With Dave Carroll’s United Breaks Guitars: Song Two hitting the web last night, it’s a good time to consider the impact of the first segment of the planned trilogy.

According to the results of our most recent province-wide omnibus telephone survey conducted in mid-July, an impressive two-thirds (67%) of Nova Scotians reported that they had seen or heard something about the United Breaks Guitars YouTube video. Awareness of the video increased with income and education level, which is not particularly surprising.

What did surprise us was that this awareness also increased with age, peaking at 73% among those 55 years of age and older. This likely reflects the fact that this was no ordinary viral video. It received a great deal of so-called “mainstream” media coverage, locally and beyond. This is underscored by the fact that only about one-third (32%) of those who had heard about the story had actually watched the video at the time of interviewing (despite the fact 83% of those who were aware of the video reported that they have access to the Internet at home or at work). On this question, responses fell into a more predictable age pattern – those older than 55 were less likely to have watched the video.

Whether they watched the video personally or not, the story certainly gave United a public relations black eye. Nearly four in ten (38%) Nova Scotians said the story left them with a more negative impression of United Airlines than they had previously, versus only 2% who were left with a more positive view. The remainder said it made no difference (54%) or were unsure (6%).  Among those who had actually seen the video, the verdict was harsher - 59% were left with a more negative impression of the airline.

These questions were included as part of the July 2009 Nextbus Survey, a monthly syndicated survey conducted by Thinkwell Research. The survey was conducted by telephone with a random, representative sample of 403 adult Nova Scotians (18+) between July 16 and July 21, 2009. A sample of this size is expected to yield a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Survey questions (Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding)

SM1. Recently, a musician named Dave Carroll - a member of the Halifax group “The Sons of Maxwell” -  recorded a video that was released on YouTube that described the difficulties he has had obtaining compensation from United Airlines for a broken guitar. Do you recall seeing or hearing anything about this video?

SM2 .[IF YES IN SM1] Have you personally watched the video on YouTube?

SM3. [IF YES IN SM1] Did the story leave you with a more positive impression of  United Airlines than you held previously, a more negative impression than you held previously, or did it make no difference?