research methods in marketing exam

research that expands general marketing knowledge (i.e., add a chapter to a marketing research textbook. applied to all basic research

what is basic marketing research

research that solves a specific problem for a company (i.e., should Royal Caribbean offer cruises from California to Hawaii? usually one question

what is applied marketing research

Identify and evaluate market opportunities

. Analyze market segments and select target markets

Plan and implement marketing mix (4ps) that provides value

to customers and meets organizational objectives

. Analyze firm performance

what are the steps to implement the marketing strategy

Logical = Theory
Objective = Facts
Systematic = Plan
Reliable = Repeatable
Valid = Accurate
Ongoing = Never-ending

“Let’s Organize Science, Research, Verify, Ongoing.”

what are the scientific method guidelines

enhances decision making(more organized info and facts) and minimizes bias

Research that follows a planned, organized process instead of just guessing or doing things randomly.

why is systematic study important

• You have enough time and data to do it.

• The question is worth researching.

• The benefits of the research are greater than the costs.

when should research be conducted

Research questions should be asked when a company needs information to make a decision, such as:

• Creating a new product design

• Changing features of an existing product

• Finding out how satisfied customers are

• Understanding why an advertisement did not work

when should we ask research questions

research used to maintain and improve existing products, develop new products, and understand customer experiences. (top research area)

what is product research

research used to determine the right price for a product or service, including:

• Sale prices

• Subscription prices

• Discounts (top research area)

what is pricing research

research used to determine where to sell a product and the best way to get the product to stores or customers. (top research area)

what is distribution research

is research used to see how effective advertisements and sales promotions are.

Example: Sending free cookie samples and seeing if sales increase.

what is promotion research

top research area. Coordinate all marketing activities to create a unified image of brand

what is marketing mix research

top research area. Utilizing feedback to improve product offerings. Customer satisfaction, retention, lifetime value

what is customer satisfaction research

data that has to do with the research question and that is complete, and high quality. This data is also recent. The data also directly relates to the RQ

what is relevant data and why is it important

a situation that makes some potential competitive advantage possible (Opportunity = A chance to get ahead of competitors.)

Getting an MBA helps you get promoted at work

what is a marketing opportunity

a situation that likely has negative consequence

Picking wrong structure of MBA program negatively impacts your

work performance

what is a marketing problem

what to look for when identifying a problem. These are observable and have cues that are unexpected

what are decision making symptoms

research helps to reveal the true underlying problems and options for fixing/solving a problem

what can research do for a problem (iceberg)

decision maker sees all of the obvious measurable symptoms of why a business is failing but researcher sees the real decision/business problems

describe the iceberg image

1) define research objectives (WHAT you will find out)

2) select research design (HOW you will find it out)

3) determine sample

4) collect data

5) analyze data

6) interpret results

what are the major steps of the marketing research process

is used to determine an action and is usually more straight forward. can often be answered in a yes or no answer

what is a decision question

questions that determine the type of research to conduct. analyzes and explores a specific topic and requires critical thinking/ gathering extensive data

what is a research question

preliminary research used to discover ideas and learn more about a topic.

It is useful when:

• You want to do a quick study to see if more research is worth doing.

• You don't know enough about the topic to create a specific research question or hypothesis yet

what is a exploratory research design

Research used to describe the characteristics of people, groups, organizations, objects, or environments. It looks at something in more detail to give a clear picture of what is happening and what to do.

what is descriptive research

research to make casual inferences. conclusion we get when one thing comes after another. shows cause and effect relationships between variables

what is casual research

thing 1 coms before thing 2

what is a temporal sequence

thing 1 and thing 2 appear to be related

what is a concomitant variation

thing 3 is not causing the relationship between thing 1 or 2

what is a nonspurious association

the cause is necessary and sufficient to bring effect. if the cause happens the effect will 100% follow

what is absolute causality

cause may be necessary for an effect but not sufficient on its own to produce that effect.ex) just because you smoke does not mean you will get lung cancer, not all smokers have it

what is conditional causality

• contributory cause is associated with a change in the effect but does not solely determine it.

• Examples: In public health, factors like smoking may contribute to lung cancer, but other factors (like genetics) are also involved.

what is contributory causality

to minimize error not eliminate it

what is the main goal when collecting data

Specifies how data will be gathered, such as surveys, interviews, or observational studies. decides between which methods, surveys and experiments will be conducted

what is a research design

rich, descriptive data, visual/oral information

-is researcher dependent in collecting data

-asks questions in an open structure to create spontaneous answers

-results are SUBJECTIVE(individual info)

-small sample size

what is qualitative research and its characteristics

-numerical data, rating satisfaction, run statistical tests to find patterns

-large sample size

-questions are structured with same wording/answer choice

-standardized data, no interactions while survey conducted

what is quantitative research and its characteristics

exploratory research-To explore and gain initial insights rather than to test specific hypotheses through focus groups, interviews and surveys

what kind of research is qualitative research used for

descriptive and casual research- used to understand how one thing affects another. It helps marketers figure out the cause-and-effect relationships between different variables.

what kind of research is quantitative research used for

1) generate new ideas

2)understand hidden motives/feelings

3) test new products

when should you use qualitative research

best used in marketing when you need to gather measurable data. This type of research helps answer questions like how many people prefer a product, how often they buy it, or how much they are willing to pay.

when should you use quantitative data

understanding people’s experiences and how they see things. The words and text people use to describe their experiences

what is phenomenological approach

word clouds, collages, TAT tests (ambiguous picture, respondent tells story) conversations(no planned questions, spontaneous )

what are the tools of phenomenological approach

understanding respondent identity/culture by becoming apart of the community, conduct research through “members eyes”

what is a ethnographic approach/ nephrography

depth/semi structured interviews, one on one interview with respondent (probed or laddering)

-observation (eye activity, body language, gestures) observe their behavior

-focus groups (6-10 ppl who discuss the topic) needs group moderator to keep on track

what are the tools of ethnographic appraoch

inductive investigation that researcher poses questions about info collected from respondents or historical data to understand respondents

-more about the analysis

-how you can apply data based on what stories and research you have

-developing theories based on real-world data rather than starting with a preconceived hypothesis

what is the grounded theory

documented history of a person, group, organization or thing

-relies on historical data, public information available, “our history” on website

-uses customer data (transactions, surveys, interview comments/complaints”

USE PAST TO DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE

what is case study

1) reduce data to important categories (group into similar categories or give a code/name)

2) display data visually( table, diagram, word cloud)

how do you analyze qualitative data

-provide rich data with detailed response which makes defining key concepts easier

-good for exploring new ideas

what are the pros of qualitative data

-small # of people conducted

-time consuming

-need skilled interviewer

-no clear cut answer (subjective-individual info)

what are the cons of qualitative research

no questions/discussion, people act naturally (unaware they are being observed)

what does unobtrusive mean

-physical movements( way a shopper moves)

-spatial lesions (how close shoppers stand to service providers)

-temporal patterns (how long people will wait before complaints)

what can be observed?

artifacts (objects people made/consumed that can tell us about consumption behavior)

-inventories (measuring what is in or out of inventory, too much inventory can single problems and no inventory could mean production issues)

-content analysis ( studying the contents/messages of communications. counting the frequency of themes and styles of messages

how do people conduct physical observations

-meters (designed to measure length of time you spend on a channel watching/listening

-metrics (numerical info estimating behaviors, views clicks landing pages convo volume

-scanners (tracking the SKUs purchased in a store, data from households to track trends of store products ex) alexa

-cameras( using traffic or store cameras to identity any problems

-smartphones (app usage, browsing history, locations)

how do people conduct mechanical observation

-eye tracking (measures the gaze patterns of eyes, heat maps show what parts of screen consumers viewed)

-pupilometer (studies the contraction and dilation of the pupil, changes related to cogitative activity

-psychogalvanometer (measures involuntary changes in electrical resistance of skin, lie detector)

-voice pitch analysis (measures changes in voice, pitch, speed and pauses. indicates emotion)

-neurological devices (FMRI measures blood oxygenation associated with brain activity. areas different emotions and thoughts)

how do people conduct physiological observations

1) conduct observations in public

2) protect identities of individuals and keep it anonymous

3) obtain permission to observe individuals if 1 and 2 can not be met/ provide note of observation

how can you avoid unethical practices in observation research

person you are observing see you observing them

-consent is needed since the identity of the person is known

what is a visible type of observation

person does NOT know you are observing them

-consent not needed since identify of person is not known, minimizes error

what is a hidden type of observation

researcher has no influence on a situation and does not talk to anyone, only records what they can see

-ex) # of customers, customers flow patterns

-AI is used as a tool

what is a direct type of observation

researcher creates an artificial environment and records observed behavior

-permits changes to be made in environment to see if those changes worsen or improve behavior

what is a contrived type of observation

-direct is cheaper and faster while being more accurate and realistic. but there can be more bias unknowably (direct= watch it happen)

-contrived is more time consuming. but permits to test changes and records behaviors more precise (Contrived = Created situation)

what are the differences between direct and contrived observations

it depends on the research goals you have

how do you choose the best observation method?

-used for quantitative and qualitative research

-big data ( no two way communication but systematic recording of behavior via technology”

what are the advantages of observation

-observe behaviors but not motives

-ONLY OBSERVE BEHAVIORS NOT MOTIVATIONS

-privacy, accuracy and data quality issues

what are the disadvantages of observation

no

should all research questions be researched?

organized way to collect and study information about a market, product, or audience.

It helps businesses make good decisions using facts and data instead of guesses.

what is a research plan