Monday, October 20, 2014

Chapter 10: Marketing Research

Objectives:

  • Identify the five steps in the marketing research process,
  • Describe the various secondary data resources,
  • Describe the various primary data collection techniques,
  • Summarize the difference between secondary data and primary data,
  • Examine the circumstances in which collecting information on consumers is ethical.
I. The Marketing Research Process

Marketing Research: A set of techniques and principles for systematically collecting, recording, analyzing, and interpreting data that can aid decision makers involved in marketing goods, services, or ideas.
  • Step 1: Defining Objectives and Research Needs
  • Step 2: Designing the Research
  • Step 3: Data Collection Process
    • Secondary Data: Pieces of information that have already been collected from other sources and usually are readily available. Include both external and internal data sources.
    • Primary Data: Data collected to address specific research needs. 
      • Focus Groups
      • In-Depth Interviews
      • Surveys
      • Sample: A group of customers that represent the customers of interest in a research study.
  • Step 4: Analyzing Data and Developing Insights
    • Data: Raw numbers or facts
    • Information: Organized, analyzed, and interpreted data that offer value to marketers. 
  • Step 5: Action Plan and Implementation
    • A typical marketing research presentation includes:
      • Executive Summary
      • The Body of Report
        • Includes research Objectives
        • Methodology
        • Detailed Findings
      • Conclusions
      • Appropriate Supplemental Tables
      • Figures
      • Appendixes
II. Secondary Data
  • Inexpensive External Secondary Data
    • US Census Data
    • Google Searches
  • Syndicated External Secondary Data
    • Syndicated Data: Data available for a fee from a commercial research firm
    • Scanner Data: A type of syndicated external secondary data used in quantitative research that is obtained from scanner readings of UPC Codes at check-out counters.
    • Panel Data: Information collected from a group of consumers. 
  • Internal Secondary Data
    • Data Warehouses: Large computer files that store millions or billions of pieces of individual data.
    • Data Mining: The use of a variety of statistical analysis tools to uncover previously unknown patterns in the data stored in databases or relationships among variables.
    • Churn: The number of consumers who stop using a product or service, divided by the average number of consumers of that product or service. 
III. Primary Data Collection Techniques

Quantitative Research: Informal research methods, including observation, following social media sites, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and projective techniques.

Qualitative Research: Structured responses that can be statistically tested to confirm insights and hypotheses generated via qualitative research or secondary data.
  • Observation: An exploratory research method that entails examining purchase and consumption behaviors through personal or video camera scrutiny.
  • Social Media
    • Sentiment mining: Data gathered by evaluating customer comments posted through social media sites such as facebook and Twitter.
  • In-Depth Interviews: An exploratory research method technique in which trained researchers ask questions, listen to and record the answers, and then pose additional questions to clarify and expand on a particular issue.
  • Focus Group Interviews: A research technique in which a small group of persons (usually 8-12) comes together for an intensive discussion about a particular topic with the conversation guided by a trained moderator using an unstructured method of inquiry.
  • Survey Research
    • Survey: A systematic means of collecting information from people that generally uses a questionnaire. 
    • Questionnaire: A form that features a set of questions designed to gather information from respondents and thereby accomplish the researcher's objectives; questions can be either structured or unstructured.
    • Structured Questions: Closed ended questions for which a discreet set of response alternatives, or specific answers, is provided for respondents to evaluate.
    • Unstructured Questions: Open-ended questions that allow respondents to answer in their own words. 
  • Developing a Questionnaire is Part Art and Part Science
  • Panel and Scanner Based Research
  • Experimental Research: A type of conclusive and quantitative research that systematically manipulates one or more variables to determine which variables have a causal effect on another variable. 
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary and Secondary Research
    • Secondary Research
      • Examples
        • Census Data
        • Sales Invoices
        • Internet Information
        • Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Syndicated Data
      • Advantages
        • Saves time in collecting data because they are readily available
        • Free or inexpensive ( except for syndicated data)
      • Disadvantages
        • May not be precisely relevant to information needs.
        • Information may not be timely.
        • Sources may not be original, and therefore usefulness is an issue. 
        • Methodologies for collecting data may not be appropriate.
        • Data sources may be bias.
    • Primary Research
      • Examples
        • Observed Consumer behavior
        • Focus group interviews
        • Surveys
        • Experiments
      • Advantages
        • Specific to the immediate data needs and topic at hand.
        • Offers behavioral insights generally not available from secondary research.
      • Disadvantages
        • Costly
        • Time consuming
        • Requires more sophisticated training and experience to design study and collect data.
IV. Emerging Technology and the Ethics of Using Customer Information
  • Biometric data: Digital scanning of the behavioral or physiological characteristics of individuals as a means of identification.

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