Just got a survey call that was likely paid for by AT&T.  They were mostly asking questions about print directory usage with a couple of bones paid to online.  It seemed like the point of this survey was not so much about print directory usage, but more about people’s emotional attachment to their book.  We spent most of our time on the following question:

“If AT&T’s print yellow pages directory were a person how would you describe it?”

Here were the answers I was supposed to agree or disagree with:

  1. Confident
  2. Intelligent
  3. Sense of humor
  4. Impersonal
  5. Arrogant
  6. Dull
  7. Helpful
  8. Leader
  9. Unique
  10. Authentic
  11. Forward thinking
  12. Well informed
  13. Friendly
  14. Innovative
  15. Energetic

Besides the fact that my print directory is a misogynistic nihilist with a furry fetish and OCD, which is mainly why I keep it locked in a drawer, what struck me most were the questions they asked about my print yellow pages usage and my answers to them:

Q: How often do you use your print yellow pages?  A: Once every four months or less often

Q: How do you decide which print yellow pages to use? A: Whichever one came last

Granted I am a special case and I shouldn’t have lied about my work during the screening process (sorry AT&T!), but I am guessing the trend for print usage that comes out of this survey is going to be like after hours at a plushie convention (i.e. not pretty).

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5 Response Comments

  • Dave Oremland  March 10, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    That is hilarious. Just saw this at Screenwerk. I’m glad I stopped by. Your take on it is terrific.

    And AT&T’s survey….ugh….how pathetic.

  • Andrew Shotland  March 10, 2009 at 12:55 pm

    To be fair to AT&T they did ask me a lot of standard yp usage questions and the “how would you describe…” question is a pretty standard branding thing. When I was at InsiderPages I recall spending a few hours dwelling on whether IP was a minivan or a SUV.

    That said if the head of AT&T market research is reading this he/she may want to ping me as there was a lot of basic misleading question stuff in the survey.

  • Listorbit  March 19, 2009 at 5:51 am

    Oh horrible n funny.

  • Mike  March 26, 2009 at 8:37 am

    I believe that the print Yellow Page Directory is a was of my time. First I have to remember where it is, and it takes forever to find what I am looking for. It is so much faster to do a simple search on the internet. Term + Location, and find what I’m are looking for.

  • Manish Kumar  July 27, 2010 at 3:00 am

    i think online yellow pages is better than printed yellow pages because whenever you need something information then you can just type what you need other than see in every pages of the printed books