Marketing Research Overview

Marketing Research Overview What is Marketing Research ? The systematic and objective identification , collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to identification and solution of problems (and opportunities) in marketing. The Role of Marketing 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, image, market characteristics, sales analysis etc. Problem Solving Research Research undertaken to help solve specific marketing problems. Examples: segmentation, product, pricing, promotion, and distribution research. Marketing Research Process Step 1: Problem Definition Step 2: Developing an approach to the problem Step 3: Research Design Formulation Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation

What is Research Design? A framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It specifies the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problem. Exploratory Research DesignResearch Designed to provide insights into and an understanding of the problem confronting the researcher

Conclusive Research DesignResearch Designed to assist the decision maker in determining , evaluating and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation Descriptive Research DesignA type of conclusive research designed to describe something –usually market characteristics or functions Cross-Sectional Research DesignInvolves Collection of information from any given sample only once Single Cross-Sectional Research DesignOne sample of respondents is drawn from the target population and information is obtained from this sample once Multiple Cross-Sectional Research DesignInvolves two or more samples of respondents and information from each sample is obtained only once Longitudinal Research DesignInvolves a fixed sample of population elements that is measured repeatedly Causal Research DesignA type of conclusive research where the major objective is to obtain evidence regarding cause and effect relationships.

Primary DataData originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem Secondary Data-

Data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand Internal DataData Available within the organization for which the research is being conducted External DataData that originate external to the organization Syndicated ServicesInformation services offered by marketing research organizations that provide information from a common database to different firms that subscribe to their services

Qualitative Research Procedure Direct (Nondisguised) Focus Groups

Indirect (Disguised)

Depth Interview Projective Techniques

Association Techniques

Completion Techniques

Construction Techniques

Expressive Techniques

Paramita Roy

Direct The purposes of the project are disclosed to the respondent or given in the nature of the interview Focus Group An interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents in an unstructured and natural manner Depth Interview An unstructured , direct, personal, interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic Indirect The purposes of the project are disguised from the respondents Projective Technique – An unstructured and indirect form of questioning that encourages the respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the issues of concern Association Technique The respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind, like word Association Completion Technique – The respondent is required to complete an incomplete

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Stimulus situation, like sentence completion, story Completion Construction TechniqueThe respondent is required to construct a response in the form of a story, dialogue, or description, like picture response technique, cartoon test Expressive TechniqueRespondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation

ObservationThe recording of behavioral patterns of people, objects, and events in a systematic manner to obtain information about the phenomenon of interest Personal ObservationHuman observers record the phenomenon being observed as it occurs. Mechanical ObservationMechanical Devices record the phenomenon being observed, like Voice pitch analyzers, Pupilometer etc. AuditResearcher collects data by examining physical records or performing inventory analysis where researcher inventories the brands, quantities and package sizes of products in a consumer’s home Content AnalysisThe objective , systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of a communication Trace analysisAn approach in which data collection is based on physical traces, evidence, of past behavior SurveyA structured questionnaire given to respondents and designed to elicit specific information Telephone Interviewing Traditional Telephone Interviewing Involve phoning a sample of respondents and asking them a series of questions using a paper questionnaire and records the responses with a pencil Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing Uses a computerized questionnaire administered to respondents over the telephone Personal InterviewingIn-Home Respondents are interviewed face-to-face in their homes. The interviewer’s task is to contact the respondents , ask the questions and record the responses Mall Intercept Respondents are intercepted while they are shopping in malls Computer-Assisted Respondents sits in front of a computer terminal and answers a questionnaire on the computer screen by using the keyboard or a mouse Mail Interviewing Mail Questionnaires are mailed to preselected potential

respondents Mail Panel A large and nationally representative sample of households who have agreed to periodically participate in mail questionnaires Electronic Interviewing E-mail – A list of e-mail addresses is obtained and e-mails are sent over the internet with the survey written within the body of the e-mail message InternetRespondents are asked to go to a particular Web location to complete the survey Report Presentation1. Title Page 2.Acknowledgement 3. Certificate from External Guide 4. Certificate from Internal Guide 5. Table of Contents 6. List of Tables 7. List of Graphs 8.List of Exhibits 9. Executive Summary a. Major Findings b. Conclusion c. Recommendations 10. Problem Definition 11. Approach to the problem 12. Research Design a. Type b. Information Needs c. Data collection from secondary sources d. Data collection from primary sources e. Scaling Techniques f. Questionnaire development and pretesting g. Sampling Techniques h. Fieldwork 13. Data Analysis 14. Results 15. Limitations 16. Conclusions 17. Exhibits a. Questionnaires and forms b. Statistical output c. Lists 18.Bibliography

SCALING What is Scaling? The generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located. Primary Scales of Measurement1.Nominal ScaleA scale whose numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and classifying objects with a strict one-to-one correspondence between the numbers and objects, like numbering respondents 2.Ordinal ScaleA scale whose numbers indicate the relative positions of the objects but not the magnitude of differences between them, like Preference rankings 3. Interval ScaleA scale in which the numbers are used to rate the objects such that numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal distances in the characteristic being measured. There is a constant or equal interval between scale values, like measuring attitudes. 4. Ratio ScaleThe highest scale . It allows the researcher to identify or classify objects, rank order the objects, and compare intervals or differences, like measuring sales.

Comparative ScalesThere is direct comparison of stimulus objects with one another Paired Comparison ScalingRespondent is presented with two objects at a time

and asked to select one object in the pair according to some criterion. Rank OrderRespondents are presented with several objects simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some criterion Constant Sum ScalingRespondents are required to allocate a constant sum of units such as points, dollars among a set of stimulus objects with respect to some criterion Q-sort ScalingUses a rank order procedure to sort objects based on similarity with respect to some criterion Noncomparative ScalesEach stimulus object is scaled independently of the other objects in the stimulus set. Continuous Rating ScaleRespondents rate the objects by placing a mark at the appropriate position on a line that runs from one extreme of the criterion variable to the other Itemized rating ScaleRespondents are provided with a scale that has a number or brief description associated with each category LikertA measurement scale with five response categories ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ which requires the respondents to indicate a degree of agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements related to the stimulus objects. Semantic DifferentialA seven-point scale with end points associated with bipolar labels that have semantic meaning Stapel scaleA scale for measuring attitudes that consists of a single adjective in the middle of an even–numbered range of values, from -5 to +5, without a neutral point (zero).

SamplingWhat is sample? A subgroup of the elements of the population selected for participation in the study. Sampling design processDefine the target population Determine the sampling frame

Select a sampling technique Determine the sample size Execute the sampling process Sampling FrameA representation of the elements of the target population. Sampling UnitThe basic unit containing the elements of the population to be sampled. Sample SizeThe number of elements to be included in a study.

Nonprobability SamplingSampling techniques that do not use chance selection procedures. Rather they rely on the personal judgment of the researcher. Convenience SamplingA nonprobability sampling technique that attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements. The selection of sampling units is left primarily to the interviewer. Judgmental SamplingPopulation elements are purposively selected based on the judgment of the researcher Quota SamplingThis is a two-stage restricted judgmental sampling. The first stage consists of developing quotas of population elements. In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on convenience or judgment. Snowball SamplingFirst an initial group of respondents is selected randomly. Subsequent respondents are selected based on the referrals or information provided by the initial respondents . Probability SamplingA sampling procedure in which each element of the population has a fixed probabilistic chance of being selected for the sample Simple Random SamplingEach element in the population has a known and equal probability of selection. Every element is selected independently of every other element and the sample is drawn by a random procedure from a sampling frame.

Systematic SamplingThe sample is chosen by selecting a random starting point and then picking every ith element in succession from the sampling frame. Stratified SamplingUses a two-step process to partition the population into subpopulations, or strata and elements are selected from each stratum by a random procedure. Cluster SamplingFirst, the target population is divided into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subpopulations called clusters. Then, a random sample of clusters is selected based on a probability sampling technique such as simple random sampling. For each selected cluster, either all the elements are included in the sample or a sample of elements is drawn probabilistically. The key distinction between cluster sampling and stratified sampling is that in cluster sampling, only a sample of subpopulations (clusters) is chosen, whereas in stratified sampling, all the subpopulations (strata) are selected for further sampling. Other Sampling TechniquesDouble SamplingA sampling technique in which certain population elements are sampled twice. First a sample is selected and some information is collected from all the elements in the sample. In the second phase, a subsample is drawn from the original sample and additional information is obtained from the elements in the subsample. QuestionnaireA structured technique for data collection that consists of a series of questions, written or verbal, that a respondent answers. Questionnaire Design ProcessSpecify the information needed Specify the type of interviewing method Determine the content of individual questions Design the questions to overcome the respondent’s inability and unwillingness to answer Decide on the question structure Determine the question wording Arrange the questions in proper order

Identify the form and layout Reproduce the questionnaire Eliminate bugs by pretesting

What is Marketing Information System? A marketing information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers. A marketing information system is developed from internal company records, marketing intelligence activities , marketing research., and marketing decision support analysis. Internal Record SystemMarketing managers depend on internal reports on orders, sales, inventory levels, price, costs, receivables, payables and others. The order to payment cycleThis is the time required between receiving orders and getting payments after delivery . Today companies are trying to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the order to payment cycle because customers always favor firms that can promise timely delivery. So companies need to perform these steps quickly and accurately.

Sales Information SystemMarketing Managers need timely and accurate data on current sales to keep themselves updated. Databases, Data warehouses, and Data-miningToday organizations maintain their information in different databases related different functions of an organization and then combine data from different database as per their requirement. Organizations generally warehouse these data and make them easily accessible to decision makers. Again by hiring analysts skilled in statistical methods, organizations mine the data and bring out different useful information. Marketing Intelligence SystemA Marketing Intelligence System is a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain everyday information about developments in marketing environment. Marketing Research SystemThe systematic and objective identification , collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to identification and solution of problems (and opportunities) in marketing. Marketing Decision Support SystemA Marketing Decision Support System is a coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action. Forecasting and demand measurement ForecastingThe estimates of the demand for a product for a short or long period in future is called demand forecasting. Demand forecasting is essential for estimating marketing or sales forecasting and for marketing efforts to be planned on the basis of an analysis of the market demand and then by monitoring the performance of marketing efforts. Business activity, and therefore managerial activity, is entirely based on expectations. So forecasting has an important role to play in managerial decision making. Following are the three bases of forecasting1. What people say 2. What people do 3. What people have done Major methods of forecasting1. Surveys of Buyers Intentions – The buyers of products and services are important from the point of assessing their intention regarding existing products or new products and also their intention for repeat purchase or repeat orders.

2. Surveys of Sales Force OpinionIt is done for the following reasonsa. The sales force is closer to the market, user and distributor opinion b. Since the targets and quotas of the sales force will be derived from the forecast, it makes good sense to involve them in the process of forecasting. c. When management asks for the salesman’s views, it increases his sense of importance to the organization and acts as a motivator to his performance. 3. Surveys of Expert Opinion (Internal and External)Such surveys are usually a significant element in most approaches to forecasting. Internal experts may include the chief marketing executive and his senior marketing colleagues and external experts may include marketing consultants or advisers retained by the firm, advertising agency executives etc. 4. Test MarketingTest marketing is a limited marketing operation to assess product suitability, consumer acceptability and finally assessing demand. It is more important for new products and new application oriented products. 5. Vendors or Suppliers OpinionVendors or Suppliers are in touch with a majority of companies in the industry and therefore they will have definite information about product performance and can quantify the requirements. They are the key sources of information for industrial products as well as in a situation where less number of vendors and suppliers are available. 6. Past SalesPat sales data can be used to find whether sales show any trend, any particular nature and base on this further decisions are taken. 7. The Delphi TechniqueIt involves opinion from experienced executive members of the organization by a structured research method making use of a questionnaire. 8. Forecasting and the computerComputers can be used in many ways in the process of forecasting. Demand MeasurementDemand can be measured for six different product levels, five different space levels and three different time levels giving total of ninety different types of demand measurement. Product Levels1. All sales 2. Industry sales 3. Product Line sales 4. Product Form sales 5. Product item sales Space Levels1. World

2. Country 3. Region 4. Territory 5. Customer Time Levels1. Short run 2. Medium run 3. Long run