American Armenian Diaspora Survey
I. INTRODUCTION
This report addresses research conducted by Menlo Consulting Group (MCG) on behalf of the Competitive Armenian Private Sector Project (CAPS). The research was conducted to understand the Armenian-American Diaspora community’s perceptions of and motivations to visit Armenia, in order to increase visitation to the country.
STUDY OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the study were to understand the perceptions of Armenia by Armenian- Americans, as well as to explore their travel behaviors and preferences and determine how best to reach them and encourage them to visit to Armenia. Specific objectives were to:
- Profile members of the Armenian-American Diaspora community.
- Measure their awareness of tourism opportunities in Armenia and their perceptions
and expectations of the country.
- Document their past travel experience, including past travel to Armenia, and their
travel preferences.
- Quantify their interest in visiting or revisiting Armenia.
- Identify the best means of reaching and communicating Armenia’s message to
potential travelers.
RESEARCH APPROACH
To meet the above objectives, MCG conducted a quantitative telephone survey of 600 Armenian-Americans. All respondents were of Armenian descent and over the age of 18. Since the Armenian-American Diaspora community is highly concentrated in a small number of geographic locations in the United States, the survey was focused in the five U.S. states (California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Michigan) that have the largest resident populations of Armenians, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2005 American Community Survey.1
According to the U.S. census data, these five states account for almost 8 in 10 of all Armenian-Americans who reside in the United States (Exhibit 1).2
EXHIBIT 1. TOP U.S. STATES FOR ARMENIAN-AMERICANS California 56.9% Massachusetts 7.1% New York 5.5% New Jersey 4.0% Michigan 3.4% Florida 2.6% Illinois 2.5% Pennsylvania 1.9% Connecticut 1.8% Source: 2005 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.
The survey was conducted with a disproportionate sampling methodology; that is, 120 interviews were completed in each of the five target states. The sample was drawn from Experian Marketing Solutions’ Ethnic INSOURCE Database. A disproportionate sample methodology was chosen because it allowed for independent analysis of each of the five states. The final data were weighted so that the full sample (600 completes) is proportional to the distribution of the Armenian-American Diaspora population in the five states surveyed. The maximum margin of error is ±4% at the 95% confidence level for the total sample, and ±9% for each state.
The survey was conducted in January 2007 and had an average length of 16 minutes. The questionnaire consisted primarily of closed-format questions and was conducted in English during weekday evenings and on weekends. No incentive was offered. A copy of the questionnaire is contained in Appendix A.
A pilot test of the final draft questionnaire was conducted to ensure that the survey instrument was clear and unambiguous and that it elicited appropriate findings from the target audience. The pilot test was conducted with a small sample of Armenian-Americans in California. Based on the pilot test, some minor revisions were made to the questionnaire.