Importance - specify and supply accurate info to reduce uncertainty and decrease risk in decision making - helps decision makers shift from intuition to systematic and objective investigating - however cannot substitute managerial judgement; research can suggest a direction but does not ensure correct marketing execution (eg research may show customers want greater variety of avours but company may lack resources at that point in time to expand their offerings) - multinationals need to research diff countries before entering market - business problems ultimately boil down to information problems bc with the right information, businesses can take effective action De nition - systematic and objective process of generating info to aid in making marketing decisions - specify what info is required, design method for collecting info, managing and implementing data collection, analysing results, communicating ndings Basic/pure research - expands limits of knowledge - not targeted to a particular problem - ndings cannot be immediately implemented - verify acceptability of a theory or explore a certain concept Applied research - for guiding decisions about a speci c problem (the focus of this unit) - applies the scienti c method: techniques and procedures used to understand marketing phenomena; empirical evidence used to verify or disprove hypotheses; ensures objectivity Stages in developing and implementing marketing strategy marketing research supports decision making in all 4 stages Internet research has become key - identify and evaluate opportunities - eg determine current and future demand and market conditions - analyse market segments and selecting target markets - planning and implementing marketing mix to satisfy customers’ needs and meet organisation’s objectives - product: concept testing, product (prototype) testing, brand-name evaluation (whether name is appropriate), package testing - price: determine ideal price, when or if to offer discounts, analyse how consumers perceive value, price elasticity, discrimination - place (distribution): how to increase ef ciency of channels of distribution; manufacturers can survey retailers and wholesalers - promotion: effectiveness of sales promo; includes buyer motivation studies, media research, advertising research (most time, money, effort spent on ad research) - research various combinations of tools in integrated marketing mix - analysing marketing performance: performance monitoring research provides regular feedback for control and evaluation of marketing activity; includes investigating sales gures, getting customer feedback fi fi fi fi fi When is research needed Factors: - time - availability of data - nature of decision to be made (routine or a tactically important, expensive decision) - value of research info in relation to costs fi fl fi Marketing Research Chapter 1 Stages in research process - Problem discovery and de nition - Plan research design - Plan sample - Collect data - Analyse data - Draw conclusions and prepare report Problem discovery and de nition Symptoms prompt the organisation to discover the problem. Exploratory research then used to de ne the problem -> sense of direction. Ensure relevant info is collected and time is not wasted. Research problems/opportunities -> research questions -> research objectives Factors: - nature of the problem - how much info is available - what info required - degree of certainty and ambiguity (more uncertain or ambiguous = need research) Statement of research objectives - either in the form of research questions or hypotheses - delineates the info that must be collected; provides framework for scope of the study Planning research design - speci es methods for collecting and analysing info - targeted to objectives - choice depends on context; selecting the appropriate research method takes experience Exploratory: - generally qualitative - usually in initial stages of research process - gain insights and discover new ideas/opportunities - need not be formal or precise - re nes ambiguous problems into well-de ned (speci c objectives), researchable ones - expectation that subsequent research required to provide conclusive evidence - Secondary data: gathered quickly economical way of collecting info may be outdated may not meet exact needs - Pilot study: guide for a larger study collect from end consumers data collection informal; ndings may lack precision includes focus group interviews; theory is that ppl are more willing to share ideas when they are able to hear those of others fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi Descriptive research: - Mainly to describe characteristics of population - who what when how where - helps to segment and target market - reveals the nature of shopping / consumer behaviour - based on some previous understanding of the nature of the problem Surveys: most common; create questionnaire; can be online, printed, via mail if ppl are hard to contact by email, or personal interview (can supplement interviews w observations) Secondary data: quantitative analysis is more sophisticated than in exploratory studies Observation: advantage is no reliance on reports from respondents; collected unobstrusively; helps reduce bias; not everything can be easily observed or is honestly reported; includes studying attitudes, opinions and motivations which are not merely observed Causal research: Done after exploratory and descriptive research Researchers have a hypotheses or prediction of the relationship (not exactly cause) Criteria for causality: cause must precede the effect Experiments: - necessary to establish cause and effect relationships - test marketing; can be done online - often done to determine reactions to new ideas, products, packaging, promotions - create controlled environment to test the effect of a variable Sampling Who: target population; very crucial to avoid bias, good sample will be representative of the whole population How large: larger usually more precise but not always feasible How to select: probability and non-probability sampling - probability: every member has a known, non-zero probability of being chosen - non-prob: personal judgement - many more Gathering data By humans or machines Must minimise errors; be consistent and accurate Pretesting uses small sub-sample to check for potential problems in procedure design and gauge if the results of the actual study will eventually answer the researcher’s questions Processing and analysing data Editing and coding data Editing: checking forms for omissions, legibility, consistency in classi cation before data transfer to computer Coding: translating info into suitable format for data storage media so computer analysis can be done Data can be collected and processed into a computer simultaneously with computer assisted interviewing (online or telephone), eliminates intermediate steps that could intro errors Analysis Identify consistent patterns, summarising relevant details fi fi Drawing conclusions and preparing report Effectively communicate research ndings What are the managerial implications? Managers don’t care so much about technical aspects and methods Research is only as good as its applications Marketing research program strategy fi How the rm intends to incorporate and use research in its overall strategic planning; consists of several marketing projects
