Chapter 4 - Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights

1) Despite the data glut that marketing managers receive, they frequently complain that they lack    ----- .
A) enough information of the right kind
B) timely information
C) accurate information
D) reliable information
E) valid information

A

2) Which of the following statements is NOT true regarding information collected for marketers?
A) Many managers lack information of the right kind.
B) Most managers do not need more information.
C) Most managers need better information.
D) Many managers are burdened by data overload.
E) Managers have enough of the right information.

E

3) A marketing information system (MIS) consists of people and procedures to assess information needs, ----- , and help decision makers analyze and use the information.
A) experiment to develop information
B) test market the information
C) develop the needed information
D) critique the needed information
E) question the needed information

C

4) A good MIS balances the information users would ----- against what they really   ----- and what is ----- .
A) need; like; feasible
B) like; can afford; needed
C) like to have; need; feasible to offer
D) need; can afford; useful
E) use; have to use; available

C

5) Marketers must weigh carefully the costs of additional information against the -----   resulting from it.
A) organization
B) benefits
C) creativity
D) ethical issues
E) cost

B

6) Four common sources of internal data include the accounting department, operations, the sales force, and the ----- .
A) owners
B) stockholders
C) marketing department
D) competition
E) Web

C

7) Marketing information from which type of database usually can be accessed more quickly and cheaply than other information sources?
A) external
B) LexisNexis
C) Dun & Bradstreet's
D) internal
E) Hoover's

D

8) ----- is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about consumers, competitors, and developments in the marketing environment.
A) Marketing data
B) Marketing intelligence
C) Sales management
D) Customer intelligence
E) Competitive intelligence

B

9) Which of the following statements regarding marketing intelligence is true?
A) The advantage of using competitive intelligence is negligible.
B) All marketing intelligence is available for free.
C) Marketing intelligence relies upon privately held information.
D) Marketing intelligence relies upon publicly available information.
E) Marketing intelligence gathering is more focused on gaining insights into consumer activities than competitors' activities.

D

10) Which of the following is NOT considered a source of marketing intelligence?
A) suppliers
B) resellers
C) key customers
D) causal research
E) activities of competitors

D

11) Which of the following is NOT a potential source for marketing intelligence?
A) looking through competitors' garbage
B) purchasing competitors' products
C) monitoring competitors' sales
D) collecting primary data
E) talking with purchasing agents

D

12) Through which of these sources of information is a competitor LEAST likely to reveal intelligence information?
A) annual reports
B) trade show exhibits
C) Web pages
D) press releases
E) internal marketing conferences

E

13) To combat marketing intelligence efforts by competitors, Unilever Corporation is now  providing ----- to employees.
A) competitive intelligence training
B) privacy blocks
C) protection
D) less information
E) a code of ethics

A

14) Which of the following is an example of a free online database that a company could access in order to develop marketing intelligence?
A) LexisNexis
B) ProQuest
C) Dialog
D) the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's database
E) Hoover's

D

15) ----- is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization.
A) The marketing information system
B) Marketing intelligence
C) Marketing research
D) Competitive intelligence
E) Causal research

C

16) What is the first step in the marketing research process?
A) developing a marketing information system
B) defining the problem and research objectives
C) developing the research plan for collecting information
D) implementing the research plan
E) hiring an outside research specialist

B

17) Which step in the four-step marketing research process has been left out of the following list: defining the problems and research objectives, implementing the research plan, and interpreting and reporting the findings?
A) developing the research budget
B) choosing the research agency
C) choosing the research method
D) developing the research plan
E) comparing and contrasting primary and secondary data

D

18) Causal research is used to ----- .
A) test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships
B) gather preliminary information that will help define problems
C) uncover information at the outset in an unstructured way
D) describe marketing problems or situations
E) quantify observations that produce insights unobtainable through other forms of research

A

19) Managers often start with ----- research and later follow with ----- research.
A) exploratory; causal
B) descriptive; causal
C) descriptive; exploratory
D) causal; descriptive
E) causal; exploratory

A

20) Your colleague is confused about using the marketing research process, as he knows that something is wrong but is not sure of the specific causes to investigate. He seems to be having  problems with ----- , which is often the hardest step to take.
A) developing the research plan
B) determining a research approach
C) defining the problem and research objectives
D) selecting a research agency
E) C and D

C

21) The objective of ----- research is to gather preliminary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses.
A) exploratory
B) descriptive
C) causal
D) primary
E) secondary

A

22) In the second step of the marketing research process, research objectives should be translated into specific ----- .
A) marketing goals
B) information needs
C) dollar amounts
D) research methods
E) information sources

B

23) Secondary data consists of information ----- .
A) that already exists somewhere but is outdated
B) that does not currently exist in an organized form
C) that already exists but was collected for a different purpose
D) used by competitors
E) that researchers can only obtain through surveys and observation

C

24) Information collected from online databases is an example of ----- data.
A) primary
B) secondary
C) observational
D) experimental
E) ethnographic

B

25) Which form of data below can usually be obtained more quickly and at a lower cost than the others?
A) primary
B) survey research
C) experimental research
D) secondary
E) observational research

D

26) Secondary data are ----- .
A) collected mostly via surveys
B) expensive to obtain
C) never purchased from outside suppliers
D) always necessary to support primary data
E) not always very usable

E

27) Your assistant wants to use secondary data exclusively for the current research project. You advise him that the use of secondary data has some potential problems. Which of the following is  NOT one of them?
A) It may not exist.
B) It may not be relevant.
C) It is generally more expensive to obtain than primary data.
D) It may not be current.
E) It may not be impartial.

C

28) For primary data to be useful to marketers, it must be relevant, current, unbiased, and   ----- ----- .
A) complete
B) accurate
C) inexpensive
D) collected before secondary data
E) experimental

B

29) Which method could a marketing researcher use to obtain information that people are unwilling or unable to provide?
A) observational
B) survey
C) questionnaire
D) focus groups
E) personal interviews

A

30) Ethnographic research ----- .
A) comes from traditional focus groups
B) is gathered where people live and work
C) provides secondary data
D) is most popular in the service sector
E) provides data to marketers when observation is impossible

B

31) Survey research, though used to obtain many kinds of information in a variety of situations, is best suited for gathering ----- information.
A) interpersonal
B) causal
C) exploratory
D) descriptive
E) creative

D

32) Fredia Pellerano has just discovered the major advantage of survey research. She reports to her supervisor that the major advantage is its ----- .
A) flexibility
B) interactive design
C) ease and speed to complete
D) duplicability
E) simplicity

A

33) Survey research is least likely to be conducted through which of the following?
A) the Web
B) the mail
C) the telephone
D) in person
E) observation

E

34) Experimental research is best suited for gathering ----- information.
A) exploratory
B) causal
C) interactive
D) preferential
E) descriptive

B

35) Observational research is best suited for gathering ----- information.
A) exploratory
B) causal
C) interactive
D) preferential
E) descriptive

A

36) Which of the following is true of ethnographic research?
A) It is conducted within traditional focus groups.
B) It provides greater insight into customer behavior than interviews do.
C) It provides researchers with secondary data.
D) It is most popular in the service sector.
E) It is a research option when observation is not possible.

B

37) ABC Company has decided to use mail questionnaires to collect data. Management recognizes this method has all the following advantages EXCEPT which one?
A) low cost per respondent
B) may encourage more honest answers
C) has an average response rate
D) no interviewer to bias respondents' answers
E) can collect large amounts of information

C

38) Which of the following contact methods has the poorest response rate?
A) mail
B) telephone
C) personal
D) online
E) individual

A

39) Which of the following has the highest rating for speed of data collection and compilation?
A) open-ended questionnaires
B) personal interviews
C) mail surveys
D) Internet surveys
E) ethnographic research

D

40) Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of telephone interviews?
A) They are more expensive to conduct than mail questionnaires.
B) Interviewer bias is introduced.
C) Under time pressures, some interviewers might cheat.
D) Interviewers can explain some questions and probe more deeply on others.
E) Potential respondents may refuse to participate.

D

41) Which of the following contact methods is generally the LEAST flexible?
A) mail
B) telephone
C) Internet surveys
D) online panels
E) personal

A

42) Which form of marketing research is flexible, allows for explanation of difficult questions, and lends itself to showing products and advertisements?
A) individual interviewing
B) Internet surveys
C) telephone surveys
D) ethnographic research
E) observational research

A

43) A consumer is most likely to be paid a small fee for participating in which of the following?
A) a telephone interview
B) a mail-in survey
C) an Internet survey
D) a focus group interview
E) an observational interview

D

44) Focus group interviewing has become one of the major marketing research tools for getting insight into consumer thoughts and feelings. However, if the sample size is too small, it is likely to be difficult to ----- .
A) find enough secondary data to support the findings
B) orchestrate cooperation among participants
C) encourage honest responses to questions
D) generalize from the results
E) find a representative sample

D

45) Which of the following is a disadvantage of online focus groups?
A) Participants must be in a central location.
B) The Internet format can restrict respondents' expressiveness.
C) Results take longer to tabulate and analyze.
D) The cost of online focus groups is greater than that of most other qualitative research methods.
E) The format of focus groups can be varied.

B

46) Which of the following is NOT an advantage of Web-based research?
A) speed
B) low costs
C) almost instantaneous results
D) control over who respondents are
E) ease of administration

D

47) Del Monte has created an ----- called "I Love My Dog"; this online community allows company-selected dog enthusiasts to complete product-related polls, chat with product developers, and provide feedback about specific products.
A) online experiment
B) online social network
C) Internet survey
D) immersion group
E) expert panel

B

48) Marketing researchers usually draw conclusions about large groups of consumers by studying a small ----- of the total consumer population.
A) group
B) target group
C) population
D) sample
E) audience

D

49) You generally need to ask three questions when developing a sampling plan. Which of the questions below is one of these three?
A) Who should be left out of the sample (sampling exclusion)?
B) How should we contact the sample (sampling approach)?
C) Why should respondents by selected (sampling justification)?
D) How should participants be chosen (sampling procedure)?
E) none of the above

D

50) What is a major drawback of probability sampling?
A) It can be time consuming.
B) The sampling error cannot be measured.
C) The most difficult population from which to obtain information is chosen.
D) Everyone has an equal chance of selection.
E) Marketers must rely on the judgment of the researcher in respondent selection.

A

51) What are the two main types of research instruments used to collect primary data?
A) surveys and samples
B) questionnaires and mechanical devices
C) focus groups and online databases
D) online panels and experiments
E) personal interviews and online marketing research

B

52) The most common research instrument used is the ----- .
A) mechanical device
B) live interviewer
C) questionnaire
D) focus group
E) people meter

C

53) In marketing research, the ----- phase is generally the most expensive and most subject to error.
A) exploratory research
B) planning
C) interpreting the findings
D) reporting the findings
E) data collection

E

54) AMF Research Group must guard against problems during the implementation phase of  marketing research for its clients. Which of the following is NOT a problem that should be anticipated during this phase?
A) contacting respondents
B) respondents who give biased answers
C) interviewers who take shortcuts
D) interpreting and reporting the findings
E) interviewers who make mistakes

D

55) Typically, customer information is buried deep in separate databases, plans, and records of  many different company functions and departments. To overcome such problems, which of the following should you try?
A) customer satisfaction management
B) more sophisticated hardware
C) customer relationship management
D) decreased marketing intelligence
E) a marketing information system

C

56) Which of the following is true about customer relationship management (CRM)?
A) It relies on information produced through primary research.
B) Its aim is to maximize profit margins.
C) Its aim is to increase the efficiency of each customer touchpoint.
D) Its aim is to maximize customer loyalty.
E) Most companies who first implemented CRM have greatly benefited from the results.

D

57) What is the purpose of a data warehouse?
A) to organize internal and external data by relevance
B) to gather and integrate information a company already has
C) to interpret data
D) to analyze data
E) to identify and discard outdated data

B

58) In CRM, findings about customers discovered through ----- techniques often lead to marketing opportunities.
A) data warehousing
B) data mining
C) customer strategy
D) customer loyalty management
E) value network

B

59) What source of marketing information provides those within the company ready access to research information, stored reports, shared work documents, contact information for employees and other stakeholders, and more?
A) an intranet
B) an extranet
C) the Internet
D) marketing research
E) marketing intelligence

A

60) Marketing information is only valuable when it is used to ----- .
A) simplify management's job
B) identify a target market
C) please shareholders
D) increase efficiencies in the supply chain
E) make better marketing decisions

E

61) When managers use small convenience samples such as asking customers what they think or  inviting a small group out to lunch to get reactions, they are using ----- .
A) experiments
B) informal surveys
C) observation
D) marketing intelligence
E) direct marketing

B

62) Small organizations can obtain, with minimal effort, most of which type of data available to large businesses?
A) observational
B) experimental
C) touch point
D) primary
E) secondary

E

63) You have been asked to locate secondary data for your small organization's research needs. Which of the following is NOT a common source for this type of research?
A) the local chamber of commerce
B) the U.S. Census Bureau
C) competitors' Web sites
D) online surveys
E) the Bureau of Economic Analysis

D

64) The availability of which of the following is most problematic in international marketing research?
A) primary data
B) research specialists
C) secondary data
D) intelligence limitations
E) consumers willing to answer survey questions

C

65) Because of the scarcity of good secondary data, international researchers often must collect their own primary data. An initial problem with this collection is developing good ----- .
A) samples
B) research firms
C) customer relationships with nationals
D) relations with channel members
E) analytical models

A

66) What do many researchers encounter when conducting market research in foreign countries?
A) Some countries have few telephones, limiting access to respondents.
B) Some countries have poor mail services.
C) Some countries have poor roads that limit personal contacts.
D) Some cultures do not value marketing research.
E) all of the above

E

67) Cultural differences, especially those involving language, can add to research costs in foreign markets and can increase the ----- .
A) risk of error
B) foreign trade
C) response rate
D) likelihood of using a smaller sample
E) reliance on primary data

A

68) Anna Gregory just read a marketing research report about the top 25 countries that purchase American products. What would the report most likely say about international research involving these countries?
A) It is on the decrease due to high costs.
B) The costs are higher than the benefits.
C) There is a lack of qualified research personnel.
D) Despite the costs of international research, the costs of not doing it are higher.
E) Interpretations of American quality are consistent among different countries.

D

69) Choose the statement that is NOT a typical consumer concern about intrusion on consumer   privacy.
A) Sophisticated researchers probe our deepest feelings.
B) Marketers use personal information to manipulate our buying.
C) Marketers build huge databases full of personal information.
D) Marketers make too many products and services available, creating unnecessary consumer  wants.
E) Protecting personal information is increasingly important.

D

70) Behavioral targeting, the practice of ----- , is being used by more and more companies.
A) tracking customers' activities and rewarding customer loyalty
B) managing customer relationships
C) mining and analyzing data from data warehouses
D) tracking consumers' online movements and using this information to target ads to them
E) observing and interacting with consumers in their natural environments

D

71) Consumers will be most likely to gladly provide research information when researchers  provide ----- .
A) coupons
B) value for the exchange
C) prizes
D) rebates
E) social network membership

B

72) The best approach for researchers to take to guard consumer privacy includes all of the following EXCEPT which one?
A) Ask only for the information needed.
B) Use information responsibly to provide value.
C) Avoid sharing information without the customer's permission.
D) Sell the information only when it is financially worthwhile.
E) Fully explain to the respondents how the information will be used.

D

73) Many major companies have created the position of ----- to address concerns about the  privacy of customers.
A) chief customer loyalty manager
B) chief behavioral analyst
C) chief privacy officer
D) ethics manager
E) data warehouse manager

C

74) Google and Yahoo! routinely post ads related to a user's keyword searches alongside the searches. This practice is called ----- .
A) using "cookies"
B) consumer tracking
C) contextual targeting
D) cobranding
E) data mining

C

75) To address concerns about the misuse of research study findings, several highly regarded marketing associations have developed ----- .
A) customer relationship management guidelines
B) behavioral targeting "Do Not Track" lists
C) chief privacy officer job descriptions
D) codes of research ethics
E) bans against using "cookies"

D

76) Diana Dion is currently researching data sources from within her company to make marketing decisions. Diana is making use of ----- databases.
A) online
B) internal
C) external
D) public
E) search service

B

77) Your marketing department is attempting to improve strategic decision making, track  competitors' actions, and provide early warning of opportunities and threats. To achieve this goal, which of the following would be the best for your department to use?
A) internal databases
B) external databases only
C) company reports only
D) marketing intelligence
E) the Internet

D

78) Patti Lovelace is making a presentation to the owners of her company. She is trying to convince them to conduct some current marketing research. Which of the following would she  be LEAST likely to emphasize as a benefit or selling point of marketing research?
A) assessing market potential and market share
B) understanding customer satisfaction and purchase behavior
C) measuring the effectiveness of pricing and accounting
D) measuring the effectiveness of distribution and promotion activities
E) understanding customer motivation

C

79) You want to observe how often consumers listen to music throughout their day and what different audio devices they use. You are also interested in how consumers store and access their  own music collections. You should conduct ----- research.
A) causal
B) experimental
C) secondary
D) survey
E) exploratory

E

80) You are about to test hypotheses about decreasing sales in certain markets and their causes. You are involved in what type of research?
A) exploratory
B) descriptive
C) causal
D) focus group
E) ethnographic

C

81) Which type of research would be best suited for identifying which demographic groups  prefer diet soft drinks and why they have this preference?
A) exploratory
B) descriptive
C) causal
D) experimental
E) secondary

B

82) Wal-Mart sends a trained observer to watch and interact with customers as they shop in a Wal-Mart store. This is an example of ----- .
A) secondary research
B) survey research
C) ethnographic research
D) experimental research
E) descriptive research

C

83) When ZIBA designers looking for ideas on how to craft a shower-cleaning tool spent 10 days in people's homes, watching consumers wash shower stalls, they were conducting -----   research.
A) survey
B) experimental
C) secondary
D) ethnographic
E) personal

D

84) Carls Jr. came out with a new hamburger and released it in two different cities with two different price points. Marketers at Carls Jr. then analyzed the different levels of purchase made at the two different price points, planning on using the information to help them set a nationwide  price for the new offering. This is an example of ----- .
A) observational research
B) behavioral research
C) qualitative research
D) experimental research
E) survey research

D

85) Juanita Petino operates a dress shop in a suburban mall. Her research budget is very small, so she utilizes low-cost or no-cost methods to gather research data. One method that works very well for her is to change the themes in her local newspaper and radio advertising and watch the result. Juanita is using ----- to gather data for marketing decisions.
A) informal surveys
B) experiments
C) guess work
D) logic-directed research
E) secondary sources

B

86) Maryann Rose is conducting research to determine consumers' personal grooming habits. Because of the personal nature of the survey questions about this topic, Maryann wants to select the contact method that is most likely to encourage respondents to answer honestly. Which contact method should Maryann select?
A) mail questionnaires
B) telephone interviews
C) individual interviews
D) focus group interviews
E) online panels

A

87) Tasoula Jeannopoulos has a limited budget for the market research she needs to conduct; however, the sample size for her research is quite large. Which of the following methods of  contact would provide Tasoula with the most cost-effective way to reach a large sample of   potential customers?
A) telephone surveys
B) personal interviews
C) Internet surveys
D) mail surveys
E) focus group interviews

C

88) You want to find out whether Americans between 21 and 40 years of age tend to vote Democratic and whether Americans between 41 and 70 tend to vote Republican. You will most likely use a ----- to collect your data.
A) simple random sample
B) mechanical device
C) stratified random sample
D) cluster sample
E) convenience sample

C

89) You have decided to use only open-end questions on your survey. Which of the following questions would NOT be found on your survey?
A) Why is voting important to you?
B) How many cars does your family own?
C) What is your best childhood memory?
D) Where did you spend your last vacation?
E) What are the most important qualities in a friend?

B

90) Which of the following is good advice about creating research questionnaires for Mark  Hammel, research specialist at New Wave Data, to follow?
A) Use care in the wording and ordering of questions.
B) Questions do not have to be arranged in any given order.
C) Ask difficult questions in the beginning to "weed out" uninterested respondents.
D) Ask personal questions in the middle of the instrument.
E) Use impressive vocabulary to convey the importance of the questionnaire.

A

91) You have decided to use only closed-end questions on your survey. Which of the following questions would NOT be found on your survey?
A) Do you like chocolate?
B) What is your gender?
C) Do you work full-time or part-time?
D) What do you like about your teacher?
E) In which month do you plant your garden?

D

92) Loft Industries sells roof trusses to contractors and builders and would like to conduct research to determine how customers assess customer service. Which of the following research instruments would be best for this firm?
A) people meters
B) checkout scanners
C) questionnaires
D) eye cameras
E) BlueEyes technology

C

93) Tommy Baker is in charge of CRM for American Pie Nostalgia. As a result of his successful efforts in this area, his firm will likely enjoy all of the following EXCEPT ----- .
A) providing higher levels of customer services
B) developing deeper customer relationships
C) creating offers tailored to specific customer requirements
D) understanding the competition better
E) cross-selling products to high-value customers

D

94) Michael Quinones is a customer service agent for a national car rental business. He has access to the company's intranet, which provides performance reports, shared work documents, contact information, and detailed information about customers. Which of the following is this access most likely to enable Michael to do during interactions with customers?
A) analyze primary data
B) use data mining techniques
C) share information with value-network partners
D) reward customer loyalty with an upgrade or discount
E) evaluate marketing intelligence

D

95) Marialba Hooper is conducting marketing research for a company that is investigating the  possibility of entering multiple international markets. As Marialba plans her research in 30 different countries, upon which of the following is she LEAST likely to rely?
A) free secondary data
B) translators
C) primary data collected for the purpose of her research
D) the same process domestic researchers use
E) personal interviews

A

96) Malaya Ramirez is organizing marketing research in Central American countries for a large American corporation that is interested in expanding its market. The survey Malaya is using was written in English and then translated into Spanish for use by Spanish-speaking respondents. Which of the following should Malaya do before administering this questionnaire to a sample of  the market?
A) make sure that the survey includes both open-end and closed-end questions
B) decide whether to focus on primary or secondary data
C) determine which type of research instrument to use
D) have the questionnaire translated back into English to check for accuracy
E) determine whether to focus on descriptive or causal objectives

D

97) In this scenario, which of the following is an example of primary data?
A) the list of local corporations from the Chamber of Commerce
B) competitor information gleaned from pamphlets
C) responses to the 75 surveys
D) the names of the 75 companies that received surveys
E) competitors' Web sites

C

98) Jason wanted to better understand how his customers assess service quality. This is an example of a ----- .
A) marketing research problem
B) research objective
C) research method
D) research plan
E) research approach

B

99) In this scenario, which of the following are examples of marketing intelligence?
A) responses to the surveys Jason sent
B) competitors' pamphlets
C) phone calls made to competitors to learn about their offerings
D) B and C only
E) all of the above

D

100) Of the 141 companies on the list, Jason chose to survey only 75 of them. Jason sent surveys to small companies and large companies. If Jason selected survey recipients randomly from the groups of small companies and large companies, he was using a ----- .
A) simple random sample
B) judgment sample
C) convenience sample
D) stratified random sample
E) quota sample

D