Opportunities and Specials

Dear Member of the Columbia University Cigar Club,


I'd like to hear about your cigar consumption experiences! Specifically, I'm
looking for volunteers to participate in a RESEARCH STUDY [you might
remember, I contacted some of you to participate in a pilot study last
December]. Well, at long last, it is time for the "real study."


Who am I?
I'm Mike Mulvey, I teach in the business school at Rutgers University, and
have research interests in marketing and consumer behavior. As a professor,
I have tremendous freedom to study issues that interest me, and I happened
to be interested in learning more about the cigar consumption experience.
Specifically, I want to know what cigar smoking means to you. This research
project is not sponsored by any companies, it is being conducted purely out
of personal interest for academic purposes. I'm working with Morris Holbrook
(a professor at Columbia) on this project.


What will happen?
We'll meet wherever you want in Manhattan (a park, a cigar-friendly bar...
you choose). I'll give you a cigar and will ask you to pose while you smoke.
Then, we'll take some pictures of you using a special camera. While you
enjoy your cigar, I'll ask you questions about what cigar smoking means to
you, and you can tell me stories of your experiences. Later in the
interview, you'll get a chance to see the photos we took using a special 3-D
viewer. We'll talk about the pictures and you'll fill in a brief
questionnaire before we adjourn.


What's in it for you?
A free cigar.
The chance to see yourself in 3-D.
Excellent conversation (well, no guarantees, but the sessions we did earlier
this year were fun!).


How do you sign up?
Send me an e-mail or give me a phone call. Tell me what time and dates you
could meet. Do you know anyone else who'd like to participate? Ideally, we
want to set up appointments with groups of 3 people (more than 3 is
unmanageable, fewer than 3 means more time spent traveling than
interviewing!). Either way, groups and individuals are most welcome. Feel
free to send me a note if you have any questions about the study.


Sincerely,
Michael S. Mulvey
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Rutgers University
home phone: (201) 626-4552
e-mail: mulvey@business.rutgers.edu
URL: http://business.rutgers.edu/~mulvey/index.htm