Consumer Research - the Research Process

Consumer Research seeks to answer the: Who? What? How? Why? Where? When? questions

Logical Process

Research and Action Who? What? How? Where? When? Why? Customer and Market Profile Marketing Management Marketing Strategy and Operations

Types of Consumer Research Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research…relates to Uncertainty Motivational Research

Exploratory Research Initial research to clarify a problem or opportunity Basis for further research e.g. identifying consumer segments

Exploratory Research Quantitative Secondary Research Basis for further research e.g. identifying consumer segments / Personas

Exploratory Research Quantitative Qualitative Secondary Research – Census Data Observation Qualitative Interviews Focus Groups

Descriptive Research Describes the nature and characteristics of a market or situation e.g. Customer Profile

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

Causal Research Describes the nature of variables and cause and effect relationships e.g. effect of advertising on Consumers

The Research Process A logical set of stages that research goes through o produce ROBUST and RELEVANT Marketing Intelligence

Consumer Research - Secondary Data Sources

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 + / -

Secondary Data Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research project

Example

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

Benefits of secondary data Faster Less expensive to collect Internet can be used, increasing speed further

Limitations of secondary data Availability Applicability Accuracy Comparability

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

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

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

External Secondary Research Sources Internet – Wikipedia… Good gateway to other sources if the citation is properly referenced.

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

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)

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

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

Today’s Task Carry out - Explanatory/Descriptive Research on the theme park market in China Define terms and parameters……