was coded i.

"No response" cases were re-coded to the median score for computation
of inter-correlations.

-61-

Urppnization correlates strongly with education in both samples,
although the relationship is somewhat irregular in the national sample
(see Table 3-8) and urbanization is somewhat curtailed (limited largely
to urban and metropolitan codes) in the stockholder sample. The zero
correlation of urbanization with occupational status in the national
sample may be largely a function of the manner in which housewives were
coded, plus the disproportionately large number of females at the most
urban and of the urbanization scale (see Table 3-4).

Ipternational mobility correlates strongly with education in the
national sample and approaches a strong correlation in the stockholder
sample. The correlation with income is strong in the stockholder sample
but modest in the national sample. Modest correlations also are evident
with occupational status and business ownership.

Ag; correlates weakly or not at all with other variables in both
samples, except for a modest correlation with business ownership in the
stockholder sample. Age is negatively correlated with education in both
samples.

Education is strongly related to urbanization and income in both
samples, with international mobility in the national sample and with occu-
pational status in the stockholder sample, but approaches a strong cor-
relation with occupational status in the national sample and international
mobility in the stockholder sample.

Occupppioppl pppppg correlates strongly with occupational mobility
in the national sample and with income and education in the stockholder
sample. Modest correlations are evident with education in the national

sample and with international mobility in the stockholder sample.

Epsingss ownepspip correlates strongly only with male sex, as

-52-
noted above, and correlates modestly with international mobility and age
in the stockholder sample.

Occupational mobility correlates strongly with occupational status
and male sex, as discussed above, and otherwise correlates weakly or not
at all with other variables.

Lppppp is strongly related to education in both samples, and with
international mobility and occupational status in the stockholder sample.
Modest correlations are evident with urbanization, international mobility,
and occupational status in the national sample.

Among the variables inter-correlated, education, occupational
status, income, and sex appear to be the most consistent predictors in
both samples, while international mobility, business ownership, and
urbanization are somewhat less consistent. Age and occupational mobility
are weak predictors or inconsistent in one or both samples.

Although the inter-correlations of socio-economic-demographic
variables are fairly consistent between the two samples (as indicated in
Table 3-7), the mean value for the stockholders on each variable is in
most cases significantly higher than for the national sample, when demo-
graphic variables are controlled by each other. This is illustrated in
Table 3-8, with education as the control variable, and income, occupation,
international mobility and urbanization as dependent variables.

There are several features of this table that should be noted. The
standard deviation for mean urbanization is substantially different for
the two samples; this serves to emphasize the fact that stockholders tend
to fall at the metropolitan and urban end of the urbanization continuum,
with relatively less variation than the national sample. The national

sample is much.more widely distributed about the country. It is also

-63-

TABLE 3-8 Income, Occupational Level, International
Mobility, and Urbanization Controlled by Education

 

Educational Levpl - Yegpp

 

 

 

 

 

 

None 1-3 4-5 6-8 9-12 13+ No Response
National Sample: —_‘
Number 133 292 248 208 73 33 53
§.;.;.E.;.' ’ ' "15.5 ' 28:1- "25.5 ' Eoio' ' "7:0' ' 3.5. ' ' ' 3i ' '
Stockholders:

Number 2"I 15 29 64 78 49 10
that. """ .5 " '61" His} ' 559' ' 313 "15.5 ' ' ’ 4.1 ' '
Mean income:1 Grand Standard

Mpgp ngiation

National .43 .65 1.01 1.41 2.06 1.72 1.06 1.07

Stockholders . . 2.44 2.27 2.63 3.15 3.74 3.04 1.25
Mpan urbanization:2

National 2.04 2.97 3.18 4.06 4.56 3.15 3.25 2.21

Stockholders . . 4.27 3.89 5.05 5.47 5.45 5.07 1.43
Mpan occupationai level:3

National 2.03 2.13 2.28 2.87 3.92 3.67 2.55 1.59

Stockholders . . 2:33 3.39 3.53 4:09 5.45 4.04 1.69
Per cent international mobility:u Tgtzlngazgle

National 4.7 5.2 10.0 16.9 35.6 32.6 13.1

Stockholders . . 53.3 32.1 39.7 56.4 77.6 53.7

 

*The number of stockholders with No School is clearly too small for
meaningful comparisons, but has been included for the information involved.

I”All mean differences produce significant t's at p=.05, gxcept
those marked with a double asterisk.

(See next page for additional footnotes)

 

 

-54-

noteworth that in every case the mean of the 13+ years of school group

 

in the national sample ranks lower than the 9-12 years group on other
demographic variables. The source of this difference is the apparent
interviewer bias noted earlier, in which school teachers or other higher
educated individuals in the remote rural areas were over-represented in
the sample selection.

In the stockholder sample, the 4-5 year group is lower than the
1-3 year group on urbanization and international mobility, and higher on
occupational level. The 1-3 year group is very high on international
mobility, and may, therefore, represent individuals who have overcome
some of the impediments of low education to move around and take advan-
tage of opportunity.

Finally, it should be noted that the No School stockholder group is
made'up of only two cases, and cannot therefore be reasonably compared
with 133 members of the national sample. The 15 persons in the 1-3 year
stockholder group also made weak comparisons with 292 members of the
national sample. These few cases seem to fit the overall pattern
reasonably well however.

Summary

The characteristics of stockholders indicated in the tables serve
Footnotes for Table 3-8:

1. An income equal to 1.00 is approximately $452, 2.00 = $903,
3 - $1805, 4 - $3685.

2. Urbanization ranges from remote rural - 1, to metropolitan - 7.

3. Occupation levels begin with maids and other menial workers a 1
to professionals, proprietors and managers - 7.

4. The percentage figures here refer to the proportion of indi-
viduals who have at any time traveled beyond the borders of Costa Rica.

-65-
to support the first set of hypotheses outlined in Chapter II. Stock-
holders have a higher mean rating on measures of educational level, in-
come, occupational status, urbanization, business ownership, international
mobility and occupational mobility. When each of the other measures is
controlled by educational level, the differences between samples remain.
The measures of home ownership indicate comparable incidence of ownership
but higher value homes for stockholders. Residence mobility is not sig-
nificantly different between samples. Non-stockholders indicate higher
incidence of land ownership than stockholders, but this may be largely a
consequence of the fact that stockholders control land not legally listed
in their names.

There is a significant inter-relationship among income, education,
occupational status, urbanization and international mobility, as indi-
cated by inter-correlations. Business ownership and occupational mobile
ity do not fit the same pattern, but are related to sex and occupational
status.

Since the samples are clearly different in degree of urbanization
and on sex distribution, controls on these variables are essential for
detailed analysis of dependent variables and comparisons between samples.
Education has the strongest relationship with other socio-economic-
demographic variables and should therefore serve as a useful control.
Income, occupational status and international mobility may also be impor-
tant as controls for some segments of the analysis, to the degree they
produce results different from controls by education. On the basis of
inter-correlations and comparisons with a series of dependent variables,
occupational mobility, business owhership, and age appear to be less

useful controls.

CHAPTER IV - RESULTS

Presentation of data in tabular form, summary analysis, and testing

of hypotheses form the substance of this chapter. A summary of the prin-

 

cipal hypotheses begins each section, followed by uncontrolled and con-
trolled tests of each predicted relationship. On the basis of sample

characteristics, controls are principally by education, sex, and urbani-

 

zation: income is used occasionally when deemed particularly relevant.

GENERAL COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOR

Mass Media Egppsure

The major hypotheses predict that stockholders will report higher
mass media exposure than non-stockholders, and among stockholders rela-
tively greater exposure to print than oral media.

Table 4-1 contains results for newspaper reading, controlled by
level of education. A greater proportion of stockholders are exposed to
at least one newspaper than non-stockholders, and the mean number of
newspapers read is substantially higher for stockholders, at each educa-
tional level. In the stockholder sample, the percentage of individuals
exposed and the mean number of newspapers read increase with education,
producing a significant correlation of .39 (see Table 4-6). Among non-
stockholders, however, the pattern indicated in Table 4-1 is irregular:
the highest educational level is less exposed and reads fewer newspapers

than the second higher level. Nevertheless, the correlation between

-55-

-57-
education and number of newspapers read (non-stockholders) is .46, in-

dicating strong relationships in both samples.

TABLE 4-1 Education and Newspaper Reading

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘ National_§gmple Stockholder Sample

Educational Mean Mean

Level N Exposed Papers s.d. N Exposed Papers s.d. t
No school 133 25 .18 .46 3 a: a: at
1-3 years 292 38 .45 .63 15 73 1.67 1.23 ...
4—5 years 248 55 .78 .89 28 86 1.36 .83 ***
6-8 years 208 80 1.24 .98 64 97 1,95 1.05 at:
9-12 years 73 93 1.78 1.14 78 99 2.38 1.19 ***
13+ gears 33 81 1.37 1.05 49 100 2.69 1.04 ***

Totals 987 55 .82 .95 237 94 2.16 1.17

 

 

*No response cases are eliminated

 

 

 

 

rom this and the following tables.

**The N of only three in this category makes computation of per-
centages, means, and standard deviations unreliable.

**'"t" greater than 1.96, significant at p<§05, two tailed test.

Control by urbanization, sex, and education does not change the sig-
nificant correlation.between.number of newspapers read and level of edu-
cation for male stockholders and non-stockholders, but among females the
correlation is eliminated (see Tables 4-2 and 4-3).

With control by sex, urbanization, and education in Tables 4-2 and
4-3, the significant mean difference between stockholders and non-
stockholders remains at all except the 10-12 years level for males and
the l-fi years level for females.*

 

I"Table 3-5 in Chapter III describes the sub-samples used throughout
this chapter for comparisons controlled by sex and urbanization.

TABLE 4-2 Newspaper Reading of an Urbanized Male

-58-

Sub—sample at Five Educational Levels

 

”W

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘ National Sample Stockholder Sample

Educational Total Mean Total $1 Mean

Level N Exposed Papers s.d. N EXposed Papers s.d. t
No school 22 23 .27 .55 l . . . . . .
1-5 years 153 64 .84 .78 24 79 1,54 1,02 ***
6-9 years 74 85 1.36 .90 51 96 1.94 .86 ***
10-12 years 26 96 2.12 .91 38 100 2.18 .80
13+ years 20 95 2.00 .92 40 100 2.55 .68 ***

Totals 295 71 1.12 .95 154 95 2.08 .90

 

 

 

 

 

*ttt greater than 1.96, significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

TABLE 4-3 Newspapers Read by Metropolitan

Females at Five Educational Levels
W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Sample Stockholder Sample

Educational Total —% Mean Tbtal %_8 Mean

Level N Exposed Papers s.d. N Exposed Papers s.d. t
No school 7 43 .57 .79 3 . . . . . o
1~5 years 43 63 1.05 1.02 6 83 1.83 1.17
6-9 years 49 86 1.51 .94 13 100 2.31 .48 ***
10-12 years 6 83 1.17 .75 16 94 ‘ 2.13 .89 ***
13+ years 15 93 1.47 .74 10 100 2.30 .95 ***

Totals 120 76 1.27 .96 45 96 2.18 .83

 

 

***t significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

 

 

-69-

The pattern of greater exposure to newspapers among stockholders,
both male and female, therefore, seems clearly established.
Results for radio listening appear in Table 4—4. Stockholders are
exposed to radio in slightly greater numbers at each educational level,
but the mean hours of daily exposure to radio is significantly greater
for non-stockholders at 6-8 years and 13+~year . Hours of daily exposure
decreases as education increases among stockholders, but among non-
stockholders exposure increases to middle educational levels, and then

decreases again at higher levels (see means for the national sample in

Table 4—4).

TABLE 4-4 Mean Hours of Daily Radio Listening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Sample Stockholder Sample

Educational % %

Level N Exposed Mean s.d. N Exposed Mean s.d. t
No school 131 37 .89 1.49 3 . . . . . .
1-3 years 287 57 1.62 2.03 15 87 2.07 1.49
4-5 years 240 68 1.92 2.00 28 71 1.68 1.81
6-8 years 206 74 2.05 1.93 64 83 1.47 1.15 ***
9-12 years 73 75 1.90 1.82 78 79 1.41 1.34
13+ years 85 69 1.93 1.96 59 71 1.02 1.12 ***

Totals 1022 63 1.73 1.95 247 78 1.41 1.33

 

 

 

***t significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

When sex and urbanization are added as controls (as in Tables 4-2

and 4-3). differences between the samples largely disappear; i.e., urban-

‘ized males and females in the national sample are no different than

-70-
urbanized stockholders on exposure to radio.

It is difficult to compare exposure to radio and newspaper reading
directly, since the data for radio are in terms of "hours exposed,” while
for newspapers the measurement is for ”number of newspapers read.” Hew-
ever, the prediction that stockholders would be relatively more exposed
to print media than oral media seems adequately supported on the basis of
data in Tables 4-1 through 4-4.

Findings on exposure to magazines are highly similar to the results
for newspapers, and are, therefore, not shown in tabular form.

Exposure to television is shown in Table 4-5, controlled by edu-
cation. Stockholders are clearly more exposed at each educational level,
but nggg daily hours of exposure differs only at the lower and highest
levels. Television exposure increases more consistently with education
in the national sample, producing a correlation of .22, while the corre-
lation is not significant in the stockholder sample.

Similar comparisons are presented in Table 4-6, but this time con-
trolling TV exposure by income. The sample sizes are highly dispropor-
tionate--because of the much greater general level of income among stock-
holders--except at the two middle income levels; on these two levels the
stockholders are exposed in significantly greater numbers. 0n.measures
of mean hgurs viegigg time daily, the stockholders are significantly more
exposed at the higher income levels, but not at lower incomes.

It was impossible to differentiate any ”instrumental" newspapers
among those mentioned by respondents. This category was, therefore,
eliminated from consideration in analysis. There were several magazines
that were clearly more ”instrumental" than ”consummatory," but the inci-

dence of use was relatively low, and primarily among males. Consequently,

 

-71-
TABLE 4-5 Education and Television Exposure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

82232?“ N fiefifiagfigfih s... N iéfiiiifihi’fim’... .

No school 131 2 .02 .15 3 * * *

1-3 years 287 3 .05 .29 15 60 1.00 .93 ***

4-5 years 240 8 .16 .61 28 25 .50 1.00

6-8 years 206 17 .39 .96 64 38 .56 .87

9-12 years 73 26 .58 1.30 78 45 .64 .87

13+ years 85 22 .36 .83 59 66 1.03 .98 ***
Totals 1022 10 .21 .71 247 47 .72 .98

 

 

 

 

 

*One of the three cases in this category was exposed, but the small
N makes calculation of percentages unreliable.

**x2 Two Sample Test, excluding No School category equals 15.1, sig-
nificant at p greater than .01 (d.f.=5).

TABLE 4-6 Income and Television Exposure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income Level! N $1682281M23%D§:urs s.d. N gtgigggégffiegfiggizrs ,
Jamel) 22in Dgily s.d; t
$225 or less 328 3 .05 .27 4 25 .25 .50
226-678 269 6 .11 .46 19 11 .21 .63
679-1355 ’171 19 .43 1.03 46 28 .39 3.68
1356-2708 77 25 .48 .98 65 55 .82 .88 m:
2709-5490 16 50 .50 .52 L 42 69 1.07 1.09 ***
Over 5490 2 00 . . . . 31 68 .97 .80
Totals 863 9 .19 .65 207 48 .73 .89

 

 

 

 

 

 

aatt significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

-72-
the mean scores of the urbanized male sub-samples for stockholders and
non-stockholders were subjected to a "t” test and feund to be signifi-
cantly’different.**‘

All inter-correlations between measures of mass media exposure and
socio-economic-demographic variables in Table 4-7 are significant (at
p=.01) in the national sample, except those between three of the media
exposure measures and sex. Apparently males tend to read.mcre newspapers
than females, but otherwise are no different.

TABLE 4-7 Correlations of Mass Media Exposure
with Socio-economic-demographic variables

 

r—w

 

 

Inter-
Male Urbani- national Occu-

Media Sex zation Mbbility Education pation Income
National Sample (N=1o4o)
Heurs watching

TV “005 026* 021* 022* 010* 02u‘
Heurs listening

to raflo - 002 009* 007’ 013* 007‘ 020*
Newspapers read .08* .38* .29"I .46"I .32* .45*
Megazines read .03 .24* .24"l .35* .32* .38*
Stockholdgz Sggple (N=247)
TV “‘003 015‘ 011 012 019* 030‘
Radio '010 “019* -011 "019* '018* “020*
Newspapers .03 .33* .33* .39* .34* .35*
Magazines -.09 .21* .32* .33* .22* .26*

 

I".07 is significant for the national sample, and .15 for the stock-
holder sample at p=.01.

 

"Stockhclder mean was =.26, standard deviation =.60, N=l54; non-
stockholder mean =.08, standard deviation =.3l, N=296; significant at
p=.05, two tailed test.

-73-
In the stockholder sample there appears to be no relationship be-

tween sex and media exposure. International mobility is unrelated to TV
or radio exposure. Television exposure is related significantly only to
occupational status and income level. The significant correlations be-

tween the socio-economic-demographic measures and radio exposure are each

negative, as indicated earlier.

Integpgrsonal Interaction

The hypotheses predicted that stockholders would interact more fre—
quently than non-stockholders with visitors in the home from.autside the
community, and would be involved to a greater extent in formal and in-
formal organizations. Non-stockholders are expected to interact more
often than stockholders with relatives, fellow workers, and neighbors,
and to have more close personal friends.

The first set of predictions are in each case partially supported,
while the second group is generally unsupported. Appendix Table 15 pro-
vides the uncontrolled results on a frequency percentage basis; stock-
holders have more visitors and receive more letters, and a higher per-
centage belong to formal and semi-formal organizations. However, there
is no significant difference between the samples in terms of interaction
‘with neighbors and reported number of close friends; interaction with
:relatives and people from work is higher among stockholders than non-
stockholders, when both samples are considered without controls.‘

Results for visitors and letters, controlled by educational level,
are included in Tables 4-8 and 4-9; only at the 4-5 years and 6-2 ygars

 

*XZ for relative interaction equals 38.2, significant at §>.Ol; X?
for fellow worker interaction greater than 11.7, significant at :01.

-74-
of education do stockholders report significantly more visitors, and at
only the higher educational level do they report having received sig-
nificantly more letters.

TABLE 4-8 Visitors in the Home from Outside the
Immediate Community, by Level of Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=======
Educational National Sample Stockholderpngple

Level N Mean s.d. N Mean s.d. t
No school 133 1.33 1.78 2 . . . .
1-3 years 292 1.61 1.81 15 1.33 2.06
4-5 years 248 1.72 1.95 29 2.90 1.95 ***
6-8 years 208 2.07 2.05 64 3.23 2.43 ***
9-12 years 73 2.27 2.04 78 2.70 1.88
13 or more 33 2.44 2.30 44 2.87 2.07

Totals 987 1.79 1.97 237 2.86 2.12

 

 

 

 

 

*I‘t significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

Data on membership in formal and semi-formal groups is presented
in Tables 4-10 and 4-11, with controls by sex, urbanization and edu-
cation. Among males there is a difference between samples at the
highest and lowest educational levels in formal group membership, (but
no differences appear significant for semi-formal groups.)

Results for females tend to be quite irregular, with the national
sample exhibiting a tendency towards higher membership in formal groups
at lower educational levels, except for the No School group: no dif-

ferences are significant, however. There is no apparent difference

'between the female samples in semi-formal group membership except at

 

-75-

the 10-12 year level, where the stockholders report greater membership.

The irregularity of the findings and low N's make computation of statis-

tical differences rather tenuous and probably unreliable, and are, there-

fore, not attempted.

TABLE 4-9 Education and Mean Letters Received in Past Month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational Natignal Sample Stockholder Samplgy pp_
Level N Mean s.d. N Mean s.d. t

No school 127 .41 .98 3 * *

1'3 years 279 053 1011 12 10 50 1093

4-5 years 237 .76 1.36 25 1.48 1.87

6-8 years 193 1.15 1.58 57 1.54 2.08

9-12 years 69 1.64 1.76 55 2.31 1.74 ***

13+ years 78 1.36 1.67 38 2.61 2.40 ‘**
Totals 983 .83 1.40 190 1.97 2.04

 

 

 

 

 

 

I"N too low for meaningful comparisons

***t significant at .05, two tailed test.

 

When interaction with neighbors, fellow workers, relatives, and

close friends are controlled by sex, urbanization, and education, the

differences between the samples disappear at the higher urbanization and

educational levels (there are too few cases in the stockholder sample for

meaningful comparisons at lower educational levels).

Apparently the dif-

ference which the overall frequency-percentage results indicate (Appendix

B, Table 15) arises from the substantially lower interaction levels on

each of these measures among the rural people, of which there are few

cases in the stockholder sample.

-76-

TABLE 4-10 Membership in Formal and Semi-formal Groups--
Urbanized Male sub-samples at Five Educational Levels

 

mm.--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_‘_ National Sample Stockholder Sam 1e
Educational Total in For- 8% in Semi- Total $ in Fbr- in Semi-
Level N mal Gps. for. Gps. N mal Gps. for. Gps.
x2 12
No school 22 5 00 l . . . .1
1-5 years 152 11 12 24 42 * 25 *
6-9 years 73 15 20 51 24 33 *
10-12 years 26 23 42 38 32 42
13+ years 20 4C 53 40 70 ' 52
Totals 293 l4 18 154 40 * 39

 

 

 

 

 

 

*XZ comparing the frequency distributions at each educational level,
significant at p=.05. The N9 school category is excluded from.the com-
putation.

TABLE 4—11 Membership in Formal and Semi-formal Groups--
Metropolitan Females at Five Educational Levels

 

 

 

 
   

 

 

National Sample St ckholde Smm 1e

Educational Total in For- irin Semi- % in For- T in Semi-

Level N mal Gps.* for. Gps.* N mal Gps.* for. Gps.*
No School 7 00 14 3 . . . .
1-5 years 43 5 2 6 00 00
6-9 years 49 12 15 13 00 15
10-12 years 6 33 00 16 31 38
13+ years 15 27 27 10 30 30
Totals 120 12 ll 45 18 24

 

 

 

 

 

 

I"No significant differences between samples for either formal or
semi-formal groups.

 

-77-

we predicted that there would be a significant inter-relationship
between.mass media exposure and measures of interpersonal interaction.

Evidence for this is provided in Thble 4-12 for the Urbanized Male sub-

sample of non-stockholders.

TABLE 4-12 Intercorrelations between Mass Media Exposure
and Interaction.Measures*
(National Male Sub-sample)

 

TV Radio Newspaper Magazines

Formal group membership .24 .19 .24 .26
Semi-fermal groups . . . . .39 .30
Neighbor interaction .17 . . . . . .
Fellow worker interaction .15 . . . . . .
Relative interaction . . . . . . . .
Visitors from other

communities . . . . .26 .29
Letters received . . . . .27 .19

I"Significant correlations: r=.14 at the .01 level

N=293

Fbrmal group membership correlates significantly with all of the
:mass media measures at a probability level of greater than .01. Semi-
formal groups correlate at .12 with television exposure, and at .39 with
newspaper and .30 with.magazine reading. Newspapers and magazine reading
correlate significantly with all interaction.measures except neighbor, relative
and fellow worker interaction; TV viewing correlates with.three of the
:measures, and fails to correlate with four others. Radio exposure is

clearly least related to the interaction measures.

-78-
Taken together these relationships support the predictions. Cor-
relations between the media exposure and more-distant-fromrthe-self
interpersonal communication.measures are strongest, while relationships
with relative, fellow worker, and neighbor interaction measures are rela-

tively weak or insignificant.

amen

Stockholders are more exposed than non—stockholders to newspapers
and magazines, even when controls by sex, urbanization, and education or
income are applied. However, non-stockholders tend to be more exposed to
radio than stockholders, particularly at the higher education levels.
Stockholders are more exposed than non-stockholders to television--
without application of controls; when control by education is applied,
the difference is significant at the highest and lowest educational
levels, but not at middle levels.

Control by income indicates higher stockholder media exposure at
the upper income levels, but no difference at lower levels. This finding
arises partially because neither sample is much exposed at lower income
levels. Overall, stockholders are clearly more exposed to print media,
non-stockholders are more exposed to radio, and stockholders tend to be
more exposed to television--generally supporting the hypotheses set
forth earlier.

Interpersonal communication indices only partially support the pre-
dictions. Stockholders have significantly more non-community visitors in
their homes than non-stockholders, at the middle educational levels.
Stockholders received significantly more letters than non-stockholders

from.autside communities at higher educational levels. (In both cases,

-79-
the means for stockholders are larger than for non-stockholders at all
educational levels but reach the chosen level of significance only at
the educational levels noted.)

Stockholders belong to more formal and semi-formal groups than non-
stockholders. When controls by education are applied, however, the dif-
ferences are significant only at lower and higher educational levels for
membership in formal groups, and differences disappear for membership in
semi-formal groups. Interaction measures with friends, neighbors, and
fellow workers indicate no difference between samples when controls by
education are applied, although non-stockholders indicate more inter-
action with fellow workers and relatives before application of controls.

Measures of mass media exposure correlate with urbanization, inter-
national mobility, occupation, income, and education, although in the
case of radio the relationship is negative in the stockholder sample.
Similarly, interpersonal communication measures are generally related to
printed media exposure, and to some extent with television exposure; how-

ever, radio listening is related only to formal group membership.

BASIS FOR DECISIONS ABOUT STOCK PURCHASE
Eirst Information Sources

The hypothesis predicts that stockholders will most often have
received first information about the cement manufacturing plant from
mass media or sources originating outside of their immediate community,
while non-stockholders will more often have received first information
from.personal sources within the immediate community.

The results are presented without controls in Table 4-13 and with

controls by education in Table 4-14.

-80-
ITABLE 4-13 Sources of First Information about the Cement Plant

_.__._—.___—__ _ _ d-

 

 

 

 

.

Sources ‘ M2 A ‘ 1
Personal: '77-
In community 11
Nearby'community’ 3
Distant community 3
Relative (in gny community) I- - - 283 - - -
an-relative (any community) (10)
Cement plant representative .... 2- - ‘ - tit

Total Personal Sources 19 as:
Mass Media:
Newspapers 52
Radio 27 an
Television 1
Magazine or other 1

Total Mass Media Sources 81** at:

 

 

 

 

I"The percentages are of the non-stockholders informed about the
cement plant, rather than the total national sample. The N is, therefore,
503 (48% of the national sample).

I""‘When totals for personal sources and.mass media sources are added
a figure larger than 100% is reached, partly because some respondents
indicated two first sources, and partly because of rounding error.

*‘*x? significant at .05. (Calculated on the basis of frequencies
of persons using and not using a specific first source, to form a four
cell table with one degree of freedom.)

-81-

TABLE 4-14 Education and First Information Source#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:===========================r==::— t::============f
_Informed of Cement Plant Personal Mass Medin:

Educational Total Informed In Out of C.P. News-

Level N N** Informed Community Community Rep. paper Radio
National 4‘;

Sample
No school 133 25 18.9 16.0% 12.0% 4.0% 8.0% 60.0%
1-3 years 292 99 34.0 18.2 8.1 . . 34.3 39.4
4-5 years 248 123 49.8 13.8 5.7 1.6 50.4 28.5
6-8 years 208 129 62.0 10.1 3.9 .8 62.8 22.5
9-12 years 73 59 80.8 8.5 5.1 1.7 69.5 15.2
13+ years 86 64 74.4 9.4 4.7 4.7 62.5 18.8

Totals 1040 499 48.1 12.6 5.8 1.6 52.1 27.8
Stock-

holders
No school 3 100 33.3 . . . . 33.3 33.3
1-3 years 15 100 13.3 6.7 40.0 40.0 13.3
4-5 years 28 100 10.7 3.6 25.0 50.0 14.3
6-8 years 63 100 19.0 3.2 14.3 54.0 12.7
9-12 years 78 100 14.1 6.4 19.2 60.2 3.9
13+ years 59 100 13.6 . . 11.8 74.1 3.4

Totals 246 100 15.0 3.7 17.9 ‘59.2 8.2

 

 

 

 

 

#The percentages appearing in Table 4-13 differ slightly in some cases
from comparable percentages in this table because of certain refinements in
These slight differences do not

the data after Table 4-13 was constructed.
alter the findings.

*Only a small fraction of either sample cited other mass media as

first sources.

**Only the Informed N is used in calculating the percentages in this

table 0

-82-

Of the national sample, 48.2 percent are aware of the cement plant.
Newspapers are the predominant source of information for both samples,
accounting for 52% of the informed (of the cement plant) national sample
and 59$ of the stockholders.* Radio is second in importance for the
national sample with 28%, and "cement plant representative” is second for
stockholders, accounting for 18%. In-community sources follow in impor-
tance for both samples, with no significant differences between samples.
Mass media accounts for 67% of the first information events among stock-
holders and 81% in the national sample--a significant difference contrary
to predictions.

Control by education (Table 4-14) indicates that the proportion of
informed members of the national sample increases as education increases:
use of in-community sources decreases as education increases; newspapers
as first source increases with education, but use of radio decreases as
education increases, particularly among stockholders.

The pattern in use of newspapers is similar in the stockholder
sample, although the proportion of newspaper first sources among the 13:
educational level stockholders is significantly higher than for the same
national sample level. The stock sales agent as first source decreases
as educational level increases for stockholders.

Additional controls by sex and urbanization do not significantly
alter the pattern of Table 4-14, although 77% of the national urbanized

malg sub-sample is informed, as opposed to 48% of the total national sam-

 

ple. There is a tendency for the sub-sample to report more newspaper

first sources, and fewer radio first sources than the total national

I“One newspaper, La Nacion, informed 43% of the stockholders and 45%
of the national sample.

-83-
sample, but this appears to be largely a function of the higher educa-
tional level and greater urbanization of the sub-samples.

In summary, the predictions about patterns of first information
source regarding the cement plant are generally not supported. There is
no significant difference between the samples in personal information
sources, except that a substantial number of stockholders report personal
contact by a cement plant representative as the first source of infor-
mation; this source is of small significance for the national sample.
Members of the national sample report radio as a much more important

first source than it is for stockholders.

Supplgmpntapy Information Sources

The hypothesis predicts that stockholders will differ from the in-
formed national sample by indicating a greater number and variety of
secondary sources of both mass media and personal information about the
cement plant.

As indicated in Table 4-15, this hypothesis is supported. Stock-
holders indicate a greater use of all mass media except radio. Similarly,
stockholders report greater use of personal secondary sources, except for
the out-of-community category: however, this latter result may arise be-
cause a substantially higher proportion of stockholders report pppn in-

community and out-of-community secondary sources.

Spgcific Knowledge and Enpgctations of the Cement Plant

The hypotheses predicts that stockholders will have greater specific

knowledge of the cement plant than the national sample, will expect

-84-
greater dividends from the investment, and will exhibit greater cer-

tainty of expectations.

TABLE 4-15 Supplementary Sources of Information
about the Cement Plant

W

 

 

Stockholders Informed National Sample
Source (N=247) ( “=503) X2
Mass Media
Newspapers 81 55 ’
Magazines or pamphlets 57 7 *
Radio 55 54
Television 22 6 *
Other mass media 13 4 *
Personal
Relatives 61 28 *
In immediate community 42 20 *
Outside community 6 7
Both places 13 l *
Non-relatives I 73 36 *
' ----------------- L. - - -
In community A 38 21 *
Outside community 10 10
Both places 25 5 *

 

 

 

1"1(2 significant at p=.05 (calculated on the frequencies reporting
and not reporting each of the possible sources).

The first prediction is supported, as indicated in Table 4-16, con-
trolling by education, and in Table 4-17 controlling sub-samples by sex,
urbanization, and education. The extent of knowledge at each educational
level in the stockholder sample is substantially higher than in the
national sample, and there is less variation between levels among stock—

holers.

-35-

TABLE 4-16 Education and Knowledge of Cement Plant

 

 

 

 

 

People to Sources
Educational ‘ Inf d be Em 10 ed of Funds Mana eme t ca 10
Level (years) N a 3 Correct 7 Correct 7 Correct % Correct
We
5 or less 247 36.9 8.1% 22.3% 28.3% 38.9
6‘8 years 129 6200 602 [+101 3800 5907
9-12 years 59 80.8 10.2 54.2 62.7 81.4
13+ years 64 74.4 9.4 34.4 51.6 54.7
Totals 499 48.0 8.0 32.5 37.9 51.3
Spocknolders
5 or less years 46 100.0 4.3 56.5 69.6 91.3
6‘8 years 63 10000 1207 6501 8401 8205
13+ years 59 100.0 15.3 84.7 86.4 89.8
Totals 246 100.0 11.8 70.7 85.0 89.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lower section of Table 4-17 indicates the much greater tendency
among members of the national sample to respond with "don't know” or ”no
information," supporting the prediction of a higher level of certainty
among stockholders.

The responses to a question measuring the opinion of subjects about
the right of stockholders to influence the operation of the cement plant
is also included in Table 4-17. Although the differences are significant
only at 6:2 and 9:12 educational levels, there is a stronger general ten-
dency for stockholders to feel they can have influence on the cement plant
operations.

Both male submsamples score higher than the female sub-samples

(table not shown) on knowledge items, but there is no sex difference in

 

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-87-
opinion about the right of stockholders to influence operation of the
cement plant.

The predictions that stockholders would have higher profit expec-
tations is tentatively supported (Table 4-18). A high proportion of
both samples were not willing to make an estimate about profit expec-
tations, as indicated in the lower level of Table 4-18. However, those
stockholders willing to make an estimate tended to expect higher dividends
than non-stockholders. Control by education in Table 4-19 indicates,
however, that stockholders make significantly higher estimates only when
education categories are collapsed (due largely to the very small N re-
maining when the "don't know" respondents are withdrawn from the samples).

TABLE 4—18 Dividend Expectations for Stock.-
Male Sub-samples*

 

www.w-h
Expected Annual ‘ National Samole l Stock older Samole
Return ($) Percent N=22.) I Percent N=153
16% 7 6
44% 7 11
8-12% 5 16
12% or more 4 8
Don°t know or
no information 77 59

 

 

*XZ comparing sample frequencies equals 20.70, significant at p
greater than .01.

-88-

TABLE 4-19 Education and Mean Dividend Expectations—-
Male Sub-samples

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational Nationa 3 le S ockholder Sample
Level N Mean* s.d. N Mean* s.d. t
No school . . ** . . l . . . .
1-5 years 23 3.91 2.23 4 3.25 1.50
6-9 years 15 3.73 1.62 18 4.44 1.72
10-12 years 9 3.78 1.86 19 4.58 2.14
13+ years 5 4.40 2.51 21 5.57 1.21
Totals 52 3.88 1.99 63 4.78 1.77 ***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I“The mean is based on a seven point scale ranging from 1 to 12+
percent.

**100 percent of both samples indicated "don't know” or "no infor-
mation" in the No School category. Other means and standard deviations
are based on the individuals who were willing to make an estimate.

at:
t significant at .05.

Principle Influences on Purchasegr_Fai1ure to Purchase Stock

 

Each of the stockholders was asked to name the most important single
influence on his decision to purchase stock. Informed members of the
national sample were asked about the most important reason for non-
purchase of stock. The summarized results are shown in Table 4-20.
Although persons (17.3%) and mass media (3.2%) are of some importance,
the major influences appear to arise from personal judgements--desire to
”invest in my country" (49.44%) and ”make money" (22.7%). Informed mem-
bers of the national sample credit lack of money (54.1%) and lack of
interest (20.5%) as the most important negative influences, while only

4.6% indicate any doubts about the plant as a poor investment.

-89-

TABLE 4-20 Principal Influences on Purchase
or Non-purchase of Stock

 

 

Influences

:===a===================F==========r‘

Informed

 

 

Stockholders

 

National Sam 10
3 (H90)

$‘(N=246

 

ern

Relative

Boss

Friend

The newspapers
Radio

Internal

To make money
Investment in my country

Others or Don't Lgpw

No money

Bad investment

No interest in investments
Fear of plant failure
Others

No response

Totals

 

 

 

 

100.0

 

m

The hypothesis predicting differences between samples in first in—

formation sources is not supported.

However, significant differences do

appear in tendency to secure information from particular sources; stock-

holders were contacted more often by a cement plant representative (as

we might have predicted), and non-stockholders received first information

more often from.radio.

Overall, non-stockholders who knew about the

-90-
cement plant received information from a mass media source mggg_often
than did stockholders.

Stockholders report a greater number and variety of secondary
sources than do members of the national sample. Stockholders have
greater knowledge of specific details about the cement plant and indicate
higher certainty about the investment situation in terms of specific
knowledge and expectations for dividends. Stockholders report higher
expectations for dividends, but this appears to be primarily a function
of education rather than stock ownership.

Stockholders indicate that principal influences to buy stock arose
from personal judgements based primarily on desire to "invest in the
country” and to ”make money," with personal influences by friends, rela-
tives, employers, of less importance, and mass media of little importance.
Principal reasons for non-purchase by informed members of the national
sample are lack of money, lack of interest, and to a minor extent, doubt

about the worthiness of the investment.

Channel Orientations

On the basis of mass media exposure indices, interaction measures,
and sources of information about the cement plant, it is possible to make
some tentative inferences about channel orientations of stockholders and
non-stockholders.

As outlined by Deutschmann, channel orientations range over five
dimensions as follows:

1. Egocentric - a channel involving prmmarily intrapersonal com-
munication, without interaction or media use.

2. Family - most sources of information are members of the
immediate family.

-91-

3. Internal to community — sources of information are primarily
members of the immediate community, and may include relatives, but also
include other persons.

4. External to community - also a personal channel, but with
sources of information primarily from outside the community, many of
whom.might not be particularly well‘known.

5. Impersonal - primary sources of information are impersonal,
often mass media, but also limited circulation journals, newsletters,
and correspondence with individuals outside the community.

The five channels noted are considered a continumm, on which most
individuals can be located. Deutschmann hypothesized that innovators
and change oriented individuals would tend to fall towards the impersonal
end of the continuum, while tradition oriented individuals would fall
towards the egocentric end.

The data on exposure to the mass media indicate significantly higher
mass media (or impersonal) channel orientation for stockholders when com-
pared with non-stockholders. Similarly, stockholders are more oriented
towards mass media as secondary sources of information about the cement
plant. Only on first source of information (re cement plant) do stock-
holders fail to be clearly more mass media oriented than non-stockholders.
There is no significant difference between samples in newspapers as first
sources, and non-stockholders are significantly heavier users of radio.

Stockholders are generally more oriented than non-stockholders to
personal sources outside their immediate community. This is indicated by
measures of formal group involvement, visitors in the home, letters re-
ceived, cement plant representative as first source of information on the
cement plant, and personal secondary sources of information.

As we move along the continuum towards Internal-to-community and
Femily'channels, there is little apparent difference between samples.

Non-stockholders are oriented to these channels, but no more than stock-

holders.

-92-

we have no good measurements of the tendency to use an egocentric
channel. However, measurements of principal influences on purchase or
non-purchase of stock provide some clues. The major influences on stock
purchase among stockholders are not outside sources, but rather internal
decisions to "invest in my country" and to ”make moneyz" It is not
reasonable, however, to consider this ”egocentric" channel at the same
end of the continuum as in the Deutschmann scheme; rather it would seem
to fall more logically at the opposite extreme, or may to some degree be
interwoven with each of the other channels.

The hypothesis predicting that stockholders would largely fall
towards the impersonal end of the Deutschmann Channel Orientation con-
tinuum is, therefore, tentatively supported, but insufficient data is
available to satisfactorily apply the channel orientation idea in each

of its dimensions.

RISK ORIENTATION AND ASSOCIATED ATTITUDES

Preference fer Risk-taking

The hypothesis predicts that stockholders will exhibit a higher
attitudinal favorability than non-stockholders to investment of available
funds at relatively higher risk, when offered high, moderate, and low
alternatives.

Uncontrolled results are presented in Table 4-21, with stockholders
exhibiting a significantly higher preference for the high risk alter-
nativeJ' Control by educational levels is shown in Table 4-22. There is

no consistent pattern as education increases, although preference for the

'12 greater than 9.2, d.f.=2, significant at p=.05.

-93-

low risk alternative decreases as education increases in the national
sample, and there is a tendency for high risk preference to increase with
education in the stockholder sample. An obvious overall preference for
the moderate alternative is apparent, at all educational levels in both
samples. X? tests do not indicate significant differences between sam-

ples except at the 13: educational level.

 

TABLE 4-21 Risk Orientation

 

 

 

= “a ===
N % Hi Risk % Moderate $ Low

National sample 977 24.5 62.7 12.8

Stockholder sample 241 34.8 60.6 4.6

 

 

 

 

TABLE 4-22 Attitude toward Risk Orientation,
Controlled by Education

 

 

 

 

National Sample Stockholder Sample
Educational Hi Hi
Level N’ Risk Moderate Low N Risk Moderate Low x?
No school 126 27.0 50.0 23.0 . . . . . . . .

1-3 years 273 20.5 64.8 14.6 13 15.4 84.6 . .
4-5 years 231 23.4 65.8 10.8 28 35.7 60.7 3.6
6-8 years 201 24.4 64.7 10.9 64 28.1 67.2 4.7

 

 

9-12 years 67 37.3 56.7 6.0 76 38.2 55.3 6.6
13+ years 79 26.6 67.1 6.3 58 41.4 55.2 3.4 *

 

 

 

 

 

Totals 977 24.5 62.7 12.8 241 34.8 60.6 4.6

‘x? significant at p=.05.

_94-

Additional control by sex and urbanization (Table 4~23) produces
a more consistent pattern for urbanized males, with significant dif-
ferences between samples uncontrolled by education, but pg differences
at each educational level. Apparently sex, urbanization, and education

account for the difference that appears without exercise of controls.

TABLE 4-23 Investment of Money Gift by Urbanized
Males at Five Educational Levels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educationa1)_-'-_- gitional Sample Siockhglger Sample 2
Level N Risk Moderate Low‘ N Risk Moderate Low X
%— % 1 7 1
No school 22 32 55 14 l . . . . . .
1-5 years 148 24 67 9 21 24 76 . .
6-9 years 72 28 63 10 51 33 65 2
10-12 years 24 44 48 8 37 49 49 2
13+ years 20 35 65 . . 4O 43 52 5
Totals 287 28 63 9 150 39 59 2 *
t 2

X significant at p=.05.

Metropolitan females exhibit less consistent patterns, with no sig-
nificant differences between the two samples (Table 4-24). Similarly,
there is no significant difference between stockholder males and females
nor national sample males and females.‘ .

Control by income and occupational level produces a result very
similar to the findings controlling by education, with no consistent

difference between income or occupational levels.

 

i"}{.2=2.07, not significant at p=.01 or .05.

 

 

-95-

TABLE 4-24 Investment of Money Gift by Metropolitan
Females at Five Educational Levels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Sample Stockholder Sample 1

Educational Hi Hi '

Level N Risk Moderate Low N Risk Moderate Low X2
No school 7 14 71 14 . . . . . . . .
1-5 years 43 14 65 21 6 17 83 00 1.
6-9 years 48 29 58 13 13 23 77 00
10-12 years 25 20 60 l l6 19 69 12 “
13+ years 14 21 64 14 9 56 44 00

Totals 117 21 62 16 44 27 68 5 *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I“12 significant at p=.05.

Preference for Chance-taking

The hypothesis predicts that stockholders will be attitudinally
less favorable than the national sample to taking chances, defined in
this case as ”risking a little to make a lot."

Stockholders are significantly less favorable to chance-taking than
non-stockholders, without controls (Table 4-25). Differences are evident
at two of the three higher educational levels, but 393 at the three lower
levels. variability of responses is substantially higher in the national
sample, as indicated by the higher standard deviations at all levels but
4— ears.

The perspective changes, however, when additional controls by sex
and urbanization are applied, as in Table 4-26. In this case the dif-

ferences are significant only at 6-2 years (and for the totals).

-96-

TABLE 4-25 Education and Preference for Risking
a Little to Make a Lot

 

 

 

 

 

Educational National Sample Stockholder Sample
Level N Mean s.d. N mean s.d. t

No school 133 1.10 1.35 3 * *

1-3 years 291 .88 1.21 15 .56 .82

4-5 years 247 .81 1.13 28 .79 1.23

6-8 years 208 .75 1.20 64 .25 .76 *

9-12 years 73 .63 1.23 78 .35 .62

13+ years 86 .90 1.40 58 .33 .89 *
Totals 1038 .84 1.23 246 .39 .83

‘t significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

TABLE 4-26 Preference for Risking a Little to Make a
Lot among Urbanized Males at Five Educational Levels

 

 

 

 

Educational __, National Sample Stockholder Sample
Level N Mean* s.d. N Mean"l s.d. t
No school 22 1.36 1.33 l . . . .
6-9 years 75 .97 1.37 51 .22 .64 **
10-12 years 26 .46 1.10 38 .34 .75
13+ years 20 .70 1022 39 033 096
Totals 295 .81 1.21 153 .38 .92 **

 

I“Five point scale ranging from unfavorable to favorable.

**t significant at p=.05, two tailed test.

-97-
Apparently the difference which appears before controls are applied is

again largely a function of education, sex and urbanization.

Attitudes Related to Risk Orientation

we predicted that stockholders would be more favorable to borrowing
money than non-stockholders, and more willing to trust non-friends and
non-relatives. As indicated in Table 4-27, the first prediction is not
supported, while the second appears to be. However, when controls are
applied by education, the second significant difference disappears also,
as indicated in Table 4—28. Our expectations are, therefore, not sup-

ported.

TABLE 4-27 Attitudes Related to Risk Orientation -
Male Sub-sample

 

 

 

 

 

. National Sample Stockholder Sample
Attitude Mean #7 S.D. Mean # S.D. t
Favorability to
borrowing money 2.10 1.56 2.15 1.63
Trust of non-friends
and non-relatives 2.84 1.68 3.47 1.65 *

 

 

 

# Five point scale.

**Significant at probability greater than .05, two tailed test.

Aspiratign Levels

The hypothesis predicts that stockholders will generally have higher
levels of aspiration for self and children than members of the national

sample.

-98-

TABLE 4-28 Trust of Non-friends & Non-relatives
Malg‘Sub-Sample

National Sample Stockholder Sample

 

 

Education N Mean s.d. N Mean s.d.
No school 22 2.05 1.33 l . . . .
1-5 years 152 2.63 1.65 24 2.75 1.51
6-9 years 75 3.11 1.67 51 3.55 1.69
10-12 years 26 3.69 1.78 38 3.29 1.61
13+ years 13 3.31 1.65 33 3.70 1.63
Totals 288 2.84 1.68 147 3.47 1.65

 

1"Significant difference at p=.05, two tailed tests.

Figures 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 illustrate the relationship between stock-
holder and the national male sub-samples in terms of self-perceived
”conditions of life", ”hopes for country", and ”desire to do new things",
without controls by education. In each case the stockholders stand higher
on mean ladder position, and maintain the advantage from present to future
(see Chapter III for method used). The change,from self-perceived present
perceptions to "aspired” position five years from now, is approximately
parallel in the two samples; in other words, aspiration levels as measured
by difference between present and future choice as ladder position does
not differ between the samples.

Tables 4-29 and 4-30 provide controlled measures of educational
aspiration levels for children. In only one instance is there a signifi-
cant difference between samples--at the 1-5 years educational level,

stockholders have higher aspirations than the national sample.

Mean Ladder Score

 

 

lO
4 Male Sub-samples
9
A.
8
A
7 Stockholders
+_ ’-"fl ’1’.-
61"”,
4- Non—stockholders
5
4.
1.,
AL
3
2
i
l 3. .‘r: r ‘r : z ;
Present Future

Figure 4-1 Conditions of Life

Mean Ladder Score

 

 

 

10
" Male Sub-samples
9
7-
8
7 ________ qupkpplders
.7 -
6 ngn;§;ggkho1dsrs
5
Jr
a
3
2
l i + : 4r t : 4' f ‘- ‘r
Present Future

Figure 4-3 Desire to do New Things

-99-

H
O

l

H

Nu) ‘PUt O\\) (DO

I

I

l

L
v

V

. Male sub-samples

 

g

 

Present Future

Figure 4-2 Hopes for Country

-100-

TABLE 4-29 Educational Aspirations for Children-
Urbanized Males at Five Educational Levels

 

 

 

 

 

Educational National Sample Stogkholder Sample
Level N Mean* s.d. N Mean* s.d. t

No school 22 5.73 1.96 1 . . . .

1-5 years 152 6.09 1.56 23 6.70 1.11 **

6-9 years 75 6.83 .55 51 6.84 .54

10-12 years 26 6.88 .43 38 6.95 .32

13+ years 13 7.00 .00 33 6.94 .35
Totals 288 6.37 1.35 146 6.86 .61

 

*Seven point scale varying from No school through university.

**t significant at p greater than .05, two tail test.

TABLE 4-30 Favorability to Mobility of Children-
Urbanized Males at Five Educational Levels

A

 

 

 

 

Educational National Sample Stockholder Sample
Level N Mean* s.d. N Mean"I s.d. t
NO 3311001 22 2032 1039 l 0 0 0 0
1-5 years 152 2.18 1.51 24 2.38 1.58
6-9 years 75 2.85 1.73 51 2.88 1.83
10-12 years 26 3.50 1.77 38 3.42 1.76
13+ years 20 3.15 1.66 39 3.54 1.71
Totals 295 2.54 1.65 153 3.09 1.78

 

I“Five point scale.

-101-

Correlates of Risk Orientatiog

The hypothesis predicts that significant inter-relationships will
exist between risk orientation and at least the following variables:
Education, international mobility, mass media exposure, attitudes toward
change, and aspirations for self and children.

Table 4-31 contains several correlates with measures of risk and

chance orientation for the urbanized male sub-sample.

TABLE 4-31 Correlates of Risk Orientation for an
Urbanized Male Sub-sample*

_—_

 

 

 

 

 

 

-:

Investment of

 

Risking a Little to

 

Correlates Money Gift Make a Lot
Risk Orientatio (Chance Orientation)
Stock- Non-stock- Stock- Non-stock-
holders holders holders holders
Education 0 0 0 10 "’ 0 14 0 0
International mobility . . . . -.l3 . .

Mass media exposure:

Newspapers read . . .13 . . -.15
Daily radio liSthing -019 0 0 -022 -012
Magazines read . . . . -.l8 . .
Attitudes toward change:
Desire to do new things .26 .19 -.23 -.14
Favorable to birth control . . .15 . . -.1l
Preference for following
rules -018 0 0 0 0 012
Prefers same work from
week to week -.13 . . . . . .
Aspirations for self & Children:
Better living conditions .26 .16 . . . .
mine something to get ahead 0 o 012 018 o 0
Education for children . . .11 -.19 . .
Mobility for son . . .14 . . . .

 

 

 

'.Significant correlations at p=.05: National Sample (N=296) - .10
Stockholder Sample (N=154) - .13
Only significant correlations are recorded in this table.

-102-

Among stockholders there is a negative correlation (-.l9) between
risk orientation and radio listening, but no relationship with other mass
media measures. The relationship between three of the four measures of
change orientation and risk orientation is as predicted. Only one of
four measures of aspiration level is significantly related to risk orien-
tation. No relationship appears for stockholders between education or
international mobility and risk orientation.

Among non-stockholders the pattern changes somewhat. The rela-
tionship is positive between risk orientation and education, newspaper
reading, two measures of change orientation, and all four measures of
aspiration level--a1though several of the correlations barely reach sig-
nificance at a probability level of .05.

The predictions are, therefore, partially supported in both samples
but somewhat more strongly among non-stockholders than stockholders.

The third and fourth columns of Table 4-31 contain correlations with
"chance orientation." The results are generally opposite to those for
risk orientation; most of the significant correlations are negative for
both stockholders and non-stockholders. The exception is a positive cor-
relation with one measure of aspiration levels. A negative correlation
between risk orientation and chance orientation appears in both samples--

for stockholders, -.21, and for non-stockholders, -.l7.

Summapy

The hypotheses on risk orientation are not generally supported by
the data. Preference for "investment of a money gift" appears to be more
a function of education, sex, and urbanization than actual differences

between stockholders and non-stockholders. Similarly, preference for

-103-
"risking a little to make a lot" is not significantly different between
samples, when controls by sex, urbanization, and education are applied.
There 15 no consistent difference between samples in favorability to
borrowing money, nor in trust of non-friends and non-relatives.

Correlates of risk orientation indicate positive (if weak) rela-
tionships with education, newspaper reading, favorability to change, and
high aspirations for self and children in the national sample, and similar
but less consistent relationships among stockholders.

Chance orientation tends to correlate negatively with measures of
education, international mobility, mass media exposure, and less consis-
tently with measures of change orientation and aspiration levels in the
stockholder sample: the pattern is similar in the national sample,

excepting education and international mobility.

Correlatgs of Nppber of Stocks Purchased

Although no specific hypotheses were formulated regarding the cor-
relates of number of stocks purchased by stockholders, it is of interest
to present these as a means of discriminating the holders of few shares
from those with more shares. The list of correlates, with level of cor-
relation, is presented in Table 4-32.

These measures which appear to be most related to quantity of shares
purchased include: Income level (.28), positive perceptions of present
living conditions (.27), international mobility (.26), antagonism towards
conformity of beliefs (-.29) and actions or rules (-.23), optimism about
future living conditions (.23), foreign born parents (.20), and perceived
adequacy of present income (.20).

Also significantly related, but at a lower probability level (.05),

-104-
are measures of change orientation, mass media use, risk orientation,
educational level, occupational level, ownership and size of a personal
business, positive attitudes towards trust of strangers, and favorability

to borrowing money.

TABLE 4-32 Correlates of Number of Shares of Stock Purchased
by Stockholders - Male Sub-sample*

w

 

 

Item Level of Correlation
Income .28
Self-perceived conditions of life now .27
International mobility .26
Self-perceived conditions of life five years from now' .23
Foreign born parents .20
Self-perceived adequacy of income now .20
Occupational level .19
Radio as secondary source .19
Investment of money gift .17
Importance of religion .17
Owns a personal business .17
Trust of non-friends and non-relatives .17
Hours daily television watching .15
Education .15
Size of personal business .15
Newspapers read .13
Informal meetings with neighbors .13
The devil incites sin -.17
Hours daily radio listening -.19
Everyone needs some concept of good & bad -.19
Its easier to follow rules -.23
Equal beliefs for everyone -.29

 

* 1‘.05 = .13; 1‘.01 =- .19 (N=154).

These results provide additional support for predictions about the
nature of stockholders as innovative and risk oriented individuals. The

correlates indicate a general ability to purchase stock (income, education,

-105-
occupation), positiveness towards the idea of change, optimism about
their own future, mass media exposure, and.mobility -- all of which could

be expected to contribute directly to interest and participation in new

 

business activity.

 

CHAPTER V - DISCUSSION, INTERPRETATION AND IMPLICATIONS

An tmportant relationship between communication behavior and in-
vestment decisions seems clearly supported by these data. As previous
studies have established, the mass media serve a critical function in
providing first information and creating or stimulating interest among
potential investors. Once interest is stimulated, interpersonal inter-
action and communication becomes the more significant factor in the
decision process, although the media continue to provide facts and
opinions which feed into the interpersonal channels.

The differential use of the mass media and interpersonal communi-
cation channels appears to be one of the primary factors distinguishing
investors from non-investors. Educational level, income, occupational
status, urbanization, mobility and business ownership are clearly impor-
tant contributing factors, but control by these does not destroy the
apparent independent contribution of communication behavior.

Mass media can be significant as part of the process of initiating
new enterprise and mobilizing investment capital. However, interpersonal
interaction processes play an equally critical role, and apparently inter-
act with the media to encourage involvement of individuals with innovative

interests.

Eggpacteristics of the Invesppr

The data help to clarify the characteristics of the receptive in-
vestor. In addition to above average standing on each of the socio-

economic-demographic factors, the receptive individual is a higher than
-106-

 

 

-107-
average consumer of mass media--particular1y print media. He receives
more letters from people outside his immediate community and has more
visitors in his home from outside than the average person. He partici-
pates somewhat more than average in formal and informal groups. In other
words, he has an orientation towards less personal communication channels.

The receptive investor has a higher than average knowledge about
leadership and institutions in his country; his knowledge is particularly
greater about the specifics of the investment situation in which he has
chosen to involve himself. This greater knowledge contributes to a '4’
higher certainty about the details of business institutions, and is ac-
companied by a greater optimism about potential returns from business.

The individual who buys larger quantities of stock is more likely
than the average investor to have a higher income, be internationally
mobile, have foreign born parents, feel satisfied with present income and
conditions of life, have higher occupational status, be risk oriented,
own a personal business, trust non-friends and non-relatives, have high
education, read several newspapers, watch television, and have informal
meetings with neighbors.

The reasons given for purchase of stock suggest that the interaction
of media and interpersonal sources may produce quite different reactions
from financially able individuals, depending on their interest in business
profit or willingness to invest in country. "Investment in country" is
credited with greater influence on investors than "desire to make profit,"

but interest in investment in country is a more socially acceptable

-108-
response: many of the investment in country responses may, in fact, mask
a profit motivation. Nevertheless, the data provide at least indirect
evidence that ”economic man” in Costa Rica does not operate solely as a
profit-seeking individual.

A point worth emphasizing relates to reported incomes of stock-
holders. Although stockholders clearly have above gveragg incomes, the
purchase of stock was not limited to individuals with superior income.
Table I of Appendix A indicates that approximately 28$ had incomes of
$1800 or less per year, while only 12.5$ reported incomes greater than
$6000. There is considerable likelihood that income is to some extent
under-reported, but nevertheless a substantial proportion of the investors

are probably of modest means.

Mags Media Ipflugnce

Costa Ricans indicate considerable exposure to mass media. In fact,
the high exposure would seem to place the urban population very near the
"modern" end of the traditional-modern development continuum proposed by
Lerner, while the remote rural population probably falls towards the
"traditional" extreme (45). It is clear that information relevant to
investment in new enterprise can reach a substantial portion of the popu-
lation, since approximately 39% of the total national population was in-
fermed about the cement manufacturing plant by some form of the mass media.

Radio is the preferred media source at lower educational levels and
in rural areas. As education and urbanization rise, preference for print
media increases and predominates at higher educational and urbanization
levels. However, at equivalent educational and urbanization levels, radio

use is lower, television use is higher, and print media use is higher--

-109-
among stockholders when compared with the national sample. This suggests
that television and print media replace radio as the primary media source
when individuals become interested in business activities. Control by
income indicates this change is not altogether a function of financial
ability to purchase TV sets.

It is interesting that one newspaper, La Nacion, is credited as the

 

first information source by nearly 50% of both samples. Either this news-
paper is considered the most credible source for business news, or it pre-
dominates in circulation among individuals interested in business affairs.
Although we do not have data which directly measure credibility, these
results on the impact of newspapers would seem to contrast markedly with
findings of Carter and Sepulvedo who found radio sources more credible in
Santiago, Chile (11).

Although the data are not directly comparable, our findings gen-
erally agree with those of McNelly and Torres, whose results were limited
to the metropolitan area of San Jose, Costa Rica (49:44). However, the
present results add new information on the differential use of media by
investors and the national population. Individuals most receptive to
economic activity are decidedly more print media oriented than comparably
educated and financially able members of the general population.

This suggests an attitude of more intensive and detailed information
seeking among economic innovators. Newspapers and.magazines generally
contain greater variety and depth of information about a wider range of
events than does radio or television. Stockholders not only read more
newspapers and magazines but also indicate a preference (if slight) for
instrumental rather than consummatory print media, adding strength to the

inference of greater information seeking behavior among stockholders.

-110-

If stockholders can be considered comparable in some sense to the
innovators differentiated in rural diffusion studies, these findings lend
support to results reported by Deutschmann, Fals Borda, Mendez and Rogers
(16,17,57). Innovators are more mass media oriented than the general
population, even in rural areas where mass media are much less available
than in towns and cities of Costa Rica.

Deutschmann's hypothesis that increased media exposure is in itself
indicative of a predisposition to change or innovate also receives some
support from these data. The media may be used because there exists in
the innovative individual an openness to persuasion and alteration of
traditional ideas. ‘When an interesting new issue is expressed in the
media, a predisposition may exist to check it out through interpersonal
and other media channels. Clearly, the person who does not pay attention
to the media may also be predisposed to new thoughts, but his opportunities
for reception of ideas are limited by his personal contacts. The ideas .
must be filtered through the communication abilities, attitudes, values
and viewpoints of these contacts, and are, therefore, subject to serious
leveling and possible modification.

If the media content contains prescriptions for action, in addition
to the ideas promoting change, the individual with appropriate predispo-
sitions and broad exposure to the media can secure infbrmation on a range
of possibilities for action: the opportunity is provided to select from
among alternative actions those which.most closely approximate his pre-
dispositions. Henoe, increased opportunity fer exposure to media should
contribute to the probabilities of change.

Although the data do not offer direct evidence, it seems apparent

that the influence of the mass media had much to do with creation of

-111-
wide-spread favorable opinions about the cement plant, since very few of
the informedlnn:non-stockholding respondents indicated negative attitudes.
This supports Klapper's hypothesis that mass communication is capable of
structuring attitudes on "new” issues (36:60-61). Spector and Torres
found that radio was highly effective for the same purpose in rural vil-
lages of Ecuador (70).

The high incidence of mass media as first sources of information,
for both stockholders and non-stockholders, suggests that the "two step
flow" process was operating rather weakly in this case. In the majority
of first information events, there did not appear to be an ”intermediary
between the mass media source and the ordinary individual," as Katz and
Lazarsfeld, and others, found in studies of mass media effects (55:25).

Waisanen's idea of a three step information flow, from technical
source to innovators in the community to opinion leaders and thence to
other members of the traditional community, might be modified and expanded
to fit this less-traditional situation (7h). In this case, the pattern of
flow for first information seems to be from innovators or entrepreneurs,
to national opinion leaders, to the mass media, to receptive individuals
throughout the country. The flow pattern for later information is less

clear and probably varies widely from one individual to another.

Interpersonal Influence

The data indicate differences between equally educated stockholders
and non-stockholders in patterns of interpersonal contact with visitors
in the home, formal group memberships, and letters received from outside

the immediate community. This supports the notion that contact with wider

-112-
circles of people encourages consideration of alternative actions, and
is an indication of interest in innovation. ‘Wb do not, unfortunately,
have information on the exact nature of the visitors, formal groups, or
letter sources; if these data were available it might enable more specific
interpretation of the impact of individual group pressures toward con-
formiby. Nb can only infer that in the case of stockholders, the fact of
stock purchase indicates that visitors, group affiliations, and letters
received contributed to a positive opinion about purchase of stock.

The substantial incidence of contact by cement plant representatives
indicates another kind of personal influence on stockholders which may
have been quite decisive. The messages transmitted by the plant repre-
sentatives were undoubtedly detailed and positively oriented towards the
cement plant. However, it is difficult to know with any precision the
specific kinds of messages transmitted interpersonally, other than by
these representatives.

There is a clear relationship between use of print media and inter-
action patterns with persons and groups from outside the immediate com-
munity. Apparently print media encourage, or are encouraged by, inter-
action with people from outside, while radio and TV are not significantly
related. This may be a consequence of the fact that radio and TV'require
less attention and sophistication than print media, and allow one to be
more passively involved (as one often is with people in the immediate
community). Print media, on the other hand, require attention and effort
as does involvement with people from outside communities.

A similar rationale may explain why print media exposure and outside
of comunity interaction are associated with purchase of stock. The in-

dividual more conversant with outsiders and better informed by print media

-113-
is prepared to evaluate opportunities for involvement beyond his immediate
associations and activities.

The findings generally fit the "channel orientation" hypotheses
advanced by Deutschmann (17:3fi). The innovation oriented stockholder has
an inclination to use a greater number and variety of channels, particu-
larly those more distant from the self. However, the Deutschmann scheme
would predict lower stockholder informal interaction with relatives,
neighbors, fellow workers and close friends, which does not prove to be
the case; the distinction is rather between few channels and less inter-
action, and.more channels with greater variety of both personal and.imper-
sonal interactions.

The responses to questions regarding the most important influences
on the decision to invest provide the basis for re-interpretation of what
Deutschmann labels the "egocentric" or "intra-personal” channel. As
noted above, stockholders indicate their decision to purchase stock was
based primarily on (1) desire to invest in their country, and (2) desire
to make profits. These kinds of influences may arise partially from ref-
erence to mass media or persons, but they imply more directly an "intra-
personal" Judgment; the individual decides, on the basis of personal
goals and outside influences, that he wants to buy stock. His behavior
is not governed primarily by what others say, but rather by what he
thinks is right and proper based on his consideration of the evidence
available.

There may he, therefore, a predominantly ”intra-personal" channel
on both ends of the Deutschmann channel orientation continuum, one char-
acteristic of the more traditional isolated individual, and the other

characteristic of the more modern autonomous decisionsmaker.

 

.... 1.?» ,n-rl‘ H “H

-114.
Risk Orientation and Related Attitudes

Although it is difficult to calculate the exact probabilities gov-
erning the degree of risk involved in the investment under consideration,
it probably ranks towards the risk end of the ”risk-uncertainty continuum”
described in Chapter II; it is more likely a moderate rather than a high
risk investment.

It was the first such enterprise in Costa Rica, and, therefore, has
somewhat of a guaranteed market, at least for the forseeable future. Pre-
construction studies indicate adequate supplies of raw materials, labor,
transportation facilities, and other prerequisites for production of a
quality product over a long time period. The estimated sale price was
calculated to adequately cover the costs of production, benefits for
workers, and dividends for stockholders.

Uncertainties arise primarily from perceptions of potential mis—
management, unacceptability of product, natural disaster, unexpected com-
petition, or inaccurate estimates of costs and availability of inputs.
Individuals interested in investment possibilities should have been able
to secure adequate information about the plant and the economic environ-
ment in which it was to be constructed, in order to evaluate the risk and
uncertainty involved with reasonable objectivity. Stockholders (or at
least some large proportion of them, excluding those who did not them-
selves make the investment decision) apparently made such an evaluation,
and decided the uncertainty was sufficiently low; Informed members of
the non-stockholder sample divide themselves in several groups when asked
why they failed to invest: very few indicate negative attitudes (less than

55), but measured levels of knowledge in regard to specific questions

indicate substantial uncertainty about specifics of the plant and

-115-
expectations for dividends or profit opportunities.
Eliminating from consideration those of the national sample who

sincerely weren't interested in the idea of investment, or who lacked

 

funds, why did purchasers and non-purchasers evaluate the risk differ-
ently?

Attitudinal differences in risk orientation or chance orientation

' I§_(a‘p
r ill;

were advanced in Chapter II as one possible explanation. But the data *n

indicate, when controls are applied by sex, urbanization, and education,

 

that significant differences do not appear. If some degree of reliability =‘7
and validity of measures can be assumed, risk or chance orientation do not
satisfactorily explain the fact of investment or non-investment.

Analysis of levels of uncertainty regarding the cement plant,
through application of various controls, fails to eliminate significant
differences between the samples; stockholders appear to be substantially
more certain about specific details regarding the cement plant, and about
potential profits, than informed members of the national sample.

Greater certainty could arise from higher exposure to the mass
media and contact with cement plant representatives; or it could arise
from greater inter-personal contacts before or after stock purchase, in
formal and semi-formal organizations, with visitors in the home, from
letters received, or some combination of what is apparently a greater in-
tensity of communication behavior among stockholders.

Greater certainty may have contributed directly to higher dividend
expectations among stockholders. More optimistic expectations could have
arisen from.more detailed knowledge, or in part, from observation of the
expectations elicited by mass media and interpersonal contacts. In either

case, expectations may account significantly for the fact of stock purchase.

-115-

If this explanation is tenable, a basis for non-significance of
differences between the samples on risk orientation and attitudinal
measures, with controls by education, sex and urbanization, becomes
apparent. Higher education increases the capacity to use more channels
of communication and to gather more specific and detailed information;
the possibilities for understanding and evaluation of the alternative
uses of income are increased. Whether or not to invest in stock becomes
a logical and rational process of judgment, rather than being governed
primarily by specific attitudes and aspirations.

The studies of Schultz, Bowman and others, on the economic value
of education, would, therefore, seem to receive some support from these
data (9,63). Education contributes positively to many of the factors
leading to change and innovation, by extending the possibilities for more
efficient and extensive communication, and by enlarging the possibilities
for understanding more complex and abstract communications from media and
interpersonal sources.

Bowman insists that a certain minimum level of education is nec-
essary in a society before attitudes favorable to risk-taking and business
enterprise are likely to be widely developed. The data demonstrate sig-
nificant differences in risk orientation between stockholders and non-
stockholders only at 13 years of school or more, but there is a tendency
for risk orientation to increase as education increases in the stockholder
sample; this is not the case in the national sample. we cannot, there?
fore, reach any firm conclusions about the relationship between education
and risk orientation.

In Costa Rica, urbanization increases the communication channels

available; the individual has greater access to information and proximity

-117-
to communication sources. Similarly, increased income provides the means
to acquire more communication channels and thereby greater access to in-
formation. beility, particularly the international variety, provides
more opportunities for interaction and access to more channels, thus
broadening understanding of alternative behavior possibilities. Sex makes
a difference in the culture of Costa Rica because of the much greater
potential mobility and communication contact of’males; the female may be
as educated as the male (as the stockholder data indicate), but she has
much narrower opportunities to make use of the skills acquired.

Risk orientation then becomes a function of much more than simply
attitudinal inclination; it arises from interaction of the socio-economic-
demographic characteristics noted, from specific characteristics of in-
dividual communication behavior gag attitudinal predispositions based on

prior experience.

qugpnication and Ecoggmic Behavior

Messages from the mass media appear to have had a decided impact on
the ”reorganization of economic images” and provide one of the ”keys" to
understanding the economic dynamics of the investment situation under
study (8:90). The only consistent pattern of differences between the same
ples, among the variables measured, are those related to communication in-
fluences.

Messages from the mass media and personal sources seem to have
structured favorable attitudes toward the new manufacturing enterprise,
among most of the individuals informed about it. Although the nature of
the data does not permit clear interpretation of the precise impact of

these communication influences on the final investment decision, it seems

-118-
perfectly clear that a major reason for the wide-spread participation of
Costa Ricans was a function of the mass efforts by the initiators of the
cement plant to acquaint large numbers of people with the nature of the
opportunity available. The required investment ”inducement mechanimms'
discussed by Hirschmann may have been stimulated in this case by mass
media (30:28).

The rather substantial incidence of personal influence, by cement
plant representatives and others, indicates that a combination of'mass
media and personal efforts to inform and persuade proved to be widely
successful. Again, the nature of the data do not permit a clear inter-
pretation of the ”communication mix" which was gggt successful.

The data indicate a substantial openness to change among a sizeable
proportion of the Costa Rican population, stockholder and non—stockholder
alike. This openness to change is generally greater at higher educational
levels. It seems clearly possible that the well-developed state of mass
media and other communication facilities has made a substantial contri-
bution to ”change orientation.” The mass values in Costa Rica apparently
allow for the possibility of innovation and involvement in new activity,
or there would have been a much more limited acceptance of ”stock pur-
chase"as a legitimate activity.

Communication influences undoubtedly contribute to the formation
and structuring of expectations and consequent lowering of uncertainty.
One of the reasons for non-participation of individuals in economic
activities, such as investment in new enterprise, is uncertainty about
using available savings for such purposes. Increased consumption is a
visible and immediately satisfying use of extra funds, with very little

uncertainty involved.

‘1‘.” n...bu’-.I'n H IH

 

-119-

If investment of funds for ”instrumental" long range purposes is to
be undertaken, as an alternative to consumption, it would appear that
expectations mggt be structured with reasonable clarity, and uncertainty
about alternative outcomes must be minimized. Education obviously con-
tributes to individual ability in securing the necessary information to
accomplish this, but the data indicate stockholders were considerably
more certain about the investment situation than equally educated non-
stockholders.

Although few differences are evident between stockholders and non-
stockholders in levels of aspiration, the generally high aspirations in
both samples probably exists in part because of support for such aspira-
tions by the mass media. Widespread use of the media may encourage a
sharing of high educational and economic aspirations among large segments
of the population.

Similarly, aspirations for tangible involvement in ”national
development" may arise in part because of encouragement from the media.
The substantial proportion of stockholders who listed "investment in my
country" as the primary basis for stock purchase lends support to this
interpretation. Katona suggests that aspirations "tend to grow with
achievements and decline with failure," and "are influenced by the per-
formance of other members of the group to which a person belongs and by
that of reference groups." Aspirations are also "reality oriented” and
will seldom project much beyond possibilities for accomplishment (34:130).
This leads to the conclusion that Costa Ricans have some feeling of
achievement, particularly in education, but also in improvement of in-
comes and other aspects of national progress. The increase in aspirations

as education increases, in both samples under consideration, indicates a

-lZO-
"reality orientation," but also optimism.about future possibilities for

self and country.

Egogpmic Developgent

Most writers on economic development credit "innovation” and
"entrepreneurship" with a central role in the process of change. A few
individuals must be sufficiently free of restraints and tradition to ven-
ture into uncharted behavior. Boulding, LaPiere, and others insist that
new behavior always starts with a new idea of what is possible (8:93:
41:10?). This new idea may be ”invented" by a creative mind, or it may
come from sources of information outside the individual.

Once the new idea is in existence, it must gain wider acceptance if
if is not to be crushed by tradition. This means persons other than the
inventor, innovator, or entrepreneur must be open to change. The stock-
holders clearly manifest this openness, but their attitudinal similarity
to non-stockholders of equal education indicates that change might not
have taken place without appropriate exertion of influence.

The inference may, therefore, be drawn that economic development
requires not only invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship to institute
changes, but also requires a means of involving large numbers of less
creative but change oriented individuals. Without this larger involve-
ment, frustration and sluggish development is likely.

The economic value of communication.mechanisms was in the present
case quite clearly perceived by the initiators of the cement plant. They
expended large sums (often in the forms of shares of stock) to communicate
via the mass media about the new enterprise. They offered commissions to
private agents to publicize and sell the shares of stock. They used

-121-
radio, television, and newspapers as instruments to improve the economic
viability of the enterprise.

The enterprise initiators were apparently trying to educate the
public generally, and the potential stock purchasers in particular, about
the nature of the enterprise and its ability to fulfill national values
and individual satisfactions. They were increasing the quantity of knowl-
edge about economic development whether or not this was their explicit in-
tent. If the "knowledge" transmitted is validated by fulfillment of the
expressed intent of the cement plant, and the stockholders duly rewarded,
the experience should clearly encourage further such action. On the other
hand, failure of part or all of the expressed intent could have a negative

effect.

 

Implicatigns for Businessmen with Shares of Stock to 89;;

If there is any practical value to this investigation, the following
points seem worthy of note:

1. The mass media, particularly print media, can serve as a useful
means of disseminating information about the availability of stock and
details about business enterprise.

2. Once information.is disseminated it should be re-infbrced with
continuing information from the media, but with deliberate efforts to con-
tact potential investors personally, through formal organizations, by
visiting their homes, and through letters to individuals.

3. Individuals contacted should exhibit above average education,
income, mobility, and occupational status, and should live primarily in
urban areas. .However, contact should not be limited to the upper levels
on each of these factors, but should include other individuals who are

«122-
high consumers of print media, and who actively participate in various
informal and formal groups.

a. The sales appeal should include not only potential profitability
of the shares of stock, but some details on the potential contribution of
the enterprise to local and national development.

5. It is possible to secure substantial blocks of funds for ine
itiation of an industrial enterprise through sale of stock, provided a
positive image of the enterprise can be created through mass media pub-

licity and interpersonal communication.

Implications for Further Research

.Many of the uncertain results of this investigation.might have been
clarified had it been possible to measure the impact of specific communi-
cation channels used during the process of the stock sales campaign.

Much of the data on sources of information about the cement plant
are based on distant recall. A study of a stock selling campaign while it
is in operation would enable more precise and accurate measurement of
specific sources of information and the impact of such sources on the
decision to invest or not invest.

We did not attempt to measure the specific content of information
used in the decision process. Another study might concentrate more on
the details of sources of information used and the specific influence of
each source on the investment decision.

.Huch of the failure to find significant differences on.many measures
(particularly of attitudes) may be a function in part of the heterogeneity
of the samples: i.e., in many cases the number of individuals at each

educational level was sufficiently low in one sample or the other, to

-123-
make discovery of possible differences difficult. A new study with more
homogeneous samples of comparable size might produce more dependable
results, with possibilities for tighter control much enhanced.

On the basis of data identifying the kind of persons likely to in-
vest in new enterprise, it would be interesting to attempt an experi-
mental examination of a new investment situation. A limited number of
communities might be chosen, from which samples could be drawn on the
basis of socio-economic-demographic areas. These might be interviewed
in advance of the initiation of a new enterprise, enabling predictions
of potential investors on the basis of socio-economic-demographic char-
acteristics, communication behavior, and attitudes toward risk. Tabu-
lation of those actually purchasing stock in the new enterprise would
test the predictions. The sample might then be re-interviewed after
initiation of the new enterprise to determine failures of predictions,
and the precise basis for decisions to invest or not invest.

Such an ”experimental" approach might use the samples drawn for
the present study, and the data collected, to predict likely investors
in another new enterprise. The re-interviewing procedure could then be
used to study the communication and investment process in the new situ-
ation.

An experimental approach would also allow for more detailed exam-
ination of ”post-decision” reactions of stock purchasers, after the plant
has been in operation fer a sufficient length of time for payment of
dividends and other evidences of success or failure. Reactions to first
involvement in economic enterprise will undoubtedly govern attitudes
toward further involvement.

The concept of risk orientation needs to be refined and more

-124-
adequately measured. Single measures of the kind used may not be suf—
ficiently reliable or valid to provide firm evidence to test the hypoth-
esis formulated. It should be possible to develop a several item scale
of attitude toward risk which would provide higher reliability, and
measure other dimensions of the concept than simple choice among three
risk alternatives. An important part of such a new effort should include
an attempt to measure ”perceived” risk involved in several investment or
savings alternatives.

A cement manufacturing plant is only one of the many kinds of in-
vestments important to economic development, and may be a unique type of
enterprise (particularly in this case, since it is the first of its kind
in Costa Rica). Further research should examine the investment process
in other kinds of manufacturing enterprise and in businesses other than
manufacturing.

Cross-cultural comparisons would also be highly useful, to compare
cultural differences, and to identify variables common to investment and
other economic behavior.

Finally, there are probably many issues of great significance to
investment, and economic behavior in general, that have not been touched
in the present research. We hope that critical examination of this work
by other students of the subject will lead to fruitful additions to under-
standing of the investment process and its contribution to man's quest for

a more productive and satisfying environment.

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APPENDIX A - INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Project 509CR

 

 

For office use only: Respondent No. ;
Area code J
Checked by: (Interviewer: leave blank) ‘31

 

Card received:
Field check:

 

 

 

Interviewer no.: .L‘"

Interviewer: .Mark interview completed below. Circle initials repre-
senting number of visits made before interview.

( ) ORIGINAL ( ) SUBSTITUTE ( ) SUBSTITUTE
SAMPLE SAMPLE l SAMPLE 2
( ) First Visit: R NEC NH R NEC NH R NEC NH
( ) lst return R NEC NH R NEC NH R NEC NH
( ) 2nd return R NEC NH R NEC NH R NEC NH
( ) 3rd return ' R NEC NH R NEC NB

Other: (explain)

 

Good morning. I'm.from Programa Interamericano de Informacion Popular.
We're conducting a survey to learn about people's attitudes and beliefs
connected with their daily life. Is it convenient for you to speak with
me privately right nmw?

 

INTERVIEWER: If respondent answers ”no" or you see indications
of a poor interview situation, such as company, small children
still awake, absorbing TV program, etc., make some mention of
the difficulty (if appropriate) and then ask:

 

Is there some time between.now and (Wbdnesday, for example) that would
be more convenient for you? I'd be glad to come back and talk to you
at any time you mention.

 

INTERVIEWER: HAND RESPONDENT CARD SHOWING LADDER. POINT TO TOP

OF LADDER EACH TIME IOU’MENTION IT. (TOP OF LADDER IS STEP NUMBER
10) POINT TO BOTTOM OF LADDER EACH TIME YOU MENTION IT. WHILE YOU
ASK A QUESTION, MOVE YOUR FINGER UP AND DOWN'LADDER RAPIDLY.

 

 

-131-

1. Now here is a picture of a ladder. Suppose we say that at the 59p of
the ladder stands a person who is living the pgst possible life, and
at the ppttog stands a person who is living the worst possible life.

a. What step on the ladder do you feel ypp personally stand at the
present time?
Step number:

 

b. What step on the ladder would you say you stood give years ago?

Step number:

 

c. What step do you think you will be on the ladder {Tyg,years
from now?
Step number :

 

2. Now let's change the things which stand at the top and bottom of this
ladder. Suppose we say that the 19p of the ladder represents your
hopes for Costa Rica and the bottop represents your yppst fears for
Costa Rica.

a. What step do you think Costa Rica stands on the ladder at the

passenp time?
Step number:

 

b. What step did Costa Rica stand on the ladder fiyp ypars agp?

Step number:

 

c. What step do you think Costa Rica will stand on {Tve ypars frog

9.2!?
Step number:

 

6. At the 39p of the ladder stands a person who wants to do new thipgg
all of the time. He wants life to be exciting and always changing
although this may make life quite troublesome. At the ppttom stands
a person who wants a vegy §teagy and unchanging life.

8. Up at the 32p of the ladder stands someone who has 511 the ppppgpppipy
and chances to do apthTpg he wanfis pp do. Down at the bottqp is
someone who can't do apyghing he wants to dp.

9. At the tpp_of the ladder stands someone who can do very much to make
his life happier. At the pgpppp_stands someone who can do very little
to make his life happier.

11. About how many hours a day would you say you look at television?

Hours __ Minutes NOne

 

1L EEH‘V

 

12.

1h.

16.

17.

18.

19.

-132-
About how many hours a day would you say you listen to radio?

Hours Minutes None
What magazines or newspapers do you read regularly or occasionally?

Do you belong, or have you ever belonged to a labor union, farm
organization, or business or professional group?

(If answer is yes, ask the following:)

Labor union Were (are) you an officer?
Farm group

Business or professional group

thcounting informal get together groups, are you a member of any
other clubs or organizations that meet more or less regularly?

(If answer is yes, ask the following:)

How many such groups?
Which one is the most important to you?
(Enter actual name)
(Probe and put in whether organization is political, social, re-
ligious, recreational, or service.)

 

No answer

 

Apart from these recognized groups we have been talking about, some
people get together informally every once in awhile. Sometimes they
just talk or visit and sometimes they do things together.

How often do you get together with any of your neighbors?

At least once a week
A few times a month
About twice a mongh
A few times a year
Never

No answer

How often do you get together, outside of work, with any of the
people you (your husband) work (8) with?

At least once a week
A few times a month
About twice a month Never
A few times a year __ No answer

 

 

 

-133-

20. HOw often do you get together with any of your relatives other than
those living at home with you?

23. If you received a money gift today which is equal to the amount of
money you earn in a whole year in your present work, would you:

(READ ALTERNATIVES To THE RESPONDENT, WHO SHOULD PICK JUST ONE. IF
HE DOES NOT KNOW, MARK d.)

a. Invest most of it in a business with high risk but chance of
great profit? '

 

b. Put most of it in a bank or other business with very low risk
but getting a little profit?

 

c. Not invest it at all?

 

d. No answer.

 

 

INTERVIEWER: FOR THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS PROBE: DO YOU AGREE
STRONGLY, 0R ONLY SLIGHTLY? OR, DO YOU DISAGREE STRONGLY OR ONLY
SLIGHTLY? RECORD RESPONSES UNDER FOLLOWING READINGS:

AGREE STRONGLY -- YES

AGREE SLIGHTLY -- yes

DON'T KNOW 0R CAN'T DECIDE -- ?
DISAGREE SLIGHTLY -- no
DISAGREE STRONGLY -- NO

 

New I'm going to read some statements to you. I would like you to tell
me if you agree or disagree with the statement: that is, tell me if you
think the statement is right or wrong. Here are the statements:

53. Have you ever considered moving from this community?

Yes No No answer

 

5b. Have you ever visited or lived in any foreign countries?

 

 

 

 

Yes No No answer
57. ‘What was your age on your last birthday? No answer
60. no you know how to read and write? Yes No
Read write

 

No answer

 

 

 

1' ‘13459

61.

62a.

65a

66.

67a

68.

69.

85a

87.

88.

89.

-134-
What was the last grade or year you completed in school?

Are you presently doing anything that could help you get ahead in
your field of work or job?

 

(If yes) What are you doing?

2.51

What is (was) your job? (Title) is

AAA) .
,p

What do (did) you do in your job? (Description)

 

Are (were) you self’employed? ’ I
Yes How many do you usually have working fer you?
NO H w many employees do you usually supervise?

H w long have you worked at your present (last) occupation?

About how many different regular Jobs would you say you have had
since you began working?

Counting rents, interest, wages, salary, and things like that, in
which one of these categories did your total family income fall last
year? This is before taxes.

 

(ENTER LETTER OF CATEGORY)
No answer Code number
DO you own your home here, or do you rent it? (Consider home as
belonging to you even though you may still be paying for it.)
Own Rent Other (specify)
(IF RENT, ASK:) Approximately how much is your rent per month?
(IF OWN OR OTHER, ASK:) If you were renting your home to someone
else, about how much cOuld you rent it for unfurnished?

hhere were you.born? (CITY, STATE, COUNTRY)

Did any of your parents or grandparents come to this country from
another country?

-135-
Yes No Doesn't know

(IF YES, ASK ”WHICH ONES", AND RECORD)

 

 

 

 

Mbther from Father from
Mether's father Father's father
Mbther's mother Father's mother

 

 

90. Do you own, rent, or work this farm on shares?

Others

 

91. HOw many acres are there on this farm?

102. HOw many years of school would you like to have your son(s) complete?
(OR, IF YOU HAD SONS THIS YOUNG . . .)

) No information

0-4

5- 6 (Check here for "elementary school")
80

\7 O\U\ CK») N I—‘ O
I
AAAAAAAA

7-
9-1
11-12 (Check here for ”secondary school")
1-
l

5-16 (Check here for "university")

103. A good son will try to find work that keeps him near his parents,
even though it means giving up a good job in another part of the
country.

YES yes ? no NO

104. It is never a good idea to borrow money for any purpose if it can
be avoided.

109. I prefer to risk a little to make a lot. That way if a person is
right one time in five, he is doing alright.

110. In dealings with others, one can really only trust friends and
relatives.

115. Let's consider the ladder again. At the top of the ladder stands a
person whose income is more than adequate, and at the bottom of the
ladder stands a person whose income is completely inadequate. In
terms of income, where would you place yourself?

 

_ I]
I'L-njr "3'

 

116.

116b.

117.

118.

119.

-136-

 

 

 

 

Now? Step number
Five years ago Step number
Five years from now Step number __

 

 

wa'ma y times in the past month have you been visited by friends,
relatives, or pp! person from cher communities? That is, how many
people from outside this community have visited you in the past
month?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 No answer

 

flew many of these people were up; well known to you?
O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 No answer

 

Have you heard about the new cement factory just beginning operation

in Costa Rica?

2. Yes 1. No 0. No answer

HOw did you hear about it {1:3t?
Perspnal sopycg:

 

O. No answer ( )
1. Person in community: relative ( )
2. non-relative ( )
3. Person in nearby community: relative ( )
4. ’ non-relative ( )
5. Person in distant community: relative ( )
6. non-relative ( )
7. Cement plant representative ( )
Tppprsonal sourcg:

O. No answer ( )
1. Newspaper

2. La Nacion ( )
Which ones? 3. La Prensa Libre E )

4.
5. Magazines ( )
6. Pamphlets ( )
7. Radio ( )
8. Television ( )
9. Other (specify) ( )

After you received this first information about the cement plant,
have you received any additional information about it from:

 

 

119a.

119b.

1190 e

119d.

120.

121.

122.

I
H
\a)
“I T’

 

Newspapers 1. Yes 2. No 0. No answer
Magazines 1. Yes 2. No 0. No answer
Pamphlets 1. Yes 2. No 0. No answer
Radio 1. Yes 2. No 0. No answer
Television 1. Yes 2. No 0. No answer

 

Any other mass media sources?

 

After receiving the first information, have you talked or otherwise
communicated with relatives about the cement plant?

1. Yes 2. No 0. No information

 

(IF ANSWER IS YES)

Did you talk to them in this community or someplace else?

1. In this community 2. Other community
3. Both 0. No information

 

 

Did you talk about it with people other than relatives?
1. Yes 2. No 0. No information
(IF ANSWER IS YES)

Did you talk to them in this community or in another community?

1. In community 2. Other communicy
3. Both

 

Hew many people will the cement plant employ when it is in full
operation? Number

1. Correct 2. Wrong
0. Don't know

Wes all the money for building the factory obtained in Costa Rica,
or did some of it come from outside the country?

1. From Costa Rica 2. From outside country
0. Don't know

 

Is the factory being run by the government?
1. Yes 2. No 0. Don't know

 

123.

124.

125.

125b.

126a.

126b.

127.

128.

-138-

Where is the factory located?

 

2. Correct 1. wrong 0. Don't know
hall the cement produced by the factory be sold in competition
with cement produced by other companies?

10 Yes 20 NO

Have you purchased stock in the cement plant?

1. Yes 2. No

HOw much stock have you bought?

O. No information 1. (l) 2. (2-5) 3. (6-10)
4. (ll-19) 5. (20-29) 6. (30-49) 8. (70-99)
9. (100 or more)

Which would you say were your most important reasons fer not buying
cement plant stock?

0. No information 3. No interest
1. NO money 4. Someone said they were
2. Bad investment no good

5. Others (specify)

 

What influenced you most in your decision to buy stock?

 

O. No information 7. To make profit
1. Relative 8. Fer fun

2. "Chief" 9. Investment

3. Friend 10. Others (specify)
4. Newspaper

5. Radio

6. Television

Do you think the opinions of the stockholders will affect the
operation of the cement plant?

1. Yes 2. No 0. Don't know

 

What do you think will be the rate of returns on the stocks for
the cement plant once it starts operating?

 

-139-

0. Don't know 5. 8—9$

1. 1% 6. 10-11%

2. 2-3% 7. 12-13%

3. 4.5% 8. More than 13%
a. 6-7%

129. Which of the following requisites do you consider most important
to make your life more happy and satisfactory?

Nothing ( ) Good health ( )
Mere money ( ) Others (specify)
Mere friends ( )
Better job ( )

 

So that my organization can check my work in this interview if it wants
to, may I have your name and address, please.

Name
Address City or town _

 

FILL IN THE FOLLOWING:

Sex of respondent: Masculine Femenine

 

Race: White Black Other (specify if possible)

Location of respondent's home:
Urban_ Suburban Rural

 

Date:

 

Others present during the interview (specify)
(If possible avoid having others present.)

 

Time interview started Time interview ended

 

I hereby affirm that this is a true and honest interview:
Interviewer:

 

-1140-

APPENDIX B - UNCONTROLLED FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGE

RESULTS FOR IMPORTANT VARIABLES

DEMOGRAPHIC V B

TABLE 1 — Income

 

m

 

 

 

Stockholders National Sam 1e

N Z N Z
Less than $451 4 1.61 338 32.50
$903-l813 46 18.63 175 18.83
$1814-3759 65 26.31 78 7.50
$3760-6015 42 17.00 16 1.53
$6016 or more 31 12.55 2 .19
N. I.‘ 40 16.19 160 15.39

Mean Income $2266 $696

 

TABLE 2 - Education

 

24—
J

 

a

 

Years of school Stockholders National Sam 1e
3 E N E
No school 2 .81 133 12.79
1-3 years 15 6.07 292 28.0?
4-5 years 29 11.74 248 23.84
6-8 years 64 25.91 208 20.01
9-12 years 78 31.58 73 7.02
13 or more 49 19.84 33 3.19
N. I."I 10 4.05 53 5.10
Mean years schooling 9.1 4.5

 

I"N. I. signifies No Information in each of the tables where it

appears.

 

'.R

EV"

W

"I

-141-
TABLE 3 - Sex

 

 

Stockholders Nat o 1 Sam

1.7—”LT“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A!
Male 179 72.5 520 50
Female 68 27.5 520 50
Total 247 100.00 1040 100
TABLE 4 - Age
Stockholders National Sam
3 E E
Less than 19 5 2.0 8 .8
20-29 years 42 17.0 278 26.7
30-39 73 29-6 284 27.3
40-49 62 25.1 215 20.7
70 or more 6 2.4 34 3.3
N. I. 8 3.2 14 1.4
Total 247 100.00 1040 100.00
man Age “102 “'50“

 

 

-142-

TABLE 5 - Occupation"l

 

 

2—_* 2—
—“ I

Stoc 1 e s at 0 Sam
N E N.

 

 

Professionals, large owners

 

 

& managers (non-salaried) 61 24.70 100 9.62
Officials & medium proprietors 52 21.05 27 2.59
Office workers, artesans, sales-

men, technician assistants 5? 23.08 177 17.02
Small proprietors 20 8.10 A 47 4.52
Service workers, small farmers,

fishermen, miners, day labor. 28 11.33 274 26.44
Maids, other domestic workers 2 .81 17 1.63
Persons who have not worked 26 10.53 393 37.79
N. I. l .40 10 .96

 

I"There are 15 categories in the original uncombined code - these
have been summarized to seven.

TABLE 6 - Mobility

S ck ol ers Nationa S
N i 1.! Z

IpLernationaT:

Has visited other countries 131 53.04 134 12.88
Fer more than one month 113 45.75 102 9.81
Parents from other countries 74 29.96 115 11.06
Occppgtioppl:
Jobs held - Only 1 42 17.00 490 47.12
2 75 31.17 230 22.12
3 52 21.05 133 12.79
4 36 14.57 74 7.12
5 & up 31 11.74 76 7.95

Na Is 11 4.45 37 3056

-143-

TABLE 6 - Continued

w

c e de s
.3 Z

 

Years in present job
Hasn't worked
0-5
6-10
11-20
21 or more

Residgncg:

No change

Change in some province
Change in diff. province
Change in countries
Indeterminate change

Rural to urban
Urban to rural
Rural to rural
Urban to urban

TABLE 7 -- Residence-- Urbanization

2?
51
65
59
45

10.93
23.2
29.5
26.8
20.5

sees arses

N H NH
sumo myovg

 

 

394
221

102
148

175

323

61

122
113
233
188

 

 

Capitol city area

Other large city

Remote city (not in the
Central Plateau or’main rail-
ways)

Rural town

Rural plateau

Remote village

Remote rural

N. I.

51.82
29.15

1.21
5.67
5.67
2.02
1.62

2e83

20.10
22.31

7.40
11.63

2.40
22.40
13.

.29

 

-144-
TABLE 8 - Property or Business Ownership

 

Qaae_s_haaiaaaa: 94 38.06 186 17.88
Size--in people employed
None 18 7.29 81 7.79
1-4 33 13.36 71 6.83
5-9 18 7.29 24 2.31
10-24 17 6.88 8 .77
25 or more 8 3.23 2 .20
flpne pppprship: 171 69.23 630 60.58
Estimated rental value
$7-50 or loss 3 1.21 377 36.25
$22057‘u5e11 53 Zleué 64 6015
$45.12-90.23 37 14.98 25 2.40
$90.24~l50.38 22 8.91 4 .38
$150.39-225.56 6 2.43 . . . .
$225.57 or more 3 1.21 . . . .

f n-owned :

$7050 or 1083 e o e e 98 90152
$70 51.-220 56 18 7e 29 153 14'. 71
322.57-45.11 15 6.07 4 41 3.94
$45.12-90.23 22 8.91 I 10 .96
$90024'150e38 3 1021 e e e e
$150.39-225.56 1 .40 l . . . .
$225057 or more a e e e ' e e e e
gypp_Tgpg: 13 5.26 I 195 18.78
Size in hectares i
Less than 5 3 1.21 i 50 4.81
6-20 2 .81 g 55 5.29
21-50 5 2.02 g 39 3.75
51-200 2 .81 i 48 4.61
201 &‘up 2

.81 5 18 1.73

-145-
TABLE 9 - Sample Level

Stockhol er
‘3 g

 

Nat onal S e
1‘ E

 

Original sample 227 91.90 869 83.56
First substitute 20 8.10 115 11.06
Second substitute . . . . 6 . 58
' Irregular choice . . . . 50 4.81

 

 

‘"Irregular choice" largely represents those cases in which we
were able to determine the interviewer chose the wrong person within
the household - the final sampling stage.

TABLE 10 - Visits by Interviewers

 

 

 

 

First visit 144 58. 857 82.40
First return 66 26.72 140 13.
Second return 29 11.74 37 3.56
Third return 8 3.24 4 .38
N. I. . . . . 2 .81
TABLE 11 - Date

We kho der ' W

N N.
mat. week a e e e 322 30e96
Second week 3 1.21 303 29.13
Third week 12 4.86 255 24.52
Fburth week 58 23.48 61 5.87
Fifth week 66 26.72 18 1.73
Sixth week 87 35.22 3 .29
Seventh week or later 20 8.10 31 2.98
N. I. 1 .40 47 4.52

L

 

 

 

-145-
TABLE 12 - Length of Interview

 

Stoc lders Nat S 1e
!. Z N

 

 

45 minutes or less 50 20.24 189 18.17
46-60 minutes 102 41.30 403 38.75
61-75 minutes 53 21.46 246 23.65
76-90 minutes 26 10.53 133 12.79
91 plus minutes 13 5.26 51 4.90
N. I. 3 1.21 18 1.73
Median 46-60 46-60

TABLE 13 - Stockownership

 

Shares Held Stockhold rs
N Z
1 - $15 38 15-38
2'5 - $30-75 76 30.7?
6-10 - $90-150 56 22.67
11-29 - 3165-435 39 15-79
30 or more - $450 or more 25 10.12
N. I. 13 5.26

 

COMMQNICATION VTRTAQLES
TABLE 14 - Mass Media Exposure

 

 

 

QaiTy T! Viewing
None 133 53.85 918 88.27
One hour or less 65 26.32 37 3.56
One to two hours 41 16060 “‘5 #033
Mere than two hours 8 3.23 22 2.13

N. I. . . . . 18 1.73

-147-
TABLE 14 - Continued

 

 

 

S as elders .. ti 1 _
E Z N

Listens to Eoreigp Redio 0; TV

None 178 72 . O6 853 82 . 02
Rarely 30 12.15 51 4. 9O
Occasionally 20 8.10 59 5. 67
Regularly 18 7.29 55 5.29
N . I . . . . . 22 2 . 12

Dai Radio Liste

None 54 21 . 86 377 36 . 25
One hour or 1es s 108 43. 72 196 18 . 85
One to two hours 43 17 .41 179 17 . 21
Two to three hours 27 10 . 93 108 10 . 38
Three or more hours 15 6. 06 168 16 . 15
N 9 I O O O C C 12 1 C 16
Mber of Newgpapgrs Rgad Daily
None 13 5.26 469 45.10
One 62 25 .10 366 35 . 19
Two 81 32 . 79 149 14. 33
Three 63 25-51 35 3.37
Four or more 28 11 . 33 19 2 . 82
N o I o e e e o 2 a 19

Number of Inst_rpmenta1
Newspggrs Read

 

 

None 207 83 . 81 1036 99 . 62
One 29 ll. 74 4 . 38
Two 8 3.24 . . . .
Three 3 1.21 . . . .
Mber of Magazines Read
None 62 27.13 792 76.15
One 56 22.67 146 14.04
Two 69 27.94 69 6-63
Three or more 55 22.27 32 3.08
N. I. O O O O l .10
Mber OT Instrumental Mag. Regd
None 207 83 . 81 994 95. 39
one 29 11.74 42 4.04
Two or more 11 4.45 6 . 58

.—_

 

-148-

TABLE 15 - Private Communication Patterns

 

 

Stock lders Natio a1 Sam 1
.N Z A! :2

 

Nppber of yisipprs in hgme fgpp
ontsidg the cgppppgty ip pgst

pent;

None 39 15.79 377 36-25
3—4 43 17.84 193 18.55
7 or more 6 2.43 13 1.25
Don't know 81 32.79 3 176 16.92

Number OT these yTsitgrs 339
'were pergoppTTy'we11 529:3

None 189 76.52 725 69.71

1-3 31 12.54 202 19.41

4 or more 12 4.86 49 4.72

N. I. 15 6.07 64 6.15
Mber of lettgrs receTvgd Tron

ot er co ties in st no t

NOne 70 28.34 643 61.83

1-2 50 20.24 203 19.52

3 or more 70 28.34 137 13.17

Don't know 57 23.07 57 5.48

 

 

 

TABLE 16 - Organizational Involvements

 

 

Stoc hold rs -stoc holde s
.N Z N 2

h i f a 5
(Total) 84 34.01 92 8.85
Wbrkers organization 18 7.29 33 3.17
Officer 6 2.43 8 .77
Agricultural organization 11 4.45 16 1.54

Officer 3 1.21 7 .67

-149-
TABLE 16 - Continued

W‘—

 

 

 

 

Stockholders NOn-stockholders
N 11.
bers n forms re 8
Commercial organization 24 9.71 7 .67
Officer . . . . . . . .
Professional organization 40 16.20 41 3.94
Officer 8 3.24 7 .67
b s in informal o s 83 33.6 122 11.73
Number of groups
1 47 19-03 97 9-33
2 10 4.05 18 1.73
3 or more 26 10.51 7 .68
Kind pf group considered most
Tppgrtant
Political . . . . 12 1.15
Social 19 7.69 12 1.15
Religious 4 1.62 20 1.92
Recreational 21 8.50 22 2.12
Service . 39 15.79 58 5.58
COMMUNICATION RELATED TO THE C T

TABLE 17 — Personal Sources of First Information
about the Cement Manufacturing Plant

 

Stock elders
T, Z

Natio 1 Sam e
N Z

 

Ha e knowl e of t e ant 247 100.00
co t so e

Relative 23 9.31

Non-relative 14 5.67

ear co unit so rc

Relative 2 .81
Non-relative 3 1.21

 

 

503 48. 37
33 6.56
30 5.96

a .80
11 2.19

-150-
TABLE 17 - Continued

 

 

Stockholders NatTonal Sample
N Z N
Distant community source
Relative 2 .81 3 .60
Non—relative 2 .81 11 2.19
Cemept plant representative 44 17.81 8 1.60
N. I. 1 .40 3 .60
Tot5153
In community 37 14.98 53 10.54
Nearby community 5 2.02 15 2.95
Distant community 4 1.62 14 2.78
Relative 27 10.93 40 7.95
Non-relative 19 7.69 52 10.34
......... , _ - - - - _ _ - - -
Total personal first sources 90 36.44 93 18.49

 

 

TABLE 18 - Impersonal (Mass Media) Sources of First
Information about the Cement Plant

 

 

Ram—read
Stockholders National Sam 1e
N N Z
Newspapgrs
La Nacion 106 42.91 228 45.33
Prensa Libre 16 6.48 13 2.58
La Republica 2 .81 9 1.79
Other 20 8.10 6 1.19
Total Newspapers 144 58.30 256 50.89
Radio 20 8.10 139 27.63
Television 1 .40 3 .60
Magazine or pamphlet 1 .40 4 .80
N. I. 1 .40 6 1.19
Total impersonal sources 167 67.61* 408 81.11*

 

 

*Totals reach more than 100$7because some respondents indicated
both a personal and impersonal first source.

-151-

TABLE 19 - Supplementary Sources of Information
about the Cement Plant

Stockholders Informed Nationa Sam 1e
N Z i! Z

 

 

 

 

 

 

Impersonal
Newspapers 200 80.97 275 54.67
Magazines or pamphlets 141 57.09 33 6.56
Radio 135 54.66 274 54.47
Television 54 21.86 31 6.16
Other mass media 32 12.96 20 3.98

Personal - Relatives 151 61.13 141 28.03
In immediate community 105 42.51 100 19.88
Outside community 16 6.48 35 6.96
Both places 31 12.55 6 1.19

Eersonal - Non-relatTves 180 72.87 178 35.39
In community 93 37.65 104 20.68
Outside community 24 9.72 49 9.74
Both places 63 25.51 25 4.97

 

TABLE 20 - Detailed Knowledge of the Cement Plant

Stockholders Informed Nat onal Sam 1
N Z N Z

 

 

 

 

 

Number of persons to be

employed 29 11.74 55 10.93
Source of funds 174 70.45 162 32.21
Management 209 84.62 189 37.57
Location 220 89.07 256 50.89
Competition for product

Expected:

Yes 196 79.35 313 62.23
No 48 19.43 158 31.41

Stockholders will have in-
fluence on operation:

Yes 192 77.73 337 67.00
No 40 16.19 63 12.52

-152-
TABLE 20 - Continued

Stock ders ormed National 3
N 3 NI 1

Profits to be expected on

the stock:

1* 6 2.43 7 1.39
2-3% 10 4.05 21 4.17
4-51 9 3.64 31 6.16
6-71 12 4.86 10 1.99
8-9$ 17 6.88 22 4.37
10-12$ 17 6.88 14 2.78
12 or more 21 8.50 10 1.99
Don't know' 155 62.75 361 71.77

 

TABLE 21 - Principle Influences on Purchase
or Non-purchase of Stock

Stockhold s 0 ed National Sam 1e
.N 3 NZ Z

 

Externgl

Relative
Boss
Friend

The newspapers 6

Radio
Thterna1

To make money

Fer fun

Investment in country

Others or don't know

No - cha

No money

Bad investment
No interest in investments
Fear of plant failure

Others

No response

56
1
122

17

272
11
103
12
25
67

54.08
2.19
20.48
2.39
4.97
13.32

-153-
RISK ORIENTATION

TABLE 22 - Attitudes toward Risk and Chance Preferences

Stockholders Nati na Sam
N Z N Z

 

 

Inygspppnt of ppnpy gTTp

High risk preference 84 34.01 239 22.98
Mederate risk preference 146 59.11 613 58.94
Low risk preference 11 4.45 125 12.02
N. I. 6 2.43 60 5.77
Prefers to risk a little
Lo 9553 a 19;
Decidedly agree +2 7 2.83 82 7.88
Agree +1 4 1.62 ‘ 54 5.19
Uncertain ? 1 .40 ‘ 60 5.77
Disagree -1 53 21.46 i 265 25.48
Decidedly disagree -2 181 73.28 ; 577 55.48
N. I. 1 .40 7 2 .19
It Ts neypr good to
porrow’mohgy
+2 149 60.32 616 59.23
+1 41 16. : 159 15.29
7 4 1.62 3 18 1.83
-2 46 18.62 i 159 15.29
Ne Is 1 .40 I 2 019
On; can really OQTy true;
TrTends and yelatiypg l
1
+2 49 19.84 } 394 37.88
£1 38 15.38 i 210 20.19
? 23 9.31 ; 50 4.81
-1 35 14.17 | 143 13.75
-2 101 40.89 7 241 23.17

N. I. l .40 2 .19

 

-151...

TABLE 23 - General Attitudes toward Change,
Child-raising, Politics, and the Future

 

 

Stock old rs National S 1
N Z N Z

 

 

A good son wants to 11ve hear his
pprents, regardless of 10b

__——-—_——

oppprtunity

Decidedly agree +2 93 37.65 528 50.77
Agree +1 26 10.53 171 16.44
Uncertain ? 7 2.83 47 4.52
Disagree -1 32 12.96 77 7.40
Decidedly disagree -2 88 35.63 215 20.67
N. I. 1 .40 2 .19

 

TABLE 24 - Educational Aspirations for Children

 

 

Primary school only 7 2.83 154 14.81‘
Through high school 12 4.86 154 14.81
University 225 91.09 724 69.62
N. I. 3 1.21 7 2.83

   

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85 6623