## 4 Methodology
### Development of the Survey Instrument
#### 4.1.1 Conducting 495 Semi-Structured, Open-Form, Face-To-Face Interviews  
We conducted 495 semi-structured, open-form, face-to-face interviews with company salespeople, external distributors and service providers, and owner-operators, to determine which attributes truck users are most concerned about. These three groups of interviewees have different characteristics, and thus, offer unique insights into our area of interest. Internal company salespeople deal with different dealers and customers, while also being attuned to problems within their own firms; they are cognizant of customer demand factors, mainly from customer feedback about their own products. External distributors and service providers play a middleman role in the truck sales chain. Many dealers are agents for multiple brands, which gives them a broader view of customer demand in the industry. Owner-operators are the end-users of the truck products, so they draw their demand factors directly from their own driving experiences. Table 1 reports the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants in the interviews. We designed several interview protocols according to the characteristics of the three groups of interviewees. Because people in China speak many different dialects, to ensure the accuracy of translations, we employed graduate students familiar with the dialects to do the translations. Each research participant was paid 100 RMB (US $14) at the end of the interview. The interviews ranged from 60 min to 2 h in length. Each interview started with assessing the perceived relevancy and validity of the list generated from the literature in Phase 1, and then followed a structured interview guide that included six topics: \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Company Salespeople**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**External Distributors**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Owner-Operators**} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 135)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 87)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 273)**} \\ \hline
**Variable** & **Mean** & **S.D.** & **Mean** & **S.D.** & **Mean** & **S.D.** \\ \hline Age & 29.644 & 6.783 & 27.207 & 2.833 & 33.454 & 7.850 \\ Annual Income (RMB) & 54,955.240 & 63,201.120 & 36,206.200 & 19,189.450 & 86,239.380 & 72,453.130 \\ Number of Truck Purchases in the past 12 months & 1.733 & 1.052 & 2.943 & 0.753 & 2.495 & 1.118 \\ Driver Experience (Years) & 6.793 & 3.541 & 7.655 & 2.510 & 8.773 & 2.604 \\ Truck Industry Experience (Years) & 18.793 & 7.828 & 22.080 & 5.755 & 22.564 & 6.539 \\ Business Experience (Years) & 22.422 & 8.697 & 24.586 & 6.292 & 27.821 & 6.660 \\ \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Frequency**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Percent**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Frequency**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Percent**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Frequency**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Percent**} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\%)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\%)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Frequency**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\%)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Frequency**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(\%)**} \\ \hline Sex & Male & 81 & 60.00 & 58 & 66.67 & 269 & 98.53 \\ Female & 54 & 40.00 & 29 & 33.33 & 4 & 1.47 \\ \hline  & High & 96 & 71.11 & 49 & 56.32 & 179 & 65.57 \\ Education & School & \multirow{2}{*}{32} & \multirow{2}{*}{23.70} & \multirow{2}{*}{31} & \multirow{2}{*}{35.63} & \multirow{2}{*}{65} & \multirow{2}{*}{23.81} \\ College & & & & & & \\ Degree & & & & & & \\ Graduate & & & & & & \\ Degree & 7 & 5.19 & 7 & 8.05 & 29 & 10.62 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics of the interviewees (\(n=495\)). 1. Overall, what do you think are the important sustainable technology and service-related factors to you when you make decisions regarding truck purchase? 2. Why are these factors particularly important to you? 3. What are the top five most important factors to you when you make a purchase? 4. Reflecting on experience of your last purchase, what can a company do to increase your satisfaction? 5.