AMITY

We nurture talent
An Introduction to
Marketing Research
Sonia Singh
sonia23singh@gmail.com
 Career Opportunities in Marketing Research

• Marketing research analyst

• Marketing information manager
• Project manager
• Director of market research
• Research account manager
• Research analyst
• Methodologist
Minute Maid Quits Trying to Free OJ

• Minute Maid attempted to market orange

juice as more than a breakfast drink.
• They failed in their attempt, but succeeded
in re-discovering their original market.
• With a renewed emphasis on marketing
orange juice as a breakfast drink, sales have
steadily risen.
• Who thinks they were right to try.
 Learning Objectives (Module-I)

• Introduction to MR
• Why study MR
• Applications of MR
• When to do MR
• Limitations of MR
A voyage of discovery; A journey; An
attitude; An experience; A
method of critical thinking; A careful
critical enquiry in seeking
facts for principles
It is what a research is
 What is marketing research?
• Marketing research: is the process of designing,
gathering, analyzing, and reporting information that
may be used to solve a specific marketing problem.
(Burns & Bush)
• …is the function that links the consumer, customer, and
public to the marketer through information—
information used to identify and define marketing
opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and
evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing
performance; and improve the understanding of
marketing as a process. (AMA)
 WHY STUDY MARKETING
RESEARCH

• Marketing Research is a systematic and objective planning ,

gathering ,recording, and analysing of information to enhance the
decision making of marketing managers.
• Key to success-never to lose sight of their customers needs and
wants.
• Marketing research is about information- how to get it.
• MR increases a manager’s chances of making good choices,
research employed without judgment can be quite distorted.
 Functions of MR
• Function of Marketing Research is to link an
organization to its market through information
• Identify and define marketing opportunity and
problems
• Generate, redefine and evaluate marketing actions
• Monitor marketing performance
• Improve understanding of marketing as a process
 Participants in marketing research activities
Information Users
• General management
• Planners
• Marketing and sales managers
• Product managers
• Lawyers
Information Suppliers: Information Suppliers:
Inside Company Outside Company
• Marketing research department • Research consultants
• Sales analysis group • Marketing research suppliers
• Accounting department • Advertising agencies
• Corporate strategic planners
Factors Influencing Marketing Research
Decisions

• Relevance
• Type and Nature of Information Sought
• Timing
• Availability of Resources
• Cost-benefit Analysis
 Marketing Research
• An “investment” to
reduce uncertainty
• Can help guide
decisions on
– Whether to enter
– Product characteristics
– Promotional strategy
– Positioning
• Must weigh costs and
benefits of research
– Money
– Time spent
• No perfect method—
tradeoffs between
methods
 What Decision Makers Want From
Marketing Research
1 Should maintain client confidentiality
2 Should be honest
3 Should be punctual
4 Should be flexible
5 Should deliver according to project specifications
6 Should provide high quality output
7 Should be responsive to the client’s needs
8 Should have high quality-control standards
9 Should be customer oriented in interactions with client
10 Should keep the client informed throughout the
project
Marketing research provides information to
help implement…

• The Study of Marketing

• The Use of the Marketing Concept
• Marketing Strategy

Let’s look at each of these in turn

 Marketing research provides information to
help implement…

• Marketing: process of all activities necessary for

the conception, pricing, promotion, and
distribution of ideas, goods, and services to
create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational objectives
 Marketing research provides information to
help implement…

• Marketing Concept: the business philosophy that

holds the key to achieving organizational goals
consists of determining the benefits sought by
target market members and delivering these
benefits more effectively & efficiently than
competitors. This is to be done at a “profit.”
 Marketing research provides information to
help implement…

• Marketing Strategy: consists of selecting one or

more segments of the market as the company’s
target market(s) and designing the proper “mix”
of the “4Ps”
Thus MR helps in

Sales Research
• Sales Analysis by territory
• Sales Analysis by Product
• Sales Analysis by Customers
• Sales Forecasting
 Product Research
• Concept Testing
• Product Testing
• Usage Test
• Test Marketing
 Advertising Research

• Media Research
(a) Circulation Number
(b) Number of people exposed to media
(c) number of people buy the product
• Copy testing
 Segmentation Targeting and
Positioning

• Bases of Segmentation
• Target Market
• Positioning of Product
• Key Point: To practice marketing; to
implement the marketing concept; to carry
out a marketing strategy, managers must
make informed decisions.
• Many decisions require additional
information and marketing research may
be needed in order to supply that
information.
 Marketing Information System

• Marketing Information System (MIS): a structure

consisting of people, equipment, and procedures
to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute
needed, timely, and accurate information to
marketing decision makers.
 Components of an MIS

• Internal Reports System … existing

organization/company reports and records
(sometimes called “accounting information
system”)
• Marketing Intelligence System … everyday info
about pertinent developments in the environment
 Components of an MIS

• Decision Support System (DSS) … collected

data that may be accessed and analyzed using
tools and techniques that assist managers in
decision making (“playing what if?”).
• Marketing Research System…provides
information not available from other systems.
When specific problem must be solved,
marketing research may be needed. This is
“project-based” not continuous as with other
systems.
 Use of Information Systems (IS) in
Marketing Research

• IS emphasizes that market research should

part of systematic and continuous effort to
improve decision-making process
• Marketing research used to close gaps in
data bank revealed by use of models and IS
 Recent trend in marketing research

Traditional Applications: 4P (product, price,

promotion, Place)
Contemporary Applications: Competitive
Advantage, Brand Equity, Customer
Satisfaction
Emerging Applications: database marketing,
Relationship Marketing
 What is online research?

• Online research: the use of computer networks,

including the Internet, to assist in any phase of
the marketing research process including
development of the problem, research design,
data gathering, analysis, and report writing and
distribution
 What is online research?

• Web-based research: research that is conducted

to evaluate various facets of Web applications;
may use traditional methods as well as on-line
research methods in conducting research on
Web-based applications
• Online survey research: collection of data using
computer networks
 Difficulties of Achieving “Scientific
Studies” in Marketing
• Investigator is deeply involved in the use of the
results.
• Imprecise measuring devices
• Very complex and interrelated subject matter
• Difficulty using experiments
• Influence of the measurement process on results
• Time pressure for results
Overview of Marketing Research
Process

MR Process Evolves From Answers to Five

Key Questions
• Why should we do research?
• What research should be done?
• Is it worth doing the research?
• How should the research be designed to achieve
the research objectives?
• What will we do with the research?
Figure 1:
Relationship Formulate Problem
among the
Stages
in the Determine Research Design
Research
Process Design Data Collection
Method and Forms

Design Sample and Collect Data

Analyze and Interpret the Data

Prepare the Research Report

The Problem Definition Process
Tasks Involved

Discussion Interviews Secondary Qualitative

with with Data Research
Decision Maker(s) Experts Analysis

Environmental Context of the Problem

Step I: Problem Definition

Management Decision Problem

Marketing Research Problem

Step II: Approach to the Problem

Analytical Specification
Objective/ Model: Research of
Theoretical Hypotheses
Verbal, Questions Information
Foundations
Graphical, Needed
Mathematica
l

Step III: Research Design

 Factors to be Considered in the
Environmental Context of the Problem
Fig. 2.2
PAST INFORMATION AND
FORECASTS

RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINTS

OBJECTIVES

BUYER BEHAVIOR

LEGAL ENVIROMENT

ECONOMIC ENVIROMENT

MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGICAL

SKILLS
 Management Decision Problem Vs.
Marketing Research Problem
Management Decision Problem Marketing Research Problem

Should a new product be To determine consumer preferences

introduced? and purchase intentions for the
proposed new product.

Should the advertising To determine the effectiveness

campaign be changed? of the current advertising
campaign.

Should the price of the To determine the price elasticity

brand be increased? of demand and the impact on sales
and profits of various levels of price changes.
Proper Definition of the Research Proble

Marketing Research
Problem

Broad Statement

Specific
Components
 The Role of Theory in Applied
Marketing Research
Research Task Role of Theory
1. Conceptualizing
Provides a conceptual foundation and understanding of the basic processes
and identifying underlying the problem situation. These processes will suggest key dependent
key variables and independent variables.
2. Operationalizing
Theoretical constructs (variables) can suggest independent and dependent
key variables variables naturally occurring in the real world.
3. Selecting a Causal or associative relationships suggested by the theory indicate
may whether
research design a causal or descriptive design should be adopted.
4. Selecting a The theoretical framework may be useful in defining the population and
sample suggesting variables for qualifying respondents, imposing quotas, or stratifying
the population
(see Chap. 11).
5. Analyzing andThe theoretical framework (and the models, research questions and hypotheses
interpreting data
based on it) guide the selection of a data analysis strategy and the interpretatio
of results (see Chap. 14).
6. Integrating The findings obtained in the research project can be interpreted in the light of
findings previous research and integrated with the existing body of knowledge.
 Models

An analytical model is a set of variables and their

interrelationships designed to represent, in whole or in
part, some real system or process.

In verbal models, the variables and their relationships

are stated in prose form. Such models may be mere
restatements of the main tenets of a theory.
 Graphical Models
Graphical models are visual. They are used to
isolate variables and to suggest directions of
relationships but are not designed to provide
numerical results.

Awareness

Understanding: Evaluation

Preference

Patronage
 Development of Research
Questions and Hypotheses

Components of the
Marketing Research Problem
Objective/
Theoretic
al
Framewor Research Questions
k
Analytic
al
Model
Hypotheses
Research Questions and Hypotheses

• Research questions (RQs) are refined

statements of the specific components of the
problem.

• A hypothesis (H) is an unproven statement or

proposition about a factor or phenomenon that is of
interest to the researcher. Often, a hypothesis is a
possible answer to the research question.
• RQ: Do the customers of departmental store
exhibit store loyalty?

• H1: Customers who are store-loyal are less

knowledgeable about the shopping environment.

• H2: Store-loyal customers are more risk-averse

than are non-loyal customers.
 Data Sources

• Secondary Data
• Primary Data
 •SALES/PATRONAGE RESULTS ( OUTCOMES )
PRIMARY •MARKETING ACTIVITY ( INPUTS )
DATA •COST INFORMATION
SOURCES INTERNAL •DISTRIBUTOR REPORTS AND FEEDBACK
RECORDS •CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

DATA
SOURCES
ELECTRONIC

•GOVERNMENT
•TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
SECONDARY •PERIODICALS
PUBLISHED •NEWSPAPERS
DATA
DATA •BOOKS
SOURCES
•ANNUAL REPORTS
•PRIVATE STUDIES
PRINTED

EXTERNAL
SOURCES
•STORE AUDITS
•WAREHOUSE WITHDRAWAL SERVICES
STANDARDIZED
•CONSUMER PURCHASE PANELS
SOURCES OF
•SINGLE SOURCE DATA
MARKETING
•NIELSEN’S TELEVISION INDEX
DATA
•STARCH SCORES

Sources of •ARBITRON PANEL

•MULTIMEDIA SERVICES

Secondary Data
INTERNET
 Uses of Secondary Data

• Can solve the problem on hand all by its own

• Can lead to new ideas and other sources
• Helps to define the problem more clearly
• Can help in designing the primary data collections
process
• Helps in defining the population / sample
• Can serve as a reference base
 Benefits and Limitations of Secondary
Data
Benefits Limitations

• Low cost • Collected for some other purpose

• • No control over data collection
Less effort
• May not be accurate
• Less time
• May not be in correct form
• At times, more accurate • May be outdated
• At times, only way to obtain • May not meet data requirements
data • Assumptions have to be made
 Internal Sources of Secondary Data
Internal Records
• Accounting Data
• Sales Reports
• Inventory Management
• Customer Database
 External Sources of Secondary Data
• Published data sources (e.G., Census,
publications of various trade associations)
• Trade directories
• Computer retrievable databases ("online"
databases)
 Computer Retrievable
Database

Based on the Method of Based on the Type of

Storage and Retrieval of Information
Information

On-line CD-ROM Floppy Disc Source Reference

Databases Databases Databases

Internet Direct from Direct from Indirect

Vendors Producer through
Networks
 Computer-Retrievable Methods
Advantages
• Scope of information
available
• Speed of information access
and retrieval
• Commercially available
search procedures provide
considerable flexibility and
efficiency
Limitations
• Rely solely on the accuracy of
the abstract author
• Depend on the journal and
article selection policy of the
database producer
• Might miss important
information, or retrieve a lot of
irrelevant data if searching by
“keyword”
 Sources of Secondary Data for
International Marketing Research

Economic Data
• United Nations
• World Bank
• Business International Publications
• Euromonitor
• World Casts
 Sources of Secondary Data for
International Marketing Research
(Contd.)
Industry Data
– United Nations yearbooks
– U.S. Department of commerce
– The Economist (publication)
– World Casts
Background Data
– Dun and Bradstreet publications (e.G. Exporter's guide)
– Price Waterhouse publications
 SIC / NAIC Code
Standard Industrial Classification System /
North American Industrial Classification
• Uniform numbering systems for classifying firms
• Up to 7 digits
• Total economy is divided into 11 divisions

Classification SIC # Description

Major group 57 Home furniture and equipment stores
Subgroup 571 Home furniture and furnishings
Detailed industry 5712 Furniture stores
5713 Floor covering stores
 Appraising Secondary Sources
Factors to Be Considered:
• Who has collected the data (did they have adequate resources)?
• Why was the data collected (how the interests of agency match
with ours)?
• How the data was collected (to determine the quality of data on-
hand)?
• What data was collected (geographic and demographic
limitations)?
• When the data was collected (how old/obsolete is the data)?
 Applications of Secondary Data
• Monitoring the Environment
• Demand Estimation
 Applications of Secondary Data (Contd.)

Demand Estimation Monitoring the Environment

• Census data • Press releases

• Standard Industrial • Legislation and laws
Classification (SIC) • Industry news
• Trade association data • Business and practitioner
• Experts and authorities literature, such as
magazines
Applications of Secondary Data (Contd.)

Segmentation and Targeting Developing a Business

Intelligence System

• PRIZM • Competitor’s annual

• CLUSTER PLUS reports
• • Press releases
ACORN
• DMI
• SIC
• TIGER
Problems Associated with Secondary Data
in International Research

• Data Accuracy
• Comparability of Data
 Applications of Secondary Data in
International Research
There Are Four Types of Data Analysis Useful in
Demand Estimation in International Markets
• Lead-lag Analysis
• Surrogate Indicators
• Cross-sectional Data / Barometric Procedures
• Econometric Forecasting Model
 Growth of Standardized Sources
Factors
• Multitude of information users having
common information needs
• When cost of satisfying individual user's need
is prohibitive
• The increasing use of scanner systems at the
check out points
 At Amity
…learning never ends
the journey of excellence
continues…

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