Flemington, NJ, July 24, 2007 – Results from a national focus group among  301 Americans indicated that a strong majority (75%) would not consider Barry Bonds to be  a hero in baseball even if he breaks Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs.

The communications research study was conducted by HCD Research using its mediacurves.com web site during July 23-24, to obtain Americans’ views on a commentary by Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation on Sunday. During his commentary, Schieffer expressed his opinions of Barry Bonds and his quest to break Hank Aaron’s home run record.

While watching Schieffer’s commentary, participants were asked to indicate their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves.

Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing questions. To view agreement curves and detailed results, go to: www.mediacurves.com 

According to Glenn Kessler, managing partner, HCD Research, the results from the pre- and post-viewing questions were quite different from other studies the firm has conducted. “We typically see a shift of three to five percent with pre- and post viewing results. However, in this study, we have shifts of 18 and 19 percent, which may be due in part to Mr. Schieffer’s compelling presentation and reputation,” explained Kessler. “In addition, our automated response curves reached the highest agreement levels that we have ever experienced,” Kessler concluded.

Among the findings:

• Prior to viewing Bob Schieffer’s commentary among all responders, more than half of Americans (57%) reported that they “would not” consider Barry Bonds a hero in baseball even if he breaks Hank Aaron’s record. Among baseball fans, 60% reported that they “would not” consider Bonds to be a hero, and 47% of non-non-baseball fans reported that they “would not” consider Bonds to be a hero.

• The results revealed that Bob Schieffer’s commentary had a significant impact on all groups. After viewing the commentary, among all responders 75% reported that they “would not” consider Barry Bonds to be a hero, compared to 79% of baseball fans and 66% of non-baseball fans, who reported that they “would not” consider Bonds to be a hero even if he breaks Hank Aaron’s record.

• Prior to viewing the commentary, less than half of all responders (45%) indicated that Barry Bonds “should be” recognized as the all-time home run record-holder if he passes Hank Aaron. A similar percentage of baseball fans (48%) indicated that he “should be” recognized as the record-holder and 38% of non-baseball fans reported that he “should be” recognized as the record-holder, with 36% of non-fans reporting that they did not know if he “should be” recognized as the record-holder.

• Again, the results indicated that Bob Schieffer’s comments had a notable impact on the views expressed by all groups. After viewing the commentary, 46% of all responders indicated that Barry Bonds “should not” be recognized as the all-time home run record-holder if he passes Hank Aaron, and 39% reported that he “should be” recognized as the record-holder. Among baseball fans, nearly half (49%) reported that he “should not” be recognized as the home run record-holder, and 42% reported that he “should be” recognized as the record-holder. Among non-baseball fans, 38% reported that he “should not” be recognized as the record-holder and 32% reported that he “should be” recognized as the record-holder.

The mediacurves.com web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, managing partner, HCD Research, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).

HCD Research provides traditional and web-based marketing and communications research services.  For additional information, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call 908-788-9393.