Marketing Management: Chapter 4 Marketing Research

Observational data

Behavioral patterns amount population of interest -specifically popular among retailers

What techniques are used for obtaining exploratory research?

In-depth interviews and focus groups

Behavioral data

Information about when, what, and how often customers purchase product and services as well as other customer "touches" - This data is more reliable than surveys

What are the disadvantages of secondary data?

- Data will not fit the research problem exactly - It is not current - Its validity cannot be proven out-right

What are the three basic types of research?

- Exploratory - Descriptive - Causal

"Good" Market Research...

- Follows a well-defined set of activities and does not happen by accident - Enhances the validity of information - Is impartial and objective

What are some sources used for obtaining secondary data?

- Government sources - Market Research Organizations - The internet

What are the advantages of secondary data?

- It's a fast way to get information - Relatively less expensive than primary data

Marketing Research Process

1. Define the research problem 2. Establish research design 3. Search secondary sources 4. Collect the data 5. Analyze the data 6. Report the findings

What are the steps involved in defining a research problem?

1. Defining management research deliverable 2. Define the research problem

Census

A comprehensive record of each individual in a population of interest

Focus group

A meeting of 6-10 people that is moderated by a professional who carefully moves the conversation through a defined agenda in an unstructured, open format. Participants are usually selected on the basis of some criteria (i.e. current customer who have specific demographic characteristics)

Establish the Research Design

A plan of action for attacking the research problem. It consists of defining a type of research, nature of the data, nature of data collection, information content and sampling plan

Sample

A subgroup of the population selected for participation in research

Data Collection

Access and distribution of the survey to the respondent, then recording the respondent's responses and making data available for analysis. - Most costly - Data collection can be bias - Greatest potential for error exists

In-Depth interviews

An unstructured interview with an individual who has been chosen based on some characteristic of interest, often a demographic attribute. These are one-on-one and often used to help formulate other types of research

Management Research Deliverable

Answers the question "What does management want to do with this research?" An example is if McDonald's wants to if a new advertising campaign will increase sales for their burger

Research Problem

Answers the question "What information is needed to help management in this situation?" This can be multi-part (i.e. textbook Harley Davidson example)

Analyse the Data

Data analysis will lead to findings that address the research questions

Secondary data

Data collected for other purposes than the problem currently being considered

Primary data

Data collected specifically for this research question

Exploratory Research

Discovery - Clarifies the research problem - Develops hypothesis for testing descriptive or casual research - Gain insight to help in survey development - Answer the research question

Open-ended questions

Encourage respondents to be expressive and offers the opportunity to provide more detailed, qualitative responses - Used in exploratory research

Qualitative Research

Less structured and often collected via surveys and interviews. It is not meant to be used for statistical analysis

Define the Research Problem

Market research can be used to help managers identify and deal with an issue

Report FIndings

Must be well-presented in order to benefit managers. A key section is the executive summary, which is a 1-2 page document that summarizes the analysis and essential findings

Closed-ended questions

Precise and provide specific responses. Allow for quantitative analysis and is often used in descriptive research

What are the two basic approaches to sampling?

Probability and non-probability

Descriptive Research

Seeks to describe or explain a phenomenon (identifies association between variables) - Identifies characteristics of our target market - Assess competitor actions in the market place - Determines how customers use our product - Discover differences across demographic characteristics *includes secondary data, surveys and observation

Surveys

Structured questionnaires given to a sample group of individuals representing the population of interest and are intended to solicit specific responses to explicit questions

What techniques are used to gather data for descriptive research?

Surveys, behavioral data and observation data

Market Research

The methodical identification, collection, analysis and distribution of data related to discovering then solving marketing problems or opportunities and enhancing good decision making

Non probability sampling

The probability of everyone in the population being included in the sample is not identified. - This sample is used when there is time or financial constraints - Limits the ability to perform statistical analysis

Casual research

Tries to discover the cause and effect between variables i.e. Does an increase in Harley-Davidson advertising directed towards men lead to an increase in motor cycle sales?

Quantitative Research

Used to develop a measured understanding using statistical analysis to assess and quantify results

Mechanical observation

Uses a device to chronicle activity. I.E. Turnstiles for recording people coming in an out of an arena, or traffic counters to count cars. More invasive deices include eye camera to track people looking at an ad or thermal cameras to see if they enjoyed an ad.

Probability sampling

Uses a specific set of procedures to identify individuals from a population to be included in the research. i.e. Bank of America example (textbook)