Market research in Business Unit 10

Market research is… 1 a b 2 3

“It ain’t the things we don’t know that gets us in trouble “It ain’t the things we don’t know that gets us in trouble. It’s the things we know that ain’t so.” Artemus Ward

Unit 10 Market research in Business Market research enables a business to find out information about its market, its customers and aspects of the business environment such as what competitors are doing. Businesses also use it to find out about customer views on current marketing campaigns.

Learning outcomes After completing this unit, you should: understand the main types of market research used to make marketing decisions be able to plan research be able to carry out research be able to interpret research findings

How you will be assessed For this unit you are expected to carry out some market research of your own. You will then need to produce a market research report setting out your findings. An oral presentation coupled with a clear written report will be an effective way of doing this.

Because Marketing Research is part of Marketing we should understand: What is marketing? What is the marketing concept? What is marketing strategy? Ch 1

managing customer relationships benefit the organization What is Marketing? Marketing has been defined by the AMA as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization its stakeholders. Ch 1

What is the Marketing Concept? The Marketing Concept is a business philosophy that holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists of the company’s being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to its chosen markets. Ch 1

What is Marketing Strategy? A Marketing Strategy consists of selecting a segment of the market as the company’s target market and designing the proper “mix” of the product/service, price, promotion, and distribution system to meet the wants and needs of the consumers within the target market. Ch 1

Learning by Doing: Let’s Apply Marketing to a Restaurant Target market segment? Marketing strategy Location? Menu? Prices? Type? Advertising?

Restaurant Marketing Decisions What if you owned a restaurant located in Manchester near the college? What would be your marketing strategy? How certain are you that you made the right decisions? Ch 1

Restaurant Marketing Decisions What if the restaurant was located near a university in a foreign country like China, Thailand, Italy, Iceland, or Peru? What would be your decisions? How certain are you that you made the right decisions now? So, what’s going on? Class comments? Ch 1

Key Point To practice marketing; to implement the marketing concepts; to implement marketing strategy, managers must make decisions. Many decisions require additional information and marketing research is needed in order to supply that information. Ch 1

We need Marketing Research to: Make the “right” decisions to Implement marketing Practice the marketing concept and Make the right decisions to select the right marketing strategy Ch 1

What is Marketing Research? (Burns and Bush Definition) Marketing research is the process of designing, gathering, analyzing, and reporting information that may be used to solve a specific marketing problem. Ch 1

Marketing Research Defined The systematic and objective process of generating information for aid in making marketing decisions

What is Marketing Research? AMA definition Marketing research: the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve the understanding of marketing as a process. Ch 1

Redefining Marketing Research Used to identify and define market opportunities and problems Information Generate, refine, and evaluate marketing performance Monitor marketing performance Improve understanding of marketing as a process

A Classification of Marketing Research Fig 1.1 Marketing Research Problem Identification Research Problem Solving Research Market Potential Research Market Share Research Market Characteristics Research Sales Analysis Research Forecasting Research Business Trends Research Segmentation Research Product Research Promotion Research Distribution Research

Market Research vs. Marketing Research Market research: the “systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data with respect to a particular market, where ‘market’ refers to a specific group in a specific geographic area.” Ch 1

What is the purpose of market research? What is market research? Why do companies carry out market research? How do companies carry out market research?

Determining When to Conduct Marketing Research Time Constraints Availability of Data Nature of the Decision Benefits vs. Costs Is sufficient time available? Information already on hand inadequate? Is the decision of strategic or tactical importance? Does the information value exceed the research cost? Conduct Marketing Research Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Do Not Conduct Marketing Research

Potential Value of a Marketing Research Effort Should Exceed Its Estimated Costs Research expenditures Delay of marketing decision and possible disclosure of information to rivals Possible erroneous research results Decreased uncertainty Increased likelihood of correct decision Improved marketing performance and resulting higher profits Costs Value

IT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR MANAGERIAL JUDGEMENT!! ALWAYS Remember Marketing Research is a tool. It assists marketing managers in their decision making. IT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR MANAGERIAL JUDGEMENT!!

Marketing Research Process Step 1: Problem Definition Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem Step 3: Research Design Formulation Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation

The Role of Marketing Research Fig 1.2 Customer Groups Employees Shareholders Suppliers Consumers Uncontrollable Environmental Factors Economy Technology Laws & Regulations Social & Cultural Factors Political Factors Controllable Marketing Product Pricing Promotion Distribution Variables Marketing Research Marketing Decision Making Providing Information Assessing Needs Marketing Managers Market Segmentation Performance & Control Target Market Selection Marketing Programs

1. Understand the main types of market research used to make marketing decisions Market research can be defined as the systematic gathering, recording and analysis of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services. This can be broken down as follows: systematic carried out in a careful and organised way gathering and recording of data collection of data and setting this down in writing or (more likely) in computer records analysing the data identifying patterns and trends problems relating to marketing these include what price to charge, how best to advertise the goods and services, where to sell them from and so on

A simpler definition of market research that is easy to remember is: ‘Keeping those who provide goods and services in touch with the requirements of those who buy them’ There are two main methods that be used for market research: primary research collecting new information secondary research using research that is already published.

Observing behaviour https://www.targetcomponents.co.uk/shoptalk/get_retailing/10_tips_for_better_store_layout/ALL http://www.mcvaninc.com/blog/bid/307182/Retail-Store-Layout-A-Powerful-Tool-to-Help-You-Increase-Sales

Primary research methods Information that an organisation collects from its own research efforts is termed ‘primary’. This involves the collection of new information for a specific purpose. In groups find 4 different types of primary research What are they? What are they used for? What are the advantages of using the research method? What are the disadvantages? Give an example of when a business could use them What marketing objective could they help to meet

Primary research methods Join with another team, discuss your findings You should have 6 different methods in your team The groups should now present back their methods until each method has been covered

Primary research methods observation experimentation surveys face-to-face postal email telephone e-marketing research focus groups panels field trials piloting http://readingcraze.com/index.php/types-of-primary-data/

Primary data You have been approached by a company who think that they could open a successful business providing food, drink and social space for students near The Manchester College In pairs pick 3 forms of Primary Data collection and decide; How you are going to collect relevant data What will you be asking What do you expect to find from your data What are the benefits of the methods you have chosen What are the drawbacks / limitations of the methods You should design and carry out 2 of your methods The AIM of the research is to find out: Should you open this business? What will the business be like? Price, Products, Place, Promotions, People, Physical evidence, Processes http://www.wireuk.org/ten-steps-towards-designing-a-questionnaire.html