MKT 6309

Cross-sectional Design

- A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured at one point in time.

Full Service Suppliers: Syndicated Data Service Firms

- Collect information that is available to multiple firms. The information is provided in a standardized form (not tailored to any one company) to a large number of companies, known as a syndicate.

Full Service Suppliers: Customized Service Firms

- Offer a variety of research services tailored to meet the client's specific needs

Advantages of Cross-Sectional Designs

- Representative sampling, Response bias

Step 6: Determine methods of accessing data

- When obtaining data, there are 4 main choices: - a person asks questions - Use computer assisted questioning - Allow respondents to answer questions themselves without computer assistance - Use a combination of the above three methods

Step 1: Establish the Need for Marketing Research

-Inadequate information signals the need for marketing research

6 Functions of a Questionnaire

-It translates research objectives into specific questions. • It standardizes those questions and response categories. • It fosters cooperation and keeps respondents motivated. • serves as permanent record of the research. • may speed up the process of data analysis. • may be used in reliability assessments and respondent participation validation.

Disadvantages of Focus Groups

1. Misuse 2. Misjudge 3. Moderation 4. Messy 5. Misrepresentation

Advantages of Focus Groups

1. Synergism 2. Snowballing 3. Stimulation 4. Security 5. Spontaneity 6. Serendipity 7. Specialization 8. Scientific scrutiny 9. Structure

Earliest questionnaire surveys began around

1824

The Marketing Research Process

1: Establish the need for Marketing Research 2: Define the Problem 3: Establish research objectives 4: Determine research design 5: Identify information types and sources 6: Determine methods of accessing data 7: Design data collection forms 8: Determine the sample plan and size 9: Collect data 10: Analyze data 11: Prepare and present the final research report

Longitudinal Designs

A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured repeatedly on the same variables . Samples remain the same.

Step 3: Establish research objectives

A research objective should be very specific and should satisfy four criteria: - Specify from whom the information is to be gathered - Specify what information is needed - Specify the unit of measurement used to gather information - Word questions used to gather the information, in the respondents‟ frame of reference"

Components of a Research Design

Define the information needed • Design the exploratory, descriptive, and/or causal phases of the research • Specify the measurement and scaling procedures • Construct and pretest a questionnaire or an appropriate form for data collection • Specify the sampling process and sample size • Develop a plan of data analysis

Disadvantages of Cross-Sectional Designs

Detecting change, Large amount of data collection, Accuracy

Problem-Solving Research

Determines basis of segmentation. Establish market potential and responsiveness for various segments. Select target markets and create lifestyle profiles, demography, media, and product image characteristics.

Step 9: Collect data

Errors in collecting data may be attributed to fieldworkers or respondents and they may be either intentional or unintentional.

Exploratory Research

Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely • Identify alternative courses of action • Develop hypotheses • Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination

Advantages of Online Focus Groups

Geographical constraints are removed and time constraints are lessened. Unique opportunity to re-contact group participants at a later date. Can recruit people not interested in traditional focus groups: doctors, lawyers, etc

Questions should not be

Leading - Loaded - Double-barreled - Overstated

Primary Scales of Measurement: Ordinal Scale

Measurement in which numbers are assigned to data on the basis of some order

Respondent Control

Methods that allow respondents control over the interviewing process will solicit greater cooperation and are therefore desirable.

Nominal Scale

Numbers are assigned to objects or classes of objects solely for the purpose of identification. Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are based on frequency counts, are permissible, e.g., percentages and mode.

Primary Scales of Measurement: Interval Scale

Numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in the characteristic being measured

Exploratory characteristics

Often the front end of total research design • Flexible, versatile • Information needed is defined only loosely. • Sample is small and non representative

Disadvantages of Comparative Scales

Ordinal nature of the data • Inability to generalize beyond the stimulus objects scaled

Descriptive Characteristics

Preplanned and structured design • Information needed is clearly defined. • Marked by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses

Can be put into categories Ex: What is your annual household income?

Ratio data

Step 2: Define the Problem

Regardless of the source, when managers recognize there is a problem, they must define the problem by identifying the decision alternatives

Descriptive Methods

Secondary data: quantitative analysis • Surveys • Panels • Observation and other data

Data reduction

Select which aspects of the data are to be emphasized, minimized, or set aside for the project at hand.

Step 5: Identify information types and sources

Since research provides information to help solve problems, researchers must identify the type and sources of information they will use - Primary information: information collected specifically for the problem at hand - Secondary information: information already collected

Mobile Marketing Research

Social Media-Sample control is low to moderate. Sample representativeness may be another serious issue. • The quantity of data is low. Surveys must be kept short and simple.

Limited Service Suppliers: Field Service Firms

Specialize in collecting data • Typically operate in a particular area conducting telephone surveys, focus group interviews, mall-intercept surveys and door-to-door surveys

Limited Service Suppliers

Specialize in one or, at most, a few marketing research activities such as eye testing (eye tracking), mystery shopping, field services (data collection), or market segment specialists

Why are scales important?

The level of measurement for a scale affects which analysis should or should not be performed

Step 7: Design data collection forms

The survey or questionnaire must be worded objectively, clearly, and without bias in order to communicate with respondents.

Step 4: Determine research design

There are three widely recognized research designs: - Exploratory - Descriptive - Causal

Step 10: Analyze data

This includes basic descriptive analysis to summarize your data • Also involves generalization of values generated from sample data to the population, and how to test hypotheses

Uses of Causal Research

To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon

Errors in Marketing Research

Total error, Random sampling error, Non-sampling errors, Non-response error, Response error

True/False: There is no one universally agreed upon process for defining the problem and the research objective.

True

Research Design

a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. • It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to solve marketing research problems.

Response error

arises when respondents give inaccurate answers or their answers are mis recorded or mis analyzed.

Non-response error

arises when some of the respondents included in the sample do not respond.

Non-sampling errors

can be attributed to sources other than sampling, and they may be random or nonrandom: including errors in problem definition, approach, scales, questionnaire design, interviewing methods, and data preparation and analysis. Consist of non-response errors and response errors.

Bibliographic databases

composed of citations to articles

noncomparative scales

each object is scaled independently of the others in the stimulus set. The resulting data are generally assumed to be interval or ratio scaled.

Used to identify and define market opportunities and problems, Generate and evaluate marketing performance, Monitor marketing performance, Improve understanding of marketing as a process

information

External Suppliers

outside firms hired to fulfill a company's marketing research needs. May organize by: Function, Type of research application, Geography, and type of customer

Incidence Rate

refers to rate of occurrence of persons eligible to participate in the study.

Goals of Scale Development

reliability and validity

The Role of the Researcher in Problem Definition

researchers must resist the temptation to go along with the first definition suggested

expressive techniques

respondents are presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation

contrived observation

respondents' behavior is observed in an artificial environment, such as a test kitchen.

Limited Service Suppliers: Other Types

specialize in collecting data from specific market segments such as Hispanics or children

Distance

the absolute differences between the scale descriptors

AMA definition of marketing

the function that links the customers and the public to the marketer through information

Order

the relative sizes or positions of the descriptors. Denoted by descriptors such as greater than, less than, and equal to.

Marketing Research

the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of information for the purpose of improving decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing

Random sampling error

the variation between the true mean value for the population and the true mean value for the original sample.

Total error

the variation between the true mean value in the population of the variable of interest and the observed mean value obtained in the marketing research project.