What’s The
Source
Marketing Research
Marketing Research
Is the systematic gathering,
recording, and analyzing of
data about a specific issue,
situation, or concern.
Use the packet to write down the five reason /purpose for marketing
research
Data that already exists in the organizations on
information system
Sales invoices
Cash register receipts
Sales reports
Expense accounts
Customer records
Warranty cards
Comment cards
Profit and loss statements
Collects data specifically
for that business to make
improvements
Surveys
Mail survey
Telephone survey
Face-to-face interviews (inperson survey)
Internet survey
Observation
Focus group
Informal interview
Experiments
Two types of primary Data
Qualitative
Feelings, thoughts, and experiences
influence this data.
Use questionnaires, focus groups,
informal interview, or observation
Flexible and unstructured
• Quantitative
Based on facts and numerical data
Use surveys, field tests, and
experiments
Highly structured
Market Research
Qualitative data
Subjective data based on
thoughts, feelings,
opinions, and experiences
Review background info
Clarify research questions
Create hypotheses
Methods:
Questionnaires
Focus groups
Informal interviews
Simple observation
Performed using short
time frames & small
samples.
Opened ended and
unstructured questions
are asked
May not represent the
Market Research
Quantitative data
Are objective based on
statistics and fact and
represented by numbers
Gather this data to
Make accurate predictions
Develop more insight into
relations between market
factors
Test and validate
hypotheses.
Methods
Surveys
Field tests
Experiment
Results are highly
structured
Takes longer period of time
to complete than
qualitative
Uses large samples to
represent the entire
Better by Design
Unit: Marketing Information
Management
Research Design
Purpose for Conducting Research
Hypotheses
To explain something
To predict something
To monitor something
To discover something
To test hypotheses
Marketers use this research to
test their hypotheses and see if
they are correct.
Decisions are made based on the
problem at hand.
An Educated Guess is called
a hypothesis.
They are also called an “if –
then” statements
If I exercise everyday for the
next six weeks, I will lose five
pounds.”
Grand Design= Research Design
The master plan for conducting the marketing
research is called Research Design
Exploratory Research
Descriptive Research
Casual Research
Common uses
To learn more
To take a snapshot of some
aspect of the a market
Test if then hypothesis
Types of data
Qualitative research
Quantitative
Quantitative
Methods used
Flexible, unstructured
Structured
Highly structured
Examples
Focus group, pilot study
Survey, case study
Test marketing , clinical trial
Research Process
Allie, Nash, Jake
Stage One: Problem Formulation
❖ The heart of the research process.
❖ Translating the management problem into a
research problem.
❖ Gives the type of information needed to
help solve the problem.
❖ End result - a statement of the
management problem that is meaningful
and points to alternative solutions
How to Formulate the Research
Problem
1. Specify the Research Objectives: Objectives can
guide the researcher in developing good research
and can help the client evaluate the completed
project.
2. The Environment or Context of the Problem: The
researcher must be aware of, and assist in, the ID
of objectives, courses of action, and the
environmental variables because they affect the
design of the research investigation.
Cont...
3. The Nature of the Problem: Understanding
the nature of the problem helps a researcher
ensure that the right problem is being
investigated and that a marketing plan can be
developed to solve the problem.
Cont...
4. Alternative Courses of Action: Once the nature of the
problem has been agreed on. the course of action must be
specified, which includes:
❖ determining which variables affect the solution to the
problem
❖ determining the degree to which each variable can be
controlled
❖ determining the functional relationships between the
variables and which variables are critical to the
solution of the problem
Cont...
5. The Consequences of Alternative Courses of
Action: Anticipate and communicate the possible
outcomes of various courses of action that may
result from following the research.
6. Degrees of Uncertainty: The decision-making
manager can assign various “likelihoods of
occurrence” to the various possible outcomes of
specific courses of action.
Stage Two: Method of Inquiry
❖ Market researchers use scientific methods
to investigate. it makes great use of
existing knowledge both as a starting point
for investigating and checking results.
Stage Three: Research Method
❖ There is two methods that can answer any
research question: experimental research,
and non-experimental research.
❖ Experimental: Controls variables
❖ Non-Experimental: No intervention
Stage Four: Research Design
❖ It is the specific methods and procedures
for acquiring the information needed.
❖ It’s a plan for studying and collecting the
data.
Stage Five: Data Collection
Techniques
❖ A number of techniques available for
collecting data can be used. Some are
unique to a method of inquiry.
❖ The two general types of collection uses
either communication or observation.
❖ Communication: Asking customers questions
❖ Observation: Observing customers as they
shop
Stage Six: Sample Design
This stage involves picking the sample group
that your research project will be used on. No
research project uses an entire population. It
involves, where it will be, the process of
selection, and the size of the sample.
Stage Seven: Data Collection
This stage consists of collecting all the data
that you gather from the research group in
your project. Research collection is costly and
may require specialized forms of data
collection.
Stage Eight: Analysis & Interpretation
After the data has been collected from the
specific groups, it has to be analyzed to see
what it means and interpreted to see how it
can be applied to your business.
Stage Nine: Research Report
All of the data and its analysis has to be put
into a report for other businesses and the
higher-ups of your own business can see and it
can be used as evidence for your results.
Exploratory Studies
Evan Figert, Madison McMillin, Madi
Johnson, Bailey Baxter
Secondary Sources
● Research that helps a business define its
issue, situation, or concert is called
exploratory research.
Exploratory Research
 Focus Groups are used with this type of reserch .



Usually consist of 8 to 12 people
Selected based on common background
The moderator works with the client to develop a general discussion
outline




Pilot study( test feasibility )
Informal dicussions
Interviewing
Not inteded to help marketers make a final conclusion
Purposes of exploratory
● Often the first in a series of projects
● Major purpose is to identify problems
● Often used as an introductory phase of a larger study,
and the results are used to bring focus to the larger
study.
● Three steps of exploratory studies:
- a search of secondary information sources
- interviews with persons knowledgeable about the
subject area
- the examination of analogous situations
Exploratory Design
● Deals with exploring into the phenomenon.
● Used in cases when the problem must be defined more
precisely, and to gain additional insights before an
approach can be developed.
● It is not used most times to generate a course of
action for decision making. Information is loosely
defined.
● Focuses on collecting either secondary or primary data
using unstructured format or informal procedures to
interpret them.
Descriptive Design
By: Briana Key, Brittany Boyer, Chermaine
Howard
Descriptive Design
~Typically concerned with determining the frequency with which an
event occurs or the relationship between two variables.
~This type of design is typically purpose is to compares the
relationship between two variables.
~To make predictions and customer behavior.
~To describe characteristics of a certain groups.
~Must collect data for a definite purpose.
~In comparison to exploratory design, descriptive design requires a
clear specification of the who,what,when,where,why,how of the
research.
● Sometimes called statistical research
● Used for:
1. 1.Taking a picture of a certain aspect of the market
● Zero in on a certain feature of the market
● 2. Determine the porportion of people that behave a
certain way.
● 3. make specific predictions.
● Descriptive information provides a basis for the
solution of marketing problems
● Results of Descriptive are quantitative and measurable
and presented in charts and graphs.
More…..
★ Often called observational designs by some
researches
★ 4 descriptive studies★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
Comparison of functional features
Demographics characteristics of the audience
Number and location of retailers
Identifying competitor’s prices
Indepth surveys & carefully structrued questions
Case studies
Studying of ecnomic or technial trends
Observing and recording customer behavior in action
Casual Research
By: William Byard, Cousin Marty, Christian
Williams
Also called conclusive research
Focuses on testing cause and effects theories.
Used when business is extremely familiar with
the research matter and have hypotheses.
Use simulations to conduct experiments
This means that when it comes to casual
research, you can cater to the specific
individual because of how lax the research is.
Sequence of Events
Since the research is casual, it must come in a
certain order of events.
Casual research is completed by conducting
experiement or simulations.
examples:
clinial trials
Simulated stosores
Test marketing
Absence of Other Factors
Although this research leaves room for
variation between the parties involved
It is conducted after exploratory and
descriptive have been compelted