Marketing Decision-Making and Marketing Decisions Week One Review

The Knowledge Age Huge volumes of information now available Managers need to be selective and systematic As data is drawn from multiple sources, needs to be combined and analysed for it to be of value

Decision levels in organisations Business direction Market decisions Investment decisions New product development Positioning Strategic Operational Marketing mix decisions Customer service levels Competitive responses Campaigns Tactical 3

Typical applications for marketing research Market analysis New product/service development Selection of brand names and packaging Pricing decisions Advertising and promotion decisions Sales decisions Service support and complaint handling decisions 4

Summary Marketing Decisions Four types of decision area:: Marketing Research generates data and analysis for Marketing Decisions Four types of decision area:: - Market Research - Product Policy Research - Pricing Research - Communications Research PGDM

Summary Primary objective of researcher is to provide: Timely Accurate Relevant Data and analysis to Marketing Management Key word is ‘Robust”

Research and the Research Process

Types of Marketing Research Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research …relates to Uncertainty

Exploratory Research Initial research to clarify a problem or opportunity Basis for further research

Descriptive Research Describes the nature and characteristics of a market or situation e.g. much of Market Research is descriptive

Causal Research Describes the nature off variables and cause and effect relationships e.g. Market Modelling

Logical Process

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

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

Limitations of secondary data Availability Applicability Accuracy Comparability

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

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)