The Purchase Intercept Technique (PIT) in Comparison to Telephone and Mail Surveys

The purchase intercept technique (PIT) is a data collection procedure that combines both in-store observation and in-store interviewing to assess shopping behavior and the reasons behind that behavior. PIT is administered at the time of observable product selection. A comparison is conducted of the relative merits of PIT and telephone and mail surveys for: 1. providing basic facts and opinions about a specific purchase, and 2. insuring the relative accuracy of the response rates. Two of the advantages of PIT are that it can replace recall with observation, and it aids buyer recall. A disadvantage of PIT is that interviewer supervision and, thus, quality control may not be as easy to administer during in-store interviewing as in telephone interviewing from a central location. There is some risk that in-store interviewing could hurt the retailer's business by alienating patrons. However, PIT is helpful in gaining accurate purchase data.