Research Driven Decision Making (MBA 8652) Jeremy Kees, Ph.D.

Tonight’s Agenda 1.Review Course Structure / Expectations 2.Get to know each other 3.Introduction to Research 4.Start forming “teams”

ABOUT ME

My Research I am consumer researcher (consumer behavior) I am interested in public policy / social marketing issues (e.g., nutrition, obesity, smoking, pharma) 15 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals; invited research talks in various countries around the word; lots of “popular press” mentions Consult for industry (pharma) and FDA

Course Overview Application Focused –Focus on “non-technical” research topics –Real examples –Experienced guest speakers –No “text” –Project-focused weekly assignments Exam

General Course Outline The Research Process Problem Identification Study Design Measurement Sampling Data Collection No data analysis

Classroom Environment COME PREPARED!!!! Speak freely Bring your experiences

So, let’s get started with some basic content….

The purpose of research within an organizational context is…. __________________

The Need for Information… Marketing research focuses on the use of information as a source of strategic advantage As managers, we should strive for a thorough knowledge of customers, and their attitudes, tastes, preferences We should also want to keep an eye on competition (e.g., benchmarking) This information will help us making strategic marketing decisions (e.g., 4 P’s)

Let’s examine what marketing research is… 1.Managerial Function 2.It is the marketer’s (or firm’s) link to: 1.The External Environment 2.Customers 3.Consumers 3.Contributes to Marketing Knowledge

Who Uses Marketing Research? Fortune-500 Firms –e.g., product tweeks, shelf location, IMC campaigns, determining price points Entrepreneurs –e.g., Market size, growth potential, viability And everyone in-between…

Research Can Tell Us…. How our customer service is perceived by our customers and what particular areas we can improve on or emphasize How customers shop and how we can adjust our atmospherics to maximize sales What new products or new product features do customers want How customers perceive us in relation to our key competitor (or do they even recognize us as a key player in the industry) Who our most loyal customers are and how do we cater to this important segment Who our prototypical customer is How can we segment the market in more manageable groups What marketing communications are most effective at reaching various segments of the market What is going to be the demand for a new product or an existing product in a new market Where should we build our next retail location At what price point we can maximize profitability and maintain consumer demand Which media vehicles will be most effective to communicate our advertising message Etc.

Project vs. Process Approach Process Approach –“Ongoing” Research Marketing Information Systems (MIS) Decision Support Systems (DSS) –Based on the premise of collecting as much data as possible and building decision models that help us achieve optimal decisions

Project vs. Process Approach Project Approach –Our perspective for this course –Unique problems require unique designs, measures, samples, analyses, etc. –Each component is separate, but all components are highly interrelated

Research Projects as Starting rather than Ending Points More often than not, a project reveals more questions than answers Research is an iterative process; each project contributes to knowledge (hopefully)

Research Projects as Starting rather than Ending Points MOST research is exploratory in nature –Secondary sources; informal observations, personal interviews, and focus groups; convenience samples, etc. –Output of exploratory research is ____?

Research Projects as Starting rather than Ending Points Once exploratory research has been exhausted and relationships are hypothesized, then we can move onto descriptive or causal designs –Much more structured—must lay out the who, what, when, where, why before data collection begins

Research: Information or Knowledge?? We know that research is more than data… But is it sufficient to have data from a research study to inform a managerial decision? –What about information? –What about knowledge?

Research: Information or Knowledge?? It is relatively easy to go from data to information It is much tougher to go from information to knowledge

Research: Information or Knowledge?? Consider the following example: –How many customers say that they intend to buy brand X next month? –How many consumers say that they intend to buy the product category? –How many of the consumers who say that they intend to buy the brand are likely to do so? –Can the intention-behavior relationship be generalized for the product category?

Research: Information or Knowledge?? But we’re not very good at this in practice Why hasn’t marketing as a discipline been successful at accumulating knowledge? –Profitability and prestige are constraints to discovering marketing knowledge –We also have a hard time sharing…

Research: Information or Knowledge?? To sum… Marketing research does not exist solely to provide information to decision makers But also to develop a core body of knowledge

Stages in the Research Process (Researchers Perspective) Determine Research Design Analyze and Interpret the Data Design Sample and Collect Data Formulate Problem Design Data Collection Method and Forms Prepare the Research Report

For Next Week…. Reading: –Beal: Chapters 1-2 and 4-6 –Andreasen, Alan R. (1985), “Backward Marketing Research,” HBR, May/June, Think about forming your groups