Marketing Exam 1

Marketing Research

The process of gathering information to make better decisions

Marketing

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

Marketing decision makers need to make decisions

1. What are our core competencies?

2. How can we use these core competencies to create value for our consumers?

3. Who are our consumers and how can we collaborate with them?

Crowdsourcing

The practice of obtaining services or ideas by asking for assistance from large groups of people, generally online communities

Poor marketing research

Failed products and services occur when the research about their target market is not accurate

Customer-first philosophy

Being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to its chosen target markets

Marketing strategy / Strategic Marketing

Consists of selecting a segment of the market as the company's target market and designing the proper "mix" of the product/service, price, promotion, and distribution system to meet the wants and needs of the consumers within the target market.

Function of marketing research

To link the consumer to the marketer

Uses of Marketing Research

1) Identifying market opportunities and problems

2) Generating, refining, and evaluating potential market actions

3) Monitoring marketing performance

Basic research

Research that is conducted to expand knowledge rather than to solve a specific problem

Applied Research

Research that is conducted to solve specific problems

Client-side research

Research that is conducted within an organization

Supply-side research

Research that is conducted by an outside firm to fulfill a company's marketing research needs

What is Marketing Research Process?

A roadmap for planning a research project; An overview of the entire process

What is the big picture of the Marketing research process

Defining the problem, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting the results

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Measures that provide scores of how well a company is performing relative to its objectives

Examples of KPIs

Brand Awareness, Engagement, Sales, Return on investment (ROI), and Quality Control

Understanding the background of the Problem

Look for symptoms: an observable sign that a problem exists. Then ask: What is the underlying problem here?

Confirmation Bias

Focusing on incoming information that matches your beliefs

Situational Analysis

A form of exploratory research undertaken to gather background information and data to help define the problem

What is the first thing when doing a situational analysis

Focus on industry, competitors, market segments, social media activity

What is the second thing to do with a situational analysis

Look at company, performance, products, and target markets

Primary method of conducting a situation analysis

Review both internal and external secondary data

Symptoms

Signals to managers that there are underlying problems

Decision alternatives

All marketing actions that the manager thinks may resolve the problem

Research Objectives

A goal-oriented statement or question that specifies what information is needed to solve a problem

Constructs

An abstract idea composed of a set of attitudes or behaviors

Exploratory research

Informal research to learn terms and definitions or identify research priorities

Descriptive research

(Often surveys) Describes the phenomena of interest: awareness, intentions, satisfaction

Casual Research Design

(Experiments); What factors lead to some behavior: clicking behavior, adequate price discount amount

Research Design

A master plan that specifies the methods that will be used to collect and analyze the information needed for a research project

When would we use Exploratory Research

To gain background information

To define terms

To clarify problems and hypotheses

To establish research priorities

Two Types of Descriptive Research

Cross-sectional Studies & Longitudinal Studies

Cross-Sectional Studies

Measures units from a sample of the population at one point in time

Longitudinal studies

Repeatedly measure the same sample units of a population over a period of time

Test Marketing

An experiment, study, or test that is conducted in a field setting

What are the uses of test markets

1) To test the sales potential for a new product or service

2) To test the variations in the marketing mix for a product or service

Standard Test Market

Where the firm tests the products/marketing-mix variables through the company’s normal distribution channels

Controlled Test Market

Conducted by outside reserch firms

Simulated Test Markets

In which companies test new products in a staged environment that mimics natural conditions

Internal Secondary data

Collected within a firm (sales, complaints)

Ways that companies used their databases:

1. Identify Prospects

2. Decide which customers should receive which offer

3. Deepen customer loyalty

4. Reactivate customer purchases

5. Avoid serious customer mistakes

Customer Relationship Management

The practice of managing interactions with customers to build stronger relationships and fuel business growth

Published sources

Information that are prepared for public distribution and are normally found in libraries and online (Business Media, Academic journals, books, etc.)

Syndicated Data

Supplied from a common database to subscribers for a service fee

Uses of Syndicated Data

• Measuring attitudes and opinions

• Identifying segments

• Monitoring media usage and promo effectiveness

• Tracking Sales

How has digital data transformed ?

• Increase in the amount of info

• Social media data

• Real-time info and feedback

• Advanced targeting and personalization

• Cost-effectiveness

Social Media Data

(User-generated content UGC) is any info that is created by users of online systems and intended to be shared with others