Marketing Research

Process – Design - Sampling

Dr. J D Chandrapal
MBA – marketing
g , PGDHRM,, P HD,, CII (Award)
( ) – London
Development Officer - LIC of India – Ahmedabad - 9825070933
 Albert The formulation of a problem is often
Einstein more essential than its solution
What
at is
s a Problem
ob e ?….

Outcome
Expectation

It may be also described as the Gap in

knowledge that needs to be filled
2 1. What Org. Knows ... 2. What Org. Must Know

1
 ….What
at is
s a Problem
ob e ?

A discrepancy
between what is and
what ought to be.
be

Ideal
Self
Ideal Self
Self Image
True Self
True Self Self Image
 Problems is an Opportunity in Disguise

Albert
Einstein In the Middle of Every Difficulty Lies Opportunity
 Problem
ob e Formulation…
o u at o What?
at
Heart of the Research Most Important Step to
process be Performed

Researcher’s Point of View

Translating
T l i the h Management
M Problem
P bl into
i
a Research problem

Understanding the origin and nature of management

management’s s problem and
Then Rephrase it into meaningful terms from an analytical point of view
 Management Problem vs Research Problem
Management problems focus on an action; on the other hand,
R
Research
h problems
bl f
focus on providing
idi th information
the i f ti which
hi h you need
d in
i
order to solve the management problem.

Management Problem Marketing Research Problems

(Marketing Decision Problem) Statement of research objectives
Increase Market Penetration by Evaluate Prospective
p Location and
Opening New stores Distribution Network

Increase Store Traffic Measure Current Image of the Store

Allocate advertising budget to media Estimating Media awareness

Introducing a New Product Designing a Test Marketing Research

Deciding
g on the online sales of the Determining
g Consumer’s Confidence in
Product unseen categories of Products
Research Problem Definition

A Problem well Defined is a Half Solved

A Problem Clearly Defined Means the objectives of

the research precisely stated

Problem definition involves

Specifying the Symptoms

Itemizing the Possible Causes of the Symptoms

Listing the Reasonable Alternative Courses of Action

Sources of Research Problem/Opportunity

Unanticipated Change
Environmental Effect - New Technology, Change in life Style,
Losing Market Share, Losing Key Sales People,
Key Issue
Ke Iss e – What is Happening and Why
Wh is the Change Taking
Place …. Oriented more toward Present

Planned Change
Intro. of New Product, Effective Pricing/Advertising Strategies
Losing Market Share, Losing Key Sales People,
Key Issue – Investigating the feasibility of alternatives under
consideration… Oriented more toward Future

Serendipity or Chance Ideas

Phenomenon of finding valuable things not sought for -
Feedbacks from Consumers,, Complaints
p from Consurmer,,
Suggestions from the Sales People, Regulatory Changes
 Process of Problem Definition

Ascertain Understan Isolate and State the

Determine
the d the Back identify
f the Determine research
the
Decision Ground of problem the unit questions
relevant
Maker’s the not the analysis and
variables
Objective problem symptoms objectives
 An orderly defined Problem gives a sense
of direction to the Investigation

Problem Definition allows a researcher to

set the
h Proper
P researchh objective
bj i
 Developing
p g Research Problem
Marketing Research Problem

Error 1 Error 2
Defined too Broad Statement Defined too
Broadly Narrowly

Specific Component

Component 1 Component 2 Component n

Theoretical
Objectives Framework
Research Questions

Association Hypotheses Difference

 Error in problem Definition

Improve Competitive Position of the Firm

Price cut to match competitors prices

Developing Marketing Strategy

Advertise heavily to Increase Air Traffic

 Research Question and Hypothesis

Research Question involves

Refined statements of the Sub-components of the specific
components

Guided by Problem Definition, Theoretical Framework

Al
Always i an Interrogative
in I t ti Form
F

Hypothesis involves
Unproven Statement or Proposition about the Phenomenon

Guided by Problem Definition, Theoretical Framework and

Analytical Models

Always in an a Declarative Form

 Research Question Hypothesis

Is happy passengers become loyal to the Happier passengers are more loyal than
Brand? others
others.

Does increasing maintenance cost Reduce Increasing maintenance costs negatively

the profitability of company? affects the profitability of company.

Business
B i class
l t
travelers
l need
d more facility
f ilit
Does the passengers need more facilities?
than the economy class travelers

Does the layout change by adding facility Changes in layout by adding facility in
increase the passengers? business class will increase passengers.
passengers
 FINER criteria – Developing
p g Research question
q

• Adequate number of subjects

• Adequate technical expertise
F Feasible
• Affordable in time and money
• Manageable in scope

• Getting the answer intrigues investigator, peers

I Interesting and community

N Novel • Confirms, refutes or extends previous findings

• Amenable to a study that institutional review

E Ethical board will approve

• To the knowledge

R Relevant • To the policy

• To future research
 Main Types
yp of Research Question

• Seek to describe a phenomena and often study “how

Descriptive
much”, “how often”, or “what is the change”.

• Compares two or more phenomena and determines if a

Causal relationship exists. Often called relationship research
questions.

• Aim to examine the difference between two or more

Comparative groups in relation to one or more variables. Often begin
with “What is the difference in...”.
Types
yp of Hypothesis
yp

Hypotheses

Based on Based on Based on

Formulation Direction Derivation

Non
Null Alternative Directional Inductive Deductive
Directional
 Induction and Deduction
Induction Theory Building

Observation Pattern Hypothesis Theory

Theory Hypothesis Observation Confirmation

Deduction Theory Testing

Th Types
The T off Research
R h Questions
Q ti and
d the
th
Types
yp of Hypotheses
yp
influence the Research Design
Problem Discovery Problem
and Definition discovery

Selection of
exploratory research
technique

Secondary
Experience Pilot Case
(historical)
survey study study
data

Problem definition =
Statement of Unit of Analysis +
Problem Research Objectives

Selection of
Research
basic research
Design
method
 Developing an Approach
Problem Definition specifies
p Research Questions to be answered
and the Objectives of the Research

Problem Environment
Definition
Research
Questions

Hypotheses

Research Design
Research Design
 Research Design…
g What? and Why?
y
• Blueprint describing how to conduct a research project.

• Plan describing which estimates are to be computed, how they are to be

computed and how models are to be tested and refined.

• Good research design identifies all the things that need to be estimated
and works out the best way to measure them.

• Reflects the purpose of the inquiry, which can be characterised as one or

more off the
th following:
f ll i
• Exploration
• p
Description
• Explanation
• Prediction
• Evaluation
• History
 Qualitative Research Vs. Quantitative Research

To quantify the data and

To gain a qualitative
generalize the results from the
understanding
d t di off underlying
d l i Obj ti
Objective
sample to the population of
reasons and motivations interest

Small number of Large number of

Sample
representative cases representative cases

Data
Unstructured Structured
Collection

Data
Non statistical Statistical
Analysis

Develop
p an initial Recommend a final
Out come
Understanding - Exploratory course of action - Conclusive
 Types
yp of Research Design
g

Literature Review

Formulative Exploratory Experience Survey and Focus Group

P j ti Techniques
Projective T h i

Longitudinal
g Study
y – True & Omnibus

Descriptive Case Study

Sample Survey

Conclusive
Laboratory Experiments

Causal
Field Experiments
 Exploratory
p y Research… What?
• Exploratory research (or ER) is an examination into a subject in an attempt
t gain
to i further
f th insight.
i i ht With ER,
ER a researcher
h starts
t t with
ith a generall idea
id and
d
uses research as a tool to identify issues that could be the focus of future
research.

• ER design is conducted about a research problem when there are few or no

earlier studies to refer to. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for
later investigation or undertaken when problems are in a preliminary stage
of investigation.

• Th ER provides
The id b k
background
d information
i f ti needed
d d to
t plan
l d
descriptive
i ti or
explanatory research. Through ER, researchers desire to generate
hypotheses about what is going on in a situation. A hypothesis is a
statement which explains how several variables are associated.
 Exploratory Research… Why ?
The main aim of exploratory research is to identify the boundaries of
the environment in which the pproblems,, opportunities
pp or situations of
interest are likely to reside, and to identify the salient factors or
variables that might be found there and be of relevance to the
research.
The goals of exploratory research are intended to produce the
following possible insights:

• Familiarity with basic details, settings and concerns.

• Well grounded picture of the situation being developed.
developed
• Generation of new ideas and assumption, development of
tentative theories or hypotheses.
• Determination
D t i ti about
b t whether
h th a study
t d is
i feasible
f ibl in
i the
th future.
f t
• Issues get refined for more systematic investigation and
formulation of new research questions.
• Direction for future research and techniques get developed.
 Exploratory Research… Why ?

• Clarifying ambiguous Problems, Diagnosing the

Situation
Dimensions of Problem for Successive Research,
Analysis
Orientation to lesser Known Topic,
Topic

• In terms of Saving Cost and Time, Concept Testing,

Screening
Helpful in Breaking Large, Vague problem Statement in
Alternatives
to more precise sub problem Statement

• Often conducted to generate new ideas

ideas, eg
e.g.
Discovering
New Idea Consumers' perceptions may be used in a product
launch study, Eliminate Impractical Idea, Hypothesis
 Exploratory Research… How ?
Internal Secondary Data
Secondary
d t
data
External Secondary Data
E
x
p R
Experience Surveying Experts and Knowledgeable
l e
survey
o s
r e
a a
Focus Group – Group Interview
t r
o c Pilot Depth Interview–One to One Interview
r h study
y Projective Techniques

Case Similarities & Testing

g Theories
study
t d
Thank You