MKTG1002 MIDSEM

marketing research

function links consumer, customer, public to marketer through information that identifies/defines marketing opportunities and problems

basic reserach

expand knowledge, evaluate theory

applied research

decision focused, real-life problems

scientific method

basic research and applied research

scientific basic research

objectivity, accuracy, est. general principles

scientific applied research

objectivity, accuracy, enhanced decision making

value of marketing research

1\.     Identifying/evaluating opportunities

2\.     Analysing/selecting target markets

3\.     Planning/implementing marketing mix

4\.     Analysing market performance

stages of research process

1. defining the problem
2. planning the research design
3. planning the sample
4. collecting the data
5. analysis the data
6. formulating calculations and writing the final report

1. defining the problem

what information is available, what information is needed, the certainty or uncertainty and ambiguity

2. planning the research design

exploratory research, descriptive research, casual research, best research design

3. planning the sample

who will be sampled, how many units will be sampled, how many units will be selected

4. collecting the data

field work: human, mechanical

5. analysing the data

editing, coding, analysing, check data for omissions and inconsistencies, provide meaning to raw data

6. formulating conclusions and writing final report

summary of key findings

participant

person who takes part in research

characteristics: Dishonest answers, fake behaviour, lying about characteristics

client

person who wants research to be conducted

characteristics: Unethical requests for research proposals, making long-term promises, misusing results

public

person could be influenced by the research

market researcher

person who conducts the research

characteristics: Voluntary participation: informed consent, not providing participants w promised incentives, Client confidentiality, pricing issues, Professional standards

research problem

formulation of problem more often important than solution

includes: Focus on finding answers than underlying problem, Desire for quick solutions

time allocation

budget constraints, identify importance of what research is needed

process of problem

1. ascertain the decision makers’ objectives
2. understand the background of the problem
3. isolate and identify the problem, not the symptoms
4. determine the unit of analysis
5. determine the relevant variables
6. state the questions and research objectives

1. ascertain the decision makers’ objectives

o   Probe decision market (manager) insight to uncover objective

o   Iceberg principle: surface is not root problem

o   E.g., New Coke: narrow objectives w/o understanding all problems led to them going back to regular Coke in 3 months

2. understand the background of the problem

o   Previous research, lit review, pilot studies

3. isolate and identify the problem, not the symptoms

o   Symptoms: what we can see

o   Problems: what we have to research

o   E.g., restaurant recently noticed decline in no. customers

§  Symptoms: customer decline

§  Problems: bad food, bad service, competition

o   Iceberg principle: identify underlying problems, not the symptoms on top

4. determine the unit of analysis

o   Individual, household, geo, org

5. determine the relevant variables

o   Attitudes towards brand, advertisement

o   Purchases intention

o   Demographic characteristics of consumers

§  Develop a diagram

6. state the questions and research objectives

o   Written statements of what research hopes to achieve

o   What info needed to aid decisions making

secondary data objectives

fact finding, model building, data mining

secondary data advantages

secured fast, inexpensive, easily accessible

secondary data disadvantages

unknown accuracy, relevance to problem

market research question

o   Purpose, causes, initial variables, form questions

o   Reinstates initial variables associated w problem

market research objectives

o   Info requirements, direction of design/range of questions

§  Wording or objectives help identify research design

§  Provide direction on research design/range of questions to be asked

market research hypothesis

o   Formal statement outlining expected outcome

qualitative research

* why or how

\-       Relatively unstructured

\-       Primarily exploratory based on small samples

\-       Intended to provide insight and understanding

quantitative research

* what, where, when

\-       Seeks to quantify data

\-       Typically employs statistical analysis

\-       Test or confirms theory/hypothesis

Phenomenology

o   Approach to studying human experiences based upon idea that experiences are subjective and determined by context in which people live

Ethnography

o   Ways of studying cultures through methods that involve becoming highly active within culture

Netnography

o   Analyses behaviour of people on internet

§  E.g., posts, tweets, online contribution

Grounded theory

o   Researcher poses questions about information provided by respondents/repeatedly questions response to derive deeper explanations

Case studies

o   Technique intensively investigates problems similar to problem situation

participatory action research

o   Method involves researchers/participants collaborating to understand social issues -> take action on social change

focus groups

unstructured, free flowing interview w small group

focus groups characteristics

o   6-12 participants

o   Homogenous composition

o   Relaxed/informal setting

o   1–3 hours duration

focus groups questions

o   Who should participate?

o   How will participants be recruited?

o   Where should group be held?

o   What questions should be asked?

moderator role

o   Build rapport with participants

o   Keep discussions moving forward

o   Probe -> further insights

moderator discussion

o   Outline topics, questions, sub-questions

o   Includes approximate timing for each discussion phase

focus group advantages

\-       Stimulate new ideas

\-       Foster understanding of ‘why’

\-       Allow client participation

\-       Elicit range of responses (ideas)

\- Speed (when compared to other qualitative techniques)

focus group disadvantages

\-       Reliability and generalisability

* Group think

in-depth interviews

relatively unstructured, extensive interview in which interviewer asks many q and probes for in-depth answers

in-depth interviews characteristics

o   Relaxed/informal setting

o   30 minutes to 1 hour duration

in-depth interviews application

o   Gain detailed info

o   Discuss confidential, sensitive topics

o   Discuss topics w strong norms

o   Access to professional people

in-depth interviews advantages

\-       Greater depth than focus groups

\-       Ideas directly attributed to participant

Free exchange of ideas

in-depth interviews disadvantages

\-       Reliability and generalisability

\-       Susceptible to interviewer influence

Time and cost

projective techniques

indirect means of questions that enables responded to project beliefs/feelings onto third party/inanimate object/task situation

projective techniques assists to overcome

o   Self-censorship

o   Self-consciousness

projective techniques application

o   Discover participants attitudes, motivations

projective techniques approaches

o   Word association tests

o   Sentence completion methods

o   Third-person technique and role playing

o   Thematic apperception test (TAT)

o   Cartoon tests

projective techniques advantages

Elicit true responses

projective techniques disadvantages

Difficult to develop interviewer bias

conducting marketing research

1. time constraints
2. availability of data
3. nature of decisions to be made
4. benefit of research information in relation to cost

descriptive research

describe market characteristics or functions e.g. surveys, secondary data, observation

casual research

determine cause-and-effect relationships e.g. experiments

exploratory research

discovery of new ideas and insights

Conducted at beginning or later stages. Removes ambigu- ity

e.g. secondary data, pilot studies, qualitative methods

internal validity

whether an experimental treatment was the sole cause of changes in dependent variable

external validity

Ability of an experiment to generalise beyond the experi- ment data to other subjects or groups in the population under study

evaluate the measure

reliability, validity, sensitivity, practicability

reliability

Degree to which the measure yields consistent results

validity

Ability of a scale to measure what was intended

sensitivity

Ability to measure variability in responses \n

practicability

How easily a test is able to be administered.

extraneous variables

Variables other than independent variable that can effect outcome variable

basic experiment design

one-shot case study

factorial experimental design

Allow for the investigation of two or more independent variables

Between-subject design: participant is exposed to a single experimental treatment (manipulation)

validity concerns

A scientific testing and controlled experimental procedure that provides an opportunity to measures sales or profit potential for a new product or to test a new marketing plan under realistic marketing conditions

an application of field experiments

test market process

1\. decide whether to test market or not \n 2. work out the functions of the test market \n 3. decide on the type of test market \n 4. decide on the length of the test market \n 5. decide where to conduct the test market \n 6. estimate and project the results of the test market

observational research

The systematic process of recording the behavioural patterns of people, objects, and occurrences as they are witnessed

undiguised observation

Observers presence is known to subject

disguised observation

Subject is unaware that the observation is taking place

direct observation

Observation in natural environment (subject to observer bias)

contrived observation

observation in an artificial environment created to test a hypothesis

content analysis

Systematic observation and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication

measurement

Assigning numbers (or symbols) to characteristics accord- ing to pre-specified rules

The measurement process

1\. Determine what is to be measured \n 2. Determine how it is to be measured \n 3. Apply a rule of measurement \n 4. Determine if the measure consists of several measures

5\. Determine the type of scale to be used

6\. Evaluate the measure

concrete concepts

One known definition

age, income, household size

abstract concepts

ambiguous with multiple definitions

attitude towards the brand, service quality

operational

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables.

For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.

natural observation

observation in natural environment

Hypothesis

Formal statement explaining some specific outcome

human observation

observation recorded through human expression

mechanical observation

observation recorded through mechanical things.

observation of human behaviour

facial expressions, body language, eye activity, personal space, gestures, manners

what can be observed? (observational research)

\-       Physical movement

\-       Verbal behaviour

\-       Expressive behaviour and psychological reactions

\-       Spatial tensions and locations

\-       Temporal patterns

\-       Physical objects

\-       Verbal and pictorial records

\-       Neurological activities

\-       Internet activities

\-       Geographical information

what physical objects can be observed?

artefacts, inventories, content analysis

mechanical observation examples

o   Television monitoring

o   Scanner-based research

o   Camera surveillance

o   Smart phones

o   Website traffic (Visits, average time per unique visitor, clicks, path analysis, global geographic, observed profiling)

measuring physiological reactions

\-       Eye tracking monitors

\-       Pupilometers

\-       Psychogalvanometers

\-       Voice pitch analysis

\-       Neurological devices

characteristics of observation

structure, awareness, directness, observing mechanism, setting

structured observation

degree to which behaviour, event, activities to be observed known to researcher before observation

unstructured observation

flexible and more informal, no checklist for the researcher to follow. The researcher may observe all aspects of a phenomenon and then provides details about things that he/she found to be relevant in understanding a situation.

structured observation

gathering quantitative data. Researchers using this approach are interested in a limited set of behaviors. This allows them to quantify the behaviors they are observing

indirect observation

observation takes place in unnatural and artificial settings such as a laboratory