Chapter 2: Marketing Research

attitudes data

measure consumers’ feelings, convictions, or beliefs about a brand

awareness data

measure the knowledge consumers have of brands, products, and solutions

case analyses

intensive studies of representative examples (cases) of the subject under study

casual research

research that is quantitative in nature and focuses on discovering the cause-and-effect relationship between variables

data mining

the process of searching or “mining” for insights from the patterns, trends, and relationships within data sets

data scientist

someone trained to retrieve, manage, analyze, and interpret data to help assist in making business decisions

demographic / socioeconomic data

measure characteristics of consumers, such as income, gender, education level, marital status, social status, and many others; analysis of this data often reveals certain segments of consumers with strong affinity or loyalty to a brand

depth interviews

interviews with people who are knowledgeable about the general subject under investigation

descriptive research

quantitative in nature and focuses on determining how often something occurs or how two things are related to each other

exploratory research

focuses on gaining ideas or insights and is particularly helpful in funneling broad research questions into more precise ones

focus group

a set of individuals from whom a researcher wishes to gain insights using a structured interview process that is moderated by a facilitator

intention data

measure future, anticipated behaviors; this data help marketers predict demand or future consumption

literature search

a search for statistics and content in various blogs, books, newspapers, or magazines for data or insight into the research subject

marketing research

the process of collecting and analyzing information from and about consumers to influence marketing strategy and decisions

motivation data

measure the motives of consumers so as to understand what conditions drive behavior

net promoter score (NPS)

a specific type of survey, used by many marketers, to measure the experience customers have with brands; a brand’s net promoter score is calculated by subtracting the percent of detractors in the survey from the percent of promoters

net promoter score: promoters

promoters (scores of 9 and 10)

customers who are loyal enthusiasts, tend to buy more, stay in relationships with brands longer, refer friends, and provide feedback and ideas

net promoter score: passives

passives (scores of 7 and 8)

customers who are satisfied but not enthusiastic about the brand; they are vulnerable to competitive offerings

net promoter score: detractors

detractors (scores between zero and 6)

customers who are unhappy and can hurt your brand through negative word-of-mouth communications

primary data

new data that marketers must collect when no data exist to help marketing researchers pursue answers to research

projective methods

form of research that uses indirect methods — usually some sort of task — that causes study participants to reveal their feelings, thoughts, and opinions or express behaviors

psychographic / lifestyle data

measure personality traits, interests, opinions, or lifestyle characteristics of consumers; this data are frequently combined with demographic data to let marketers create a persona of the ideal consumer

qualitative research

the collection and analysis of non-numeric data to understand thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Qualitative research questions often begin with “who”, “what”, “how”, or “why”

quantitative research

the collection and analysis of numeric data for the purpose of statistical analysis

secondary data

pre-existing data that was originally gathered for another purpose but is helpful for current research projects

survey

a poll designed to gather input, information, or opinions from a specific population of people