MARKETING MANAGEMENT - II

P G DM ’ 6 1 S ESSION 2

P ROF. KA R N I KA
 JAPANESE MARKET RESEARCH
“Why do Americans do so much Marketing Research? You can find
out what you need by travelling around and visiting the retailers
who carry your product.”

Japanese executives put more faith in the information gathered periodically (monthly, weekly, or
even daily) directly from the channel (wholesalers, retailers); relevant to consumer attitudes or the
way users buy or use specific products

“Soft Data” – collected from visits to dealers and channel members Context-specific data
is prioritised over
“Hard Data” – details about shipments, inventory, and retail sales context-free data
Qualitative Understanding
Non-metric subjective measures for understanding the consumers
◦ Individual in-depth interviews
◦ Focus Groups

Consider the following question:

WHY DID YOU BUY THIS LUXURY CAR?

❑ GOOD LONG-TERM INVESTMENT Structured Question v/s an
❑ ROAD HANDLING Open-Ended Question
❑ COMFORTABLE
❑ IMAGE IT CREATES FOR ME AMONG FRIENDS
Exploratory & Confirmatory Research
EXPLORATORY – used to gain broad-based understanding and insights
Uses interviews with experts, potential customers, or focus groups

→ Leads to vast, unstructured, and imprecise data

Exploratory Research tests the business viability, and is usually undertaken to

estimate a ballpark figure such as:
◦ Number of Potential Customers (10,000 or 100,000) or
◦ Price (₹ 20,000 or ₹ 200,000) or
◦ Sales Cycle
Exploratory & Confirmatory Research
CONFIRMATORY – tests the
EXPLORATORY
hypotheses or specific ideas
the researcher has by this stage
in the research Expert Interviews
◦ Undertaken after the market is
well understood and the Customer Interviews
company’s challenges have
been identified, funding may Focus Groups
also have been secured
Surveys
Uses focus group, surveys,
concept testing, choice Choice Modelling
modelling
CONFIRMATORY
Secondary Data
Any data collected by others and put to use by a second party – providing background information,
broad market size, competitive information

◦ Market Reports
◦ News, Trade Journals, Research, Magazines
◦ Competitor Literature and digital properties
◦ Industry Organisations
◦ Consultants

Data may not be accurate or designed to match your need, however it is a good starting point to
estimate market size, growth, and industry competition
It also indicates focus areas for primary research
Primary Qualitative Research
In-depth Interviews

Focus Groups

Observation
◦ Research Diaries
◦ Ethnography
◦ Netnography
In-depth Interviews
Interviews with – potential (or existing) customers; retailers; distributors, experts

Provide grass-root level information about – value; segments; buying unit; purchase unit; buying
frequency and sales cycle; customer needs; problem and opportunity identification

Rule of Thumb – 10-20 interviews with each market segment

◦ Collect data from different segments and customers at different adoption stages
◦ You may stop when you hit response saturation
◦ Early-on responses may also change the course of future interviews
Expert Interviews
Industry experts have an in-depth understanding and a broader overview of the market and
customers
They can provide the following:
◦ Initial reality check – customers, competitors, and company value offering or brand positioning compared to
competition
◦ Ideas to refine your business concept and strategies to increase chances of success
◦ Additional questions that can be included in the exploratory research
◦ Priority order in the information sought from the research
◦ Locate information sources for secondary and primary data collection

Interviews with 3-5 industry experts will provide a rich understanding of the market, multiple
perspectives, and a robust research design
 Professional Executives
Consultants in the field (current or Investors
former)

Industry or Associated Staff Industry or Stock Analysts

Identify Experts using social and professional networks such as alumni, friends, mentors,
professional contacts, academicians; or industry news, or industry associations
Interview Structure
Make a simple and focused Interview Guide

◦ Structured – preset close-ended questions asked in a predetermined pattern in every interview; results in
quantitative data; requires a comprehensive list

◦ Semi-Structured – some guiding questions are planned in advance that may not follow the sequence or may
be skipped

◦ Open-ended – spontaneous open-ended questions asked in an informal manner and requires researcher’s
thorough understanding; results in qualitative data
 STRUCTURED UNSTRUCTURED
INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS

Questionnaire is the Interviewer is the

dominant factor dominant factor
 STRUCTURED UNSTRUCTURED
INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS
Analyse attitudes and values in-
Easy to replicate
depth
Probe subjective points-of-view in
Quick to conduct
respondents’ own words
Advantages
Flexible and can be adapted for
Not biased by the Interviewer
the respondent
Can include a large sample – Real understanding of the
to generalise results situation
Not Flexible Time-consuming
Disadvantages
Lack detail Depends on Interviewer’s skills
What format were your CAT interviews?
Focus Groups
5-10 potential customers put together in an open-ended discussion with a moderator

Respondents are selected by the moderator and a free exchange of ideas is sought on the subject
matter

A group may feel less threatening or more natural for participants, simulating a spontaneous
discussion, and aids in a more authentic stream of information

The moderator is a crucial element for the discussion and interpretation of results
Focus Group Discussions
Helps
◦ Explore issues and ideas
◦ Test reactions to product prototype; advertising samples
◦ Basic customer needs
◦ Ideate customer segments
◦ Uncover attitudes and motivations

Since it is an expensive exercise, it is usually used at the ideation or validation stage rather than
product concept stage
The cost depends on the respondents characteristics
Observation Research
Naturalistic Observation – directly in the environment

Participant Observation – participants in a study

Structured Observation – in a lab or simulated environment

Longitudinal Observation – over a set period of time

Describe phenomena; study how real-life factors alter behaviour

Ethnography
Observations and interviews to understand how people and societies function – researchers
immerse themselves in the particular community to interact and observe behaviours

Learn first hand and observe life as it happens in a socio-cultural dynamic

Results in authentic data with direct access to the culture of the group

Ethical concerns
Netnography
Ethnography on the internet – participant-observation in online fieldwork

Data sources include online forums, social media, blogs, digital communities, online reviews, content
sharing platforms

Analyses online conversations and cultures over a period of time

Used to: define concepts and related dimensions, adapt knowledge to different contexts (Santos et
al, 2022); identify and understand consumer segments
Market Research and Practice areas that use Netnography

Online Communities Product Development

Consumption Patterns Content Marketing

Brand Communities Social Media Monitoring & Listening

Competitive Analysis
Consumer Identity
Customer Research
Brand Management
E-W-o-M
Co-Creation
Destination Branding
Research Diaries
A longitudinal self-report of ‘life as lived’ by participants in a chronological snapshot recording
thoughts, feelings, behaviours, attitudes and motivations, habits, customer journey
◦ Micro-moments and deeper insights; user habits and usage scenarios
◦ Behavioural change and change in perception over time

May range from well-structured entries to unstructured narrations

◦ Free form or Open v/s Structured or Closed
Research Diaries – Use cases
Product or Website; Behaviour; General Activity Patterns; Specific Activity Patterns

Used in – Discovery Phase; Early Stage Prototype Testing; After Development; After Launch

Entry Frequency – Event occurs; Predetermined intervals; Researcher-triggered signal; Snippets

Participants – Screening (with basic requirements); Profiling (who is your target or dream customer)
Data Anonymity and Privacy
Exploratory Research Analysis
Prepare data transcripts in a digital format

Thematic Analysis
◦ Codify data using emerging patterns
◦ Themes; Subthemes; Cases

Deductive
◦ Preset categories and map data to these categories
Thematic Analysis
Code – word or phrase that is used to label different parts of the textual data
◦ Refer to Research Questions while assigning codes and themes
◦ E.g.: Consumer Product Preference; Media Habits; etc.

Look at these codes collectively and explore possible relationships, differences, opposing or similar
views to uncover themes
 Participant 1: “I like ingredients that can be cooked in multiple ways”

Participant 2: “I like ingredients that go well with many other ingredients”

Participant 3: “I wish I could have ingredients that I can use to make different dishes
throughout the week”

Researcher-generated Code: One Ingredient Fits All

Researcher-generated Theme: Customers prefer flexibility of ingredients
 Fruitzone (A):
Designing the RQs
Details & Structure
Indian Subsidiary of MNC Gypsy Inc., the global beverage leader

The company was contemplating launching a new flavour of fruit juice and hired an external agency
(IMI) for the market research

IMI conducted secondary research, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and a
questionnaire survey to evaluate purchase intention
Case A: Research Design
Case B: Exploratory Research
Case C: Questionnaire Construction
Case D: Data Analysis Plan
IMI Research
Defined Business Decision Problem:
“Should FIL (Tropiviva) launch sugarcane juice? If yes, what should be the marketing mix for the
launch?”

Defined Market Research Problem

◦ What is the target segment for sugarcane juice?
◦ What is the price that customers are ready to pay for packaged sugarcane juice?
◦ What are expectations from the packed sugarcane juice?
◦ What are the taste variants that customers prefer in sugarcane juice?
◦ Which form would customers prefer – can, tetra pack, or bottle?
◦ Management’s Suggested Addition – How satisfied are customers with the Tropiviva Brand?
Problem Definition
Has the management decision problem been defined appropriately?

Has the marketing research problem been defined appropriately?

◦ Reference rather than defined limit
◦ Inhibitions
◦ Other possible variants

→ Exhaustive, and does not assume that the product should be launched; however, this is just an
initial list and can not be comprehensive at this stage
Overall Research Plan
Phase-I (Exploratory Research)
◦ Secondary – to understand Tropiviva’s performance vis-à-vis competitors, acceptability of sugarcane juice
◦ Primary Data from Focus Groups (homogenous profiling) – understanding feasibility rather than consumer
perception of such a product, juice preferences and seasonal patterns for the probable segments
◦ Primary Data from In-depth Interviews (RSM, Retailers, Roadside Vendors) – reliance on experts for adding a
new flavour

Phase-II (Confirmatory Research)

◦ Survey of Potential Customers
What Next?
Next exploratory stage…
➢ What is it that customers like about fruit juices, and what drives consumption, buying, and
preferences for a particular juice?
➢ Is there willingness to buy packed sugarcane juice in the market?
➢ What are the expectations from packaged sugarcane juice? (health, price, packaging,
availability, etc.)
➢ Which form of packaging will consumers prefer – can, tetra pack, bottle?
➢ What is the target segment for sugarcane juice?
➢ What are the taste variants in sugarcane juice that customers prefer?
Thank You