Marketing Research Exam #1

The stages of the marketing research process are: (there are 6)

1) Defining the research objectives 2) Planning a research design 3) Planning a sample 4) Collecting the data 5) Analyzing the data 6) Formulating the conclusions and preparing the report

A food company researcher is interested in knowing what types of food are carried in brown-bag lunches to learn if the company can capitalize on this phenomenon.

Exploratory research can be conducted to observe consumers at lunchtime (i.e., in cafeterias). Focus groups can be conducted as well as survey research. An example of a "deliverable" would be a listing and frequency of the various food and drink items that consumers pack in a lunch, and testing of a hypothesis is not likely.

Discovering the ways that people who live in apartments actually use vacuum cleaners, and identifying cleaning tasks for which they do not use a vacuum.

Exploratory research. This research is attempting to learn more about how consumers use these types of products and perform cleaning tasks.

Evaluate the following statement of marketing problems. For each, provide a decision statement and corresponding research objectives: A farm implement manufacturer: Our objective is to learn the most effective form of advertising so we can maximize product line profits.

Further maximizing product line profits should be stated in terms that are meaningful from a research point of view. It would be much better if a more specific objective was stated, such as to measure ability to generate attention, to obtain believability, to persuade, and to communicate key sales points in the advertising message for a new ad in a specific media vehicle (i.e., an agricultural magazine). believability, persuasion, and recall of key copy points were identified in even more specific terms. For example, attention might be identified as unaided or aided recall; persuasion might be identified as change in brand preference, etc.

Researchers who must conduct a 45-minute personal interview decide that they will offer $10 to each respondent because they believe that people who will sell their opinions are more typical than someone who will talk to a stranger for 45 minutes.

In general, researchers avoid paying people for responses. Some individuals would welcome the money and say things to please the interviewers (interviewer bias). Also this has the potential of self-selection bias.

What do you think should be the maximum length of a self-administered e-mail questionnaire?

A general rule of thumb on both mail and e-mail surveys is that they should not take more than 12 minutes to complete.

e. A survey comes with a Water Hardness Packet to test the hardness of the water in a respondent's home. The packet includes a color chart and a plastic strip to dip into hot water. The respondent is given instruction in six steps on how to compare the color of the plastic strip with the color chart that indicates water hardness.

A major source of error would be nonresponse error. This task requires considerable effort on the part of the respondent, and many will simply refuse to participate.

What type of survey approach would you use to conduct the following surveys? Why? Survey of the business-related buying motives of industrial engineers

A personal interview conducted by a professional interviewer is probably the most likely type of communication medium. Industrial engineers are busy individuals. The presence of an interviewer will generally increase participation among professional groups. The answers to questions may be complex and considerable probing may be necessary. Depending upon the nature of the questions, props may be necessary.

A company's sales representatives are asked what percentage of the time they spend making presentations to prospects, traveling, talking on the telephone, participating in meetings, working on the computer, and engaging in other on-the-job activities. What potential sources of error might be associated with asking such a question?

A respondent in this typical situation will give an answer to questions about time spent in various activities. However, it is very likely that the respondent has some memory problems and does not know the exact percentages of time spent on each activity. Asked for an answer, in general, the individual will tend to give a generalized answer, reflecting the ideal or expected behavior for situations. This is an example of unconscious misrepresentation.

Do surveys tend to gather qualitative or quantitative data? What types of information are commonly measured with surveys?

A survey is defined as a method of collecting primary data based on communication with a representative sample of individuals. Because most survey research is descriptive research, the term survey is most often associated with quantitative findings, but some aspects of surveys may also be qualitative. The type of information gathered in a survey varies considerably depending on its objectives. Typically, surveys attempt to describe what is happening or to learn the response for a particular marketing activity. Identifying characteristics of target markets, measuring consumer attitudes, and describing consumer purchasing patterns are common survey objectives. Questions about product use and desirable features help with product development and advertising messages. Demographic information and information on media exposure might also be collected in the survey to help plan a market segmentation strategy.

d. An advertiser wishes to identify the symbolism associated with cigar smoking.

A thematic apperception test might be a very useful technique in this situation. For example, the first picture might be a man and a woman seated at a restaurant with the person at the next table smoking a cigar. Or the picture might show two people in the same room, one beginning to light up a cigar. A sentence completion test might also be used. If a focus group is used, smokers and nonsmokers should not be in the same group.

The inventor of a tension-headache remedy (a cooling pad that is placed on the forehead for up to four hours): The purpose of this researcher is (1) to identify the market potential for the product, (2) to identify what desirable features the product should possess, and (3) to determine possible advertising strategies/channel strategies for the product.

Although this is not a poor statement of the problem, it is too ambitious and it could be more specific. A major disadvantage of this problem statement is that it is too much for a single research study. Determining advertising and channel strategies, product features, and market potential indicates several distinct problems for a program strategy rather than a single project strategy. Identifying market potential and identifying what desirable features the product should possess are both a little vague. One might argue that headache suffers need this product like they need a hole in their heads. It could be argued that consumers want quick pain relief and they don't find a pad that stays on the top of the head for up to four hours convenient. Will it work better than existing solutions, like two aspirins, is a major question. The research questions might address some more specific issues, such as: is this likely to be a probable purchase relative to the alternatives, is the product likely to be perceived to be new and different, and how would consumers perceive its value if it is marketed at a high price.

You have been hired by a group of hotel owners, restaurant owners, and other people engaged in businesses that benefit from tourism on South Padre Island, Texas. They wish to learn how they can attract a large number of college students to their town during spring break. Define the marketing decision statement.

Answers to this question will vary. However, an answer similar to the following might be expected. The general purpose of the research will determine the expectations and behavior of college students visiting South Padre Island during spring break. It will determine where students received information (travel agent, friend, advertising, previous visit, etc.) about the area and what made them decide to vacation at South Padre Island. It will identify the mode of transportation used to get to South Padre Island and the nature of the traveling party. It will determine the length of the visitor's stay and the type of accommodations that are preferred. It will measure what activities (sun bathing, party atmosphere, rock concerts, etc.) were expected and what types of shopping and site-seeing occurred in the area. It will identify how much money students spent. The appropriate demographic information (university location, age, etc.) will be obtained and cross classified with the above information.

A researcher tells a manager of a wine company that he has some "cool focus group results" suggesting that respondents like the idea of a screw-cap to top wine bottles. Even before the decision maker sees the report, the manager begins purchasing screw-caps and the new bottling equipment. Comment on this situation.

Before acting on the results of any focus group, managers should examine the sample used because some unique sampling problems arise with focus groups. Researchers often select focus group participants because they have similar backgrounds and experiences or because screening indicates that the participants are more articulate or gregarious than the typical consumer. Such participants may not be representative of the entire target market. While the researcher may have some "cool focus group results," if the participants are not representative of the target market the results in the marketplace will not be realized. For example, did the focus group consist of every-day consumers, or were wine aficionados included?

Establishing the relationship between advertising and sales in the beer industry.

Causal research. Establishing the functional relationship between advertising and sales is the project's goal. It attempts to predict what would happen to sales if a change in advertising occurred. After the causal variable is manipulated, the researcher observes the effect on sales.

Testing the effect of the inside temperature of a clothing store on sales of outerwear.

Causal research. This research can manipulate the temperature inside of a clothing store and measure the impact on sales of outerwear.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using consumer panels?

Consumer panels involve a longitudinal study which includes gathering data from the same sample over time. The panelists record their purchasing habits in a diary for a set period of time. Panels are generally expensive and, thus, are usually managed by contractors that specialize in maintaining consumer panels. Such panels enable the investigator to keep track of repeat purchase behavior habits affected by changes in price, special promotions, or other aspects of marketing strategies. Panels generally give high response rates to surveys because the panel members have already agreed to cooperate with an organization's research.

What type of research design would you recommend in the situations below? For each applied market research project, what might be an example of a "deliverable"? Which do you think would involve actually testing a research hypothesis? The manufacturer and marketer of flight simulators and pilot training equipment wishes to forecast sales volume for the next five years.

Descriptive Research. Initially the study will identify past sales and the variables associated with sales of pilot training equipment (e.g., number of licensed pilots, number of airplanes sold, gross national product, etc.). Once these variables have been identified the researcher can then attempt to describe the market size and trends, thus aiding the forecast of potential sales. An example of a "deliverable" would be an estimate of a company's sales volume for the next five years. This research would not involve testing a hypothesis.

A local chapter of the American Lung Association wishes to identify the demographic characteristics of individuals who donate more than $500 per year.

Descriptive Research. This answer depends upon the nature of records kept by the local organization. It may be that this information can be obtained from internal sources. However, if the organization only knows the names and addresses of donors, then a survey asking about demographic characteristics is the most likely research design. An example of a "deliverable" would be a demographic breakdown of these individuals, and the testing of a hypothesis is unlikely.

Estimating the 5-year sales potential for Cat-Scan machines in the Ark-La-Tex (Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas) region of the United States.

Descriptive Research. This research attempts to describe a market size.

Identifying target market demographics for a shopping center located in Omaha, Nebraska.

Descriptive Research. This study portrays the characteristics of the population who will buy what is identified.

A researcher wishes to explore the feasibility of a casino in a community where gaming had previously been banned.

Descriptive research. A researcher can survey area residents and businesses to learn their attitudes toward gaming and intentions to participate. An example of a "deliverable" could be a demographic, psychographic, and behavioral profile of different segments of consumers.

What type of survey approach is most likely to yield the highest response rate? What approach(es) will yield the lowest response rate? What can be done to improve response rates in e-mail and Internet surveys?

Door-to-door personal interviews have the best respondent cooperation, but it may be difficult for interviewers to reach people at home, or potential respondents are not willing to answer the door. Mall intercept personal interviews have low response rates due to shoppers being too busy to participate. Personalized invitations may improve response rates in e-mail and Internet surveys. Basically, the methods for improving response rates for an Internet survey are similar to those for other kinds of survey research, such as monetary incentives, interesting questions, follow-ups, and advance notification.

Define interactive and noninteractive survey approaches. Why might a researcher choose an interactive survey approach over a noninteractive survey approach?

Interactive survey approaches are those that allow spontaneous two-way interaction between the interviewer and the respondent. These can be either personal or electronic, and they try to capture the dynamic exchange that is possible through face-to-face interviews. Noninteractive survey approaches are those that do not facilitate two-way communications and are thus largely a vehicle by which respondents give answers to static questions. Noninteractive approaches can be the approach in some situations, such as simple opinion polls, awareness studies and even surveys assessing consumer attitudes.

What key questions help resolve the question of whether or not research participants serving as subjects in an experiment are treated ethically?

Key questions that can determine whether a research participant is being treated unethically due to experimental procedures: Has the research subject provided consent to participate in an experiment? Is the research subject subjected to substantial physical or psychological trauma? Can the research subject be easily returned to his or her initial state?

What is laddering? How might it be used in trying to understand which fast-food restaurant different segments of customers prefer?

Laddering is a term used for a particular approach to probing asking respondents to compare differences between brands at different levels. What usually results is that the first distinctions are attribute level distinctions, the second are benefit level distinctions, and the third are at the value or motivation level. Laddering can be used to determine not only which fast-food restaurant a consumer prefers but also why he or she prefers that one. For example, a mother may indicate that McDonald's is her favorite fast-food restaurant. The first level of probing will likely result in attributes as the explanation (e.g., McDonald's has several choices from which to choose, such as hamburgers, Happy Meals, salads, etc.). The next level may reveal benefits that the stated attributes provide (e.g., wide selection allows all family members to be happy). Finally, the third level might reveal the value or motivational level, such as a mother wanting her child to be happy, and the playground and Happy Meal toy satisfy this motivation.

A marketing strategy can be no better than the information on which it is formulated.

Managers need timely, accurate, and pertinent information to make decisions to identify and evaluate opportunities, analyze market segments, plan and implement the marketing mix, and control marketing performance. With the wrong information (perhaps, that heavy buyers are in the wrong market segment), a strategic plan may be destined to fail no matter how properly it is executed.

Survey of the service quality offered at major tire retail stores

Many retail and service providers use Internet surveys by putting the address of the Web site on the sales receipt. Mail, landline and/or mobile-phone surveys (if customers agree) could also be used as many tire retail stores most likely collect address and telephone information from customers.

Is it possible to make sound marketing decisions without marketing research? What advantages does research offer to the decision maker over seat-of-the-pants decision making?

Marketing research attempts to supply accurate information that reduces the uncertainty in decision making. Very often, decisions are made with little information because of various reasons including insufficient time to conduct research or because a manager believes that enough is already known. Relying on seat-of-the-pants decision making—decision making without research—is like betting on a long shot at the racetrack because the horse's name is appealing. Occasionally there are successes, but in the long run, intuition without research leads to losses.

Survey of the satisfaction levels of rental car users

Most likely this will be a mail survey, possibly on a postcard. The source of rent-a-car users and their addresses is provided on the rental contract, thus the mail survey is highly feasible. The satisfaction measure probably can be checked in a simplified fashion.

Survey of television commercial advertising awareness

Most likely this will be a telephone survey during the program or within 24 hours after a certain program has been broadcast. Using central location interviewing, program viewers may be quickly contacted at a relatively low cost.

c. A manager must determine the best site for a convenience store in an urban area.

Observation might be useful. Simply observing how consumers in the area go about their business could provide insight into where an appropriate location might be.

List 5 ways that marketing research can contribute to effective business decision making.

Researchers contribute to decision making in several key ways. These include: (1) Helping to better define the current situation. (2) Defining the firm - determining how consumers, competitors, and employees view the firm. (3) Providing ideas for product improvements or possible new product development. (4) Testing ideas that will assist in implementing the marketing mix strategy for the firm. (5) Examining how correct a certain marketing theory is in a given situation.

Define qualitative and quantitative research. Compare and contrast the two approaches.

Qualitative marketing research is research that addresses marketing objectives through techniques that allow the researcher to provide elaborate interpretations of market phenomena without depending on numerical measurement. Its focus is on discovering true inner meanings and new insights. It is less structured than most quantitative approaches and does not rely on self-response questionnaires containing structured response formats. Instead, it is more researcher-dependent in that the researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses such as text from a recorded interview or a collage representing the meaning of some experience. The researcher interprets the data to extract its meaning and converts it to information. Quantitative marketing research can be defined as marketing research that addresses research objectives through empirical assessments that involve numerical measurement and analysis approaches. It is more apt to stand on its own in the sense that it requires less interpretation.

Why do causal designs rely so much on quantitative research techniques?

Qualitative research is characterized by small samples and interpretive procedures requiring subjective judgments and the unstructured interview format, all of which make traditional hypotheses testing difficult. Thus, these procedures are not best suited for drawing definitive conclusions such as result from causal designs involving experiments.

What is the difference between ethical relativism and ethical idealism? How might a person with an idealist ethical philosophy and a person with a relativist ethical philosophy differ with respect to including a sales pitch at the end of a research survey?

Relativism is a term that reflects the degree to which one rejects moral standards in favor of the acceptability of some action. This way of thinking rejects absolute principles in favor of situation-based evaluations. Thus, an action that is judged ethical in one situation can be deemed their morality on moral standards. Someone who is an ethical idealist will try to apply ethical principles like the Golden Rule in all ethical dilemmas. In the sales pitch scenario, the idealist will probably think it is always wrong to do such behavior, while a relativist might say "it depends."

Secondary data have been called the first line of attack for marketing researchers. Discuss this description.

Secondary data can be obtained quickly and at a relatively low cost. Thus, the first place to start researching a problem is to see if the needed information is already available. Many primary data collection studies have "reinvented the wheel" because they did not know the answer to the manager's question was available in secondary data sources.

What is self-selection bias?

Self-selection bias is a problem that frequently plagues self-administered questionnaires, such as a satisfaction card left at the table at a restaurant. It distorts surveys because they overrepresent extreme positions while underrepresenting responses from those who are indifferent.

Describe the type of research evidence that allows one to infer causality.

The critical pieces of causal evidence are: (1) temporal sequence, (2) concomitant variation, and (3) nonspurious associations. Temporal sequence deals with the time order of events. Thus, having an appropriate causal order of events is one criterion for causality (i.e., the cause must occur before the effect). Concomitant variation occurs when two events "covary," meaning that they vary systematically. In causal terms, it means that when a change in the cause occurs, a change in the outcome also is observed. Nonspurious association means any co-variation between a cause and effect is true and not simply due to some other variable. Often, a causal inference cannot be made even though the other two conditions exist because both the cause and effect have some common cause; that is, both may be influenced by a third variable.

In a survey, chief executive officers (CEOs) indicated that they would prefer to relocate their businesses in Atlanta (first choice), San Diego, Tampa, Los Angeles, or Boston. The CEOs who said they were going to build the required office space in the next year were asked where they were going to build. The CEOs indicated they were to build in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago. Explain the difference.

The difference between the chief executive officers' answers of where they want to go and where they will actually end up reflects the fact that the two questions address different issues. Atlanta and other cities with high quality of life reflect preferences but companies tend to expand into areas where they already have operations. And for most of the companies those are the major business centers, such as New York.

List at least one research obligation for research participants (respondents), marketing researchers, and research clients (sponsors).

The main obligation for research participants is to be truthful. There are several obligations for marketing researchers: the purpose of research is research (i.e., not sales or pseudo-research), objectivity, not misrepresenting research (i.e., honesty in reporting results and errors), and maintaining confidentiality of both the research sponsor and the research participant. The obligations of research clients include: ethical behavior between buyer and seller and an open relationship with research suppliers and interested parties. Both researchers and clients share the responsibility of maintaining research participants' privacy.

What type of exploratory research would you suggest in the following situations? a. A product manager suggests development of a non-tobacco cigarette blended from wheat, cocoa, and citrus.

The non-tobacco cigarette may have many unconscious associations. A thematic apperception test might be appropriate. With a TAT, individuals do not have to state that they personally feel a certain way about an "imitation" cigarette. Given the mask of a projection technique, respondents may be more honest.

The purpose of research is to solve marketing problems.

The purpose of marketing research is to reduce uncertainty and to provide information to allow marketing managers to make decisions. Although the information provided might help the marketing manager make the right decision, it does not solve marketing problems in and of itself. Although marketing research may not provide all the information that would be desirable before making the decision, it can provide a framework within which better decisions can be made.

Identify some typical research objectives for secondary data studies. The text states there are three general categories of research objectives: fact-finding, model building, and database marketing.

The simplest form of secondary data research is fact-finding. Applications of fact-finding include identifying consumer behavior for a product category, trend analysis, and environmental scanning. Model building is more complicated than simple fact-finding and involves specifying relationships between two or more variables, perhaps extending to the development of descriptive or predictive equations; however, model building need not be a complicated mathematical process. In fact, decision-makers using simple models, ones that everyone can readily understand, often find these models superior to complex models that are difficult to comprehend. Some common model building objectives deal with estimating market potential for geographic areas, forecasting sales, and trade area analysis and site selection. Database marketing is the practice of using CRM databases (i.e., customer data bases with customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, past purchases, responses to past promotional offers, and other relevant data such as demographic and financial data) to develop one-to-one relationships and precisely targeted promotional efforts. Because database marketing requires vast amounts of data compiled from several and perhaps numerous sources, much secondary data is acquired with the exclusive purpose of developing or enhancing a customer database. The transaction record, which often provides the item purchased, its value, customer name, address, and zip code, is the building block for many databases. This may be supplemented with data customers provide directly, such as data on a warranty card, and by secondary data purchased from third parties. For example, credit services may sell databases about applications for loans, credit card payment history, and other financial data.

What are the three types of marketing research? Indicate which type each item in the list below illustrates. Explain your answer.

The three types of marketing research are exploratory, descriptive, and causal. Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities. Descriptive research describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments. Causal research allows causal inferences to be made.

Define unit of analysis in a marketing research context

The unit of analysis for a study indicates what or who should provide the data and at what level of aggregation. Researchers specify whether an investigation will collect data about individuals (customers, employees, owners, etc.), households (families, extended families, etc.), organizations (businesses, business units), departments (sales, finance, etc.), geographical areas, or objects (products, advertisements, etc.). Researchers who think carefully and creatively about situations often discover that a problem may be investigated at more than one level of analysis.

What potential sources of error might be associated with the following situations? In a survey of frequent fliers age 50 and older, researchers concluded that price does not play a significant role in airline travel because only 25 percent of the respondents check off price as the most important consideration in determining where and how they travel, while 35 percent rated price as unimportant.

There is a potential for response bias due to social desirability, which may be deliberate falsification or unconscious misrepresentation. Furthermore, the frequent fliers, who are likely to be business people who have someone else arrange for travel, may not know the importance of price to the actual decision maker. Thus, potential administration error due to sample selection is another likely source of error.

Dan employees' credit union: Our problem is to determine the reasons why employees join the credit union, determine members' awareness of credit union services, and measure attitudes and beliefs about how effectively the credit union is operated.

This is a fairly good problem definition. It indicates specifically that they want to identify reasons for joining the credit union. It mentions awareness of services as a criterion, although the many services are not listed. It indicates that they will measure attitudes and beliefs about credit union operations. Again this could be more specific; nevertheless, it provides the reader with a clear idea of the problem definition and general direction of the research.

A manufacturer of fishing boats: The problem is to determine sales trends over the past five years by product category and to determine the seasonality of unit boat sales by quarters and by region of the country.

This is a relatively straightforward set of descriptive objectives for a secondary data study. The time period is indicated. Sales volume in units is indicated to be the variable of interest. By indicating unit boat sales, quarters as the time periods, and regions of the country as the geographical unit, the definition is specific.

A soft drink manufacturer: The marketing problem is that we do not know if our bottlers are more satisfied with us than our competitors' bottlers are with them.

This is a vague problem statement without any action standard indicated. First, the dimensions of satisfaction must be identified and key issues isolated. This research objective does not indicate any action standard or any decision alternative. This is a situation where researchers should anticipate outcome. They should ask what the final report should look like by outlining a number of dummy tables. In this way they would know exactly what decision to make when the data is analyzed. At some point the researcher should sit down with management and determine: "If our bottlers are less satisfied we will do __________."

A women's magazine: Our problem is to document the demographic changes that have occurred in recent decades in the lives of women and to put them in historical perspective; to examine several generations of American women through most of this century, tracking their roles as students, workers, wives, and mothers and noting the changes in timing, sequence, and duration of these roles; to examine at what age and for how long a woman enters various stages of her life: school, work, marriage, childbearing, divorce. This will be accomplished by analyzing demographic data over several generations.

This is an excellent problem definition. This definition indicates that women will be the subject of the research and the demographic data will be gathered from secondary sources. It also indicates that comparisons will be made by different age cohorts.

How should a marketing researcher help top management better understand the functions and limitations of research?

This is largely an educational process. Researchers must become part of the management team, gaining top management confidence. To do this they must reflect a management viewpoint by being decision oriented. They must recognize that managers sometimes urgently need information. Only then can they be expected to be able to indicate what research can do and what it cannot do. They must point out to managers that the marketing researcher only provides information and that the executive must make the decision. The researcher must make it perfectly clear that marketing research is only a tool. It is not a substitute for decision making.

A survey of voters finds that most respondents do not like negative political ads—that is, advertising by one political candidate that criticizes or exposes secrets about the opponent's "dirty laundry."

This question has the potential of response bias because the question asks about negative advertising in general. It may be that in an advertisement for a specific candidate the viewer is persuaded by the ad. This is reflected in a general phenomenon in which people tend to say "I hate advertising (general), but I love those Bud Light ads (specific)." Also, people do like "dirty laundry" but may not admit it. Remember people do buy and read those negative tabloid papers.

A major petroleum company is concerned with the increased costs of marketing regular leaded gasoline and is considering dropping this product.

This situation illustrates the need for a problem definition and how it will influence the choice of research design. Many students will suggest that the important concern is to identify the impact of eliminating regular gasoline on consumer attitudes. They will therefore suggest a survey. The instructor may point out that this is clearly an important aspect of the research. One might investigate trends from secondary data sources concerning the usage of regular gasoline in the retail petroleum business and/or how the only true measure of sales change will be through some type of experiment or quasi-experiment. Finally, this company can run a market test in which this product is dropped in some markets but not in others and then ascertain the impact on consumers. This could entail testing one or more hypotheses.

Marketing managers are paid to take chances with decisions. Marketing researchers are paid to reduce the risk of making those decisions.

This statement illustrates a role that marketing research plays. A marketing researcher's job is to provide information to reduce uncertainty, but ultimately the manager is responsible. Marketing managers must ultimately make the decision, and they take the credit or blame for success or failure. Marketing managers may be risking a lot of money, and it may be well worth it to spend a little bit of money on marketing research to learn if the big risk is worth taking.

The producer of a television show: We have a marketing problem. The program's ratings are low. We need to learn how we can improve our ratings.

This statement is the equivalent of saying "Our sales are down—we have a problem." It indicates something is wrong and the most obvious symptom has become apparent, but does not say anything about the true nature of the problem—what is hypothesized as the possible cause of the problem. This is a typical situation where the manager knows something is wrong but has not thought about what the real problem is. The real marketing problem is to learn why people aren't watching the show, what their likes and dislikes are about the show

Name some common objectives of cross-sectional surveys.

Typically, surveys attempt to describe what is happening or to learn the response for a particular marketing activity. Identifying characteristics of target markets, measuring consumer attitudes, and describing consumer purchasing patterns are common survey objectives. Questions about product use and desirable features help with product development and advertising messages. Demographic information and information on media exposure might also be collected in the survey to help plan a market segmentation strategy.

b. A research project has the purpose of evaluating potential brand names for a new insecticide. .

When generating a new brand name, the research question will center around consumers' associations with several proposed different brand names. The name should be selected because it has a connotation that is compatible with the intended product concept. A connotation that presents a favorable and distinctive image is desired. A word association test might be very useful. A statement such as the following might be used: "I am going to read you several names. Would like you to respond with the first thing that comes to your mind. For example, if I say 'Raid' you might respond by saying 'attack.'"

Why do exploratory research designs rely so much on qualitative research techniques?

When researchers have limited experience or knowledge about a research issue, exploratory research is a useful step. Exploratory research, which often involves qualitative methods, can be an essential first step to a more rigorous, conclusive confirmatory study by reducing the chance of beginning with an inadequate, incorrect or misleading set of research objectives.

Why is it so important today for researchers to take advantage of new technologies in finding new ways to communicate with respondents?

While marketing researchers still use traditional means of collecting data, more and more they are using some less personal interview approaches that better leverage technological advances. Digital technology is having a profound impact on society in general and on marketing research in particular. Perhaps its greatest impact for research is in the creation of new forms ofsurveys continue to fall and perhaps by better matching a segment's preferred means of communication, researchers stand a better chance of getting someone to respond to their questions.

What obligations does a researcher have with respect to confidentiality?

With respect to rights and obligations of research participants, in return for being truthful, research subjects have the right to expect confidentiality. Confidentiality in this case means that information involved in the research will not be shared with others. Which respect to rights and obligations of researchers, confidentiality comes into play in several ways. The marketing researcher often is obligated to protect the confidentiality of both the research sponsor and the research participant.

Suppose you owned a jewelry store in Denton, Texas. You are considering opening a second store just like your current store. You are undecided on whether to locate the new store in another location in Denton, TX or in Birmingham, AL. Why would you decide to have some marketing research done before making this decision? Should the research be conducted? Go to http://www.census.gov . Do you think any of this information would be useful in the research?

You should indicate an understanding of basic demographic variables that would be of interest, such as population and income distribution. You should also analyze the competitive environment in each city you are examining. Whether or not research should be conducted will depend on the owner's level of knowledge concerning this type of retail store and the location being considered. For example, this owner may have considerable knowledge about Denton, TX because that is where the original store is located. However, he or she may be completely unfamiliar with Birmingham, AL and would require formal research to gain a better understanding of this market.