MKT20019: Marketing Research and Analytics
Week 1
The role of Marketing Research
Why do Marketing Research?
The Marketing Research Process
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CRICOS 00111D
TOID 3069
What is Marketing Research?
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What is Marketing Research?
Deliberate, not random
or basic intuition
“Marketing research is defined as the systematic
and objective process of generating information
to aid in making marketing decisions”
Shouldn’t be biased….
but sometimes is
(Zikmund et al., 2016)
Research should help
solve a problem or
make a decision
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Not necessarily
“answers”, but we
hope they are!
So Marketing Research is about…
Helping managers make decisions
Reducing uncertainty
Generating, refining or testing marketing actions
Monitoring performance
Improving understanding of marketing
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Is it Marketing Research?
Example
Is it Marketing
Research?
Country Road conduct a customer satisfaction
survey
Yes
Woolworths analyses sales data, and compares it
across stores
Yes
Hassan surveys his favourite students about how
good he is as a Lecturer
No – biased
(also I don’t
have favourites)
Optus ring you over dinner to ask if you want to
upgrade your plan
No (annoying
Telemarketing)
Swinburne conducts a survey of student
satisfaction
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Maybe – depends
if it is used for
Marketing
Categories of Research
Marketing Research
Problem- Identification
Research
Market Potential, Market Share, Market
Characteristics, Sales Analysis,
Forecasting, Business Trends
help identify problems which are not
necessarily apparent on the surface and
yet exist
Problem-Solving
Research
Segmentation, Product, Pricing,
Promotion, Distribution
help solve specific marketing
problems
Problem-Identification Research
Problem-identification research is
undertaken to help identify the nature of
problems or opportunities
Examples are:
–
–
–
–
Market potential
Market share
Market characteristics
Brand or company image
Important: A “problem” can be an
opportunity
The simple controls convinced many people who'd
never buy a console to jump aboard, and helped
make the Wii one of the best-selling video game
console of all-time.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OsGTGARb0A
Problem-Solving Research
Problem-solving research is undertaken to
get a solution to an already known problem
Examples:
– Our sales are falling, will changing the price work?
– How can we improve our low customer
satisfaction?
– How can Hassan make his students not hate
stats?
Case Study: Lego Friends
Problem Identification
– Sales of Lego to girls drop
after 5 years of age
Problem Solving
– How can Lego adapt their
products to appeal to
girls?
– Girls don’t identify with
existing Lego products
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Case Study (fail): Shapes
What went wrong?
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2. WHY DO MARKETING RESEARCH?
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CRICOS 00111D
TOID 3069
Why do Marketing Research?
Identify problems or opportunities
Target markets
Implement Marketing Mix
Analyse marketing performance
Identifying Problems/
Opportunities
Marketing Research can help identify
current problems or future opportunities
E.g. declining sales, changing trends
Analysing and selecting target
markets
Understand demands of different groups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO1pOmjigNE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO1pOmjigNE
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Implementing marketing mix
•
•
•
•
Concept testing
Product testing
Naming
Packaging
Product
• Price points
• Coupons/
discounts
• Advertising
testing
• Media selection
• Distribution
channels
• Location
Price
Promotion
Place
Analysing marketing performance
Tracking performance over time
Testing effectiveness of past activities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9wEdxz3gjM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJzRS_LfalU
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Roberts, K., Roberts, J. H., Danaher, P. J., & Raghavan, R. (2015). Practice Prize Paper—Incorporating Emotions into Evaluation and Choice Models: Application to
Kmart Australia. Marketing Science, 34(6), 815-824.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJzRS_LfalU
Why study Marketing Research?
You may become researchers
– A way to provide insight to inform strategy and
help solve business problems
You may get in to customer insights
– Identify key trends that will affect your business
– Commission research
To be able to critique research
– Whether in business or society
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Marketing Research Careers
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Source: Greenbook (2016). GRIT Report
What you need to know
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Source: Greenbook (2017). GRIT Report
3. THE MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
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CRICOS 00111D
TOID 3069
Remember
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More Detailed Process
1. Problem Discovery and
Definition
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!!
“We thought we had the
answers. It was the questions
we had wrong”
Bono
“The formulation of a problem is
often more essential than its
solution”
Einstein
“There are no right answers
to wrong questions”
Ursula K. Le Guin
“Crap questions,
crap answers”
Hassan 
May need exploratory research before
definition
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2. Research Design
“How is our
market share
tracking?”
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“We are losing
market share, which
customers have we
lost?”
“If I cut price by
10%, how many
customers will
return?”
3. Sampling
Using a small number or % to make
conclusions about the population
– E.g. Taste testing at a brewery, opinion polls
(Trump!)
Decisions:
– What population are we trying to sample
from?
– How big a sample?
– How will we access the sample?
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4. Data Collection
E.g. Surveys, interviews, databases etc.
Need to ensure minimal errors
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Source: Greenbook (2016). GRIT Report
5. Data Processing and Analysis
Editing – checking for errors
Coding – converting to a usable format
Analysis – drawing insights
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6. Drawing conclusions and
reporting
Insights, conclusions and recommendations
Written for a non-technical audience
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Source: Greenbook (2016). GRIT Report
Things to think about
Week 1 Summary
Marketing research is an important
process to aid decision making
– Can identify and/ or solve problems
The process has 6 key stages; defining the
problem, planning the research design,
sampling, data collection, analysis, and
reporting
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