Marketing Research Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Chapters 1 through 4 of Marketing Research lecture notes.

Marketing research

The application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about marketing phenomena.

Digital marketing

A term used to capture all the various electronic, communicative technologies through which marketing enterprises work together with customers toward enhancing value from interaction, including exchange and relationships.

Applied marketing research

Research conducted to address a specific marketing decision for a specific firm or organization.

Basic marketing research

Research conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the needs of a specific organization and attempts to expand the limits of marketing knowledge in general.

Scientific method

The way researchers go about using knowledge and evidence to reach objective conclusions about the real world.

Product-oriented

A firm business orientation that prioritizes decision making in a way that emphasizes technical superiority in the product, making research not a priority.

Production-oriented

A firm business orientation that prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness of production processes in making decisions to drive costs down, making research not a priority.

Marketing-oriented

A firm business orientation that follows the marketing concept, focusing on how the firm provides value to customers more than on the physical product or production process.

Online sentiment analysis

Analysis that allows researchers to use data to indicate the total positive or negative mentions of a brand on the Internet.

Stakeholder orientation

An orientation recognizing that multiple parties are affected by a firm's decisions.

Relationship marketing

Marketing that communicates the idea that a major goal of marketing is to build long-term relationships with customers contributing to a firm's success.

Geo-demographics

Information describing the demographic profile of consumers in a particular geographic region.

Concept testing

Exposing potential customers to a new product idea to judge the acceptance and feasibility of the concept.

Product testing

Research that reveals a product prototype's strengths and weaknesses or determines whether a finished product performs better than competing brands or according to expectations.

Brand-name evaluation studies

Studies that investigate whether a name is appropriate for a product.

Packaging testing

Research that assesses size, color, shape, ease of use, and other attributes of a package.

Marketing channel

A network of interdependent institutions that perform the logistics necessary for consumption to occur; also known as a supply chain.

Promotion

The communication function of the firm responsible for informing and persuading buyers.

Integrated marketing communication

The coordination of all promotional efforts to communicate a consistent image.

Big data

Large quantities of data taken from multiple, varied sources that allow companies to make decisions with far more information than in the past.

Data

Facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena (things or events).

Information

Data formatted (structured) to support decision-making or define the relationship between two or more data points.

Market intelligence

The subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory power enabling effective decisions to be made.

Relevance

A characteristic of valuable information reflecting how pertinent particular facts are to the situation at hand.

Information completeness

Refers to having the right amount of information.

Data quality

The degree to which data represent the true situation by being accurate, valid, and reliable.

Timeliness

A characteristic meaning that data are current enough to still be relevant.

Market dynamism

Represents the rate of change in environmental and competitive factors.

Marketing decision support system (DSS)

A system that helps decision makers confront problems through direct interaction with computerized databases and analytical software programs.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

A system that brings together multiple pieces of customer information, including sales data, market trends, marketing promotions, responses, and consumer preferences.

Database

A collection of raw data arranged logically and organized in a form that can be stored and processed by a computer.

Data warehousing

The process allowing important day-to-day operational data to be stored and organized for simplified access.

Data warehouse

The multitiered computer storehouse of current and historical data.

Cloud storage

Data that is stored on devices that make the files directly available via the Internet.

Proprietary marketing research

The gathering of new data to investigate specific problems.

Scanner data

The accumulated records resulting from point of sale data recordings.

Single-source data

Refers to the ability of point of sale systems to gather several types of interrelated data at the time of purchase.

Universal product codes

The bar codes that stores use to scan merchandise as it is being sold, allowing companies to record data each time a sale is made.

Electronic data interchange (EDI)

A type of exchange that occurs when one company's computer system is integrated with another company's system.

Open source information

A term that captures structured data openly shared between companies.

Data wholesalers

Entities that put together consortia of data sources into packages offered to municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee.

Data retailers

Entities that sell data directly to the end consumer.

CompuStat

An extensive financial database published on thousands of companies, broken down by industry and other criteria.

Content providers

Parties that furnish information on the World Wide Web.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

A Web site address that Web browsers recognize.

Environmental scanning

All information gathering designed to detect changes in the external operating environment of the firm.

Smart agent software

Software capable of learning an Internet user's preferences and automatically searching out information and distributing it to a user's computer.

Pull technology

Technology where consumers request information from a Web page and the browser then determines a response.

Push technology

Technology that sends data to a user's computer without a request being made, using software to guess what information might be interesting based on previous response patterns.

RFID

Stands for radio frequency identification; a tiny chip affixed to a product that sends a radio signal identifying that particular entity uniquely.

Near Field Communication (NFC)

Wi-Fi-like systems communicating with specific devices within a defined space, such as inside a retail unit or near a poster billboard.

Cookies

Small data files in computer terminology that record a user's Web usage history.

Intranet

A company's private data network that uses Internet standards and technology.

Marketing analytics

A general term referring to efforts to measure relevant data and apply analytical tools to better understand how a firm can enhance marketing performance.

Predictive analytics

Linking computerized data mined from multiple sources to statistical tools that can search for predictive relationships and trends.

Decision making

The process of developing and deciding among alternative ways of resolving a problem or choosing from among alternative opportunities.

Market opportunity

A situation that makes some potential competitive advantage possible.

Market problem

A situation that makes some significant negative consequence more likely.

Symptoms

Observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that problem.

Exploratory research

Research conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities.

Descriptive research

Research that describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments by addressing who, what, when, where, and how questions.

Diagnostic analysis

Analysis seeking to diagnose reasons for market outcomes by focusing specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products.

Causal research

Research that seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships and allows causal inferences to be made.

Temporal sequence

A condition for causality dealing with the time order of events, requiring that the cause must occur before the effect.

Concomitant variation

Occurs when two events vary systematically such that when a change in the cause occurs, a change in the outcome is also observed.

Nonspurious association

A requirement for causality where any covariation between cause and effect is true and not simply due to some third variable.

Absolute causality

A degree of causality meaning the cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect.

Conditional causality

A degree of causality meaning that a cause is necessary but not sufficient to bring about an effect.

Contributory causality

A degree of causality meaning a cause need not be necessary nor sufficient to bring about an effect.

Experiment

A carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect.

Experimental variable

Represents the proposed cause in an experiment and is controlled by the researcher through manipulation.

Test market

An experiment that is conducted within actual market conditions.

Deliverables

A term used in consulting to describe research objectives to a research client.

Research proposal

A written statement of the research design, emphasizing what the research will accomplish.

Literature review

A directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents empirical results relevant to the topic at hand.

Pilot studies

Small scale research projects that collect data from respondents similar to those that will be used in the full study.

Pretest

A term indicating that results obtained in a study are preliminary and intended to assist in designing a subsequent study.

Focus group interview

An interview format that brings together six to twelve people in a loosely structured format.

Theory

A formal, logical explanation of some events that includes predictions of how things relate to one another.

Hypothesis

A formal statement explaining some outcome that must be testable as a proposition.

Empirical testing

Examining something against reality using data.

Research design

A master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing needed information.

Survey

A research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or their behavior is observed and described.

Sampling

Any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the population.

Unobtrusive method

A data collection method in which subjects do not have to be disturbed for data to be collected.

Data analysis

The application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered.

Research project

A single study where a researcher has only one or a small number of research objectives.

Research program

Numerous related studies coming together to address issues about a single company.

Syndicated service

A marketing research supplier that provides standardized information for many clients for a fee.

Standardized research services

Companies that develop a unique methodology for investigating a business specialty area and conduct studies for multiple individual clients using the same methods.

Custom research

Research projects tailored specifically to a client's unique needs.

Cross-functional teams

Teams composed of individuals from various functional areas who share a common purpose.

Marketing ethics

The 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 action, each with different ethical implications.

Relativism

Reflects the degree to which one rejects moral standards in favor of situation-based evaluations of an action.

Idealism

Reflects the degree to which one bases morality on moral standards.

Informed consent

Means that an individual understands what the researcher wants him/her to do and agrees to participate in the research study.

Anonymity

Assures respondents that they cannot be identified or linked to their response in any way.

Confidentiality

Assurance that information involved in research will not be shared with others.