Marketing Research Exam #1

Marketing

The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society

Marketing Research

The process of gathering and analyzing data to solve problems in marketing

Marketing Research Purpose

Marketing research helps identify problems and opportunities, generate and evaluate marketing actions, monitor marketing performance, and improve marketing as a process

Situation Analysis

A strategic marketing process activity that uses information to understand the current situation

STP

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning

Marketing Mix

The 4Ps: product, price, promotion, and place

Product Research

Research involving products or services, such as concept tests, prototype testing, and brand performance evaluations

Price Research

Research involving pricing, such as pricing tests and pricing strategy tests

Promotion Research

Research involving promotion, such as advertising pretesting and in-store promotion effectiveness studies

Place Research

Research involving distribution, such as distribution effectiveness studies

Marketing Performance Monitoring

Using research to evaluate marketing performance through activities such as customer satisfaction studies, employee satisfaction studies, distributor satisfaction studies, website evaluations, and social media evaluations

Marketing Research Process

A problem-solving-driven process used to conduct marketing research

Need for Marketing Research

The need to conduct research when information is needed to make a marketing decision

When Marketing Research Is Not Needed

Research may not be needed when the information is already available, the timing is wrong, costs outweigh benefits, or funds are unavailable

Problem

A situation that requires managers to make choices among multiple decision alternatives

Problem Definition

The process of clearly identifying the marketing problem that needs to be addressed

Problem Definition Too Broad

Defining a research problem so generally that it does not provide enough direction for the research

Problem Definition Too Narrow

Defining a research problem so specifically that important factors may be left out

Research Objective

A goal-oriented statement specifying what the researcher must do to solve the predefined marketing problem

Research Objective Components

A research objective specifies what information is needed, from whom information is gathered, the unit of measurement, and the questions used to gather information

Crowdsourcing

Collecting ideas or solutions from customers or other members of a large group

Research Design

A master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing needed information

Research Design Purpose

To ensure that relevant information is collected using objective and economical procedures

Research Design Factors

Research design depends on the problem of interest, level of information needed, resources, and researcher experience

Exploratory Research

Unstructured and informal research used to clarify and gain information about the nature of a problem

Exploratory Research Use

Used at the initial stage of research when there is substantial uncertainty

Exploratory Research Outcome

Inconclusive results that cannot be used alone for decision making, so subsequent research is expected

Experience Surveys

A method of exploratory research that gathers information from knowledgeable people such as company executives, experts, consumers, mavens, and users outside the organization

Case Studies

A research method that examines former analogous situations that have similarities to the current problem

Uses of Exploratory Research

Gain background information, define terms, clarify problems and develop hypotheses, and establish research priorities

Descriptive Research

Research undertaken to describe the characteristics of a population, market, or phenomenon

Descriptive Research Use

Used after gaining background information

Descriptive Research Outcome

Answers questions such as who, what, where, and when and often produces numerical information

Market Potential Study

A descriptive research study that describes the number, distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics of potential customers

Market Share Study

A study that determines the share of a market received by a company and its major competitors

Sales Analysis Study

A study that describes sales by territory, type of account, size, model, or similar categories

Product Research Study

A study that identifies and compares functional features and specifications of competitive products

Causal Research

Research conducted to determine causality between two or more variables

Causal Research Use

Used when the research problem is clearly defined

Causal Research Outcome

Conclusive results that are useful for marketing decision making

Data/Information

Facts, figures, and numbers pertinent to the problem at hand

Secondary Data

Information collected for purposes other than the marketing research problem at hand

Primary Data

Information developed or gathered specifically for the research project at hand

Secondary Data First

Researchers should examine secondary data before collecting and analyzing primary data

Internal Secondary Data

Secondary data collected within the firm

Internal Databases

Databases containing information gathered by a company, typically during normal business transactions

Accounting Data

Internal secondary data related to a company's accounting activities

Sales Reports

Internal secondary data containing information about company sales

Inventory Data

Internal secondary data containing information about products and inventory

Customer Data

Internal secondary data stored in customer databases

Database Marketing

The process of using customer databases to identify prospects, decide who should receive offers, deepen customer loyalty, reactivate purchases, and avoid customer service mistakes

Advantages of Internal Secondary Data

Data is organized consistently with business conduct and is relatively fresh and current

Disadvantages of Internal Secondary Data

Data can be difficult to handle and analyze because of its massive amount and may be affected by internal policy

External Secondary Data

Secondary data collected outside the firm

Published Data

Data prepared by organizations for public distribution, normally found in libraries or trade associations

Government Data

Published secondary data provided by government organizations

Non-Government Data

Published secondary data from sources such as trade associations, trade press, periodicals, professional journals, institutions, books, newspapers, magazines, reports, and trade literature

U.S. Census

A government data source conducted every ten years on the U.S. population that collects demographic and consumption information

American Community Survey (ACS)

An annual survey of a sample of approximately 3 million people that collects economic, social, demographic, and housing information

Census Geographic Levels

Levels at which Census data can be summarized, including city block, block group, census tract, MSA, region, and nation

Computerized Databases

Secondary data sources such as ABI/INFORM, Adtrack, Factiva, and Global Financial Data

Advantages of Published Data

Published data is widely available, inexpensive, complete, and accurate

Disadvantages of Published Data

Published data can be overwhelming, fixed-format, difficult to check for reliability, and may not apply to a specific situation

Syndicated Data

Data sold by companies that collect information using standardized measures and sell it to multiple clients

Value of Syndicated Data

It provides information that would be too costly for one company to collect alone

Panel Data

Data collected from a representative sample of consumers or businesses over time

Purchase Panels

Data recording a representative sample of households' or consumers' purchase behavior over time

Media Panels

Data recording a representative sample of households' or consumers' media viewing behavior over time

Retail Panels

Data recording a representative sample of retailers' product sales information over time

Purchase Panel Data Collection

Methods for recording consumers' grocery shopping purchase behavior using diaries or electronic tools

First Generation Purchase Panels

Diary-based purchase data collection

Second Generation Purchase Panels

Scanner machines and barcodes used to track purchases

Scanner Data

Volume-tracking data facilitated by barcodes and scanner machines that provides information on purchases by brand, size, price, and flavor/formulation

Third Generation Purchase Panels

RFID-based purchase data collection

RFID

Radio-Frequency Identification; a purchase tracking method that does not require consumers to scan each barcode individually

Customer Loyalty

The tendency of customers to continue purchasing a particular brand

Media Panel Data Collection

Methods for recording consumers' media viewing behavior using diaries or electronic tools

First Generation Media Panels

Diary-based media viewing data collection

Second Generation Media Panels

Nielsen electronic set-top boxes used to record media viewing

Third Generation Media Panels

Arbitron portable people meters used to record media behavior

Advantages of Syndicated Data

Standardized report format, shared costs, high quality, and current information

Disadvantages of Syndicated Data

Commitment cost and availability of the data to competitors

Advantages of Secondary Data

Secondary data can be obtained quickly, is relatively inexpensive, may solve the problem by itself, and can supplement primary data

Disadvantages of Secondary Data

Reporting units may be incompatible with research objectives, measurement units may not match, class definitions may be unusable, data may be outdated, and credibility may be difficult to assess

Observational Data

Primary data collected by observing behavior

Mechanical Observation

Data collected through mechanical or electronic observation tools

Personal Observation

Data collected through direct observation by a person

Questionnaire Data

Primary data collected by asking respondents questions

Eye-Tracking Mechanical Data

Data collected by tracking where people look, often using eye-tracking technology

Golden Triangle

The triangle-shaped area near the top of search results where the majority of eye-tracking activity occurs

Social Media Data

Information created by users of online systems and intended to be shared with others

User-Generated Content (UGC)

Information created by users of online systems and intended to be shared with others

Types of Social Media Data

Photos, videos, comments, reviews, tweets, podcasts, pins, posts, ratings, emojis, likes, and blogs

Advantages of Social Media Data

Social media data is current, relatively inexpensive, unprompted, unfiltered, authentic, and useful for tracing trends

Disadvantages of Social Media Data

Social media users may not represent the target audience, demographic information may be unavailable or false, reviews may be manipulated, content may be shallow or irrelevant, and data is unstructured

Survey

A method involving interviews with a large number of respondents using a predesigned questionnaire

Questionnaire

The vehicle through which a marketing researcher surveys respondents

Survey Design

Questionnaire design plus sampling design

Interviewer Surveys

Surveys in which an interviewer interacts directly with respondents

In-Home Survey

A person-administered survey conducted in the respondent's home