BUS 343: Introduction to Marketing
Research: Perspectives, Skills & Resources
A. Mark's Marvelous Modified Munchies - new product: the SalmApple
(A delicious GMO hybrid of two of BC’s best exports – apples & salmon.)

Mark Bodnar
mbodnar@sfu.ca
= $$!
It's green (no fish farms required), healthy (omega 3s and vitamin C), and local (just need a lab to
grow it near your local supermarket). How can we go wrong?
1) Why should you be a bit cautious if I handed you a report that answered all of your questions
perfectly?
2) What information do we need before we can predict demand or put together our marketing
strategy? What are our questions? For example, you might want to know sales trends for “close
substitutes” (and you’ll probably want to know what some close substitutes might be!)
B. 1. Save-On Foods is part of a large, privately-held, firm.
Would they publish any information about their strategy? Why
or why not?
2. Of the key publisher types listed below, which ones are most
likely to talk specifically about Save-On Foods’ strategy?
3. Inferring: What information would you need if you
wanted to recommend a strategy for Save-On
concerning organic and locally-produced foods?
4. Is it possible to just Google
“Save-On Foods” strategy and get useful
answers?
5. What other sources and tools does the
SFU Library offer that might make this sort of
research more efficient and effective?
C. Resources #1: Library Guides
Identifying likely publishers gets easier as you start to learn more about key resources. Many of
the major marketing resources available to you as SFU students are listed on the following
guides:
SFU Library Guides to…
1. Market Research
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/secondary-market
2. International Market Research
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/international-market
3. Company Information
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/company-info
4. Industry Surveys (including the Small Business Accelerators!)
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/subject-guides/business/industry-surveys
D. Resources #2: Sample Resources (all of which are listed in the above guides or in
your assignment)
1. Passport GMID
2. IBISWorld
3. Business Source Complete
4. PMB Reports
5. Ipsos News Centre
6. Other cool stuff…. Market Share Reporter, Best Customers, SimplyMap Canada,
Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns/Strategies, TechNavio…
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Practice Questions
A. Passport GMID
1. Keyword Searching: How many tonnes of cookies were sold in Indonesia in 2014? (Hint:
Cookies are a type of biscuit.)
Extra: What is the forecasted value of cookie sales in Indonesia for 2019?
2. Category Browsing: Which is forecast to spend more per capita on Vitamins and Dietary
Supplements in 2016 (using US$), China or Canada?
Note: Start by going to Industries > Consumer Health, then Search Tree > Vitamins & Dietary
Supplements, then add countries (Geographies). Don’t forget to convert the data so that its
format matches your needs!
3. Browsing for related material: Find the report Organic Packaged Food in Canada. Do any
of the related reports listed on the left side of the screen seem potentially relevant to my
amazing SalmApple product?
B. Other sources
4. Search IBISWorld for a report on “Vitamin & Supplement Manufacturing in the US.” Do you
think the US information is relevant if the target market is in Canada?
5. Find the report The Future of Nutrigenomics in Business Insights. What are the market
drivers for personalized nutrition? Do you think they’ve changed since the report was
published?
6. Using the Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) Category Reports, look at the demographics of
the people who say they “personally use Omega 3/Fish Oil” products. What region/province do
the largest portion of those consumers come from? If you adjust for the size of the
region/province, which area is the best represented among Omega3/Fish Oil consumers?
1. 9.32 (‘000 tonnes); 594.25 Rp billion
Answers:
2. Canada: USD $37.90/capita vs. $14.30/capita for China.
3. Think laterally! Broader/related categories? Relevant consumer trends?
4. Your decision! Can you find other data that shows the US consumers are
similar to us on this point? Or that the US industry is similar or the same as
ours?
5. Healthy aging, consumer demographics (older cohort), chronic noncommunicable disease, etc.
6. Ontario: 39.5% of the users; BC: index number is 142 (followed by the
Prairies with an index of 140). (See next page for more on how to read the
PMB Reports.)
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Reading the Print Measurement Bureau Category (PMB) Reports
Vertical (V) percentage:

A measure of the demographic profile of the users of the product/service.

Of people in Canada who reported that they use [product/service & frequency], V% were
[demographic characteristic on the left side].

From the image above: Of people in Canada who reported that they drink Red Bull
Regular most often of all the Energy drinks, 22% were 18-24.
Horizontal (H) percentage:

A measure of the product/service choice of the people in a narrow demographic slice.

Of people in Canada who were [single demographic characteristic on the left], H%
reported using [product/service & frequency].

From the image above: Of people in Canada who were 18-24, 2.3% say they drink Red
Bull Regular most often of all the energy sport drinks.
Index (I):

Gives you an indication of whether the V% is significant (weird). How does the reported
V% number compare to the number of people in the country overall who fit in that same
demographic category?
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
For example, if 40% of the users of a product are 12-17 (a V% of 40), but only 10% of the
population is 12-17, then the Index (I) would be roughly (40/10)*100=400.

From the image above: The Index number of 18-24 year-olds who drink Red Bull Regular
most often is almost 200 (198), so the proportion of Red Bull Regular drinkers who are
18-24 is roughly twice the proportion of the population overall who are in the same age
range.

An I=100 means that for that demographic characteristic, the same percentage of people
are using the product/service as are in the population overall. An index number
considerably higher than 100 means that demographic characteristic is over-represented
among users of the product. Conversely, an index number significantly below 100 equals
under-representation. Both over- and under-representation are often of interest to
marketers.
Practice Questions (PMB Reports)
Access: http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CRDB4/BVAS/resource/11020 or http://tiny.cc/pmbsfu or use the QR code to the right.
Be sure to carefully read the database description at the link above. There are three
different types of reports available (Demographics, Readership, and Lifestyles/Attitudes), and
some technical issues involved in accessing them.
Not sure how to interpret the numbers in the reports? Start with our Reading the PMB Reports
instructions above, then stop by the library to chat with a librarian if you still need help.
1. Demographics: Who reports that the burger restaurant they eat at most often is
McDonalds? What do we know about their demographics? ANSWER
2. Readership: Almost 15% of all Canadian households with kids under 3 read Today’s
Parent magazine: True or False? ANSWER
3.
Lifestyles/Attitudes: What other leisure activities are the people who go golfing 10+
times a year (the heavy/frequent golfers) most likely to be involved in? How about their
least likely leisure activities? ANSWER
ANSWERS
NOTE: The numbers below may be a bit off from what you find as they change each time
new survey data is added to the reports – a few times each year These answers should at
least be close, though.
1. Demographics: Consumers who report that McDonalds is the burger restaurant that
they most often visit...
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
Tend to be 25-49 and to be parents with young kids (vertical percentages for the 2534 and 35-49 ranges of 20.2% and 27.2% and both ranges have high index values
(128 and 115). Note that they 12-17 age range is also strongly represented given its
size in the population overall (index=131), but people in that range still represent only
about 10.2% of all the McD-Often consumers. Quite a bit less likely to be older than
50.

Are significantly more likely to be in Quebec than in BC, and are especially common
in Quebec City (I=181).

Interestingly, 16.3% of households with couples and children living at home report
going to McDonalds most often of all burger restaurants, but only 10.4% of
households with couples and no children at home. (Using horizontal (H) percentages
for this last comparison.)
2. Readership: Almost 15% of all Canadian households with kids under 3 read Today’s
Parent magazine: True or False?

TRUE – and note that this time you are looking at the behaviors of a specific
demographic group, so the number to pay attention to is the horizontal percentage
(H%) of 14.9%.
3. Lifestyles/Attitudes: What other leisure activities are the people who golf 10+ times a
year (the heavy/frequent golfers) most likely to be participating in? How about their least
likely leisure activities?
For this one, go to Leisure > Restaurants > Tobacco and choose “Leisure Activities:
Personally Participate.” Then click on the link for the people who said they are
Frequent/Heavy (10+/yr) Golfers. Then change the report type in the upper left to “02
Report Type – Leisure.” You’ll be scanning the vertical (V) percentage column to see
which activities are most/least frequently reported among the serious golfers.
Most likely:



Walking/Hiking: 50.3 % of the frequent golfers like to go for walks.
Entertaining at home: 43.9%
Gardening: 38.3% of the group enjoys gardening.
Least likely:


Wind surfing (1.6%)
Roller hockey (2.0%)
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