Keys to Successful Marketing  Must understand and meet customer needs and wants  To meet customer needs, marketers must collect information

The Role of Market research Market research provides consumer feedback  To provide a business with a comprehensive view of consumers in order to develop products and services that satisfy their needs better than the competition  It involves the capture and analysis of consumer, competitor and market trend data. Research can also provide information about the size and performance of markets. It can inform a business about who the key competitors are, what they are doing, and their market share.

The Collection Process  This collection process includes:  Intelligence generation o Monitoring the external environment o Collecting data o Coordinating the collected data  Intelligence dissemination Sharing the data gathered  Responsiveness Analyzing the data Detecting an anticipating customer demand Utilizing the information to develop effective marketing strategies

Information  Information gathered from others can be reported in:  Final reports  Journal articles  Oral presentations

Importance of collecting information Important because consumer trends change. It helps the business develop a clear and informed strategic business plan which all business colleagues can work towards fulfilling

Why collect information from customers?  To learn which products sell best in certain locations. Then, to make these products available in these locations where customers are most willing and able to buy them.

Why collect marketing information from other sources?  To find out what is happening in the external environment.  To know about the  - economy  - legal/political situations  - trends External Collection sources:  Government agencies  Trade organizations  Consumer reports

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research 1. The very fist step is to define the focus of the research. (it’s objective) ◦ What types of information need to be gathered? ◦ What questions need to be answered? ◦ 2. determine the type of data

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research  Define which type of research design will be used  Exploratory  Descriptive  Casual

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (con’t)  Exploratory research Used when the problem is not well-defined Answers questions such as, “Why are ticket sales down?”  Descriptive research Often used to determine characteristics of the target market Answers, “who, what, where, when, and how often” questions  Causal research Explores the relationship between two variables Answers questions such as, “Does increased advertising result in more ticket sales?”

Ways of collecting and reporting information, (Con’t) 3. Collect data. Primary data ○ Example: Hough SEM II class collecting data to measure game attendance Secondary data How to obtain feedback Personal observation Focus groups Questionnaires

Collecting Information  Marketing information can be collected in various ways: Primary research You collect it ○ May include surveys that can be mailed, posted on the Internet, conducted on the phone, or carried out in person by intercepting people at sporting events Secondary research Others have collected it ○ Obtaining and using data previously collected for another reason ○ Examining the content of written materials (e.g., financial statements, ticket sales numbers, newspaper articles, etc.)

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) 4. Determine sample. Group of people representative of the population. Helps make generalizations about a group of consumers. 5. Administer the survey 6. Analyze and interpret the results.

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) 7. Recommend solutions by creating a Marketing Report. Report the findings from the survey. An effective report answers specific research questions. (ONLY include information that is relevant to the marketing decision that management must take) A marketing report should include: ○ Title page ○ Acknowledgements ○ Contents ○ Introduction ○ Supporting charts, tables and graphs ○ Review of information

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research Marketing Report (continued) ○ Data collection procedures used. (this is considered to be one of the MAIN portions of a marketing report) Which research methods did you use? What types of primary & secondary data were collected? Describe the types of questions you asked. Provide a profile of people surveyed. ○ Findings ○ Limitations (time constraints, sampling bias, finances) Researchers should make sure that they include this “Limitation” section in the report ○ Recommendations ○ Conclusions ○ Appendix copies of questionnaires Interview forms Other technical documents ○ Bibliography ORAL REPORTS In oral reports the researched methods should only be mentioned briefly. The main thing to oral reports is to keep it relatively simple 8. Implement Solutions

Presenting Report Findings:  Use computer software if possible- This has proven to be an effective method of presenting complex report findings and recommendations to a large group of managers. Hold the viewers’ attentions Include text, graphics, sound, video More professional Can be shown to larger groups  Briefly describe research methods Focus on findings  Keep the presentation simple

Design a Questionnaire 1. Methods of administration include: Mail Telephone Websites Personal interviews

Design a Questionnaire (continued) 2. Content includes: Number of questions Availability of information Format ○ Open-ended ○ Closed-ended Question wording ○ Short ○ Unambiguous ○ One question per statement ○ Specific and clearly defined ○ Layman’s terminology

Design a Questionnaire (continued) 3. Sequence Begin with broad questions Group similar topics together Consider skip patterns 4. Physical characteristics Simple to complete Headings for each section Easy to understand Enough room for responses to open-ended questions