Marketing Research
DR. DAWNE MARTIN
MKTG 241
FEB. 15, 2011
Marketing Research
 Process of defining a marketing problem or opportunity,
collecting and interpreting information and acting on
information to improve chances of success
 Types of information gathers
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Primary – data gathered for this purpose
Secondary
 Why use it?
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Investigate feasibility
Identify target market(s)?
Identify and define value proposition
Identify competitive advantage
Better position your business for success
How Do You Develop Research
 Define the problem you wish to investigate
 Develop the methodology best suited to studying your problem
 Questionnaire (survey)
 Focus groups – informal interview sessions with 6 or more participants
 Depth interviews – detailed individual interviews
 Voice of the customer --- depth interview designed to identify numerous issues,
problems, needs of group of customers
 Fussy Front-End Methods – use of motivational or projective techniques to
uncover what makes a customer happy or frustrates them
 Observation
 Ethnographic research
 Identify the population you wish to study
 Identify a method of sampling
 Pilot survey
 Random sample
 Quota sample (percentages based on defined characteristics)
Research Design (continued)
 Identify method of data collection
 Personal interviews – mall intercept
 Telephone
 Online
 Mail
 Identify information needed
 Design questionnaire
 Collect data
 Analyze data
 Interpret results
Questionnaire Design Issues
 One page – front and back
 Begin with a purpose statement
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Why are you collecting the data?
How will is be used?
Provide guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality (aggregation
of data)?
 Questions should include
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Demographics
Identify alternatives your customer might use now
Customer attitudes, perceptions, satisfactions or dissatisfactions
with current alternatives
What you believe will create value for your customers
What you believe will create competitive advantage for your
customer
 Thank participant for assistance
Questions Design
 Keep it simple & focused on what you want to know
 Be short and to the point
 Be sure that the question is clear to the customer
 Focus on your vocabulary, spelling and grammar
 Clearly state the criteria for choosing between
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alternatives
Don’t ask participant to make generalizations, be overly
specific or recall too much
Ask about one thing at a time
Watch out for “loaded” or leading questions
Number your questions for easy of scoring your data
Types of Questions
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Lists of options or preferences
Verbal or numeric scaling
Provide instructions for questions
Multiple choice questions (multiple and single response)
Scale Questions – to determine position on topic
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Likert - Strong agree- strongly disagree
Verbal frequency – Always – often-never
Ordinal scales
Forced rankings
Paired comparison
Comparative
Semantic differential
Adjective checklist
Fixed sum scale
Multiple rating matrix
Basic Attributes of Questions
 Basic attributes of questions
 Focus
 Brevity
 Clarity
 Expressing questions
 Vocabulary
 Grammar
Bias and Error
 Unstated criteria -- How important is it for stores to carry a
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large variety of different brands of this product?
Inapplicable questions
Over-demanding recall – What small appliances, such as
countertop appliances have you purchased in the past month?
Over-generalization – should be a policy, strategy or habitual
behavior
Over-specificity – actual or precise response – When you buy
fast food, what percentage of the time do you order each of the
following type of food?
Ambiguity of wording – using words that mean different
things to different people – dinner vs. supper
Double-barreled questions – Do you regularly take vitamins
to avoid getting sick?