Marketing Research
The systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information
undertaken to improve management decision-making in marketing
Consumer Insights
the process of discovering consumers’ needs and wants
Can be obtained from marketing research
Include all company functional areas
Collect information from a wide variety of sources
Create more value for customers
Marketing Research Process
Defining the problem and research objective
Developing the research plan for collecting data
Implementing the research plan - collecting and analysing data
Interpreting and reporting the findings
Give insights into consumer perception, attitudes and buying behaviour
Can help companies assess market potential and market share
Measure the effectiveness of product, price, place and promotion strategy
Marketing manager best understands which information is needed
Researcher best understand marketing research, what is needed and how to obtain information
Research objective is the information needed to support decision making
A statement of research objectives can serve to guide the activities of research
Specific marketing problem
Plan outlines sources of existing data and spells
Specific research approaches, contact methods, sampling plans and instruments used to gather data
What information is needed
How the information can be obtained
What is the budget
Constraints - restrictions placed on potential solutions to a problem
Common problems are time and money
Secondary Data
Primary Data
Intrusion on Consumers' Privacy
facts and figures that are newly collected for the project
facts and figures that have already been
recorded before the project at hand
Advantages
Disadvantages
Time saving
Out-of-date
Inexpensive
Definitions/Categories not right
Not specific enough
Internal
Inputs
Budgets and expenses, sales call reports, customer data
External
Census reports
Outcomes
Actual sales, customer orders, customer communications
Trade associations
Business periodicals
Internet-based reports
3 types of research design
Exploratory
Descriptive
Casual
Provides ideas about a relatively vague problem
Helps suggest hypotheses
Data Collection method: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions
Describe things, markets, market potential for a product, demographics, consumers' attitudes, environment, competition
Data Collection method: Observations, Personal-administered surveys, telephone surveys and online surveys
Tries to determine the extent to which the change in one factor changes another one
Test the hypothesis about cause-and-effect relationships
Data Collection method: Experiments
Data Collection Methods
Contact Methods
Sampling Plan
Research Instruments
Gathering primary data
Observing relevant people. actions, and situations
Mechanical or personal observations
Social Listening
Process of continuously collecting conversations relating to your company, products, competitors, customers and potential customers
Social Media Platforms
Boolean Search
Third-Party Social Listening Tools
Questionnaire/ Survey Research
Experimental Research
asking questions about their knowledge, attitudes, preferences and buying behaviour
Includes interviews and focus group interviews
Produces quantitative data (flexible)
requires a large sample and careful survey design
Selecting matched groups of subjects
Give different treatments, controlling unrelated factors, checking for differences in group responses
Best for gathering casual information where it explains cause-and-effect relationships
Mail Surveys
flexible, produces a lot of data, low response rate
Telephone Surveys
flexible, fast, low response rate
Face-to-face interviews
Individual interview or focus group interview
Individual
flexible, trained interviewers guide and explain difficult questions
Focus Group
effective moderator who encourages free and easy discusiion
Flexible, high quality data, time-consuming
Online Research
Internet is an important tool for conducting research and developing customer insights
Traditional marketing research provides more logical consumer responses to structured and intrusive research questions
Web analytics - online behavioural, social tracking and targeting
A segment of the population selected to
represent the population as a whole
Sampling unit: Who is to be studied?
Sample size: What should the sample size be?
Probability Sample and Non-probability Sample
Sampling procedure: How should the people be chosen?
Mechanical Devices
checkout scanners, people meters and neuromarketing methods
Can also record and interpret human facial expression to gauge customers' physical reaction and response
Questionnaires
Most common type of research instruments
administered in person, by phone or online
Close ended, multiple-choice, open ended, dichotomous, semantic differential, likert scale questions
Close Ended/ Multiple Choice questions
Requires respondents to select one or more response options from a set of pre-determined choices
Open Ended questions
Allow respondents to express opinions, ideas or behaviors in their own words without being forced to choose among alternatives that have been predetermined
Dichotomous Questions
Fixed alternative question that only allow two possible responses - 'Yes' or 'No', 'True' or 'False' etc
Semantic Differential Questions
Contain a scale in which the opposite ends have adjectives with opposite meanings
Likert Scale Questions
To what extend do you agree or disagree to a statement
Errors in Questionnaires
Collecting, processing, and analysing information
Can involve fieldwork, which may increase cost of research
Isolate important information and insight
Check for data accuracy and completeness for correct analysis
Common questions: What factors contribute to the sales trends, Which age group of people are the biggest spender for the product and how frequently do they buy it, How did the company do as compared to the competitors this year?
Raw data has no meaning unless its classified, analysed and presented
Results tabulated and presented with graphical representations to make sense of data
use of data visualisation tools
pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs, histograms or frequency polygons
Findings can be interpreted in different ways
discussion between researchers and managers will help point out best interpretations
consumers strongly resent or even mistrust marketing research
led to lower survey response rates
ask only for the information needed, use it responsibly to provide customer value, and to avoid sharing information without the customer’s permission
Most major companies have now appointed a chief privacy officer (CPO)
Misuse of Research Findings
Research studies appear to be little more than vehicles for pitching the sponsor's product
Several associations have developed codes of research ethics and standards of conduct
unethical actions cannot be regulated away
Each company must accept responsibility for its own conduct
infringements upon rights to privacy, personal space, and freedom of movement
Without next generation endpoint security, network security and more, a malicious attack could be catastrophic for the public
Build your digital footprint
Audit your existing network
Join online communities
Attend virtual conferences
Get hold of online mentoring platforms