Essentials of Marketing Research (Second
Edition)
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Instructor’s Presentation Slides
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Chapter Eight
Information from Respondents:
Issues in Data Collection
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Information From Surveys
Used to Capture a Wide Variety of Information

Attitude
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Decisions
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Focus on process and not the results
Measuring the relationship between actions & needs, desires,
preferences, motives and goals
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Sources of error in information from
respondents
Ambiguity of
question (see
chapter 11)
Interviewer
error
Sample
POPULATION
RESPONDENT
Questio
n
Answer
Non Response
due to refusal or Inaccuracy in response
not at home
• Inability to formulate
INTERVIEWER
Ambiguity of
answer
a response
Sampling error
(see Chapter 13)
• Unwillingness to
respond
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Sources of Survey Error
The Results Will Be Meaningful If

Population has been defined correctly

Sample is representative of the population

Respondents selected are able and willing to cooperate

Questions are understood by the respondents

Respondents have the knowledge, opinions, attitudes, or
facts required

Interviewer correctly understands and records the response
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Non-response Errors Due to Refusals
Refusals Could Occur Due to

Nature of questions and place

Subject of no interest to the respondent
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Fear
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Invasion of privacy
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Hostility towards sponsor
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Personal bias
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Characteristics of the data collection procedure (e.g., Presidential
polls)
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Inaccuracy in Response

Inability to respond

Time lag between question asked and when it is answered
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Unwillingness to Respond Accurately
This Could Arise Due to the Following Reasons
 Concern about invasion of privacy
 Time pressure and fatigue
 Prestige seeking and social desirability response bias
 Courtesy bias
 Uninformed response bias
 Response style
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Interviewer Error
This Depends On

Attitude of the interviewer

Training to question, probe, and record
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Fraud and deceit
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Methods of Data Collection

Personal Interview
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Telephone Interview
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Mail Survey
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Fax Survey
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E-mail Survey
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Web-based Survey
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Basic Survey Methods

Personal Interview
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Telephone Interview
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Mail Survey
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Personal Interviews
There Are Four Entities Involved

Researcher

Interviewer
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Interviewee

The Interview Environment
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Personal Interviews
Types

Door to Door Interviewing

Executive Interviewing

Mall Intercept Surveys

Purchase Intercept
Technique (PIT)

Omnibus Surveys
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Personal Interviews (Contd.)
Methods

Door to Door Interviewing

Executive Interviewing

Mall Intercept Surveys

Self Administered Interviews

Purchase Intercept Technique (PIT)

Omnibus Surveys
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Personal Interviews (Contd.)
Advantages
 Can arouse and keep interest
 Can build rapport
 Ask complex questions with the help of visual and other
aids
 Clarify misunderstandings
 High degree of flexibility
 Probe for more complete answers
 Accurate for neutral questions
 Do not need an explicit or current list of households or
individuals
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Personal Interviews (Contd.)
Disadvantages

Bias of Interviewer

Response Bias

Embarrassing/personal questions

Time Requirements

Cost Per Completed Interview Is High
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Telephone Interviewing
The Important Aspects of Telephone Interviewing Are
 Selecting telephone numbers
 Pre specified list
 A directory
 Random dialing procedure
 Random digit dialing
 Systematic random digit dialing (SRDD)
 The introduction
 When to call
 Call reports
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Unlisted Phone Numbers in the US
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Telephone Interviewing (Contd.)
Advantages

Central location, under supervision, at own hours

More interviews can be conducted in a given time

Traveling time is saved
More hours of the day are productive
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Repeated call backs at lower cost
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Absence of administrative costs
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Lower cost per completed interview
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Intrusiveness of the phone and ease of call backs
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Less sample bias
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Telephone Interviewing (Contd.)
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Limitations
Inability to employ visual aids or complex tasks
Can't be longer than 5-10 min. Or they get boring
Amount of data that can be collected is relatively less
A capable interviewer essential
Sample bias
 As all people do not have phones, or are not listed
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Mail Surveys

Requires a broad identification of the individuals to be sampled before
data collection begins
Some Decisions That Need to Be Taken Are

Type of Return Envelope

Postage

Method of Addressing

Cover Letter

The Questionnaire Length, Layout, Color, Format Etc

Method of Notification

Incentive to Be Given
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Mail Surveys (Contd.)
Advantages

Lower cost

Better results, including a shorter response time

Reliable answers as no inhibiting intermediary

Survey answered at respondents discretion
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Mail Surveys (Contd.)
Disadvantages
 The identity of the respondent is inadequately controlled
 No control over whom the respondent consults before
answering the questions
 The speed of the response can't be monitored
 No control on the order in which the questions are exposed
or answered
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Mail Surveys (Contd.)
Disadvantages (Contd.)

The respondent may not clearly understand the question
and no opportunity to clarify

No long questionnaires

Subject to availability of a mailing list

Response rate is generally poor

Number of problems such as obsolescence, omissions,
duplications, etc
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Factors Affecting the Choice of a Survey
Method

Sampling

Type of Population

Question Form

Question Content

Response Rate

Costs

Available Facilities

Length of Data Collection
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Factors Affecting the Response Rate

Perceived amount of work required, and the length of the
questionnaire

Intrinsic interest in the topic

Characteristics of the sample

Credibility of the sponsoring organization

Level of induced motivation
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Combination of Survey Methods

The Telephone Pre-notification Approach
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The Lockbox Approach
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The Drop-off Approach
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Trends in Survey Methods
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Computer Interactive Interviewing
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Fax Surveys

Electronic Mail Surveys
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Comparative Evaluation
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Diversity of questions
Use of physical stimuli
Sample control
Field force control
Quantity of data per interview
Perceived anonymity
Potential for interviewer bias
Speed
Cost
Door-to door Mall
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Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Phone
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Mail
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Kumar, Aaker & Day
Internet Marketing Research

Primary Data
 E-Mail surveys
 Online focus groups
 Online questionnaires
 Online experiments
 Online panel
 Discussion groups
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
The Power of E-Mail
Send out questionnaires via electronic mail and
receive responses via electronic mail
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No per-item charge
Written trail of communication
No intrusion
Time to intelligently compose
Instantaneous reach
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 09:35:00 -0700
From: "Paul R. Messinger" <Paul.Messinger@UAlberta.CA>
Subject: Marketing College Values Your Opinion!
To: mktg@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
The College on Marketing business meeting at the Fall INFORMS Conference in Atlanta voted to try a QUICK e-mail survey on two questions. Please take
a moment to answer.
1. What are your preferences regarding the timing of the Spring Marketing Science Conference?
Prefer
Wouldn't Attend
a. Conference held in March
__________ _______________
b. Conference held in May/June
__________ _______________
c. Held Outside U.S. & Canada Every 3 Years
__________ _______________
d. Held Outside U.S. & Canada Every 4 Years
__________ _______________
2. Unlike the Spring Conference, where attendence has never been larger, participation in the Marketing Track at the Fall INFORMS Conference has
diminished in the last several years. Do you favor repositioning the Marketing Track at the Fall INFORMS conference somehow (e.g., as a
specialized mini-conference), leaving the Track as is, or abolishing the Track altogether? Please answer in no more than two sentences.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Happy Holidays! Ho Ho!
*******************************************************
Paul R. Messinger
403-492-3954; fax 403-492-3325
Department of Marketing; Faculty of Business; Univ. of Alberta Edmonton AB T6G 2R6; Canada
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
E-Mail Survey
Pro’s
 Greater speed of delivering and receiving
 Tremendous cost savings over regular mail
 No intermediaries - usually read only by recipient
 Asynchronous communication
Con’s
 Not completely confidential
 Limited to actual E-Mail users
 Creative Impulses (e.g. re-write scales)
 Typographical issues: ñ ¿
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Advantages of On-line Surveys
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Extremely cost efficient
High-speed
No geographic boundaries
Pre-screening of respondents possible
Multimedia stimuli
Automatic data entry check
Sophisticated skip and branching patterns
Instantaneous data access
Easy to update
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Limitations of On-line Surveys

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Only Internet demographics
(strong sample bias)
Strong selection bias for respondents who are not prescreened
User identity not ensured
Users must find site
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Surveys in the International Context

Personal
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Dominant mode of data collection outside the US
Telephone

Low levels of telephone ownership in some countries

Poor communication network in some countries

Absence of mailing lists

Poor mail services in some countries
Mail
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Ethical Issues in Data Collection
Misrepresentation of Data Collection Process Stems From

Representation of a marketing activity other than research as research

Abuse of respondents rights during the data collection process, under
the rationale of providing better quality research. E.G.,
Use of survey for selling purposes
 Use of survey to obtain names and addresses
of prospects for direct marketing

Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Ethical Issues in Data Collection (Contd.)
The Rights of the Respondents Can Be Violated By

Disguising the purpose of a particular measurement

Deceiving the prospective respondent as to the true
duration of the interview

Misrepresenting the compensation in order to gain
cooperation
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day
Ethical Issues in Data Collection (Contd.)
The Rights of the Respondents Can Be Violated By

Not mentioning to the respondent that a follow up interview will be
made

Using projective tests and unobtrusive measures to circumvent the
need for a respondents consent

Using hidden tape recorders

Not debriefing the respondent

Conducting simulated product tests in which identical product is tried
by respondent except for variations in color
Essentials of Marketing Research, Second Edition
Kumar, Aaker & Day