mktg research ch 5
When a political candidate has staff workers phone registered voters of another party to ask a leading and negative question about his opposing candidate, this is a form of _____.
a push poll
The session in which research subjects are fully informed and provided a chance to ask any question that they may have about the experiment is called a(n) _____.
debriefing session
Another name for a research assistant is _____.
A. junior analyst
A research firm has been hired by an attorney to undertake research that will support his client's defense in a legal dispute regarding whether or not the company can sell essentially the same product to different markets under a different name and charge higher prices in some markets. What type of research is the firm being asked to conduct?
A. push poll
Claire believes she is a moral person, but she does believe that it is acceptable to tell a lie in certain situations. Which of the following term best reflects Claire's beliefs?
A. relativism
Commercial providers of research services are called _____.
A. research suppliers
Before participating in a research study, John was provided with information regarding the purpose of the study and was asked to sign a form agreeing to participate in the study. John has given _____ to participate in the study.
Informed consent
Who is responsible for client contact, project design, preparation of proposals, selection of research suppliers, and supervision of data collection, analysis, and reporting activities?
research analyst
Which of the following is a type of software that is placed on users' computers without consent or knowledge while using the Internet?
spyware
Mary received a phone call asking her to participate in a research study on car insurance. However, after about four questions, the person on the phone went into a sales pitch and tried to get her to switch her car insurance to another company. What is this called?
sugging
A(n) _____ is a research supplier that provides standardized information for many clients in return for a fee.
syndicated service
When J.D. Power and Associates sells the results of its research studies on new-car satisfaction to automobile producers, J.D. Power is acting as a _____.
syndicated service
•Large firms:
• > 500 employees
•Service monitoring:
•Contacting customers about their experience with a product, there is no selling attempt.
•Push poll:
•Telemarketing under guise of research.
Rights and Obligations: Research Participant •Confidentiality:
•The information involved in the research will not be shared with others.
•Experimental Designs •Placebo:
◗A false experimental effect used to create the perception of a true effect.
When a respondent in a research study agrees to participate in the research study, this is known as _____.
Informed consent
Benefits of Cross-functional teams:
•Help organizations focus on a core business process, such as new-product development. •Reduce the tendency for employees to focus single-mindedly on an isolated functional activity. •Help to better communicate customers' desires and opinions across the firm.
•Moral standards:
•Principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and what is unethical.
•Custom research:
•Projects that are tailored specifically to a client's unique needs.
•Research assistants (or associates):
•Provide technical assistance with questionnaire design, data analyses, and similar activities. •Also called junior analyst.
•Director of marketing research:
•Provides leadership in research efforts and integrates all staff-level research activities into one effort. •Plans, executes, and controls the firm's research function.
•Forecast analyst:
•Provides technical assistance, such as running computer programs and manipulating data to forecast sales.
Research That Isn't Research:
•Pseudo-research •Push poll •Service monitoring
•In-house Research:
•Research performed by employees of the company that will benefit from the research. ◗Use if research needs to be completed quickly ◗Use if project requires close collaboration among employees ◗Usually cheaper ◗Use if secrecy is a concern
Sources of Conflict Between Senior Management and Research:
•Research that implies criticism •Money •Time •Intuitive decision making •Future decisions based on past experience
•Research analyst:
•Responsible for client contact, project design, preparation of proposals, selection of research suppliers, and supervision of data collection, analysis, and reporting activities.
•Human subjects review committee:
•Reviews proposed research designs to ensure that no harm can come to any research participant.
•Research generalist:
•Serves as a link between management and research specialists in acting as a problem definer, an educator, a liaison, a communicator, and a friendly ear.
•Problems in directing research:
•Skilled research professionals like conducting research better than managing people. •The research management role often is not formally recognized. •Outstanding research professionals often have trouble delegating responsibility. •Research is often seen as a hodgepodge of techniques available to answer individual, unrelated questions.
Organizational Structure of Business Research:
•Small firms •Mid-sized firms •Large firms
•Limited-Service Research Suppliers:
•Specialize in particular research activities, such as syndicated service, field interviewing, data warehousing, or data processing. ◗Full-service research suppliers sometimes contract these companies for ad hoc (custom) marketing research projects.
•Manager of decision support systems:
•Supervises the collection and analysis of sales, inventory, and other periodic customer relationship management (CRM) data.
•Business ethics:
•The application of morals to behavior related to the exchange environment.
Rights and Obligations: Research Participant Informed consent:
•The individual understands what the researcher wants him/her to do and consents to the research study.
•Everyone involved in research can face an ethical dilemma:
•The people actually performing the research—the "doers." •The research client, sponsor, or the management team requesting the research—the "users." •The research participants—the actual research respondents or subjects. •Each party has certain rights and obligations toward the other parties.
Rights and Obligations: Research Participant •Rights:
•To be informed •To privacy •Protected from harm
Rights and Obligations of the Researcher •The researcher should:
•Understand that the purpose of research is research •Maintain objectivity •Not misrepresent research •Be honest in reporting errors •Protect the confidentiality of both subjects and clients •Do not disseminate conclusions that are inconsistent with or not warranted by the data
•Experimental Designs •Debriefing:
◗Research subjects are fully informed and provided with a chance to ask any questions they may have about the experiment.
Rights and Obligations: Research Participant Obligations:
•To be truthful
•Syndicated Service:
A research supplier that provides standardized information for many clients in return for a fee.
Best Buy is expanding internationally, but the managers are concerned that they need to better understand a foreign market before entering it. The company has conducted research in-house in the United States, but it really doesn't have the capacity to conduct this type of research in other countries. Which of the following is the best reason for hiring an outside agency for this purpose?
A. An outside agency may have local expertise allowing it to specialize in research in a foreign market.
3-M Corporation puts together teams of employees from various functional areas such as engineering, production, finance, and marketing who share a common purpose, such as new-product development. These types of teams are referred to as _____.
A. cross-functional teams
When AT&T hires a research agency to conduct research tailored to it's unique needs, this is called _____.
A. custom research
Most universities require researchers to submit research proposals to a committee that carefully reviews them to make sure no harm can come to any research participant. What is this committee called?
A. human subjects review committee
Research firms that develop a unique methodology for investigating a business specialty area is referred to as a _____.
A. standardized research service
All of the following are questions used to determine whether the experimental procedures treat a research participant unethically EXCEPT _____.
Is the research participant informed of the purpose of the experiment prior to participating?
Principles reflecting one's beliefs about what is ethical and unethical are called _____.
moral standards
Janice is participating in an experimental study of an herbal supplement that is supposed to give users more energy. Since starting the experiment, she has noticed that she has more energy, but in reality, she is just receiving a "blank" pill that does not contain the herbal supplement. What effect is Janice demonstrating?
placebo
Caleb's job at a research firm is to provide technical assistance with questionnaire design. Which of the following best describes Caleb's job title?
research assistant
Which of the following can effectively serve as a link between management and the research specialist?
research generalist
A research organization that specializes in studies about advertising effectiveness is an example of a(n) _____.
standardized research service
Small firms:
• < 100 employees •VP of marketing may be in charge of all significant internal research. •Use outside agencies for large projects.
•Mid-sized firms:
•100-500 employees
•Ethical dilemma:
•A situation in which one chooses from alternative courses of actions, each with different ethical implications.
•Idealism:
•A term that reflects the degree to which one bases one's morality on moral standards. ◗example: the Golden Rule
•Relativism:
•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.
Outside Agency:
•An independent research firm contracted by the company that actually will benefit from the research. ◗Can provide a fresh perspective ◗Often can be more objective ◗May have special skills ◗Often has local expertise
•Standardized Research Service:
•Companies that develop a unique methodology for investigating a business specialty area.
•Cross-functional teams:
•Composed of individuals from various functional areas such as engineering, production, finance, and marketing who share a common purpose.
•Pseudo-research:
•Conducted not to gather information for decisions but to bolster a point of view and satisfy other needs.
•Ways to reduce conflict:
•Early in projects and working closely together •Formal job description •Better planning and an annual statement of the research program •Communication of research findings and designs
•Questions to ask to help avoid harming a research participant:
•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?
Advantages of In-House Research:
-quick turn-around -better collaboration with employees -cheaper costs -secret process
Advantages of an Outside Agency:
-fresh perspective -more objectivity -special expertise -local knowledge
_____ is the application of morals to business behavior related to the exchange environment.
Business ethics
All of the following are advantages of in-house research EXCEPT _____. A. quick turn-around B. better collaboration with employees C. more objectivity D. cheaper costs
C. more objectivity
Which of the following errors become more prominent when research studies are rushed? A. conducting a study that is not needed B. addressing the wrong issue C. sampling difficulties D. all of these choices
D. all of these choices
Which term is used to refer to the entity for whom research services are being performed?
client
One right a research participant has is that information involved in the research will not be shared with others, which is known as _____.
confidentiality
A job posting for a research firm advertised it was looking for someone who can use SPSS software to forecast sales. What is this position typically called in a research firm?
forecast analyst
Which term reflects the degree to which one bases one's morality on moral standards?
idealism
Which position in a mid-sized research firm supervises the collection and analysis of sales, inventory, and other periodic customer relationship management (CRM) data?
B. manager of decision support systems
All of the following are problems a research director typically faces EXCEPT _____. A. spends more time in meetings and managing than actually conducting research B. research management role often is not formally recognized C. often does not have the tools available to conduct the research properly D. research is often seen as a hodgepodge of techniques available to answer individual, unrelated questions
C. often does not have the tools available to conduct the research properly
•Research Suppliers:
Commercial providers of research services.
_____ teams are composed of individuals from various functional areas such as engineering, production, finance, and marketing who share a common purpose.
Cross-functional
Which of the following is generally considered to be a public place in which unobtrusive observation is not a serious invasion of privacy? A. an airport check-in counter at Logan Airport in Boston B. the St. Louis Art Museum C. a Radio Shack retail store D. all of these choices
D. all of these choices
