Knowing your Market Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Lecture Aims At the end of this lecture you should : Be able to define marketing research and discuss how it might help you with a business idea. Be familiar with the research process. Understand the different between primary and secondary research. Understand the importance of choosing a sample correctly Be able to discuss the main qualitative and quantitative methods Be aware of some of the pitfalls when designing a questionnaire Be aware that marketing research should be undertaken ethically Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Marketing Research is “Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information….used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyses the results, and communicates the findings and their implications”. (AMA, 2004) Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Simply… The function that links the consumer, customer and public to the market through information…. Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Marketing Research is about… 1.Our customers 2.Our Market 3.Our stakeholders Who?What? Where?How? Why? Market? OR Marketing Research? Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Marketing Research Identification of Opportunities and Problems Generate, refine and evaluate marketing activities Monitor marketing Strategies Improve understanding of marketing as a process ££££ 1-2% of sales Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Market or Marketing Research Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Do we always need to research? There is insufficient time Information is already available You have no resource Costs outweigh the value of the research Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Systematic Process- stage in research projects Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Research Questions Paws-Play Problem: Should I set up my new pet Day care service? What research questions can you come up with? Define Research question Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Quantitative Research Research involving the use of structured questions where the response options have been predetermined and a large number of respondents is involved Qualitative Research Collecting, analysing and interpreting data by observing what people do and say Mixed method approaches- triangulation Research Design Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Primary v Secondary data Primary Data is gathered by the researcher specifically for the research or project in hand Secondary data is second hand information i.e. collected by someone other than the researcher and/ or for another purpose. Which one is done first? Research Design Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Secondary data Advantages Quick Inexpensive Readily available Enhances primary data May completely answer your question Disadvantages Measurement may not match your needs Out of date Difficult to assess the credibility Research Design Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Evaluating secondary data ( Open University, 2012) P R O M P T Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Secondary or desk research e/Tourism-Culture-Sportshttp:// e/Tourism-Culture-Sports Newspaper/ trade press Internal external Professional research Using the internet-Finding secondary data- search engines, databases, discussion groups, What are the main problems of secondary data from the internet? Research Design Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Sampling Asking the right people Sampling Procedure Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Types of sample Non probability Convenience sampling Snowballing Quota sampling Probability Random sampling Stratified sampling Cluster sampling Sampling Procedure Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

How Big Should My Sample Be? As big as possible! Variability- number of subgroups to be analysed Resources variable Research Method Can use statistics to work out sample size. It is not based on size of population Big enough to be representative…and achieve statistically significant results Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Primary Research- some ideas Observation Survey Research Focus Groups Omnibus research Research Methodology Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

How will you carry out a survey? Face to face- where and how? Online e.g. Social media Telephone Mail Do it! Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Questionnaire Design- Establish Questionnaire Flow & Layout General guidelines Screening Questions Warm ups Transitions (statements and skips) Complicated & difficult to answer questions Classification and demographic questions Prompts Research Methodology Do it! Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Open or Closed? OpenClosed Easier to analyse Restricts answers Allow easier comparison between respondents Quicker to complete Allows respondent to use their own words More depth Brings up answers not expected Takes longer to complete Difficult to analyse Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

What’s wrong with these questions? 1.Should the university provide an escort service to the young, vulnerable students taking night classes? 2.Should the university provide an escort service for women students taking night classes just like other universities do? 3.Should the university provide an escort service for women students and therefore reduce crime? Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

& these 4. When do you normally have dinner? 5. How much do you spend on clothes each year on average? 6. Which age group do you fall into? 18-30, , Would you say that you were? a.Working class b.Middle class c.High class Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Consider the willingness of the respondent to answer the question –Bands of income –Embarrassing topics Third person Or state behaviour/attitude not unusual before asking the question e.g. “ millions of British suffer from x, do you or your family suffer from this problem Less intimidating for respondent Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Observation Focus groups Depth interviews Projective techniques Qualitative techniques Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Focus Groups A small group of people guided by a moderator through an unstructured, spontaneous discussion about a topic What are they used for? To generate ideas To understand vocabulary To reveal consumer needs, motives, perceptions and attitudes on products & services To get some initial response to advertising ideas To give understanding to findings from quantitative studies Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Analyse the information Keep it interesting Use appropriate figures Don’t change the meaning. Only show the essential results Descriptive statistics. Analyse the information Does it pass the so what test? Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Typical Research Report Structure Title page Contents Executive Summary Research background and objectives Methodology Research design Sample choice Analysis Findings Recommendations Prepare report Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Research Ethics Permission Anonymity Vulnerable people Truthful reporting Not trying to sell under guise of research (sugging) Timing and time taken Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Today we have… Talked about how research can help you with your business idea Introduced the research process- why it should be systematic Discussed research design- primary and secondary research; qualitative and quantitative- causal, descriptive and exploratory research Talked about the importance of choosing a good sample Looked at some of the methods you might use Considered a few poor questions Stressed the importance of being ethical Be aware that marketing research should be undertaken ethically Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016

Some on line reading from the H-W library Bailey, Pritchard and Kemohan (2015). Gamification in market research. International Journal of Market Research. 2015, Vol. 57 Issue 1, p Keegan, S (2009) Qualitative research : good decision making through understanding people, cultures and markets, Kogan page- ebook Kolb, B (2008) Marketing research : a practical approach Sage- eboook Enterprise and its Business Environment © Goodfellow Publishers 2016