Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Consumer Research and the Research Process

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Consumer Research seeks to answer the: Who? What? How? Why? Where? When? questions

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Logical Process

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Who? What? How? Where? When? Why? Customer and Market Profile Marketing Management Marketing Strategy and Operations Research and Action

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Types of Consumer Research Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research…relates to Uncertainty Motivational Research

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Exploratory Research Initial research to clarify a problem or opportunity Basis for further research e.g. identifying consumer segments

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Exploratory Research Quantitative Secondary Research Basis for further research e.g. identifying consumer segments

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Exploratory Research Quantitative Secondary Research – Census Data Observation Qualitative Interviews Focus Groups

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Descriptive Research Describes the nature and characteristics of a market or situation e.g. Customer Profile

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Motivational Research Designed to probe consumer’s hidden and subconscious motivations. What are the REAL reasons people are buying/behaving towards products today? Dichter 1954

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Causal Research Describes the nature of variables and cause and effect relationships e.g. effect of advertising on Consumers

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme The Research Process A logical set of stages that research goes through o produce ROBUST and RELEVANT Marketing Intelligence

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Consumer Research - Secondary Data Sources

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Generating Data Data is generated in 2 basic ways: Secondary data : Data already existing – may have been collected for other purposes + / - Primary data: Original data – collected for a specific purpose

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Secondary Data Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research project

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Example

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Uses of secondary data Helps to clarify research requirements Answers some of the research needs Enables more insightful interpretation of primary data Provides comparative data Provides information that cannot be obtained through primary research

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Benefits of secondary data Faster Less expensive to collect Internet can be used, increasing speed further

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Limitations of secondary data Availability Applicability Accuracy Comparability

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Evaluation of secondary data Is relevant data available? Is the cost of data acquisition acceptable? Is the data in an appropriate format? Does the data apply to the time period of interest? If ‘Yes’, go to original source if possible – Is the data likely to be unbiased? Can the accuracy of the data be verified? Can it be obtained within the timescale of the project? If ‘Yes’, then use the data If ‘No’, then undertake primary research

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Internal Secondary Research Sources Sales figures Operational data – stock levels, etc. Customer satisfaction results Advertising spend Customer complaints records Effectiveness data from promotional campaigns Marketing research reports from past studies

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme External Secondary Research Sources Internet – single search engines, and multiple search engines Directories Country information Published marketing research reports News sources Newsgroups and discussion lists

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme The management information system (MIS) “A system within an organisation that supplies information and communication services and resources to meet organisation needs.” (CIM)

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme The marketing information system (MkIS) “People, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers” (Kotler et al)

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme The structure of an information system Technology infrastructure Hardware Systems software Applications software Communications Data infrastructure Databases Database management Archiving Personnel Technology developers Systems operators Systems maintainers Users User support

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme The marketing information system (MkIS) Marketing intelligence Marketing research Internal records Information analysis Marketing environment Target markets Marketing channels Competitors Publics Macro- environment forces Marketing managers Analysis Planning Implementation Organisation Control Developing information Distributing information Assessing information needs Marketing information system Marketing decisions and communications

Consumer Behaviour Bangor Transfer Abroad Programme Today’s Task Carry out - Explanatory/Descriptive Research on the theme park market in China Define terms and parameters……