MKT 3356 - Exam 1 (Popovich)

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 Research

Links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information.

Steps of Marketing Management Process

1) Analyzing Marketing Opportunities

2) Researching and Selecting Target Market

3) Designing Marketing Strategies

4) Planning Marketing Program

5) Organizing, Implementing, Controlling, Marketing Effort

Steps of Marketing Research Process

1) Specify the information needed to address marketing issues

2) Design the method for collecting information

3) Manages and implements the data collection process

4) Analyze the results

5) Communicate the findings and their implications

Environments the Affect Marketing (6)

Competitive, Economic, Political and Legal, Technological, Natural, and Social

Marketing Planning Process

1) Situation Analysis

2) Strategy

3) Development

4) Marketing Program Development

5) Implementation

4 P's

Product, place, price, and promotion.

Product Issues

Competitive product analysis, packaging trends, new product development, product characteristics (size offerings, warranty inclusion).

Place Issues

Product display, inventory management, and location-specific performance.

Price Issues

Measuring price elasticity, pricing trends, price/value relationship, and effect of price incentives.

Promotion Issues

Copy testing, media allocation, and advertising effectiveness.

Marketing Research Skill Set

Analytical, communication, cooperation, creativity, and curiosity.

Technical Skills

Computer literacy, sample design, statistical analysis, and numerical skills.

Managerial Skills

Presentation, written communications, people relations, and project coordination.

Ethics: Johnson & Johnson

Tampered Tylenol products were taken off the shelves worldwide, until they knew the source of the cyanide. J & J reacted this way to preserve their family image, and fix the problem head on.

Ethics: Volkswagen

Volkswagen cheated emissions tests by installing a device to "defeat" the test and perform under the minimum for emission ratings. Once on the road they emitted far greater than what is allowed in the U.S.

Marketing Ethics

Application of morals to behavior related to the exchange environment.

Moral Standards

Principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and what is unethical.

Ethical Dilemma

A situation in which one chooses from alternative courses of actions, each with different ethical implications.

Researchers owe: RESPONDENTS

Not to engage in deceptive practices, not to invade privacy, nor to manifest concern for the respondents.

Researchers owe: CLIENTS

Avoid unneeded research, designs that fit the budget, no over-billing, confidentiality, and eliminate conflicts of interest.

Researchers owe: THE PUBLIC

Accurate reporting (no incomplete or misleading reports), and objective reporting (data driven and not opinions).

Stages of Research Process

1) Formulate the problem

2) Determine the research

3) Design data collection methods and forms

4) Design the sample and collect data

5) Analyze and interpret the data

6) Prepare the research report

Marketing Decision Problem

Basic problem/opportunity facing the manager for which the marketing research is intended to provide answers.

Marketing Research Problem

States specifically what research can be done to provide answers to the decision problem.

Observational Research

Gathering data by observing people, actions, and situations.

Observational Research Methods

Mechanical observation, observation in a "natural environment", "Mystery" shoppers, and shopping your own organization.

Disguised vs. Non-Disguised Observations

Consumer is unaware that they are being observed; therefore no false reactions (raises ethical questions) vs. data may be richer b/c can be complimented by an interview/questionnaire to further explain the consumer's behaviors.

Direct vs. Non-Direct Observations

The actual behavior or phenomenon is observed vs. examining the results/consequences of the behavior or phenomenon.

Descriptive Research

Aimed at identifying association among selected variables; describe segment characteristics, estimate proportion of people who behave a certain way, and make specific predictions.

Types of Descriptive Research

Longitudinal study, panel, and sample survey.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your study.

Longitudinal Study

Provides a series of pictures that, when pieced together, provide a "movie" of the situation showing changes that are occurring; sample remains relatively constant through time and sample members are measured repeatedly. (True panel, omnibus)

Cross-Sectional Study

Provides a "snapshot" of the variables of interest at a single point in time; sample is typically selected to be representative of some known population. (field studies, sample surveys)

Focus Groups: General Characteristics

- Multiple respondents

- Group interaction

- Group moderation/facilitation

- Discussion guide through questionnaire

- Prescreened respondents (often similar characteristics)

- Group size 6 - 12 participants; last 1 - 2 hours

Focus Groups: Exploratory

Used in the introductory phase of the market research process, used for generating the hypotheses for testing.

Focus Groups: Clinical

Based on the premise that an individual's true feelings and motivations are subconscious in nature.

Focus Groups: Experiential

Allows the researcher to experience the emotional framework in which the product is being used.

Why use focus groups?

To collect qualitative data, determine feelings and perceptions of participants regarding products, attitudes developed in part by interaction, dangerous to take customers for granted.

When to use focus groups?

Before, during, or after a program ends. Effective when people have something to share; not effective when people are angry or divided.

Synergy

Combined effect of the group creates a wider range of information, insight, and ideas.

Snowballing

Bandwagon effect; comment by one individual often triggers a chain of responses.

Stimulation

After "warming-up", more motivated to express their ideas and feelings.

Security

Find comfort in the group knowing in that their feelings are not greatly different than others.

Spontaneity

More spontaneous and less conventional, provide more accurate picture of opinions.

Serendipity

More often the case in a group some idea will "drop out of the blue".

Specialization

Highly trained interviewer is required since number of people being interviewed simultaneously.

Scrutiny

Several observers witness the session, and recorded for later playback and analysis.

Structure

Groups allow more flexibility in regard to the topics covered and depth with which they are treated.

Speed

Speeds up the data collection and analysis process.

Misuse

Abused by considering the results as conclusive rather than exploratory.

Misjudge

Susceptible to client and researcher biases.

Moderation

Difficult to moderate; quality of results depends heavily on the skills of the facilitator.

Messy

Unstructured nature of responses makes coding, analysis and interpretation difficult.

Misinterpretation

Not necessarily representative of the general population; should not be the sole basis of decision making.

Money

Expensive on a per participant basis.

Focus Group Planning Process

Defining the parameters-- how many groups? how many participants per group? where will/should the groups be held? what should be the composition of each group? what stimuli should be used to elicit responses? what incentives should be offered?

Moderator's Role

Elicit inputs, work with the assembled group, achieve the objectives of the client, keep the session on track, handle situations where participants are only giving "yes" or "no" responses, change directions when the topic has been covered extensively, and wrap-up effectively.

Moderator's Qualifications

Kindness with firmness, permissiveness, involvement, incomplete understanding, encouragement, flexibility, and sensitivity.

Moderator's Potential Problems

Leading rather than guiding, being too knowledgeable, being a poor listener, alienating a group member, etc.

Exploratory Research

Discovery of ideas and insights; used to start to uncover the most likely explanations regarding some observed problem.

Uses for Exploratory Research

Formulating a problem for more precise investigation, discovering new ideas, developing hypotheses, establishing priorities for further research, screening for alternatives, etc.

Differences b/n ER & DR: Purpose

ER - to generate general insights about situation

DR - to verify insights and aid in selecting a course of action

Differences b/n ER & DR: Data Needs

ER - Vague

DR- Clear

Differences b/n ER & DR: Data Sources

ER - Ill-defined

DR - well-defined

Differences b/n ER & DR: Data Collection Form

ER - open-ended, rough

DR - usually structured

Differences b/n ER & DR: Sample

ER - relatively small

DR - relatively large

Differences b/n ER & DR: Process

ER - flexible

DR - rigid; well-laid-out procedure

Differences b/n ER & DR: Analysis

ER - informal; non-quantitative

DR - formal; quantitative

Differences b/n ER & DR: Recommendations

ER - more tentative

DR - more final

Types of Exploratory Research

Case studies, literature search, pilot studies, ethnographic research, in-depth interviews, and focus groups.

Projective Technique

Unstructured and indirect form of questioning that encourages respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the issues of concern.

Types of Projective Techniques

Word association, sentence completion, story completion, ballon tests, picture tests, thematic appreciation tests, role-playing, and third-person technique.

Word Association

Subjects read a list of words/or phrases and asked to respond with the first thing that come tom mind in order to look for hidden meanings and associations.

Sentence Completion

Respondents are given incomplete sentences and asked to complete in their own words in the hopes that hidden thoughts/feelings will be revealed.

Story Completion

Respondents are provided a scenario and asked to complete it.

Balloon Tests

Subject are given a cartoon drawing and asked to suggest the dialogue in an attempt to identify a person's latent feelings about what is being portrayed.

Picture Tests

Subjects are given a picture and instructed to describe their reactions by writing a short narrative story about the picture.

Thematic Appreciation Tests (TAT)

Subjects are presented with a series of pictures and asked to provide a description of or a story about the pictures.

Role Playing

Subject is asked to act out someone else's behavior in a specified setting.

Third-Person Technique

Subject is asked to verbalize how a third person would react to a specific question.

Advantages of Projection

Help probe consumer motivations by enabling a subject to project their own psychological material in a non-threatening way; stimulate greater creativity; greater elicitation of responses.

Disadvantages of Projection

Subjectivity.interpretation bias; rely on analytical expertise/background of researcher; unusual behavior may not be reflective of a person's normal personality or motivations; psychological material uncovered may or may not be related to the topic or to the person.