Marketing Research Summary

Marketing Research

  • Marketing research is the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision.

Steps in a Marketing Research Project

  • Define the problem.
  • Plan the research design.
  • Specify the sampling procedure.
  • Collect data.
  • Analyze data.
  • Prepare and present the report.
  • Follow up.

Define Problem

  • Marketing Research Problem: Determining what information is needed and how to obtain it efficiently.
  • Marketing Research Objective: The specific information needed to solve the marketing research problem, providing insightful decision-making information.

Research Design - Types of Data

  • Secondary Data: Data previously collected for another purpose.
    • Advantages: Saves time and money, aids in determining direction for primary data collection, pinpoints people to approach, and serves as a basis for comparison.
    • Disadvantages: May not be on target, quality and accuracy may be a problem, data may be outdated.
  • Primary Data: Data collected for the first time to solve a particular problem.
    • Advantages: Answers a specific research question, data is current, the source is known, and secrecy can be maintained.
    • Disadvantages: Expensive, quality declines if interviews are lengthy, reluctance to participate, and time-consuming.

Big Data and Market Analytics

  • Big data involves the exponential growth in the volume, variety, and velocity of information. It includes complex tools to analyze and create meaning from such data.
  • It allows the analysis of unstructured data such as social media, emails, audio files, and YouTube videos.
  • It helps identify hidden customer shopping patterns and produce actionable insights.

Traditional Survey Research (Asking People)

  • Focus Groups
  • Executive Interviews
  • Mail Surveys
  • Telephone Interviews
  • Mall Intercept Interviews
  • In-Home Interviews

Internet Surveys

  • Advantages:
    • Contact with the hard-to-reach
    • Improved respondent participation
    • Personalized questions and data
    • Reduced costs
    • Rapid development
    • Real-time reporting

Questionnaire Design

  • Open-ended question: An interview question that encourages an answer phrased in a respondent’s own words. e.g. Why do you like your school?
  • Closed-ended question: An interview question that asks the respondent to make a selection from a limited list of responses. e.g.? Did you heat the food before eating? Yes 1 No 2
  • Scaled-response question: A closed-ended question designed to measure the intensity of a respondent’s answer. e.g.? Are you satisfied with your current brand of dishwasher powder? Satisfied Neutral _ Not Satisfied

Observational Research

  • Examples include:
    • People watching people
    • People watching an activity
    • Machines watching people
    • Machines watching an activity
  • Advantages:
    • Bias from the interviewing process is eliminated.
    • Observation does not rely on the respondent’s willingness to provide data.
  • Disadvantages:
    • Costly.
    • Unreliable when different observers report different conclusions from the same event.
    • Observation can reveal what people do but not why they do it.

Sampling Procedure

  • Sample: A subset from a larger population.
  • Universe: The population from which a sample will be drawn.

Sampling Types

  • Probability Samples: Every element has a known statistical likelihood of being selected.
    • Advantages: equal chance of being selected, unbiased selection.
    • Disadvantages: more time consuming and costly
  • Non-Probability Samples: Little or no attempt is made to get a representative cross-section of the population.
    • Advantages: when time and budget are limited
    • Disadvantages: arbitrary judgments of researchers

Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting

  • Data Collection: Gather data based on the research plan.
  • Data Analysis:
    • Interpret and draw conclusions from the collected data.
    • Quantitative analysis uses statistics (e.g., frequency, cross-tabulations).
    • Qualitative analysis uses pattern matching.
  • Reporting: Prepare and present the report with conclusions and recommendations to management.
  • Follow-Up: Provide strategic information and advice on applying the findings and recommendations.