MARKETING RESEARCH

Managers need information in order to introduce products and services

that create value in the mind of the customer. But the perception of value is a
subjective one, and what customers value this year may be quite different from
what they value next year. As such, the attributes that create value cannot simply
be deduced from common knowledge. Rather, data must be collected and
analyzed. The goal of marketing research is to provide the facts and direction that
managers need to make their more important marketing decisions.

To maximize the benefit of marketing research, those who use it need to

understand the research process and its limitations.

MARKETING RESEARCH VS. MARKET RESEARCH

These terms often are used interchangeably, but technically there is a difference.

Market research deals specifically with the gathering of information about a

market's size and trends.

Marketing research covers a wider range of activities. While it may involve

market research, marketing research is a more general systematic process that can
be applied to a variety of marketing problems.

The Value of Information

Information can be useful, but what determines its real value to the organization?
In general, the value of information is determined by:

• The ability and willingness to act on the information.

• The accuracy of the information.
• The level of indecisiveness that would exist without the information.
• The amount of variation in the possible results.
• The level of risk aversion.
• The reaction of competitors to any decision improved by the information.
• The cost of the information in terms of time and money.
The Marketing Research Process

Once the need for marketing research has been established, most marketing
research projects involve these steps:

1. Define the problem

2. Determine research design
3. Identify data types and sources
4. Design data collection forms and questionnaires
5. Determine sample plan and size
6. Collect the data
7. Analyze and interpret the data
8. Prepare the research report

Problem Definition

The decision problem faced by management must be translated into a market

research problem in the form of questions that define the information that is
required to make the decision and how this information can be obtained. Thus, the
decision problem is translated into a research problem. For example, a decision
problem may be whether to launch a new product. The corresponding research
problem might be to assess whether the market would accept the new product.

The objective of the research should be defined clearly. To ensure that the true
decision problem is addressed, it is useful for the researcher to outline possible
scenarios of the research results and then for the decision maker to formulate plans
of action under each scenario. The use of such scenarios can ensure that the
purpose of the research is agreed upon before it commences.

Research Design

Marketing research can classified in one of three categories:

• Exploratory research
• Descriptive research
• Causal research
These classifications are made according to the objective of the research. In some
cases the research will fall into one of these categories, but in other cases different
phases of the same research project will fall into different categories.

• Exploratory research has the goal of formulating problems more precisely,

clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating
impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses. Exploratory research can be
performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about their
experiences, focus groups, and case studies. When surveying people,
exploratory research studies would not try to acquire a representative
sample, but rather, seek to interview those who are knowledgeable and who
might be able to provide insight concerning the relationship among
variables. Case studies can include contrasting situations or benchmarking
against an organization known for its excellence. Exploratory research may
develop hypotheses, but it does not seek to test them. Exploratory research is
characterized by its flexibility.

• Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to

describe users of a product, determine the proportion of the population that
uses a product, or predict future demand for a product. As opposed to
exploratory research, descriptive research should define questions, people
surveyed, and the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In
other words, the who, what, where, when, why, and how aspects of the
research should be defined. Such preparation allows one the opportunity to
make any required changes before the costly process of data collection has
begun.

There are two basic types of descriptive research: longitudinal studies and
cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal studies are time series analyses that
make repeated measurements of the same individuals, thus allowing one to
monitor behavior such as brand-switching. However, longitudinal studies are
not necessarily representative since many people may refuse to participate
because of the commitment required. Cross-sectional studies sample the
population to make measurements at a specific point in time. A special type
of cross-sectional analysis is a cohort analysis, which tracks an aggregate of
individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval
over time. Cohort analyses are useful for long-term forecasting of product
demand.
 • Causal research seeks to find cause and effect relationships between
variables. It accomplishes this goal through laboratory and field
experiments.

Data Types and Sources

Secondary Data

Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, one should
check for secondary data that previously may have been collected for other
purposes but that can be used in the immediate study. Secondary data may be
internal to the firm, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external
to the firm such as published data or commercially available data. The government
census is a valuable source of secondary data.

Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering costs.
The disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the
accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for primary data.

Some secondary data is republished by organizations other than the original

source. Because errors can occur and important explanations may be missing in
republished data, one should obtain secondary data directly from its source. One
also should consider who the source is and whether the results may be biased.

There are several criteria that one should use to evaluate secondary data.

• Whether the data is useful in the research study.

• How current the data is and whether it applies to time period of interest.
• Errors and accuracy - whether the data is dependable and can be verified.
• Presence of bias in the data.
• Specifications and methodologies used, including data collection method,
response rate, quality and analysis of the data, sample size and sampling
technique, and questionnaire design.
• Objective of the original data collection.
• Nature of the data, including definition of variables, units of measure,
categories used, and relationships examined.
Primary Data

Often, secondary data must be supplemented by primary data originated

specifically for the study at hand. Some common types of primary data are:

• demographic and socioeconomic characteristics

• psychological and lifestyle characteristics
• attitudes and opinions
• awareness and knowledge - for example, brand awareness
• intentions - for example, purchase intentions. While useful, intentions are
not a reliable indication of actual future behavior.
• motivation - a person's motives are more stable than his/her behavior, so
motive is a better predictor of future behavior than is past behavior.
• behavior

Primary data can be obtained by communication or by observation.

Communication involves questioning respondents either verbally or in writing.
This method is versatile, since one needs only to ask for the information; however,
the response may not be accurate. Communication usually is quicker and cheaper
than observation. Observation involves the recording of actions and is performed
by either a person or some mechanical or electronic device. Observation is less
versatile than communication since some attributes of a person may not be readily
observable, such as attitudes, awareness, knowledge, intentions, and motivation.
Observation also might take longer since observers may have to wait for
appropriate events to occur, though observation using scanner data might be
quicker and more cost effective. Observation typically is more accurate than
communication.

Personal interviews have an interviewer bias that mail-in questionnaires do

not have. For example, in a personal interview the respondent's perception of the
interviewer may affect the responses.
Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is an important tool for gathering primary data. Poorly

constructed questions can result in large errors and invalidate the research data, so
significant effort should be put into the questionnaire design. The questionnaire
should be tested thoroughly prior to conducting the survey.

Measurement Scales

Attributes can be measured on nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales:

• Nominal numbers are simply identifiers, with the only permissible

mathematical use being for counting. Example: social security numbers.
• Ordinal scales are used for ranking. The interval between the numbers
conveys no meaning. Median and mode calculations can be performed on
ordinal numbers. Example: class ranking
• Interval scales maintain an equal interval between numbers. These scales
can be used for ranking and for measuring the interval between two
numbers. Since the zero point is arbitrary, ratios cannot be taken between
numbers on an interval scale; however, mean, median, and mode are all
valid. Example: temperature scale
• Ratio scales are referenced to an absolute zero values, so ratios between
numbers on the scale are meaningful. In addition to mean, median, and
mode, geometric averages also are valid. Example: weight

Validity and Reliability

The validity of a test is the extent to which differences in scores reflect

differences in the measured characteristic. Predictive validity is a measure of the
usefulness of a measuring instrument as a predictor. Proof of predictive validity is
determined by the correlation between results and actual behavior. Construct
validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument measures what it intends to
measure.

Reliability is the extent to which a measurement is repeatable with the same

results. A measurement may be reliable and not valid. However, if a measurement
is valid, then it also is reliable and if it is not reliable, then it cannot be valid. One
way to show reliability is to show stability by repeating the test with the same
results.
Attitude Measurement

Many of the questions in a marketing research survey are designed to measure

attitudes. Attitudes are a person's general evaluation of something. Customer
attitude is an important factor for the following reasons:

• Attitude helps to explain how ready one is to do something.

• Attitudes do not change much over time.
• Attitudes produce consistency in behavior.
• Attitudes can be related to preferences.

Attitudes can be measured using the following procedures:

• Self-reporting - subjects are asked directly about their attitudes. Self-

reporting is the most common technique used to measure attitude.
• Observation of behavior - assuming that one's behavior is a result of one's
attitudes, attitudes can be inferred by observing behavior. For example, one's
attitude about an issue can be inferred by whether he/she signs a petition
related to it.
• Indirect techniques - use unstructured stimuli such as word association tests.
• Performance of objective tasks - assumes that one's performance depends on
attitude. For example, the subject can be asked to memorize the arguments
of both sides of an issue. He/she is more likely to do a better job on the
arguments that favor his/her stance.
• Physiological reactions - subject's response to a stimuli is measured using
electronic or mechanical means. While the intensity can be measured, it is
difficult to know if the attitude is positive or negative.
• Multiple measures - a mixture of techniques can be used to validate the
findings, especially worthwhile when self-reporting is used.

There are several types of attitude rating scales:

• Equal-appearing interval scaling - a set of statements are assembled. These

statements are selected according to their position on an interval scale of
favorableness. Statements are chosen that has a small degree of dispersion.
Respondents then are asked to indicate with which statements they agree.
• Likert method of summated ratings - a statement is made and the
respondents indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement on a five
point scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree Nor Disagree,
Agree, Strongly Agree).
 • Semantic differential scale - a scale is constructed using phrases describing
attributes of the product to anchor each end. For example, the left end may
state, "Hours are inconvenient" and the right end may state, "Hours are
convenient". The respondent then marks one of the seven blanks between the
statements to indicate his/her opinion about the attribute.
• Stapel Scale - similar to the semantic differential scale except that 1) points
on the scale are identified by numbers, 2) only one statement is used and if
the respondent disagrees a negative number should marked, and 3) there are
10 positions instead of seven. This scale does not require that bipolar
adjectives be developed and it can be administered by telephone.
• Q-sort technique - the respondent if forced to construct a normal distribution
by placing a specified number of cards in one of 11 stacks according to how
desirable he/she finds the characteristics written on the cards.

Sampling Plan

The sampling frame is the pool from which the interviewees are chosen. The
telephone book often is used as a sampling frame, but have some shortcomings.
Telephone books exclude those households that do not have telephones and those
households with unlisted numbers. Since a certain percentage of the numbers listed
in a phone book are out of service, there are many people who have just moved
who are not sampled. Such sampling biases can be overcome by using random
digit dialing. Mall intercepts represent another sampling frame, though there are
many people who do not shop at malls and those who shop more often will be
over-represented unless their answers are weighted in inverse proportion to their
frequency of mall shopping.

In designing the research study, one should consider the potential errors.
Two sources of errors are random sampling error and non-sampling error.
Sampling errors are those due to the fact that there is a non-zero confidence
interval of the results because of the sample size being less than the population
being studied. Non-sampling errors are those caused by faulty coding, untruthful
responses, respondent fatigue, etc.

here is a tradeoff between sample size and cost. The larger the sample size,
the smaller the sampling error but the higher the cost. After a certain point the
smaller sampling error cannot be justified by the additional cost.
 While a larger sample size may reduce sampling error, it actually may
increase the total error. There are two reasons for this effect. First, a larger sample
size may reduce the ability to follow up on non-responses. Second, even if there is
a sufficient number of interviewers for follow-ups, a larger number of interviewers
may result in a less uniform interview process.

Data Collection

In addition to the intrinsic sampling error, the actual data collection process will
introduce additional errors. These errors are called non-sampling errors. Some non-
sampling errors may be intentional on the part of the interviewer, who may
introduce a bias by leading the respondent to provide a certain response. The
interviewer also may introduce unintentional errors, for example, due to not having
a clear understanding of the interview process or due to fatigue.

Respondents also may introduce errors. A respondent may introduce intentional

errors by lying or simply by not responding to a question. A respondent may
introduce unintentional errors by not understanding the question, guessing, not
paying close attention, and being fatigued or distracted.

Such non-sampling errors can be reduced through quality control techniques.

Data Analysis - Preliminary Steps

Before analysis can be performed, raw data must be transformed into the right
format. First, it must be edited so that errors can be corrected or omitted. The data
must then be coded; this procedure converts the edited raw data into numbers or
symbols. A codebook is created to document how the data was coded. Finally, the
data is tabulated to count the number of samples falling into various categories.
Simple tabulations count the occurrences of each variable independently of the
other variables. Cross tabulations, also known as contingency tables or cross tabs,
treats two or more variables simultaneously. However, since the variables are in a
two-dimensional table, cross tabbing more than two variables is difficult to
visualize since more than two dimensions would be required. Cross tabulation can
be performed for nominal and ordinal variables.

Importance of marketing research

The task of marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate,
reliable, valid, and current information. Competitive marketing environment and
the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making require that marketing
research provide sound information. Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling,
intuition, or even pure judgment.

Marketing managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the process
of identifying and satisfying customer needs. They make decisions about potential
opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and
implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control. These
decisions are complicated by interactions between the controllable marketing
variables of product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Further complications
are added by uncontrollable environmental factors such as general economic
conditions, technology, public policies and laws, political environment,
competition, and social and cultural changes. Another factor in this mix is the
complexity of consumers. Marketing research helps the marketing manager link
the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers. It helps remove
some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about the marketing
variables, environment, and consumers. In the absence of relevant information,
consumers' response to marketing programs cannot be predicted reliably or
accurately. Ongoing marketing research programs provide information on
controllable and non-controllable factors and consumers; this information enhances
the effectiveness of decisions made by marketing managers.

Traditionally, marketing researchers were responsible for providing the relevant

information and marketing decisions were made by the managers. However, the
roles are changing and marketing researchers are becoming more involved in
decision making, whereas marketing managers are becoming more involved with
research. The role of marketing research in managerial decision making is
explained further using the framework of the "DECIDE" model:

D Define the marketing problem

E Enumerate the controllable and uncontrollable decision factors

C Collect relevant information

I identify the best alternative

D Develop and implement a marketing plan

E Evaluate the decision and the decision process

The DECIDE model conceptualizes managerial decision making as a series of six

steps. The decision process begins by precisely defining the problem or
opportunity, along with the objectives and constraints. Next, the possible decision
factors that make up the alternative courses of action (controllable factors) and
uncertainties (uncontrollable factors) are enumerated. Then, relevant information
on the alternatives and possible outcomes is collected. The next step is to select the
best alternative based on chosen criteria or measures of success. Then a detailed
plan to implement the alternative selected is developed and put into effect. Last,
the outcome of the decision and the decision process itself are evaluated.
To Make Marketing Decisions: Marketing research helps the marketers to make a
decision about the product or service. Sometimes a marketer might believe that the
new product or service is useful for the customers. However, research may show
that customers do not need a product or are meeting their needs with a certain
competitor product and so on. Similarly good marketing research strives to provide
options for the successful introduction of new products and services.

Survive the Competition:

Marketing research helps in ascertaining and understanding competitor

information such as their identity, marketing network, customer focus and scale of
operations. This helps in surviving and in certain cases, even leaving behind the
competition. Moreover, with market research you can also help understand the
under-served consumer segments and consumer needs that have not been met.

Helps to Decide Target Markets:

Research helps provide customer information in terms of their location, age,

buying behavior and gender. This helps the marketers zero in on the target markets
and customers for their products and services.

Maximize Profits:

Apart from profit maximizing steps such as item optimization, customer

profitability analysis, and price elasticity, marketing research allows you to find
out methods that can help you maximize profits. For example, a product's price
elasticity research can help you ascertain the impact of an increased price on the
sales and the profits of a product..
Increasing the Sales:

Increasing the sales of your products or services helps a company in

maximizing its profits. By understanding the customer's needs, wants and attitude
towards the products and determining whether your products fit the bill, marketers
can increase their sales. This helps in not only increasing the sales to the target
customers and people already using the product but also converting the non users
into customers for the product.