Class 1:
What is marketing research?
The function that links the consumer, the customer, and public to the marketer through INFORMATION.
In marketing research, we collect information which is used:
 To identify and define market opportunities and problems

Generate, refine, and evaluate marketing performance
 Monitor marketing performance
 Improve understanding of marketing as a process
Marketing research involves the following tasks
 Identification of data / information
 Collection of data from the market (respondents)
 Analysis of the collected data
 Dissemination of the analyzed data
 and use of information to solve the management problem
There are two types of marketing research in general. They are 1) Problem identification research and 2) Problem solving research,
Problem identification research:
 Research undertaken to help identify problems which are not necessarily apparent on the surface and yet exist or are likely to arise in the future.
Examples: market potential, market share, image, market characteristics, sales analysis, forecasting, and trends research.
Problem solving research:

Research undertaken to help solve specific marketing problems. Examples: segmentation, product, pricing, promotion, and distribution research.

Segmentation Research examples:
 Determine the basis of segmentation
 Establish market potential and responsiveness for various segments
 Select target markets

Create lifestyle profiles: demography, media, and product image characteristics
Product Research examples:
 Test concept
 Determine optimal product design

Package tests
 Product modification
 Brand positioning and repositioning

Test marketing
 Control score tests
Pricing Research examples:

Pricing policies
 Importance of price in brand selection
 Product line pricing

Price elasticity of demand
 Initiating and responding to price changes

Distribution Research examples:
Determine…
 Types of distribution

Attitudes of channel members
 Intensity of wholesale & resale coverage
 Channel margins
 Location of retail and wholesale outlets
We can identify six important steps in doing market research. They are as follows:
1. Identify and define the research problem
2. Develop an approach to the problem
3. Formulate a research design
4. Do the field work and collect the data
5. Analyse the data collected to create knowledge
6. Communicate the research findings to the management
Step 1: Research Problem
Management Problem Vs Marketing Research Problem.
Marketing Managers and Marketing researchers see the world differently since they have different jobs to perform and their backgrounds are also different.
Management needs to make a decision about something (a problem). For example in the "Should we launch a new product?" "Would it be profitable" and "Hoe to bring in new customers to their new showroom or market?"
Market research problem is the information that the market research needs to provide in order to solve the problem. Sometimes known as the objectives.
So it might be to find out - the appeal of the product, who does it appeal to? What price would they feel that it is good value for money? The research would feed this

information back to management and management could then work out if the potential take up and price would ensure profitability.
Step 2: Develop an Approach to the problem:
Components of a research Approach:
1. Objective/Theoretical Foundations
2. Analytical Model
3. Research Questions
4. Hypotheses
1. Theoretical Foundations:
Role of theories are very important in applied marketing researches. Role of theoretical foundations in doing various research oriented tasks are given below:

Examples of various theories used in marketing researches:
Kano’s model of customer satisfaction:
This is one of the popular models used for measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction.
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM):
TAM explains how users come to accept and use a technology; the model suggests that the acceptability of an info system is determined by two main factors: (i) perceived usefulness and (ii) perceived ease of use

2. Analytical Model or a Verbal Model or other models:
An analytical model is a set of variables and their interrelationships designed to represent, in whole or in part, some real system or process.
In verbal models , the variables and their relationships are stated in prose form. Such models may be mere restatements of the main tenets of a theory.
Graphical models are visual. They are used to isolate variables and to suggest directions of relationships but are not designed to provide numerical results.
Mathematical models explicitly specify the relationships among variables, usually in equation form.
For example, Y = aX + b is the mathematical model of a line
3. Development of Research Questions
Research Question:
Research questions (RQs) are refined statements of the specific components of the problem.
Researcher has to redefine the research problem as a research question. Normally literature reviews will help the researcher to do this task. Breaking down the problem into a research questions is one of the difficult tasks of a researcher.
The researcher ’s task is to re state the initial variables associated with the problem in the form of key questions such as: how, where, what, when or why.
For example, is there any relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty?
Or what are the factors influen ce an individual’s online shopping behaviour?
4. Development of Hypotheses
A hypothesis (H) is an unproven statement or proposition about a factor or phenomenon that is of interest to the researcher. Often, a hypothesis is a possible answer to the research question.
Example:
Ho : There is no relationship between price and customer loyalty for True coffee in Bangkok

Ha : There is a relationship between price and customer loyalty for True coffee in Bangkok
A research proposal is specific document that provides an overview of the proposed research and methodology. Normally a research proposal acts as a written contract between the decision maker and the researcher. The research proposal outlines the activities that will be undertaken to develop the needed information, the research deliverables, how long it will take and what it will cost.
Following are the general outlines of a Research proposal.
TITLE OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1. Purpose of the proposed research project
2. Type of study
3. Definition of the target population and sample size
4. Sample design and data collection method
5. Specific research instruments
6. Potential managerial benefits of the proposed study
7. Proposed cost for the total project