Marketing Ch. 7

Observational Research

the gathering of primary data by observing relevant people, actions and situations. Can obtain information that people are unwilling or unable to provide. Can be used to observe feelings, attitudes, motives, and long-term or infrequent behaviors.

Non-probablility sample

population member chances of selection is unknown. Chosen by some subjective process.

Sample

segment of the population selected to represent the population as a whole

marketing intelligence

systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about consumers, competitors, and developments in the marketing environment. Comes from environmental scanning.

marketing research

systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization.

Advantages to secondary data

1. Cost 2. Speed 3. Could not get data otherwise

Marketing Research Process Steps

1. Define the problem 2. Develop the research plan 3. Collect relevant information 4. develop findings 5. take marketing actions

Survey Research is

the most widely used method for primary data collection. Approach best suited for gathering descriptive info, but also can gather information about people's knowledge, attitudes, preferences or buying behavior.

Experimental research

tries to explain cause-and-effect relationships

3 Characteristics of a good problem definition

1. Identifies the cause of the problem, not its symptoms 2. Identifies alternative courses of action 3. Identifies information needed to evaluate those options A good problem definition results in less cost and greater value.

Disadvantages to secondary data

1. Is it current? 2. Is it relevant? 3. Is it accurate? 4. Is it impartial?

Ways to increase response rates

1. Prenotification 2. Call backs 3. incentives 4. major factor is the person's interest in the topic

The research plan outlines:

1. Sources of existing data 2. If new data is needed then the specific research approaches, contact methods, sampling plan, instruments for data collection.

Uses of data mining

1. improved prospecting 2. better market segmentation 3. increased customer loyalty 4. more successful cross-selling and upselling 5. Risk management 6. More effective and efficient broad-reach media spending 7. More effective and efficient bundling of product features

Contact Methods

1. mail surveys 2. telephone surveys 3. personal interviews (individual or focus group) 4. online marketing research

Ways to use market information

1. make action recommendations 2. implement the action recommendations 3. evaluate the decision and the decision process used

Research Instruments

1. questionnaires 2. data collection forms like scales (likert or semantic)

Factors data analysis depends on

1. types of numbers used in measuring data 2. research questions 3. assumptions of the test statistic being used 4. interpret the findings 5. draw conclusions 6. report to management

3 decisions sampling requires

1. who is to be surveyed? 2. how many people? 3. how should the sample be chosen?

Descriptive research

a type of research objective. Gathering information to better describe marketing problems, situations, or markets

Exploratory research

a type of research objective. Gathering preliminary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses

Casual research

a type of research objective. Testing hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships

response rate =

actual # of responses/desired # of responses. Want to maximize response rate because as response rate increases, nonresponse error will tend to decrease.

Primary Data

consists of information collected for the specific purpose at hand. Must make decisions about research approach, contact methods, sampling plan, research instruments.

internal databases

electronic collections of consumer and market information obtained from data sources within the company network

Probability sample

every population member has a known, non-zero chance of selection. Chosen by an objective process.

Secondary data

information that already exists somewhere which has been collected for another purpose. Common sources are: internet databases, commercial data services, government sources.