Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-1

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-2 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 6 Marketing Research and Decision Support Systems

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-3 Chapter Objectives Understand the purpose and functions of marketing research Be familiar with the stages of the marketing research process Discuss different types of research designs, data collections methods, and sources of secondary and primary research data Understand many of the major issues involved with survey design and sampling Appreciate the role of marketing research within decision support systems

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-4 Marketing research links consumer, customer, and public through information used to:  Identify and define marketing opportunities  Generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions  Monitor marketing performance  Improve understanding of marketing as a process Marketing Research:  Specifies the information required to address these issues  Designs the methods for collecting information  Manages and implements the data collection process  Analyzes the results  Communicates the findings and implications What is Marketing Research?

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-5 Simply put: marketing research generates information for all stake holders Marketing research is useful in planning, problem solving, and control Refer: exhibit 6 – 1

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-6 Marketing Research Process

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-7 Problem Definition First step in any marketing research project and is critical to its success Business problems are often the differences between the ways things should be and the way they are. Researchers and management need to understand the research problem clearly. Problem definition stage is often difficult because the expectations and desires of managers and researchers do not match. Problem definition stage should suggest approaches for determining which marketing research design to use.

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-8 Research Design Research designs are strategies and plans of action for addressing the research problem, data collection, and analysis process. The three purposes of research result in three general types of research designs:  Exploratory Design  Descriptive Design  Causal Design

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1-9 Types of Research Designs Exploratory  Typically carried out to satisfy the researcher’s desire for better understanding, or to develop preliminary background and suggest issues for a more detailed follow-up design. Descriptive  Normally directed by one or more formal research questions or hypothesis.  A survey or questionnaire is administered to a sample population of interest. Causal  Primarily used to identify cause-and-effect relationships.  Calls for experiments in which researchers manipulate independent variables.

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Data Types Primary Data  Primary data are collected specifically for a particular research problem.  Most frequently associated with marketing research, such as survey data.  Polls on the standing of political candidates before the elections are an example. Secondary Data  Secondary data are those already collected for some other purpose and are available from a variety of sources.  Corporate libraries, outside vendors, universities offer secondary data.  Internal secondary data are collected from within the organization.  External secondary data may be proprietary or non-proprietary:  Non-proprietary secondary data are available in libraries and public sources.  Syndicated secondary data are provided by commercial marketing research firms that sell their services to other firms.

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Data Types Primary DataSecondary Date SURVEYSINTERNAL DATA - Mail- Company records - Telephone- Data from MDSS INTERVIEWSEXTERNAL DATA - Mall interceptsProprietary - Personal interviews- Custom Research - Syndicated services FOCUS GROUPSNonproprietary - Personal- Published reports - Mechanical- Census data - Periodicals

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Data Collection Methods Focus Groups Telephone Surveys Mail Surveys Personal Interviews Mail Intercepts Internet Surveys Projective Techniques Observations

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Data Collection Instruments Data collection involves preparation of data collection instrument e.g. survey or questionnaire. The instrument is then tested on a sample population and revised as needed. Final instrument should consist of unambiguous, concise, and unbiased questions. Error examples: double barreled wording, loaded wording, ambiguous wording, inappropriate vocabulary, and missing alternatives

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Sample Design Probability sampling: each person or unit in the population has a known, nonzero chance of being selected by some objective procedure. Non-probability sampling: the selection of a sample is based on the judgment of the researcher or field worker. Sampling frame: is the outline or working description of the population used in sample selection. Sample size: number of samples tested. Response rate: is the percentage of responses out of all contacted.

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Fieldwork: is the process of contacting respondents, conducting interviews, and completing surveys. Analysis & interpretation: various techniques ranging from straightforward frequency distribution, means, and percentages to complex multivariate statistical tests may be adopted for analysis and interpretation. Evaluating research: after completion of research, validity and reliability of procedures is evaluated.

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Evaluating Marketing Research

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Ethical Issues in Marketing Research Excessive interviewing Lack of consideration Abuse of respondents Delivering sales pitches under the guise of marketing research

Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Ethical Issues in Marketing Research Incomplete reporting of results Misleading reporting of results Nonobjective research Use of data and the confidentiality of information collected