Patent ID: 6941573

Claim:
A consumer response analysis system comprising: a targetable television system including a head end, a signal distribution arrangement and a plurality of television receivers for viewing by consumers, said head end including circuitry for transmitting normal television program signals and substitute television program signals on a plurality of distribution trunks connected by the signal distribution arrangement to said plurality of television receivers, each television receiver being connected to the plurality of distribution trunks preselected so that the receivers connected to at least one of the distribution trunks demographically represents the community for market research purposes, the head end including signal distribution circuitry for receiving the normal television program signals and the substitute television program signal and for combining the received channel signals into spectrums of channels on the plurality of distribution trunks, the spectrum of channels on less than all of the plurality of distribution trunks including the substitute television program signal; a plurality of product sales collection units each for collecting information representing purchases by the consumers at one of a plurality of stores and for generating product identifying signals identifying the products purchased and the sales collection unit collecting the information, each sales collection unit predominately collecting purchase information by consumers viewing receivers connected to the Same distribution trunk, whereby the system is closed between the targetable television system and the product sales collection units by the acts of the consumers viewing the programs presented on the respective television receivers and shopping in a store including a sales collection unit; and a market research computer system including data for identifying the particular sales collection units associated with each of the distribution trunks and responding to said transaction response signals to provide an indication of consumer behavior in response to said normal and substitute programs.