MR topic 1

what is a marketing information system (MIS)

a system that collects, analyses, stores and distributes information to help marketing decision-making on an ongoing basis

what are 3 sources of information in MIS?

internal records

marketing intelligence

marketing research

what are internal records?

data from inside the company (sales, customer data)

what is marketing intelligence?

external information about the market (competitors, trends, social media)

what is marketing research in MIS?

ad hoc research used to solve a specific problem

difference between MIS and marketing research

MIS = continuous info system

marketing research = specific, problem-based

define market research

systematic and objective collection and analysis of data to improve marketing decision-making

what does “systematic” mean in marketing research?

planned and organised process

what does “objective” mean?

unbiased and neutral

why is marketing research important?

it reduces uncertainty and improves decision-making

reasons why MR is more important today

• more competition

• global markets

• changing environment

• informed consumers

what should good decisions be based on?

sound information + experience + intuition

what does MR help managers do?

• segmentation

• targeting

• strategy

• performance evaluation

what is a research design?

a framework/plan for conducting a marketing research project

what does a research design include?

• data needs

• methods

• sampling

• questionnaires

• analysis

3 types of research design

1. exploratory

2. descriptive

3. causal

purpose of exploratory research

explore a problem and gain insights

when is exploratory research used?

when little is known about a problem

characteristics of exploratory research

• flexible

• small samples

• unstructured

methods of exploratory research

• interviews

• pilot studies

• qualitative research

• secondary data

purpose of descriptive research

to describe market characteristics (who, what, when, where, how)

characteristics of descriptive research

• structured

• large samples

• conclusive results

methods of descriptive research

• surveys

• panels

• observation

• secondary data

what is cross-sectional research?

data collected once from a sample

what is longitudinal research?

data collected repeatedly from the same sample over time

purpose of causal research

to identify cause-and-effect relationships

main method used in causal research

experiments

key feature of a causal research

manipulation of variables and control of other factors

which research type is usually first?

exploratory research

what usually follows exploratory research

descriptive or causal research

does all research need exploratory first?

no

3 applications of market research

• advertising evaluation

• consumer perception

• brand awareness

what can MR measure in advertising?

• awareness

• liking

• message understanding

• effectiveness

why do firms use MR?

to reduce risk and make better decisions

what are controllable marketing variables?

product, price, promotion, distribution

what are uncontrollable environmental factors?

economy, technology, competition, laws, social/cultural factors, politics

what is the main purpose of exploratory research?

to gain insights and understanding when little is known

what is the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal research?

cross sectional collects data once, longitudinal collects data repeatedly over time