MKT Information and Analysis - QUIZ 1

What are the different purposes of exploratory research (five)?

* Eliminate impractical ideas * Clarify concepts * Establish priorities for future research * Increase familiarity with the problem * To refine a problem * To generate hypotheses

List and briefly describe the three types of sources that could lead to a problem that requires marketing research. Give one example of each.

* Unanticipated Change-change in the environment (ex: competitor introducing a new product) * Planned Change (ex: repositioning of a new brand or introducing a new product) * New Ideas (ex: through submitted ideas by employees)

List and describe three issues that deserve extra attention in the problem formulation step of the marketing research process.

1) Communication between manager and researcher 2) Avoid confusing problems with symptoms (losing sales to competitor vs. product quality needs improvement) 3) Balance exploratory research and more specific types of research (more info improves understanding of decision problem ßà at the end of the day, you need to address specific research questions)

What are good characteristics of a focus group moderator?

1) Communicative skills and ability to listen, observe and interpret 2) Professional, create positive group dynamics to create interactive discussion 3) Understanding of group dynamics and guide participants 4) Understanding of the problem field 5) Experience 6) Friendly, adaptive personality

One component of a decision support system is the data system module. List and describe four different components of a data system module and give an example of each.

1) Customer behavior - who, where, when, how much and how often Sources: marketing research projects, syndicated commercial data, internal database, geo-demographic info, social media, marketing metrics 2) General Data - facts on macro environment, economic data, demographics, 3) Data on competitors - e.g., purchase data, market shares, distribution figures 4) Industry and market trends - e.g., info on: costs, R&D, technologies

List and describe three types of research designs. Provide an example of each.

1) Exploratory Research- discovery of ideas and insights EX: what are the most important drivers of customer satisfaction? 2) Descriptive Research- deals with frequencies and relationships between variables and is typically guided by hypotheses EX: how can we redesign customer satisfaction programs to improve our market share? 3) Causal Research- concerned with cause-and-effect relationships, most often through experiments EX: which customer satisfaction programs will be most successful for our target markets?

List and briefly describe the six stages in the marketing research process. Explain how feedback loops are needed from one stage to an earlier stage by providing three examples of such feedback loops.

1) Formulate problem - form decision problem manager to research problems 2) Determine research design - exploratory - secondary data, qualitative, descriptive - primary data, quantitative, causal research 3) Design data collection method and terms - observation/survey, open-ended/closed 4) Design sample and collect data - who, how, how many, errors, validity/reliability 5) Analyze and interpret the data - basic analyses, advanced analyses 6) Prepare the research report - summarize research results and conclusions, make recommendations

List and briefly describe the six stages in the marketing research process. Give for each stage one example of a relevant question that could be addressed.

1) Formulate problem - what is the purpose of the study - to solve a problem? to identify an opportunity? 2) Determine research design - how much is already known? can hypotheses be formulates? what types of questions need to be answered? 3) Design data collection - can existing data be used to our advantage? what is to be measured and how? what is the source of the data? 4) Design sample and collect data - who is the target population? is a list of population elements available? how large should the sample be? 5) Analyze and interpret the data - who will handle the editing of the data? how will the data be coded? who will supervise the coding? 6) Prepare the research report - who will read the report? what is their technical level of sophistication? are managerial recommendations called for?

List and describe five different types of exploratory research.

1) Literature Research- review of trade journals, professional/academic journals, market research publications, and statistical publications. 2) Experience Survey- interview people that have special knowledge and/or experience with the problem at hand. 3) Participant Observation- to gain close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals 4) Focus Group Discussion- Interactive and structured discussion on a topic 5) Personal In-depth Interviews- one on one discussion on a topic

List and briefly describe the four components of a research proposal.

1) Marketing Problem - brief description of general problem, reason for conducting research, sum up preliminary discussions between researcher and manager; demonstrate knowledge of situation and particular information needs 2) Purpose of Research Project - describe scope of project, spell out specific questions to be answered, address possible limitations due to time or budget constraints 3) Data Sources and Methodology - describe the secondary data to be used, describe primary data to be gathered, keep methods descriptions non-technical, describe sample and proposed size, include draft of questionnaire or focus group moderator outline 4) Time and Personnel - provide time estimates for each phase of the research, specify personnel required and rates of pay, calculate non-personnel costs

What two types of organizations are involved in marketing research? Give three examples for each type.

1) Organizations for which core business not related to marketing research/analytics EX: manufacturers of industrial products, financial service companies and advertising agencies 2) Organizations for which marketing research/analytics is core business EX: consulting firms, government agencies, and marketing research firms

Provide four major differences between marketing information systems and decision support systems.

1) reports formats MIS: standardized report format DSS: flexible and evolutionary report formats 2) disclosure of information MIS: decision makers need to disclose information needs and decision processes DSS: users can change information needs and decision process 3) processing MIS: batch processing at scheduled intervals DSS: interactive processing done in real time 4) structure MIS: useful for structured problems DSS: useful for ill-structured problems 5) models MIS: programmer specified models DSS: dialog system allows managers to specify models

What is a decision support system? List the four main components of a decision support system and explain how these components are related.

A decision support system (DDS) is a coordinated collection of data, procedures, and techniques with supporting software that allows an organization to gather and interpret relevant information for use with marketing decisions. The four main components involved with a DDS are data systems, model systems, dialogue systems, and information. You apply model systems to data to create a dialog system to turn into information.

What is a marketing information system (MIS)? How would you design a MIS for a company?

A marketing information system is a set of methods and procedures for the regular, planned collection, analysis, and presentation of information for use in making marketing decisions. Design: Detailed analysis of users(decision makers) -types of information, specific studies needed periodically Implementation

Explain what a research design is. What are the two benefits of a research design (explain)?

A research design is a plan for a study, used as a guide in collecting and analyzing data. Two benefits are that it ensures that the study is relevant to the problem and it helps to limit and project costs.

Explain what a marketing dashboard is. Provide five metrics that are considered to be important in general.

A simple and coherent set of information that allows markets to assess the current situation and act quickly Important metrics: sales, market share, share of wallet, ACSI, NetPromoter Score, marketing efficiency, customer satisfaction, loyalty, ROI

What are the advantages and disadvantages of conducting focus groups online versus face to face (give two advantages and two disadvantages)?

ADVANTAGES:owing to their cheapness, speed and convenience, achieving the participation of people who are difficult to recruit or geographically scattered, If it is individual performance of tasks, the quality of the results could be similar to that of face to face groups DISADVANTAGES: present problems in fulfilling two basic premises that constitute the essence of a focus group: groupness and interaction, (absence of physical contact, less perception of body language, potential distractions, etc.), slower dynamics, obliging the moderators to intervene constantly and use a much more structured and directing leadership style, lower degree of interaction between the participants and the need for constant intervention by the moderator to guide the discussion constitute a limitation for online groups with image and sound, this technique is less able to obtain deeper, more reflective information and, above all, to distinguish whether the participants' words are a result of ideas they already had or are an artificial response to the moderator's interventions, provided that certain precautions are taken to mitigate the reduced interaction and involvement of the participants and keep them interested in the meeting. This requires greater preparation of the session, with a selection of topics and tasks that avoids any dead time and stimulates the group members constantly

What are the benefits (three) and disadvantage (one) of marketing dashboards?

Benefits: likely to improve efficiency, link to reward system, makes marketing actions explicit Downside: hard to measure long term impact, measures can promote inefficient strategic behavior of individuals

Provide three examples of decision problems and for each decision problem an example of a corresponding research problem.

DP: Develop package for new product RP: Evaluate alternative package designs DP: Increase store traffic RP: What items drive traffic to the store DP: Increase market penetration through the opening of new stores RP: Evaluate prospective locations on potential sales

You are asked to design a Decision Support System for the credit card division of a financial institution. Explain what data you would include in the system and the data sources that could be used to obtain the data.

Data - different types of accounts, purchase behavior of customer, customer satisfaction

Describe the four stages in which marketing research helps to solve marketing problems. Explain where one would start.

Data collection, analysis of data, specification of information needed, and interpretation of results. To start the process of marketing research, one must first formulate the problem that is to be researched. Then one must decide what kind of data is to be collected (qualitative, quantitative) and what research method to pursue in order to solve the marketing problem. A well defined research design should act as the framework throughout the data collection process.

Explain how uncertainty can influence a marketer's decisions.

Decision depends on expected outcomes, the risk (uncertainty) of the alternative outcomes and a decision maker's attitude towards risk (risk aversion). Ex: what do you prefer? Receive $1,000 or do a coin flip and receive heads: $0 and tails: $2250?

Explain how online communities can be used to conduct exploratory research and give an example.

Exploratory research: describes characteristics of groups or relationships between variables. Online communities allow like minded people to discuss and collaborate, even if they live on different continents. Marketing managers can go onto these forums and either: 1.) Read existing content to learn about what a customer segment desires in a product. A pet forum, for instance, would contain a lot of information about the preferences and attitudes of pet enthusiasts. This info can then be used to more effectively reach these customers. 2.) Ask a question in the hopes of stimulating a discussion on a specific issue. By using the internet as the medium, a company can ask consumers to generate ideas for new products or promotions. Take DelMonte food manufacturer for example: they used an online discussion board called 'I love my dog' to generate ideas for a line of dog treats that are based off of human breakfast items. Lays potato chips did a similar campaign where they allowed customers to submit new ideas for flavors.

Explain what a focus group discussion is.

Focus group discussion is the formalized process of bringing a small group of people together for an interactive and spontaneous discussion of one particular topic or concept.

Describe four problems/disadvantages of a marketing information system.

Four disadvantages of using a MIS are: resistance to change, reluctance to disclose information, different users have different needs and due to the increased cost and time needed to build a MIS, information needs change.

List and briefly describe the three phases of a focus group discussion.

I. Planning phase: purpose and data requirements, select and recruit participants, size of teams, number of teams, location/medium II. Execution phase: moderator's role and characteristics outline III. Analyses & Reporting phase: consists of debriefing with research/management, content analysis, and writing of a formal report.

The organization of marketing research depends on the level of centralization in a company. How would you organize your marketing research to attain economies of scale? How would you organize it to better focus on division's markets, practices and problems?

In order to attain economies of scale, I would organize my marketing research with one marketing research department per division. In order to better focus on the division's markets, practices and problems, I would organize my marketing research with one marketing research department at headquarters.

What type of research design is a focus group discussion? List three objectives of a focus group and give an example of each.

It is a type of exploratory research. 1) Provide info to (re)define marketing problems EX: help discriminate between symptoms and decision problem 2) To identify hidden information requirements EX: product features 3) To generate new ideas about products EX: usage

What are the limitations of exploratory research?

It lacks representativeness, reliability and quantitative insights.

Explain the role of Marketing Research in the Marketing Management process.

Marketing managers often have to make decisions. Whether these decisions are minor or critically important, marketing research provides managers with useful information. By translating data into terms that marketers can use to better understand customers and their desires, marketing research acts as a basis for all strategic business planning.

List and describe the three approaches to deliver marketing intelligence. Provide for each approach an example of information that can be obtained. Explain how the scope changes with these approaches.

One approach would be through marketing research projects(scope=narrow), which works to address a specific timely marketing question. A second approach would be through marketing information systems(scope=middle, e.g., monitoring market shares of brands) which consist of continuous monitoring of predictable issues. A third approach would be through the use of decision support systems(scope=broad, e.g., sales forecasts for a new product) which uses continuous, extensive and model-based monitoring. The scope of these approaches is narrow beginning at the use of marketing research projects and becomes broader through the use of information systems and decision support systems.

When planning a focus group discussion, what are the different issues to take into account (explain in detail the different actions and decisions that one needs to take).

PLANNING: purpose and data requirements, how to select and recruit participants, size of teams (ideally 8-12), number of teams (when to stop?), location/medium EXECUTION: moderator's role and characteristics outline: beginning (comfort, administration, briefing), main discussion (topics are addressed), closing (express final ideas and summarize) ANALYSIS & REPORTING: debriefing with research/management content analysis (categorize responses into broader themes), writing of formal report Defining the research purposes and outcomes Identify the role of the sponsor/stakeholders Identify personnel and staffing resources Develop a timeline Determine participants Write question guide Develop a recruitment plan Set locations, dates, and times for focus groups Design the analysis plan Specify contents of the final report Be ethical

One component of a decision support system (DSS) is the model system. Explain what the model system entails and how it is used in relation to the other components in the DSS.

Summarize data and look for patterns Statistical models - based on how things work Procedures - manipulation of data Data mining - predictive techniques on large data sets Then change to relevant information: dialog system - user interface, allows user to apply models and procedures to data, often includes simulations

Explain what Netpromoter is, discuss it's purpose and how it is measured.

measure of growth, "how likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague(0-10)", promoters(9,10) versus detractors(0-6), net promoter score calculated as: %promotions - %detractors