MARK 4000 TEST 1

Marketing research

links the organization with its
market environment. It involves the specification, gathering, analysis, and interpretation of information to help management understand the environment, identify problems and opportunities, and develop and evaluate courses of marketing action

Benefits of marketing research

researchers finding information that can make managers make better decisions for the firm

5 Stage Process

1. Problem Formulation

2. Research Design

3. Data Collection design

   1. sample design and data collection

4. Analysis and interpretation

5. Research reporting

How to avoid producing useless research?

-communicating to the manager from day 1 on what research question will be tackled

-importance of problem formulation

Example of problem formulation

1. Meet with client (manager)

2. Clarify problem or opportunity

3. Identify manager’s decision problem

4. Develop possible research problems

5. Select Research problem(s) to be addressed

   1. Prepare research request agreement

Step 1 - Meet with client

-two objectives of the initial meeting

• establish rapport including trust building and open communication

• learn as much as possible about the problem/opportunity

planned change

desired changes to help business grow (proactive)

unplanned/unanticipated change

changes in environment (reactive)

Step 2 - Clarify problem or opportunity

-get precisely to the heart of the problem

-challenges any pre-existing assumptions by managers

-overcome normal thinking (aka bring a new perspective)

-consider conducting exploratory research

Step 3 - Identify manager’s decision problem

-discovery or strategy oriented

-problem facing the research intended to provide answers

decision problem

problem facing the decision make for which the research is intended to provide examples

Discovery oriented problem

-aim is to understand the situation

-What is going on, Why it is going on?

Strategy oriented decision problem

-aimed at making decisions

-How should we implement xyz?

example of discovery problem

“What kind of response of current Porsche owners will be?” and “Why aren’t they happy about the introduction of Cayenne?”

example of strategy decision problem

“How can we reduce the negative impact on current Porsche owners?”

Step 4 - Formulate possible research problems

-usually begin with an action word (investigate, assess, determine, measure) and describes information to be uncovered

-goal of problem formulation is to specify the full range of potential research problems

research problems

a restatement of the decision problem into what information is required by the decision problem

example of decision problem

Why are initial sales lower than projected?

examples of research problems

-Assess the awareness level of the brand

-Measure customer satisfaction with the product

-Determine the market perception of the brand

Step 5 - Search the research problem(s) to be addressed

-we recognize that the there are multiple research problems for every decision problem

-it is better to fully address one or two research problems than try to address every possible research problem

Step 6 - Prepare research request agreement

• A document prepared by the researcher after meeting with the decision maker that summarizes the problem and the information that is needed to address it
• A research request agreement helps to make certain that everyone – researcher and client – understands the problem(s) to be addressed, what the research is to accomplish

Research Design

-the framework or plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of data

-once the research problem is formalized, the next question is “exactly what information is needed to solve the research problem?”

-driven by research problem

-depends upon how much is known about the problem

types of research design

-exploratory

-descriptive

-casual

Exploratory research

gaining ideas and insights

descriptive research

describing the frequency with which something occurs or the relationship between two variables

casual research

determining cause and effect relationships

Exploratory chart (Conclusive VS Exploratory)

Objective: To provide insights and
understanding.
Characteristics: Information needed is defined
only loosely. Research process
is flexible and unstructured.
Sample is small and non-
representative. Analysis of
primary data is qualitative.
Findings /Results: Tentative.
Outcome: Generally followed by further exploratory or conclusive research.

Conclusive Research chart

Objective: To test specific hypotheses and examine relationships
Characteristics: Information needed is clearly defined. Research process is
formal and structured. Sample is
large and representative. Data
analysis is quantitative
Findings/Results: Conclusive
Outcome: Findings used as input into
decision making

Types of research design

Exploratory Research

Conclusive Research

-descriptive research

-causal research

Exploratory Chart

Objective: Discovery of ideas
and insights
Characteristics: Flexible, versatile. Often the front
end of total research design
Methods: Expert surveys, Pilot surveys, Secondary data, Qualitative research

Descriptive Research Chart

Objective: Describe market
characteristics or functions
Characteristics: Marked by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses Preplanned and structured design
Methods: Secondary data, Surveys, Panels, Observation and
other data

Casual Research Chart

Objective: Determine cause
and effect relationships
Characteristics: Manipulation of
one or more independent variables. Control of other mediating variables
Methods: Experiments

Uses of exploratory research

• Better formulating the manager’s decision
problem
• Developing hypotheses/research questions
• Increasing the researcher’s familiarity with the problem
• Clarifying concepts
• Establish priorities for further research

Types of exploratory research

Research based on existing data
• Literature search
Will be covered in secondary data session
• Case analyses
Research from gathering data
• Interviews:
– Depth Interviews
– Focus Groups
– Nominal Groups
– Projective techniques

– Word Association
– Sentence completion
– Story telling
• Observation

Focus group: steps

• Planning
• Recruiting
• Moderating
• Analyzing and Reporting

Focus group: format

• Typically 5-10 people
• 1.5 to 2 hours in length
• Sessions recorded and transcribed

Focus group: planning

• Design questions
– Conversational
– Clear, brief, jargon-free
– Seek feedback from professionals
– Open/closed questions
– “Think back” questions not forward to the future
– 8-12 questions, fewer (but sufficient) better
– Allow sufficient time: 5- or 10- min questions

Focus group: recruiting

• Group composition
– Avoid power differentials
– Homogeneity / heterogeneity
– Strangers / acquaintances
– Experts / novices

Focus group: moderating

• Before the focus group
– Prepare yourself mentally
– Assemble the equipment
– Arrange the room

• During the focus group
– Register participants
– Opening: small talk
– Introductory
– Transition
– Key (3-5 key questions)

– Anticipate the flow and be aware of participants’ limits
– Control your reactions
– Be comfortable with pause
– Active listening/Probe as needed (but be careful)
– Avoid if possible: asking why; giving examples

Focus group: moderator skills

• Interviewing
• Observational
• Control and guide discussion
• Suppress own personal views
• Respect for participants
• Practice-practice-practice

Tips for a good focus group

• Create rapport among participants
• Establish safe space, engage the hesitant
• Be prepared to redirect
• Manage dynamics
• Be aware of non-verbal information

Analyzing and reporting - Focus Groups

• Each focus group question on each sheet
• Different focus group data (notes) in separate color
representing different “session” (in case of multiple groups)
• Goal is to cut and paste quotes that are
appropriate for each question

• Long table approach

Long table approach

It is a time tested method and breaks down the process into manageable chunks

Exploratory research is

– usually used at the early stages of a research project
– useful for generating/narrowing down hypotheses

Exploratory is not

– a substitute for conclusive/quantitative research
– useful for statements about the population
– used for major decisions (without other research)

What do you achieve with descriptive research?

Summary measures that address the research question(s)

•Describe group characteristics
– mean, median, and mode
• Estimate proportion of units who have particular characteristics
– proportion or percentage
• Even make specific predictions
– correlation
– regression
Summary measures that address the research question(s)

Types of descriptive research

-Cross Sectional studies

-Longitudinal studies

Cross sectional studies

– Describe population at one point in time
(snapshot)
– Multiple snapshots from different samples

Longitudinal studies

– Same sample is measured repeatedly
– panel studies (continuous, discontinuous/omnibus)

Causality:

A change in one variable will produce a
change in another variable.

All three must be present for causality to be formed

-Co-variation (Correlation)

-Time-Order

-Ruling out Alternatives
(e.g., confounding
variable)

Experimentation (Experimental design)

involves the conscious manipulation of one or more variables by the experimenter in such a way that its effect on one or more variables can be measured

A variable being manipulated is called the

independent variable (a.k.a. cause).

A variable that will reflect the impact of the
independent variable is called the

dependent variable (a.k.a. effect).

Elimination of other possible causal factors, i.e

the research design should rule out the other factors as potentially causal ones.

Popular experimental design in marketing research

Causal Research
• Control can contain “no treatment” or “other treatment” (X)
• Often used in marketing research
• Used if interest is in estimating the impact of the treatment(s)
Causal Effect of Y 2 – Y1 = ( X2 – X1 )
Treatment: X2 Y2

Outcome: Y1 Y2
Experimental Group: X1 Y1
Control Group: X2 Y2
-Randomly assigned or matched (very important)

Internal Validity

– Was the correct experimental design implemented?
• Change in dependent variable truly coming from the change in independent variable?
– Did we take into account all the confounds?
• What if samples were not randomly chosen or matched?
– Differences in effect may be due to selection of effect, misleading results

Internal Validity definition

he extent to which you can be confident that a cause-and-effect relationship established in a study cannot be explained by other factors

External Validity

defines the extent to which your results can be generalized to other people, settings, times, and measures. If a study has high external validity, its conclusions aren't just a "one-hit wonder" in a controlled environment; they actually apply to the general population

External Validity

– Can the results of the experiment be generalized to other people, settings and time?
• Controlled experiment may be too contrived, artificial and produce behavior that would not likely be found in the real world.

Trade off between internal vs. external validity

• Internal validity:
– Threats to Causality (Control
for confounds?)
– Can the experiment unambiguously show a cause- and-effect relationship?

• External validity:
– Can the results of the experiment be
generalized to other people, settings,
and time?
– Can we trust the lab result to
translate to real world?

-you can not have a high internal and external