Conducting Marketing Research

Conducting Marketing Research LECTURE-4

Chapter Questions • What is marketing research? • What constitutes good marketing research? • The marketing research process.

What is Marketing Research? Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.

Types of Marketing Research Firms • Syndicated service research firms • Firms gather consumer & trade information, which they sell for a fee e.g. ACNielsen, National Council For Applied Economic Research (NCAER) • Custom marketing research firms • They design & carry out research studies for various clients based on specific briefs. • Specialty-line marketing research firms • These firms provides specialized research services such as developing a research brief, collecting field data, preparing data analyses & reports for other firms.

The Marketing Research Process Define the problem, The decision alternatives & the research objectives Develop The Research Plan Collect The Information Analyze The Information Present The Findings Make The Decision

Step 1: Define the Problem • Define the problem • Problem should not be too broad or too narrow. • Specify decision alternatives • State research objectives

Step 2: Develop the Research Plan • Data sources • Research approach • Research instruments • Sampling plan • Contact methods

Step 2: Develop the Research Plan • Data sources • Secondary data, primary data or both. • Research approaches • Observational Research • Ethnographic Research • Focus group Research • Survey Research • Behavioral data • Experimental Research

Step 2: Develop the Research Plan… • Research instruments • Questionnaires • Qualitative Measures • Technological Devices

Ensure questions are free of bias Make questions simple Make questions specific Avoid jargon Avoid sophisticated words Avoid ambiguous words Avoid negatives Avoid hypotheticals Avoid words that could be misheard Use response bands Use mutually exclusive categories Allow for “other” in fixed response questions Questionnaire Do’s and Don’ts

Question Types (Closed End)-Dichotomous In arranging this trip, did you contact American Airlines?  Yes  No

Question Types – Multiple Choice • With whom are you traveling on this trip? •  No one • Spouse • Spouse and children • Children only • Business associates/friends/relatives • An organized tour group

Question Types – Likert Scale • Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Small airlines generally give better service than large ones. •  Strongly disagree • Disagree • Neither agree nor disagree • Agree • Strongly agree

Question Types – Semantic Differential American Airlines Large ………………………………...…….Small Experienced………………….….Inexperienced Modern……………………….…..Old-fashioned

Question Types – Importance Scale • Airline food service is _____ to me. •  Extremely important • Very important • Somewhat important • Not very important • Not at all important

Question Types – Rating Scale • American Airlines’ food service is _____. •  Excellent • Very good • Good • Fair • Poor

Question Types –Intention to Buy Scale • How likely are you to purchase tickets on American Airlines if in-flight Internet access were available? •  Definitely buy • Probably buy • Not sure • Probably not buy • Definitely not buy

Question Types (Open End)-Completely Unstructured What is your opinion of American Airlines?

Question Types –Word Association What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following? Airline ________________________ American _____________________ Travel ________________________

Question Types – Sentence Completion When I choose an airline, the most important consideration in my decision is: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Question Types –Story Completion “I flew American a few days ago. I noticed that the exterior and interior of the plane had very bright colors. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings.” Now complete the story. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question Types–Picture (Empty Balloons)

Qualitative Measures • Word association • Asks subjects what words come to mind when they hear the brand’s name. • Projective techniques • Give people an incomplete stimulus & ask them to complete it. • Visualization • Requires people to create a collage from magazine photo or drawings to depict their perceptions. • Brand personification • Ask subjects what kind of person they think of when the brand in mentioned. • Laddering • A series of increasingly more specific “why” questions.

Technological Devices • Galvanometers • Measure the interest or emotions aroused by exposure to specific ad or picture. • Tachistoscope • Flashes an ad to a subject with an exposure interval that range from less than one hundredth of a second to several seconds. • Eye cameras • Study respondents eye movements to see where their eyes land first, how long they linger on a given item.

Technological Devices… • Audiometers • Attached to TV sets in participating homes record when the set on & to which channel is tuned. • GPS • Global Positioning System – How many billboards a person may walk by or drive by during a day.

Sampling Plan Step 2: Develop the Research Plan… • Sampling unit: • Who is to be surveyed? • Sample size: • How many people should be surveyed? • Sampling procedure: • How should the respondents be chosen?

Probability Samples Simple random Every member of the population has an equal chance of selection. Stratified random The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups i.e. age group & random sample drawn from each group. Cluster The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups i.e. city blocks the researcher draws a sample of the group. Nonprobability Samples Convenience The researcher selects the most accessible population members. Judgment The researcher selects population members who are good prospects for accurate information. Quota The researcher find & interviews a prescribed number of people in each of several categories. Types of Samples

Contact Methods Step 2: Develop the Research Plan… • Mail questionnaire • Telephone interview • Personal interview • Online interview

Advantages Inexpensive Fast Accuracy of data, even for sensitive questions Versatility Disadvantages Small samples Skewed samples Technological problems Inconsistencies Pros and Cons of Online Research

Step 3: Collect the Information • The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and the most prone to error. • Data collection methods are rapidly improving thanks to computers and telecommunications.

Step 4: Analyze the Information • The next to last step in the process is to extract findings by tabulating the data and developing frequency distributions.

Step 5: Present the findings • As the last step, the researcher present findings relevant to major marketing decisions facing management.

Step 6: Make the decision • Research findings provide additional information and help the managers in decision making process.

What is a Marketing Decision Support System (MDSS)? A marketing decision support system is a coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting hardware and software by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action.

Barriers Limiting the Use of Marketing Research • A narrow conception of the research • Uneven caliber of researchers • Poor framing of the problem • Late and occasionally erroneous findings • Personality and presentational differences

Bibliography • Marketing Management – A South Asian Perspective • by Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Abraham Koshy & • Mithileshwar Jha, 13th Edition, Published by Pearson • Education, Inc. • Strategic Marketing Management – Meeting The • Global Marketing Challenges by Carol H. Anderson & • Julian W. Vincze Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. • Principles of Advertising & IMC by Tom Duncan 2nd • Edition, Published by McGraw-Hill Irwin. • Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong • Thirteenth Edition, Published by Prentice Hall

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all directions! - Author UnknownThe End…

Conducting Marketing Research