Marketing Research Exam 1

What is marketing research?

the systematic and objective process for the purpose of improving decision making

why does marketing research follow the scientific method?

it is used to collect measurable, objective, and empirical evidence to test a hypothesis

what is basic marketing research?

research without a specific decision in mind that expands general marketing knowledge, like identifying problems that are exploratory in nature. 

what is applied marketing research?

research that is conducted to address a specific marketing decision or solves specific problem 

what is strategic management orientation?

the way an organization operates

what are the different strategic management orientations?

product-oriented, production-oriented, marketing-oriented, and stakeholder-oriented

What is the first stage of the marketing strategy?

identifying and evaluating market opportunities

What is the second stage of the marketing strategy?

analyzing market segments and selecting target markets 

what is the third stage of the marketing strategy?

planning and implementing a marketing mix that provides value to the customers and meets organizational objectives

What is the fourth stage of the marketing strategy?

analyzing firm performance

what are the different types of marketing research that can be conducted?

product, pricing, promotion and distribution

when should marketing research be conducted?

When you have enough time, data is readily available and easy to collect, the decision is worth conducting research, and the benefits are expected to outweigh costs. 

What is data?

raw facts, figures, or measures

What is information?

data that has been formatted in a way that allows data points to be analyzed and interpreted.

what makes data valuable?

relevant to research question, complete, high quality, and timly/recent

what is market opportunity?

potential competitive advantages (will getting an MBA help you get promoted)

what is a market problem?

situations that make negative consequences more likely (not having a degree makes you less likely to be promoted)

how many steps are there in the marketing research process?

there are 6 steps

what are the steps in the marketing research process?

1. define research objectives

2. select research design

3. determine sample

4. collect data

5. analyze data

6. draw conclusions and present findings 

what is exploratory research?

the goal is to reduce ambiguity and clarify decision problems (surveys of experts, qualitative research)

what is descriptive research?

goal is to describe the characteristics of relevant groups like consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas (surveys, panels, observational and other data)

what is casual research?

The goal is to make casual inferences to understand which variables are the cause and which are the effect of a phenomenon 

what is qualitative research?

unstructured and exploratory, provides rich and descriptive data, researcher dependent 

what is quantitative research?

structured and concrete, typically requires the use of statistical tests to analyze data, numerical data

What is phenomenology?

human experiences are subjective and context specific (hermeneutic, word clouds, thematic appereception test, projective techniues)

Thematic ApperceptionTest 

groups or phrases that are linked to a meaning (repeated words, related words, portions of the story) 

Hermenuetic

interpreting a story told by or about someone else (the Bible)

what is an example of a phenomenological study?

Conversations - discussion is spontaneous in nature

What is ethnography?

the study of cultures or experiences by becoming highly involved in that culture 

what is an example of an ethnographic study?

studying abroad

What is grounded theory?

an inductive process in which current information prompts further investigation 

why is grounded theory technique useful?

You can use data from focus groups, conversations, observation, blog entries, etc.

what is the goal of a case study?

learn from the past in order to make better decisions in the future

what are the pros of qualitative research?

provides rich descriptive data and quick completion time

what are the cons of qualitative research?

need skilled interviews/ moderators, can be costly, difficulty quantifying data, and should not be used to answer DQ

what is the survey method?

research technique where a fixed set of questions is posed to a sample of individuals to gather data about their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, or characteristics

what is the observational method?

a systematic process of recording behavioral patterns of people, objects, and events as they take place 

what is a structured observation?

the researcher specifies what is to be observed and how observations are to be recorded 

what is an unstructured observation?

The observer monitors all aspects of the phenomenon that seem relevant to the study

what is an artifact?

objects people made and/or consumed (indicates consumption behavior)

what is an inventory?

a physical count or record of products or materials (too much or too little can signal issues)

what is a content analysis?

observing and analyzing the content of communications (count how frequently words/themes are mentioned)

what is direct observation?

involves observing behavior as it takes place in the environment (observing someone eat in Wendy’s, structured)

what is contrived observation?

respondents behavior is observed in an artificial or natural environment, that involves some level of researcher involvement (manipulating/changing something natural, unstructured)

what is disguised observation?

respondents are unaware they are being observed (structured)

what is undisguised observation?

Respondents are aware they are being watched (unstructured)

what is personal observation?

a researcher observes actual behavior as it occurs and does not attempt to manipulate anything, records what takes place (direct and disguised, most likely, what they took off the shelf, how long they spent in each aisle, structured)

what is mechanical observation?

uses automated devices to record information (eye tracking monitors, on-site cameras)

what are the advantages of gathering data through observation?

certain types can only be collected by observation, measures actual behavior rather than intentions, no reporting bias, and potential bias caused by interviewer

what are the disadvantages of gathering data through observation?

Reasons for observed behavior are unknown without additional behavior; selective perception can bias the data, can be time consuming and expensive, and difficulty to observe certain behaviors 

Is it ethical to conduct observational studies if participants are not aware they are being
recorded?

Only if it is conducted where people would expect to be observed in public, and must obtain permission from subjects

If participants are told they are being recorded, do you think it influences their
behavior?

yes