KR20030051424A - Automated data collection for consumer driving-activity survey - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of obtaining market research information, and more particularly, to a method of collecting data related to consumer exercise activity in order to obtain market research information.

Description

How to obtain market research information on driving activity of consumers {AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION FOR CONSUMER DRIVING-ACTIVITY SURVEY}

Market research uses a variety of techniques to obtain various statistical information about the market to support sales and government initiatives. One technique, commonly referred to as a "consumer panel", involves hiring a group of consumers who provide information about the consumer's purchasing propensity. Consumer panels are used in many industries, such as automotive, set products, media and telecommunications, health, financial services, and telephony, to create more effective sales and marketing strategies. In addition, government agencies use consumer panels in conjunction with plans for government services, policies, infrastructure use and design.

Statistical information about the car or other vehicle a group of consumers gets with every drive will be very useful for many companies and government agencies. In practice, however, conventional consumer panel market research techniques are inadequate for obtaining consumer propensity information over time. In general, for a longitudinal survey of time, a member of the consumer driver panel may be provided with a car usage survey log that records data about their car use case for a period of time. However, due to the amount of data to be recorded in the survey log for each segment of each driving activity-each driver's information, origin, destination, driving activity purpose, date, time of day, distance, route, and driving speed according to various routes, Accurately recording all desired data is a cumbersome task for panelists, especially in the long term of time spent investigating longitudinal statistics over time. The panel members prefer to record driving activity data in the survey log according to a "recall" method, after traveling several sections, classifying the driving section data and reducing the value of statistical information derived from the data. Moreover, only the most enthusiastic panelists are expected to diligently record driving activity information for each segment over a long period of investigation, even in recall after driving activities. If panelists are not motivated to record data diligently, the accuracy and completeness of the driving data recorded in the survey log will be questionable and therefore of little value. On the other hand, if the panel members are sufficiently motivated to diligently record data on the driving activity section of each driving activity during the survey period, it may affect the driving activities of the panel members and the driving activities recorded in the survey journal. Statistical information derived from the data may be classified to reduce the value of the information.

The October 1997 report (NPTS Report), titled "User's Guide for the Public Use Data Files, 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey," by the Research Triangle Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, reported that personal daily driving in the United States. Show a section of the activity. The survey includes data on daily driving activity for random samples of US citizens and the undefined US population. According to the report, data on daily driving activity includes the purpose of driving activity, the means of driving activity used, the time of driving activity, the day of the week of driving activity, the time of driving activity and, if it was a personal vehicle, the number of occupants in the vehicle and the age. Includes gender, working class, driver's level of education, manufacturer, year of car, and mileage per year. Survey data is collected by randomly extracting a telephone number, conducting a telephone interview, and then determining whether it is a home telephone. For these randomly extracted home telephones, data on family and family car characteristics are collected by the first telephone interview, and a driving activity log is mailed to family members 5 years of age or older, who have designated driving dates. do. The Driving Activity Journal requires that you record not only data about each driving activity by your family assigned to the log on a driving day, but also data on driving activity for more than 75 miles one way for two weeks ending on the driving day. Data recorded in the driving activity log is collected by interviewing family members for six days of service. Twice for each family car, the family member provides the odometer record and recording date by telephone interview, once the day on which the data on the driving activity log is collected, and six months later.

The NPTS report includes a number of tables that provide various statistical analyzes of the data collected from the transverse survey of time. Tables 1 to 3 below are disclosed in the NPTS report, and provide consumer driving activity information obtained by conventional survey techniques.

Table 1 (Prior Art)

Annual car driving, driving distance, walking distance, walking distance, purpose of moving per family

purpose Car driving Car driving distance Walking Walking distance Living commute 553 6,492 676 7,740 Job related work 80 1,393 100 1,987 Sum 633 7,885 776 9,727 Household chores shopping 501 2,807 775 4,660 hospital 33 309 56 533 Guitar lyrics 626 4,307 924 6,849 Sum 1,160 7,423 1,755 12,042 School and church Sum 98 791 337 1,973 Social and leisure activities vacation 2 205 8 578 Friends, family visit 155 1,971 314 3,867 Other activities 269 2,588 631 6,128 Sum 426 4,764 953 10,573 Other Other activities 2 28 6 131 Other activities 0 4 One 18 Sum 2 32 7 149 sum 2,321 20,895 3828 34,463

Table 2 (Prior Art)

Number of weekly car driving activities according to time of day

Living Household chores Church, school Social and leisure activities Other sum 12:00 AM-5: 59 AM Purpose% Departure Time% 3,066,8305.6% 66.2% 809,0921.0% 17.5% 23,0620.4% 0.5% 732,3803.1% 15.8% 2,6171.7% 0.1% 4,633,9822.8% 100% 6:00 AM-8:59PM 15,982,06229.3% 55.4% 9,836,15811.8% 34.1% 1,396,23124.8% 4.8% 1,628,7696.8% 5.6% 17,95811.6% 0.1% 28,861,34317.2% 100% 9:00 AM-12:59PM 8,836,49516.2% 21.3% 26,062,03731.2% 62.7% 1,227,96421.8% 3.0% 5,386,37222.6% 13.0% 39,46325.4% 0.1% 41,558,14824.8% 100% 1:00 PM-3:59PM 8,919,69816.3% 25.0% 21,478,01325.7% 60.2% 997,43917.7% 2.8% 4,226,31817.7% 11.9% 30,81019.9% 0.1% 35,659,52021.2% 100% 4:00 PM-6:59PM 13,796,94025.3% 35.2% 17,891,56221.4% 45.6% 1,048,57518.6% 2.7% 6,448,76527.1% 16.5% 37,67324.3% 0.1% 39,232,46623.4% 100% 7:00 PM-9:59PM 2,813,4625.2% 19.4% 6,569,2547.9% 45.4% 793,07614.1% 5.5% 4,283,23018.0% 29.6% 24,05515.5% 0.2% 14,485,5528.6% 100% 10:00 PM-11:59PM 1,198,7672.2% 34.4% 1,013,3311.25% 29.1% 153,8642.7% 4.4% 1,117,9854.7% 32.1% 2,5251.6% 0.1% 3,486,4742.1% 100% Total Field Purpose% Departure Time% 54,620,082 100% 32.5 83,663,862 100% 49.8% 5,640,585 100% 3.4% 23,827,680 100% 14.2% 155,102 100% 0.1% 167,931,966 100% 100%

TABLE 3

Travel distance according to the number of family vehicles and their age

Second order 1 set 2 units More than 3 units sum Average distance (miles) Less than 1 year 38,259,3549.1% 104,339,23010.6% 62,192,7969.6% 204,791,3809.9% 10.3 2 years 37,849,2429.0% 98,896,15210.1% 63,042,1799.7% 199,787,5739.7% 9.6 3 years 32,938,7847.8% 86,933,8248.8% 51,485,6357.9% 171,358,2438.3% 9.0 4 years 35,568,6178.4% 80,660,0128.2% 43,950,6006.8% 160,179,2297.7% 9.4 5 years 34,235,3388.1% 69,967,8677.1% 39,993,1386.2% 144,196,3447.0% 8.5 6 years 27,037,5296.1% 70,294,6767.2% 39,941,9826.2% 137,274,1876.6% 9.0 7 years 30,028,5027.1% 71,386,6817.3% 53,318,0928.2% 154,733,2757.5% 8.4 8 years 26,808,3676.4% 60,556,5996.2% 43,387,1166.7% 130,752,0816.3% 8.0 9 years 22,896,9815.4% 52,212,8945.3% 38,917,4566.0% 114,027,3315.5% 7.9 10 years 93,622,30222.2% 185,245,89918.8% 141,057,38921.8% 419,925,58920.3% 7.7 sum 422,360,441 100% 983,465,133 100% 648,497,280 100% 2,068,433,774 100% 9.1 Average distance (miles) 8.1 9.2 9.7 9.1

NPTS reports require specific data related to survey data. The requested but not attached data was how the sampled family's driving activities changed over time. According to the NPTS report, the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey is a "horizontal survey, which means that each time a survey is taken, a different family is chosen as a sample. survey). " As mentioned above, conventional market research techniques are not practical for obtaining longitudinal survey data on consumer travel.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 5,406,271 to Sonnendorfer and Wieth (the '271 patent' by Sonnendorfer and Wieth) discloses an infrared communication system for shopping carts used in self-service multi-stores. The shopping cart of this system is equipped with a wireless transceiver / display unit each having an infrared transceiver, a digital memory, and a display. The radio transceiver / display unit receives infrared communication coded display information for storage in the unit's memory and displays it on the unit's display. The information displayed on the display of the radio transceiver / display unit mounted in the shopping cart is made visible to the customer pushing the cart. Each store has an in-store infrared transmit / receive unit equipped with a digital memory for transmitting and storing store-specific advertisements and other display information for display on a wireless transceiver / display device mounted in a shopping cart near the store's transmit / receive unit. Equipped. The wireless transceiver / display device mounted on the shopping cart is suitable for transmitting a confirmation signal to the infrared transmitting / receiving unit of the store so that the storage in the store unit's memory can display the display information from the store unit and provide a receipt confirmation record. It is supposed to be done. As disclosed in Sonnendorfer and Wieth's '271 Patent', column 3, columns 6 to 45, the radio transceiver / display device is each provided with an identification code number which is automatically sent by the store's infrared transceiver unit or sampled for activity. do. By recording the code number of the system cart passing near various store transceiver units and the time the code number was received, the Sonnendorfer and Wieth '271 patent' system allows the customer to move the cart and how long it takes to shop in multiple stores Can be determined.

Vessel automatic position tracking systems for fleet management relating to the use of satellite positioning systems (GPS) are disclosed in Martin's U.S. Patent (5,638,077) (Martin '077 Patent'). The patented location tracking system includes a group of vessels capable of driving across base stations and fleet management areas. According to the fifth column of this patent, lines 50 to 59, each ship is equipped with a communication network equipment capable of reporting a tracking message to a base station via a GPS receiver, a data modem and a modem. The tracking message from the ship includes the identifier of the satellite signal received by the ship's GPS receiver. According to the Martin 077 patent, the base station can process information received from the vessel according to a specialized algorithm that can determine the position of the vessel with 10 meters or better accuracy without imposing excessive communication load on the system. have.

The present invention relates to a method of obtaining market research information, and more particularly, to a method of collecting data related to consumer exercise activity in order to obtain market research information.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a round driving activity and a driving activity portion forming a round driving activity,

2 is a first automatic preferred for use in the present invention that generates and stores vehicle location data in a vehicle and permits transmission of vehicle location data to a data processing system of a central station from time to time via a modem and a wired or wireless telephone system connection. Schematic block diagram of a driving activity data collection unit,

3 is useful in the present invention of generating and storing vehicle position data in a vehicle, storing data on a floppy disk and transporting the floppy disk to a data processing system of the central station to permit transmission from time to time to the data processing system of the central station. A schematic block diagram of a preferred second autonomous driving activity data collector.

We have developed a method and system that can be used to accurately and efficiently obtain consumer driving activity market research information by employing an auto-location tracking gear, and can avoid the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

The method for obtaining consumer driving activity market research information includes selecting a plurality of panelists constituting a consumer driving activity panel. The panelist constituting the consumer driving activity panel may be, for example, a driver, a trackable car or a family to which a consumer driver belongs. At least one trackable car and at least one driver are associated with each panelist of the consumer activity panel. This consumer driver associated with the panelist uses a trackable car associated with the panelist. For statistical utility, the trackable cars associated with the panelists that make up the consumer driving activity panel provide representatives from a variety of vehicle class categories, such as cars, vans, sports cars, and the like. The consumer driver associated with the panelist provides representatives from a plurality of memographic categories such as gender, age group and income level.

The present invention further includes storing panelist attribute data corresponding to each panelist among the consumer driving activity panels in the data processing system. Panelist attribute data includes memographic data such as the make of each trackable car associated with the panelist, car group data such as car type and gender, age and representative income levels for each consumer driver associated with the panelist.

According to the present invention, for each driving activity portion of the sample group driving activity portions made up by each trackable vehicle and the trackable vehicle, the movement of the trackable vehicle during each driving activity portion is performed by an automatic vehicle positioning gear mounted on the vehicle. Automatically generating time staging car location data, approximate tracking, and storing the time staging car location data in a digital data store.

According to the present invention, for each driving activity portion among the driving activity portions of the sample group made by each trackable vehicle and the vehicle, data encoding data, an approximate time of day, and an approximate period of driving activity portion (driving activity Approximate coordinates of the origin and destination of the portion, the approximate distance driven by the vehicle in the driving activity portion and the approximate representative speed driven by the vehicle during the driving activity portion). Analyzing the tracking data further.

The present invention provides, for each trackable vehicle, the vehicle usage data of the driving activity portion for the driving activity portions of the sample group driven by the vehicle in the data processing system, the panel of the consumer driving activity panel to which the trackable vehicle is associated. Associating with elements of panelist attribute data corresponding to the list.

Finally, the present invention further includes statistically analyzing driving activity portion vehicle usage data and associated panelist attribute data with respect to the survey group panelist of the consumer driving activity panel to obtain consumer driving activity market research information.

The present invention may be used to obtain consumer driving activity market research information longitudinally over time.

The consumer driving activity panel for the present invention preferably consists of a family, trackable car or consumer driver.

In a preferred embodiment of obtaining consumer driving market research information in accordance with the present invention, each panelist of consumer driving activities is a family. In the above preferred embodiment, the trackable car associated with the panelist is a car used by the consumer driver among the members of the family, and the consumer driver associated with the panelist is a member of the family.

In a second preferred embodiment of the invention, each panelist is a trackable motor vehicle. In the preferred embodiment the trackable car associated with the panelist is the trackable car panelist himself. In this preferred embodiment the consumer driver associated with the panelist is a consumer driver using the trackable vehicle panelist.

In a third preferred embodiment of the present invention, each panelist of the consumer driving activity panel is a consumer driver. In the preferred embodiment the trackable car associated with the panelist is a car used by the consumer driver. In this preferred embodiment, the consumer driver associated with the panelist is the consumer driver panelist himself.

Demographic data related to each consumer driver associated with the panelist on the Consumer Activity panel includes data encoding the age and gender of the consumer driver, the personal income level of the consumer driver or the family income level of the family of which the consumer driver is a member, the education level and Contains data to encode the employment state.

Preferably, the vehicle classification data for each of the trackable vehicles associated with the panelist of the consumer driving activity panel of the present invention is data encoding the manufacturer and the vehicle model of the vehicle. Further, the vehicle classification data preferably includes a mileage reading of the vehicle odometer along with the vehicle type, the year of manufacture, whether it is a purchased car or a lease car, whether it is insured, and the mileage reading data of the odometer.

In one particular preferred embodiment of the method for obtaining consumer activity market research information of the present invention, the automatic vehicle position tracking gear of each trackable target vehicle defines a position that defines an approximate position of the target vehicle when receiving a satellite signal. And a satellite positioning system ("GPS") satellite receiver that receives a GPS satellite signal that determines locationgeodetic coordinate data.

In one preferred embodiment of the method for obtaining consumer activity market research information of the present invention, the data processing system is located at a central station and in communication with a wireless receiver gear. In this preferred embodiment, each trackable target vehicle is equipped with a radio transmitter gear connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear. Automatically generating and storing time-annotated vehicle location data for each trackable target vehicle, and in this preferred embodiment each driving activity portion of the sample group of driving portions is assigned to an automatic vehicle positioning gear. Continuously transmitting a signal encoding the vehicle position data generated from the radio transmitter gear of the target vehicle to the radio receiver gear and time-cycle vehicle position data in the driving activity portion of the digital data storage of the data processing system at the central station. Storing. Preferably, the wireless transmitter gear and the wireless receiver gear constitute an element of the cellular phone system.

In a more preferred embodiment of the invention, each trackable vehicle includes a read / write data storage facility connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear and operating in the vehicle. Automatically generating and storing time-cycle vehicle position data for each trackable target vehicle and in this preferred embodiment each driving activity portion of the sample group of driving activity portions is read / write data operating within the target vehicle. Storing time-cycle vehicle location data in a storage facility. More preferably, if the data processing system of this preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention is located at a central station, the method is capable of tracking each driving activity part and each traceable part of the data report group of the driving activity part driven by the subject vehicle. For the target vehicle, further comprising transferring time-period vehicle position data corresponding to the data report group of the driving activity portion from the read / write data store operating in the target vehicle to the data processing system of the central station. desirable.

In one such preferred embodiment comprising a read / write data storage facility operating in the subject vehicle, the data storage facility operating in each trackable subject vehicle is time-period on a removable mass storage medium such as a digital magnetic tape. It is preferable to store the vehicle position data, and the floppy magnetic disk, or the removable hard disk and the central station's data processing system include a removable media reader for reading the removable mass storage media. Preferably, in this preferred embodiment the step of transferring the time-period vehicle position data corresponding to the data report group of the driving activity portion from the read / write data storage facility in the vehicle to the data processing system of the central station is read / write data. Storing such vehicle location data in a removable mass storage medium in the storage facility, deleting the erasable mass storage medium in which the time-period vehicle location data is stored from the data storage facility of the target vehicle, data processing system of the central station Transferring the removable mass storage medium to the removable medium, and reading the removable mass storage medium of the central station with the removable medium reader of the data processing system.

In another preferred variant that includes a read / write data storage facility of each target vehicle, the time-cycle vehicle position data is to be transferred from the data storage facility of the target vehicle to the data processing system of the central station by means of a modem and telephone line connection. Can be.

Representative approximation speeds of the preferred methods of the present invention may be, for example, approximation average speeds or approximation approximate maximum speeds.

Preferably, analyzing the time-period vehicle position data associated with each driving activity portion of the sample group of driving activity portions is performed by the driving activity portion to access route indicator data of the position coordinate index route indicator table in the digital data storage. Using location coordinates symbolized by a data chain of time-period vehicle location data. The route indicator data thus connected symbolizes the destination of the route taken by the target vehicle in the driving activity portion. More preferably, the route indicator data in the route indicator table includes data symbolizing a speed limit associated with the route specified by the route indicator data. Representative approximate speeds of the vehicle activity data are preferably time-cycle vehicles associated with the driving activity portion of each of the sample groups of the driving activity portion, preferably the approximate maximum speed driven by the trackable target vehicle of the route specified by the route indicator data. Analyzing the position data includes comparing the approximate maximum speed driven by the target vehicle of the route specified by the route indication data with a speed limit associated with the route.

In a particular preferred embodiment of the method for acquiring driving activity market research information of the consumer of the present invention, analyzing the time-period vehicle position data associated with each driving activity portion of the sample group of the driving activity portion is located in the digital data storage. And using destination coordinates of the driving activity portion vehicle usage data of the driving activity portion to access the position indicator data of the coordinate index position indicator table. The connected position indicator data thus symbolizes the name and form of the destination of the driving activity portion or another destination.

Preferably, each trackable vehicle is equipped with a portable digital computer having a microprocessor, read / write data storage, and input / output facilities. The portable computer is connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear in the target vehicle. Each driving activity portion of the sample activity group of the driving activity portion basically constitutes a driving activity segment extending from the first vehicle fixed coordinate of the driving activity segment start point position to the second vehicle fixed coordinate of the driving activity segment destination position. Preferably, the method of the present invention utilizes an input / output facility of a portable computer for each driving segment for each trackable target vehicle and sample group of driving segment, when the vehicle is placed at the starting segment position of the driving segment. Outputting a driving activity segment polling prompt message; and storing a response to the polling prompt message input to the computer using a computer input / output facility. Preferably, the driving activity segment polling prompt message for each driving activity segment of the sample group of driving activity segments includes a prompt for confirmation of the driver of the target vehicle, any passenger of the target vehicle, and the purpose of the driving activity segment. The prompt for driver confirmation of the target vehicle preferably includes a driver selection menu output using an input / output facility of a computer that lists each driver of a family member with whom the target vehicle is associated. Equally, the prompt for identifying a random passenger of the subject vehicle includes a passenger selection menu that lists each member of the family, and the prompt for identifying the purpose of the driving segment includes a purpose selection menu that lists the selections for the driving segment purpose. It is preferable to include. The storing of the response to the polling prompt message may include: selecting a driver selected from the driver selection menu, a random selection of a passenger selected from the passenger selection menu, and a driving selected from the purpose selection menu, which are input using an input / output facility of the computer. Preferably, storing the selection of the activity segment purpose.

Preferably, the input / output facility of the portable computer of each trackable object vehicle includes an image display output and a manual keyboard input or touchscreen input. More preferably, the input / output facility of the portable computer includes an audio speaker that can be driven by speech synthesis software running on the computer and a microphone digitizer input that provides digitized speech data to speech recognition software running on the computer. .

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, for each trackable subject vehicle, the starting point position for each driving activity segment is determined by the input / output facility of the computer when the vehicle stops immediately before the driving activity segment starts. The driver of the vehicle confirms a manual input of a market driving activity segment activation message to a portable computer in the vehicle. In response to the input of the market driving activity start message to the portable computer, a starting point position coordinate is determined and a driving activity segment polling prompt message is output using the portable computer's input / output facility.

In a more preferred embodiment of the invention, the starting point position for the driving activity segment is automatically identified by monitoring the vehicle's motorometer of each trackable target vehicle. In general, each trackable vehicle has a vehicle powertrain. The vehicle's electric system is in a vehicle electric starting state when the target vehicle is started, and the target vehicle is generally in a stopped state when the target vehicle is not started. In this preferred embodiment, the portable computer in the subject vehicle monitors the vehicle electrical starting / stopping state in communication with the motorometer of the vehicle. This preferred method further comprises monitoring a motorometer of each trackable target vehicle with a portable computer of the target vehicle to detect a transition from the vehicle electrical stop state to the vehicle electrical maneuver state. It responds to the detection of the start and stop transitions of these powertrains, which typically indicate, and outputs a driving activity segment polling prompt message.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each destination of the driving activity segment is automatically identified by monitoring the electric field of each trackable target vehicle. In this preferred embodiment, each trackable vehicle is preferably equipped with a portable digital computer having a microprocessor, read / write data storage, and input / output facilities. The portable computer monitors the powertrain start / stop connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear in the target vehicle and in communication with the vehicle's vehicle powertrain. A sample group of each trackable target vehicle and a driving segment is provided for each driving segment. In this regard, this preferred method includes monitoring the dynamometer of each trackable target vehicle to detect a transition from the vehicular dynamometer starting condition to the vehicular dynamometer stopping condition, indicating the general arrival of the vehicle at the destination. In response to the detection of such start and stop transitions, storing the driving activity segment destination location which symbolizes the location coordinates of the target vehicle to define the destination coordinates for the driving activity segment.

In a variant embodiment of the invention, the destination of the driving activity segment is confirmed by the manual input of the display driving activity segment end message by the driver of the vehicle to the portable computer in each target vehicle when the vehicle is stopped after arriving at the destination.

Preferably, analyzing the time-period vehicle position data associated with each driving segment of the sample group of driving segment comprises finding the position indicator in the position coordinate indication position indicator table with digital data storage of a portable computer in the subject vehicle. And using the destination coordinates of the driving activity segment vehicle usage data for the driving activity segment. If found, the location indicator data symbolizes the name and shape of the location relative to the destination of the activity segment or other destination. If the position indicator data corresponding to the destination coordinates is not found in the position indicator table, the destination indication prompt message is preferably output using an input / output device of a portable computer informing the confirmation of the name and shape of the destination or other indication. Do. The response to the destination indication prompt message is stored in the location indicator table as location indicator data indicated in destination coordinates.

In particular, in a preferred method for acquiring driving activity market research information of a consumer of the present invention, the method is characterized by the fact that each driving activity portion and each experimental trackable vehicle of a sample group of driving activity portions at a driving activity portion destination location are provided. And using the destination coordinates of the driving activity portion vehicle usage data for the driving activity portion so that the experimental vehicle accesses the positioning data of the locator table exponentially indexed with the position coordinates in the portable computer on which it is mounted. The location data thus accessed encodes the name and format for the destination of the driving activity part. The input / output facility of the portable computer is used to output a destination activity prompt message corresponding to the destination specified by the positioning data prompting of the information about the activity executed as the destination. Any response to the destination activity prompt message entering the portable computer using the computer's input / output facility is stored on the computer.

Preferably, if the designated destination is a retail store, the destination activity prompt message corresponding to the destination includes a prompt for the amount of money spent at the store. If the designated destination is a shopping center, the destination activity prompt message corresponding to the designated destination includes a prompt for the confirmation of the shop visited at the shopping center and the confirmation of the shop purchased at the shopping center. If the designated destination is a gas station, it includes a prompt for confirmation of the amount of gasoline purchased at the gas station and confirmation of the price paid for the gasoline.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is a method of outputting a destination activity prompt message to a portable computer mounted on each experimental trackable vehicle, for each experimental trackable vehicle, using the computer's input / output facility. It involves a method that sometimes includes reprogramming a portable digital computer of a laboratory vehicle to change the message output. For example, the destination activity prompt message may be converted by reprogramming a prompt on each portable vehicle's portable computer for proof of whether or not the driver, who is the experimental consumer, has encountered a particular advertisement associated with the designated destination corresponding to the prompt message.

The consumer's driving activity panel should be repeated regularly to help ensure reliable information about the driver's behavior and attitudes among the general driving population. This preferred iteration involves the following tasks mentioned below, which are sampling and recruitment procedures, valid continuous vehicle location information, post-data collection processing, and unbiased relationship management.

1. Sampling and Recruitment Procedures

Candidates invited to participate in the consumer's driving activity panel should preferably indicate the characteristics of the general population between the two traits: the unique demographic attributes of the driver who participated as a panelist and the vehicle taxonomic attributes of the panelists. . With regard to the unique demographic attributes, it is desirable that the age and gender ratios of drivers participating in the panel follow the general age and gender ratios of all drivers. For example, a preferred consumer's driving activity panel should generally include the proportion of female elderly drivers to the number of female elderly drivers in the driving population and the proportion of teenage male drivers to the number of teenage male drivers in the general driving population. With regard to the car's categorical attributes, vehicles driven by panelists should preferably follow the vehicle profile of the general driver population in terms of manufacturer, year of manufacture and type of vehicle. In order to obtain a consumer's driving activity panel of the sample, statistical personnel allocation sampling techniques are preferably employed by the panel of the driver and the vehicle to ensure that their unique demographic and vehicle properties are presented, respectively.

As mentioned above, the consumer's driving activity panel of the preferred embodiment of the present invention consists of a furniture, a consumer driver, or a trackable vehicle. Preferably, the panelist of the consumer's driving activity panel is selected based on the furniture by market research standards applied for the furniture. Each household applied to the market research standard must have at least one member using a motor vehicle or other motor vehicle associated with the licensed driver and the household. Preferably, for each household in the survey group demographic data of the household is achieved, including the number of members of the household, the household's income level, and the age and gender of each vehicle driver in the household.

The number of panelists in the consumer's driving activity panel is preferably more than 2,000, more preferably 10,000, for statistical utility.

2. Continuous vehicle location data collection available

Each vehicle that participates as a panelist on the consumer's driving activity panel is equipped with an automatic vehicle location tracking device. The vehicle position tracking device allows the geographic position of the experimental motor vehicle to be effectively and continuously tracked at least for the time the vehicle is running. In particular, the automatic vehicle position tracking device allows the timed vehicle position information to be automatically collected for each driving activity portion on which the experimental vehicle is driven. Such vehicle position data includes a sequence of data corresponding to the continuous time the vehicle travels across the driving activity by encoding geodesic continuous coordinates of longitude and latitude of the vehicle.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the central tracking station tracks the vehicle location effectively and simultaneously remotely tracking each location of all the experimental vehicles participating in the driving activity panel of the consumer by communicating with the remote location identifier device of the vehicle. A communication device is provided. For example, the central tracking station employs cell-site trilateration techniques to remotely track the location of the experimental vehicle. Preferably, the central tracking station is provided with a radiotelephone or other communication device that allows a particular driver of the experimental motor vehicle to be identified during each driving activity.

In a more preferred embodiment, each experimental motor vehicle is equipped with a GPS receiver that receives a position definition signal from a GPS satellite and converts the position definition signal of the received position to geodesic coordinates. Suitable GPS receiver units are those that are distributed in a vehicle or similar motor vehicle and can be connected to a portable computer by a GPS unit controller card that plugs into a regular "PC Card" connection slot of a computer. Such a GPS receiver unit is distributed under the trade name of "Etak Sky Map" from ETAK, Inc. of Menlo Park, California, USA. Another GPS receiver unit is distributed under the trade name "Door to Door Co Pilot" from TravRoute Software of Princeton, NJ, USA. A preferred portable computer that can be connected to the GPS receiver unit is provided with a microprocessor, random access memory, read / write media storage, and an input / output device including a display device, a keyboard, a speaker and a microphone digitizer. It can run recognition and speech synthesis software.

In particular, the preferred GPS receiver of the present invention is a standalone "personal navigation assistant" distributed under the trade name "RouteFinder PNA" from DATUS Inc. of San Jose, California, USA. . The "rootfinder PNA" includes a microprocessor, RAM, ROM, backlit LCD display, telephone keypad, speakers, and two "PC Card" peripheral card slots. The first peripheral card slot can be used for a memory peripheral card that stores the map data used in the unit. The second peripheral card slot may be used for a modem for the preferred embodiment of the present invention for transmitting vehicle usage data to a data processing system at a central station. The "Rootfinder PNA" standalone GPS receiver unit is removably mounted to the instrument panel of the motor vehicle by hook-and-loop fasteners, which are connected to and powered by the cigar jack of the vehicle. Thus, the preferred standalone GPS receiver unit prevents theft when the vehicle is parked and can be easily removed for connection of the modem peripheral card to the telephone line for transmission of vehicle position data stored in the unit to the central station's data processing system. Can be.

3. Processing after data collection

Apart from this, disaggregated time stamped vehicle position data, such as time stamped GPS geodetic coordinate data collected from the experimental vehicle, is inherently meaningless. Data cleansing and statistical analysis techniques merge the decomposed vehicle location data of individual demographic data or the separated vehicle location data or all of the vehicle's taxonomic data, or convert the decomposed vehicle location data into meaningful market research information. Used to switch The method of the present invention preferably comprises the steps of statistically analyzing vehicle usage data relating to various driving activity portions of the driving activity portion of the sample group taken by each experimental motor vehicle and to the driver of the vehicle and the furniture of the participating vehicle. Combining the analyzed vehicle usage data with panelist attribute data including vehicle classification data and demographic data. In particular, such panelistic attribute data preferably includes the age and sex of the driver, the make of the vehicle, the type and year of manufacture of the vehicle, and the number and income levels of the household.

Examples of preferred data cleansing and statistical analysis techniques for obtaining driving activity market research information of the consumer of the present invention include:

ㆍ To calculate the distance traveled in the driving activity section, switching the sequence of latitude and longitude coordinate measurement values for each driving activity section, and driving the distance of the driving activity section by the driver's age and gender or the manufacturer, type and year of manufacture of the vehicle. Interaction with data;

ㆍ To convert the sequence of latitude and longitude coordinate measurements together with the time stamp for each driving activity part to calculate the driving activity part speed and the age and sex of the driver or the manufacturer, type and year of manufacture or the driving activity part of the vehicle. Interaction with the encoded data for the date, time of day, and geographic region; And

Merge location destination information with longitude and latitude coordinate data to determine the nature of the visited destination (eg, shopping, work or leisure) and the frequency of its visits.

If desired, statistical weighting is employed in conjunction with data cleansing and statistical analysis. Although efforts are made to ensure appropriate individual demographic and vehicle characteristics, incoming data often tends to be specifically biased due to the nature of the consumer's response rate. In general, it is observed that the response rate varies according to the socioeconomic class by those engaged in market preparation. To correct for bias in potential responses, driving activity data can be statistically weighted to follow the standards of age and gender of the individual consumer and vehicle make and format. Without these statistical weightings, inference is likely to be below or above the representative of the various population segments.

4. Unbiased Relationship Management

Through their continued participation, panelists of the consumer's driving activity panel provide continuous information that permits long-term, time-series measurements with specific values, particularly in terms of difficulty in obtaining such long-term measurements by conventional methods. In order to naturally attract and retain panelist participation, certain relationship management techniques, as discussed below, may be desirable.

As part of the recruitment method, prospective panelists are preferably provided with certain guarantees regarding the permissioned use of data collected from participants of the panel. Guaranteeing personal anonymity is particularly important. It should be ensured that no data about individual drivers and vehicles will be leaked to any third party without permission from a party other than a court order. The data from each participant and the vehicle is combined with other data from the other individual and the vehicle and reported to the third party only at a aggregated summary level to ensure the anonymity of the participant.

Beyond the permission usage restrictions of data collected from participants about consumer driving activities, relationship management may also include the use of incentive techniques to naturally motivate and attract individual participation in the program. Importantly, the use of incentive techniques should not affect the behavior to be measured—the effects sometimes referred to as the “Hawthorne Effect”. Examples of preferred incentive techniques include the following:

Participation in a point earning program similar to the frequent passenger program in the airline industry as a result of any reimbursement claim;

The criteria for the prize draw;

· Criteria for roadside assistance programs; And

Receipt of nominal gifts and panelist communication materials

The obtained consumer driving activity market research information can be used by insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, vehicle accessory manufacturers, and other marketers involved in devising, evaluating, and designing new products. The method and system of the invention may be used to efficiently and accurately obtain consumer's driving activity information for a cross-sectional survey of the type exemplified by the information shown in Tables 1-3 above. In addition, the preferred embodiment of the present invention can obtain long-term consumer driving activity market research information.

Such long-term consumer driving activity market research information can be used, for example, by marketers to provide a measure of the effectiveness of an advertising campaign on driving activity. For example, a change in the frequency of visits by a particular retailer or retailer chain that introduces an advertising campaign for a store or retailer chain, and a driver who visits their competitors may be measured. Government officials may use consumer market research information, for example, to plan public transport, highways, bridges and other infrastructure improvements. Long-term consumer driving activity information can be used by state highway officials to monitor changes in traffic patterns caused by changes in road lane designations, such as the installation of multi-person vehicle (HVO) lanes.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention involve selecting a consumer's driving activity panel using statistical standard market research methods. Panels are selected based on a sample population of all households in the geographic area of interest, which owns a car or other vehicle and has at least one driver licensed to use the vehicle. A preferred process of selecting a consumer's driving activity panel among consumer drivers includes (1) statistically describing a sample population of vehicles and households with driver's licenses with respect to vehicle model and driver demographics; (2) obtaining a list of potential panelists of a driving activity panel of a consumer who is a driver belonging to a household of a sample population; (3) acquiring vehicle model data of the vehicle driven by the selected potential panelists, together with demographic data about those selected from the list of potential panelists of the consumer panel; And (4) contacting the consumer driver group among the potential panelists of the panel from which the demographic and vehicle data were obtained and subscribing to the consumer's driving activity panel so that the demographic and vehicle characteristics of the sample population are represented statistically. Forming a consumer panel.

Demographic data should be obtained from each household of panelists in the Driving Activity Panel. Demographic data includes the name and age of the primary driver of the subject vehicle, the names and ages of all other drivers in the subject vehicle, the names and ages of other non-drivers in the household, the gender of all named persons, and the education of all named persons. And, together with the employment status, the household address, telephone number and income level of the household. It is also desirable to collect vehicle model data about the subject vehicle, including vehicle make and model, year of manufacture, year of purchase or lease, color, mileage, and the like. Demographic and vehicle data can be gathered from family members who know a lot through individual interviews, telephone interviews, questionnaires, or computer screens. The demographic and vehicle data thus collected may be encoded for storage in a data processing system at a central station. Each named person and each covered vehicle in the panel household may be given an identification number and protected anonymously.

Additional data may be collected for each section in which the target vehicle is driving. As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the driving activity by the subject vehicle for data analysis may be regarded as a series of diurnal driving activities 2 returning from the home base 4 to the home base 4. Typically, each round driving activity 2 consists of one or more driving activities 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. Each driving activity portion represents a driving activity from the starting point 18 where the vehicle is parked with the starting off to the destination 20 where the vehicle is parked with the starting off again. The destination 20 of one driving activity portion 10 serves as a starting point 20 'of the next driving activity portion 12 that follows.

2, the autonomous driving activity data collection unit 28 is configured to be mounted on a car or other vehicle (not shown). The data collector 28 has a GPS receiver 30 and a GPS controller card 35 which are connected to the portable computer 32 via a receiver connection cable 34. The GPS receiver 30 is installed at a position to provide a visible ray radiation-propagation view of the sky which is originally blocked by a metal or other radiation protection agent in the target vehicle to enable reception of a GPS satellite signal. The GPS receiver 30 may be, for example, a dashboard of a vehicle (not shown), a cardboard or other radiation-transmitting material, such as a rear deck directly below the rear window of the vehicle, a vehicle trunk below the rear deck, or plastic composite or other radiation. Can be installed under a trunk lid made of permeable material.

The portable computer 32 of the data collector 28 of FIG. 2 includes a microprocessor 36, random access read / write memory (“RAM”) 38, and a mass storage hard drive 40. The portable computer 32 has a keyboard 42 connected to the input / output channel controller 44. The microprocessor 36, the RAM 38, the hard drive 40, and the input / output channel controller 44 are connected to each other by the system bus 46. In addition, the video controller 48 is also connected to the system bus 46. The touch screen input unit 52 is coupled to the display screen output unit 50 and connected to the input / output channel controller 44. The touch screen input unit 52 is configured to generate a signal in which the position of the touched display screen is encoded in response to the user touching the display screen of the display screen output unit. Therefore, the portable computer 32 can be programmed to display a menu capable of responding to the prompt message together with the prompt message on the display screen output. The user may select an appropriate response by touching a location where a desired response is displayed on the display screen, and the touch screen input unit generates a signal that allows the selected response to be identified in the computer. For safe driving, the display screen may flicker when the data collector 28 detects that the vehicle is in operation. Peripheral card interface 54 is also connected to system bus 46. Peripheral card may be plugged into peripheral card interface 54 through a slot in a case (not shown) of portable computer 32. The GPS controller card 35 is connected to the peripheral card interface 54 of the portable computer 32. The modem card 58 is also connected to the peripheral card interface 54 of the portable computer 32. Modem card 58 is a wired or wireless telephone system connection 60 that transmits data to a data processing system at a central station that changes prompt messages, for example, during long-term consumer activity surveys, or receives data from a data processing system at a central station. ) May be connected.

During operation, the GPS receiver 30 receives the position definition signal from the GPS satellites and converts the signal with the GPS controller card 35 into digital position geodetic coordinate data, which converts the position of the receiver 30 into latitude and longitude. Defined in the form, a position defining signal was then received by the target vehicle. The position data collection program is executed by the microprocessor 36, and the position coordinate data is randomly transmitted from the GPS controller card to the hard drive 40 by the peripheral card interface 54 and the system bus 46. The position coordinate data is stored as data sequence encoding continuous position coordinates of the target vehicle in connection with data encoding when the vehicle was at the position designated by the coordinates. In general, in order to maintain the data storage in consideration of the large changes in the speed of the target vehicle, the continuous position coordinates may vary at almost fixed intervals, that is, at 250 meter intervals.

3, the autonomous driving activity data collection unit 68 is mounted on the target vehicle (not shown). Elements common to the autonomous driving activity data collecting unit 68 of FIG. 3 and the autonomous driving activity data collecting unit 28 of FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings. The data collector 68 has a GPS receiver 30 and a GPS controller card 35 which are connected to the portable computer 70 via a receiver connection cable 34. The GPS receiver 30 is installed at a position providing a visible ray radiation-propagation view of the sky in the target vehicle as described above with respect to the autonomous driving activity data collector 28 of FIG. 2 to allow reception of a GPS satellite signal.

The portable computer 70 of the autonomous driving activity data collection unit 68 of FIG. 3 includes a microprocessor 72, random access read / write memory 38, hard drive 40, input / output channel controller 44, and video controller. 48 and the peripheral card interface 54 are connected to each other by the system bus 46. The microprocessor 72 is also connected to the cache memory 74 by a dedicated cache memory bus 76. The keyboard 42 is connected to the input / output channel controller 44.

A vehicle power system sensor 78 is also connected to the input / output channel controller 44 that is connected to the vehicle's power system 80 by plugging in a lighter of the vehicle. The vehicle power system sensor 78 is a digital voltage sensor that generates a digital vehicle power on / off signal depending on whether the vehicle power is on or off. The portable computer 70 monitors the digital vehicle power on / off signal applied by the vehicle power system sensor 78, thereby transitioning from the vehicle power off state to the vehicle power on state, which usually indicates the start of driving activity, and the vehicle. In the power-on state, it is usually possible to detect the transition to the vehicle power-off state indicating that the target vehicle has arrived at the destination.

The sound card 82 is connected to the peripheral card interface 54 of the portable computer 70. The sound card 82 is connected to a speaker 84 and a microphone 86 mounted in a case (not shown) of the portable computer. Although clearly shown in FIG. 3, the sound card 82 is directly connected to the speaker 84 and the microphone 86, this connection is usually made through the peripheral card interface 54. The sound card 82 supports speech synthesis software and speech recognition software running on the portable computer 70. The processing speedup of the microprocessor 72 provided by the cache memory 74 supports the execution of speech synthesis software and speech recognition software. The voice recognition and speech synthesis capabilities of the portable computer 70 are used for voice prompt messages and voice responses in connection with the collection of driving activity information such as the identity of the driver, the identity of the passenger, the purpose of the driving activity and the destination activity. And a voice output facility.

The floppy disk drive 88 is connected to the system bus 46. The time stamped vehicle position data is described on a floppy disk of the floppy disk drive 88, which can be transferred for transfer from the central station to the data processing system for processing. In addition, the prompt message output to the driver by the portable computer 70 is sometimes reprogrammed during a long-term consumer's driving activity investigation by loading the prompt message data from the floppy disk to the computer 70 using the floppy disk drive 88. May be

The autonomous driving activity data collection units 28 and 68 may be installed in the target vehicle and used to record driving activity specific data including driver identity, vehicle owner identity, date, time, departure mileage, and destination data. Components of such a data collection unit include a digital data storage system and an input / output facility, and the driver can input data into the data storage system. The input / output facility consists of a display screen and a keypad or keyboard so that the operator can respond to prompt messages displayed on the screen. On the display screen of the data collector, a prompt message in the form of a question may be displayed along with a response list that the driver can scroll to select. In addition, the display screen of the data collection unit may have a touch function, so that the driver may directly instruct the response to the displayed question by directly touching the display screen. As described above, the autonomous driving activity data collection unit may include a voice recognition, recording, and synthesizing system so that the input / output facilities of the data collection unit are activated by voice and the driver can answer and answer questions by voice. In addition, the automatic data collection unit may ask the driver questions on the display screen or by voice, and input or output the device in any form so as to receive a response from the driver by the keyboard, by the touch screen, by voice, or a combination of these methods. Can be combined. The input / output facility of the data collector can also be used to initialize the system by recording information such as vehicle make and model, vehicle year, vehicle identification number and furniture identification number. This information can be transmitted to the data processing system in each normal data upload at the central station. In the initialization of the data collector including the voice recognition system, a voice recognition step may be performed to enable the data collector to recognize the driver's voice. For safety reasons, the user interface may be disabled while driving the vehicle.

As described above, for each driving activity portion driven by the target trackable vehicle, a driving activity portion polling prompt message for prompting the identity of the driver or passenger, the purpose of the driving activity portion, and the like is input / output of the portable computer equipped with the vehicle. It is desirable to be communicated to the vehicle driver by the installation. If desired, the polling prompt message further prompts the driver for information about the use of seat belts by the driver or passengers, the use of child restraints, the position of the passengers in the vehicle, such as the front or rear seats, and airbag on / off switch settings. can do. If desired, the destination activity prompt message may prompt information about the purchase and price at the destination's retail store, credit card usage, quality of service received, cleanliness of the visited retailer, whether a particular advertisement has been encountered in advance, and the like. The automatic driving activity data collection unit used in the present invention is preferably provided with a portable computer that can be reprogrammed in the field during long-term driving activity investigation, for example, to change the prompt message. Accordingly, the prompt message may be changed from time to time in consideration of the introduction and cancellation of advertisements, which may potentially affect driving activities.

Appendix A is a list of various data elements obtainable by the preferred system of the present invention. These data elements are organized into sections that reflect entries of information that can be obtained through the process of a single driving activity part. Data automatically generated by the driving activity data collector is denoted by "x" in Appendix A. Data entered by the operator is indicated as "M" in Appendix A. In some cases, data designated as "M / x" in Appendix A may be acquired by the driver by input into the data collector, or may be automatically generated by the data collector.

Vehicle position data indicating the time collected by the data processing system from various autonomous driving activity data collection units at the central station is processed and statistically analyzed by techniques known to those skilled in the art and commercialized for each driving activity portion by each target vehicle. You can get useful information. Vehicle position data and panelist attribute data from a panelist's research group are statistically analyzed to generate a set of consumer activity market research information that is important to various consumer production and marketing companies and government agencies. Tables 4 to 6 provide examples of hypotheses of the types of consumer driving activity market research information that can be obtained in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Table 4 shows hypothetical consumer driving activity market research information on driving distance, driving time, average speed per route and idle time. This market research information is useful to government agencies in that it provides information about the relative use of different road types determined from routing data. As shown in Table 4, the present invention makes it possible to measure the average speed and idle time for each route.

Table 5 presents hypothetical market research information on speeding drivers by the sum of annually driven distances by a vehicle insurance company that can be obtained by the preferred method of the present invention. A speeding driver can be defined as a driver who averages 5 mph or more above the speed limit on a one-lane road. The kind of information shown in Table 5 is useful for insurance companies that calculate the risk level for their competitors.

Table 6 shows hypothetical market research information that can be obtained by the refinery in a preferred embodiment of the present invention regarding total gasoline purchasers, gallons of gasoline purchased, and gallons per purchaser. To obtain this information, the autonomous driving activity data collection unit may provide information about gas purchases when no gasoline purchase has been reported for a vehicle that has been stopped for less than 15 minutes at the charging station location, or for vehicles that have driven 300 miles in the past. It can be programmed to rush. The driver will be informed about the purchase of gasoline, the amount of gasoline, which brand, and the price range. Market research information of the kind shown in Table 6 can be used by oil companies to monitor the effectiveness of campaign advertising on breeders over time and when providing a measure of competitors with a second brand preference.

It is not intended that the present invention be limited to the specific embodiments described above. It is to be understood that the invention specifically described herein may be modified without departing from the scope and hypothesis of the invention, and is intended to include all other embodiments, alternatives and modifications that are compatible with the invention.

Claims (39)

In the method of acquiring driving market research information of a consumer, (a) selecting a plurality of panelists to form a consumer driving panel, at least one trackable car and at least one consumer driver relating to each panelist of the consumer driving panel, wherein the consumer driver relating to the panelist is a panel The panelists who use the trackable cars associated with the list and make up the consumer driving activity panel provide representatives in a plurality of various vehicle classification categories, and the consumer drivers associated with the panel list are provided in a plurality of various demographic categories. Provides representatives from; (b) for each panelist in the consumer driving activity panel, storing panelist attribute data corresponding to the panelist in the data processing system, wherein the panelist attribute data is associated with each trackable vehicle associated with the panelist. Includes demographic data for each consumer driver associated with the classification data and the panelist; (c) For each driving activity of each trackable vehicle and the driving activity portions of the sample group driven by the trackable vehicle, the movement of the trackable vehicle during the driving activity portion by means of an automatic vehicle position tracking gear on the vehicle. Automatically generating time-tracked vehicle position data, which is approximately tracked, and storing the time-positioned vehicle position data in a digital data storage, wherein the vehicle position data in time for the driving activity portion is converted into consecutive position coordinates. Includes a data sequence and associated times that roughly tracked the movement of the vehicle during the driving activity portion; (d) For each driving activity of each trackable vehicle and the driving activity portions of the sample group driven by the vehicle, time-dependent vehicle position data associated with the driving activity portion is analyzed to determine the approximate date, day Data encoding a time and an approximate period of a driving activity portion; Approximate starting point coordinates and approximate destination coordinates of the driving activity portion; An approximate distance driven by the vehicle from the driving activity portion; And generating a set of driving activity portion vehicle usage data that includes a representative approximate speed driven by the vehicle during the driving activity portion; (e) For each trackable car, the panelist of the consumer driving activity panel to which the trackable car is associated, the vehicle usage data of the driving activity portion for the driving activity portions of the sample group driven by the vehicle in the data processing system. Associating with elements of panelless attribute data corresponding to; And (f) using the data processing system, statistically analyzing the driving activity portion vehicle usage data and associated panelist attribute data for the panelists of the survey group of the consumer driving activity panel to obtain consumer driving activity market research information. Method of obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, comprising. 2. The panel of claim 1, wherein each panelist of the consumer driving activity panel is a family, and at least one trackable car associated with the panelist is a car used by driver members of the family, and at least one consumer driver associated with the panelist is a family. Method of obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that the member. 2. The panel of claim 1, wherein each panelist is a trackable car, at least one trackable car associated with the panelist is a trackable car panelist himself, and at least one consumer driver associated with the panelist is configured to use the trackable car panelist. The consumer activity market research information acquisition method, characterized in that the consumer driver having. The method of claim 1, wherein each panelist is a consumer driver, and at least one trackable car associated with the panelist is at least one trackable car used by the consumer driver panelist, and at least one consumer driver associated with the panelist is a consumer A method for acquiring driving market research information of a consumer, characterized in that the driver panelist himself. 2. The consumer driving activity market of claim 1, wherein the vehicle classification categories in which representatives are provided as trackable cars associated with panelists constituting the consumer driving activity panel include cars, vans, and sports vehicles. How to Obtain Survey Information. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the demographic data of each consumer driver associated with the panelist of the consumer driving activity panel includes data encoding the age and gender of the consumer driver. Way. 6. The demographic data of each consumer driver associated with a panelist of a consumer driving activity panel includes data encoding the individual income level of the consumer driver or the family income level of a family of which the consumer driver is a member. Method for obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that. 8. The consumer driving activity market of claim 7, wherein the demographic data for each consumer driver associated with the panelist of the consumer driving activity panel further comprises data encoding the education level and the employment status of the consumer driver. How to Obtain Survey Information. 6. The consumer driving activity market research information of claim 5, wherein the vehicle classification data for each trackable vehicle associated with the panelist of the consumer driving activity panel includes data encoding the manufacturer and the type of vehicle. Acquisition method. The system of claim 5, wherein an automatic vehicle positioning gear on each trackable vehicle receives global positioning system (GPS) satellite signals to determine position geodesic coordinate data that specifies an approximate position of the vehicle when satellite signals are received. Method for obtaining market information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that it comprises a GPS satellite receiver for. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the data processing system is located in a central station and in communication with a wireless receiver gear, each trackable vehicle being equipped with a wireless transmitter gear connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear, The step (c) of automatically generating and storing time-displayed vehicle position data for each driving activity portion of the sample group of each traceable vehicle and driving activity portions may include storing the vehicle position data generated by the automatic vehicle positioning gear. A consumer's driving activity market characterized by continuously transmitting coded signals from the wireless transmitter gear on the vehicle to the wireless receiver gear, and storing the time-displayed vehicle position data for the driving activity portion in the digital data storage of the data processing system. How to Obtain Survey Information. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmitter gear and the wireless receiver gear constitute elements of a cellular telephone system. 11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein each trackable vehicle includes a read / write digital data storage device connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear. The step (c) of automatically generating and storing timed vehicle position data for each driving activity portion of the sample group of each traceable vehicle and driving activity portions comprises: storing the timed vehicle position data in the vehicle digital data storage device. Method for obtaining market information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that it comprises storing in. 15. The driving activity portion of a data reporting group according to claim 13, wherein the data processing system is located at a central station, and the method further comprises: for each driving activity portion of the driving activity portions of the data reporting group driven by each trackable vehicle and vehicle. And transmitting the time-indicated vehicle position data corresponding to the data from the read / write digital data storage on the vehicle to the data processing system in the central station. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the read / write digital data storage of each trackable vehicle is adapted to store time indicated vehicle position data in a removable coarse storage medium, and wherein the data processing system in the central station is removable coarse storage medium. And transmitting the time-indicated vehicle position data corresponding to the driving activity portions of the data reporting group from the digital data storage on the vehicle to the data processing system in the central station, the removable mass reader for reading the data. Storing the vehicle position data on the storage medium in a read / write digital data storage device; removing the removable mass storage medium on which the time indicated vehicle position data is recorded from the storage on the vehicle, the removable approximate storage device Media at the central station And transferring the removable medium storage medium of the central station using the removable medium reader of the data processing system. . 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the removable mass storage medium is a digital magnetic tape, a floppy magnetic disk, or a removable hard magnetic disk. 15. The consumer market activity information of claim 14, wherein the time-sensitive vehicle location data is transmitted from a read / write digital data storage on the vehicle to a data processing system in a central station via a modem and a telephone line connection. Acquisition method. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the representative approximate speed of step (d) is approximately an average speed. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the representative approximate speed of step (d) is approximately maximum speed. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step (d) of analyzing time-indicated vehicle position data associated with each driving activity group of the driving activity portions of the sample group is a position encoded with a data sequence of time-indicated vehicle position data for the driving activity portion Accessing route designator data in the route designator table indexed by position coordinates using coordinates, wherein the accessed route designator data encodes the designation of a route taken by the vehicle in the driving activity portion. How to obtain market research information on driving activities of consumers. 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the route designator data in the route designator table indexed by the position coordinates includes data encoding a speed limit associated with the route designated by the route designator data; The representative approximate speed of step (d) is the approximate maximum speed driven by the trackable car to the route specified by the loop designator data; The step (d) of analyzing time-indicated vehicle position data associated with each driving activity group of the driving activity portions of the sample group compares an approximately maximum speed driven by the vehicle with the route designated by the route designator data with the speed limit associated with the route. Method for obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that it comprises. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step (d) of analyzing time-indicated vehicle position data associated with each driving activity group of the driving activity portions of the sample group comprises using destination coordinates of driving activity portion vehicle usage data for the driving activity portion. And accessing the locator data in the locator table indexed by the location coordinates, wherein the accessed locator data encodes the designation of the destination of the driving activity portion. Acquisition method. 6. The portable vehicle of claim 5, wherein each trackable vehicle has a portable digital computer having a microprocessor, read / write data storage, and an input / output device, said portable computer being connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear for data transmission. To; Each driving activity portion of the driving activity portions of the sample group constitutes a driving activity section ranging from a first vehicle stationary state at a driving activity section starting point position to a second vehicle stationary state at a driving activity section destination location; The method uses the input / output devices of the portable computer to generate a driving zone polling prompt message for each driving zone of each trackable vehicle and driving zone of the sample group when the vehicle is at the starting point of the driving zone. And outputting and storing a response to a polling prompt message input to the computer on a portable computer using input / output devices of the computer. 24. The driving zone polling prompt message for each driving zone of the driving zones of the sample group comprises prompts for identification of the driver of the vehicle, passengers in the vehicle, and the purpose of the driving zone. How to obtain market research information of the consumer's driving activity characterized in that. 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the prompt for identification of the driver of the vehicle comprises a driver selection menu output using the input / output devices of the computer, listing each driver with whom the vehicle is a family member associated with the vehicle. The prompt for identification of the driver includes a passenger selection menu output using the computer's input / output devices, listing each member of the family, and the prompt for identification of the driving zone objective lists the selection of the driving zone objectives. The step of storing a response to a polling prompt message, comprising: an object selection menu output using the computer's input / output devices, wherein the driver selected from the driver selection menu input using the computer's input / output devices , The selection of the passenger selected in the passenger selection menu, and the driving zone selected in the destination selection menu. Operating activities market research information how to obtain the consumer, characterized in that the purpose of saving choice. 24. The vehicle power system of claim 23, wherein each trackable vehicle has a vehicle power system, the vehicle power system is in a vehicle power on state while the vehicle is driving, and the vehicle is generally stationary when the vehicle power system is in a vehicle power off state. And the portable computer on the vehicle monitors the vehicle power on / off with the vehicle power system of the vehicle, and the method tracks each tracking with the portable computer on the vehicle to detect the transition from the vehicle power off state to the vehicle power on state. Monitoring a power system of the capable vehicle, and in response to detecting such a transition from power off to power on, outputting a driving zone polling prompt message when the vehicle is at the starting point of the driving zone; Method of obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the input / output devices of the portable computer on each trackable vehicle include visual display output and manual keyboard input or touch screen input. 24. The portable computer of claim 23, wherein the input / output devices of the portable computer on each trackable vehicle are adapted to provide digitized voice to audio speaker output that can be driven by speech synthesis software running on the computer and speech recognition software running on the computer. Method of obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that it comprises a microphone digitizer input. 6. The portable vehicle of claim 5, wherein each trackable vehicle has a portable digital computer having a microprocessor, read / write data storage, and an input / output device, said portable computer being connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear for data transmission. To; Each trackable vehicle has a vehicle power system, the vehicle power system is in a vehicle power on state while the vehicle is driving, the vehicle is generally stationary when the vehicle power system is in vehicle power off state, and is portable on the vehicle. The computer monitors the vehicle power on / off with the vehicle power system of the vehicle, wherein each driving activity portion of the driving activity portions of the sample group is the second of the driving activity section destination position in the first vehicle stationary state of the driving activity section starting point position. Constructing a driving activity section leading to a vehicle fixed state; The method includes monitoring, for each driving activity section of each tracking activity vehicle and sample group driving activity, the power system of each trackable vehicle to detect a transition from the vehicle power off state to the vehicle power on state. And in response to detecting such a transition from power off to power on, storing driving activity section destination location data encoding position coordinates of the vehicle to define the destination coordinates for the driving activity section. Method for obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the step (d) of analyzing time-indicated vehicle position data associated with each driving activity section of the driving activity sections of the sample group uses the destination coordinates of the driving activity section vehicle usage data for the driving activity section. Search for locator data in the locator table indexed by locator coordinates in the portable computer, and if there is this locator data, the locator data encodes a designation of a location for the destination of the driving activity section and corresponds to the destination coordinates. If the locator data is not in the locator table, a destination designation prompt message is displayed using the input / output devices of the portable computer, prompting the identification of the designation of the destination, and input to the portable computer using the computer input / output devices. To reply to a specified destination prompt message How to obtain operating activities market research information for consumers according to claim 1, further comprising: storing a locator table is indexed into position coordinates as tea specifier data indexed by coordinates. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the input / output devices of the portable computer of each vehicle include visual display output and manual keyboard input or touch screen input. 30. The portable computer of claim 29, wherein the input / output devices of the portable computer on each trackable vehicle are adapted to provide digitized speech to audio speaker output that can be driven by speech synthesis software running on the computer and speech recognition software running on the computer. Method of obtaining market research information of the driving activity of the consumer, characterized in that it comprises a microphone digitizer input. 6. The portable vehicle of claim 5, wherein each trackable vehicle has a portable digital computer having a microprocessor, read / write data storage, and an input / output device, said portable computer being connected to an automatic vehicle positioning gear for data transmission. To; Each driving activity portion of the driving activity portions of the sample group constitutes a driving activity section ranging from a first vehicle stationary state at a driving activity section starting point position to a second vehicle stationary state at a driving activity section destination location; The method uses the destination coordinates of the driving activity interval vehicle usage data for the driving activity interval for each driving activity section of the sample group driving activity sections at each trackable car and driving activity section destination location. Access locator data in the locator table indexed by locator coordinates, and the accessed locator data encodes the designation of the destination of the driving activity section, and is performed at the designated destination using input / output devices of the portable computer. Outputting a destination activity prompt message corresponding to the destination specified by the locator data by prompting for information about the activities being performed, and using the computer's input / output devices to display any destination activity prompt message entered on the portable computer. Save it as a response The method of obtaining consumer driving market research information, characterized in that it further comprises a step. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the designated destination is a retail store and the destination activity prompt message corresponding to the designated destination includes a prompt for the amount used at the retail store. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the designated destination is a shopping center and the destination activity prompt message corresponding to the designated destination includes prompts for identification of certain businesses visited the shopping center and for identification of the businesses in the shopping center where the purchase was made. How to obtain market research information on driving activities of consumers. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the designated destination is a service station and the destination activity prompt message corresponding to the designated destination includes prompts for identification of any gasoline purchased at the service station and identification of the price paid for the gasoline. How to obtain market research information of consumer driving activity. 34. The consumer of claim 33 further comprising, for each trackable vehicle, reprogramming the portable digital computer on the vehicle to modify destination activity prompt messages output using the computer's input / output devices. How to obtain market research information for driving activities. The destination activity prompt message of claim 37, wherein the destination activity prompt message is altered by reprogramming the portable computer of each vehicle with a prompt to identify whether the consumer driver has seen a particular advertising campaign belonging to the specified destination corresponding to the prompt message. How to obtain market research information on driving activities of consumers. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of panelists in the consumer driving activity panel is greater than 10,000.