Marketing Research

Overview
Dr. Mary Wolfinbarger
Marketing Research Overview
Definition, AMA

“The systematic ____________, recording,

and ________ of data about problems
relating to the marketing of goods and
services.”
Another Definition
“Marketing Research is the function which links
the ____________ and the ___________ to
the organization through information --
information is used to identify and define
marketing problems; generate, refine and
evaluate marketing ____________, and
improve our understanding of marketing as a
process.” -- Gilbert Churchill
The Role of Marketing
Research

Environment

Organization

Cultural Trends

Marketing research is environmental surveillance;

___________ of the firm is often closely tied to
effective marketing research.
The Role of Marketing
Research
■ Price
■ Product
■ Promotion
■ Place
■ Personnel
■ Customers
■ Macro trends
Macroenvironmental trends
■ D______________
■ Cultural trends
■ C__________ ________
■ et cetera
The Marketing Research
Process
Some ideas about Marketing
Research:
■ Operating executives often _______ or
________ research findings
■ Value of research depends on skill with
which project is designed and implemented
■ Organizations, particularly ________ ones,
are heavy users of research
■ Research is often a _________ tool
Steps
■ Problem Definition
■ Research Design
■ Sampling
■ Data Collection and Analysis
■ Report Preparation
Step 1: Problem Definition
■ Define specific problem/problems

■ What _________can/will be based on the

research

■ ____________ ____________
Step 1: Problem Definition
“Probably the most important thing a research
supplier can do is to ______ _______ with
a client to determine what research is
needed and how it will be used; if this step
is skipped the results may not address the
problem.”
--Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong
Step 1: Problem Definition
“In my experience it usually turns out that the
_________ ________ has not carefully
thought through his decision process and the
meetings with the researcher often result in a
________ ________ of the decision
situation, which results in major changes in
the definition of the research problem and
the information needs.”
--Imran Currim
Step 1: Problem Definition
Potential Traps:
■ Collecting “__________” information
■ “Piggybacking” to satisfy everyone
■ Problem not __________ to research
■ Client agendas
Step 1: Problem Definition
Example: Retailer “Primal Elements”
Step 1: Problem Definition
Example: Retailer “Primal Elements”
■ Interview client/decision makers -- to what
questions do they want answers
■ Who are customers ______________?
■ How do people __________ us?
■ How can we advertise more effectively?
■ Why do we have fewer young customers than
anticipated?
■ What new products should we carry?
Step 1: Problem Definition
Example: Retailer “Primal Elements”
■ Researchers and clients ________
_________ /possible answers to questions to
guide research design
■ Example: PE may be perceived as too
________ to younger customers OR the
interior is not __________ to younger
customers…..
Step 2: Research Design
■ A detailed _________ specifying how the
research will be carried out
Step 2: Research Design
“There is never a ______ _______ correct
method of carrying out a piece of research.
Do not wait until you find out THE proper
approach, because there are many ways to
tackle a problem -- some good, some bad,
but probably _________ good ways...
Step 2: Research Design
“...A research _______ for a given problem is
not like the solution to a problem in algebra.
It is more like a recipe for beef stroganoff,
there is no one best recipe.”

-Julian Simon, Basic Research Methods in

Social Science: The Act of Empirical
Investigation
Step 2: Research Design
Three general types of designs:
■ Exploratory
■ Descriptive
■ Causal

If you collect the data yourself, it is _______.

If you use someone else’s, it’s _________.
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory
■ Especially necessary when don’t ________
the issue well, and
■ Use to __________ as many possible
questions/answers/ideas as possible
■ Examples: faculty response to merit pay,
employee responses to advertising
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory
■_______ _______--most common
exploratory technique
A loosely structured __________ conducted
by a trained moderator among a small
number of informants simultaneously.
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Focus Group
■ 6-12 ___________ in a group
■ 1- 1 1/2 hour session
■ 1-way mirror/client may sit behind
■ __________, “living room” environment
■ can be adapted to the Internet
■ Informants are _______
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Focus Group
Advantages of Focus Groups
➤ _______ and _________

➤ May uncover ______________ ideas

➤ Gives
“flesh” and connectedness to real
consumers
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Focus Group
Disadvantages of Focus Groups
➤ Results__________ on skill of moderator
➤ Groupthink
➤ Small __________
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/In-depth Interview
➤ An _____________ personal interview which
uses extensive probing to get a respondent to
talk freely and to express detailed __________
➤ Purpose: to try to probe informants’
__________, feelings, beliefs
Examples: Skydiving, earthquake risk
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Projective Techniques
➤ An ________ form of ________ in which an
environment is created to encourage informants
to freely project beliefs/feelings into the
situation
➤ Example: Roach Killer
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Projective Techniques

➤ Example:_____ _________
➤ What comes to mind when you think of BIC?
Step 2: Research Design/
Exploratory/Projective Techniques

➤ Are these _________ consistent with the notion

of BIC perfume? BIC pantyhose?
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research
➤ Research that simply __________, but does not
directly link outcomes to particular causes
➤ Example: _______ _____
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research
Types of methods that tend to be
descriptive:

➤ Observation

➤ Surveys
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research/Observation
What are the __________ of observation?
➤ Doesn’t reveal consumer motivations
➤ Marketers see what they do, but usually not
why they do it
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research/Observation

➤ Example 1: Fisher Price Toy Design

➤ Example 2: Pantry Meter

Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research/Surveys
Types:

➤ _______
➤ ___________
➤ Personal
➤ Internet
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research/Surveys
➤ Like a ruler or weight scales, a survey is a
_____________ instrument
➤ If instrument is flawed, so are ________
Step 2: Research Design/
Descriptive Research/Surveys
Common problems:
➤ Demanding _________
➤ __________questions
➤ Choice preferred by respondent is not included
➤ Degree of agreement questions constructed as
yes/no (or vice-versa)
➤ Questionnaires are _______ ______
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
➤ Seeksto _______ specific outcomes to
variables that caused them
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
Three ___________ are necessary
➤ Condition 1: One variable must precede the
other in time
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
➤ Example1: Job ___________ of service
employees = Service Quality

➤ Or, is it the other way around?

Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research

➤ Condition 2: Alternative __________ for

findings should be ruled out
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
➤ Example: Consume oatmeal = lower
______________ rates

➤ Or does it?
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research
➤ Condition
3: Nomic _________ -- Look for the
“__________ link”

➤ This criterion can be simplified: Does the

relationship make sense?

➤ Example: Letter name begins with and credit

worthiness
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research

“Golly gee-whiz” relationships -- many are

simply statistical ___________
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research

_____________ does not prove causality!

Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research: Methodologies
➤ Surveys(especially longitudinal ones)
➤ Experimentation (the _____ standard)

“the systematic _____________ of selected

stimuli into a controlled environment”
Example: varying price levels and seeing
impact on sales
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research: Methodologies
___________ Design must be careful to
make strong causal inferences
➤ Need ________ or ___________ groups
➤ Extraneous factors must either be controlled or
measured
➤ Example: Colon Cancer PSAs
➤ Example: Taking Latin Higher Verbal
SATs
Step 2: Research Design/
Causal Research: Methodologies
➤ Example: _____ vs. slow music = time
/money spent in grocery store
➤ Restaurant, too
Research Design: Secondary Vs. Primary

➤ Primary Data: data collected by researcher for

his/her ________ purpose

➤ Secondarydata: already ________, collected by

someone else
Step 2: Research Design/
Secondary Data
➤ Saves______ and money
➤ May not _______ your specific problem

General types:
➤ Data collected elsewhere in the company, e.g.
sales and cost data
➤ __________ Data
➤ Non-commercial data
Step 2: Research Design/
Secondary Data
Evaluating Secondary Data
➤ _______ collected it?
➤ _____ was it collected?
➤ How was the data collected?
➤ What data were collected?
➤ When was the data collected?
➤ Do ________ sources indicate the same conclusions?
Step 3: Sampling
■ Who is our __________ of interest?
■ How will we identify them?
■ What sampling _________ will be used?

Basic Types: probability vs. non-probabililty

■ How many will be sampled?
Step 3: Sampling
Sampling is important as it affects
generalizability of results.
Generalizability: do findings apply to your
population of interest?
Step 4:Data Analysis
Extracting meaningful information from the
data
■ Exploratory methods: review and “code”
transcripts for recurring themes
Step 4:Data Analysis
Descriptive and _______ methods
■ Statistical analyses
Step 5: Report Preparation
■ __________ _________
■ Body -- findings of study
■ ___________ of the Research
■ Conclusions and Recommendations
■ Appendix