1. 5.04

2. D EFINE CONSUMER RESEARCH. Consumer research gathers information to learn what consumers want and need. Research is important because consumer trends change.

3. I DENTIFY STEPS FOR CONDUCTING CONSUMER RESEARCH. Define the focus of the research. What type of information needs to be gathered? What questions need to be answered?

4. Define which type of research design will be used. Exploratory research is used when the problem or opportunity is not defined. Example: New Balance is unsure why the sales of their new running shoes are stagnant. Descriptive research is used to gather information regarding the characteristics of a target market. Example: New Balance surveys Cross Country coaches in the area to determine the perception of their new running shoes. Causal research is used to demonstrate the cause and effect relationship. Example: New Balance would like to know if changing their advertising efforts from billboards to television ads will result in increased sales.

5. Collect data. Primary data is information gathered for the first time. Example: Speedo wants to know what consumers think about their new product, so they design and administer a questionnaire to collect the data. Secondary data is information that has already been collected. Example: Census Bureau data already exists and is available online. Methods for obtaining feedback. Personal observation, which is watching consumers at an event. Focus groups, which are structured discussions led by a moderator. Questionnaires, which are instruments used to gather feedback from consumers.

6. Determine sample. A sample is a group of people representative of the population. Sampling helps make generalizations about a group of consumers.

7. Administer the survey.

8. Analyze and interpret the results of the survey.

9. Recommend solutions. Report the findings from the survey. A findings report should include: Title page. Acknowledgements. Contents. Charts, tables and graphs. Introduction. Review of information. Data collection used. Findings. Recommendations. Conclusions. Appendices. Bibliography.

10. Implement solutions.

11. D ESIGN A QUESTIONNAIRE. Methods of administration include: Mail. Telephone. E-mail. Web sites. Personal interviews.

12. 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.

13. Sequence. Begin with broad questions. Group similar topics together. Consider skip patterns. Example: If a respondent answered yes to question 4, they should skip to question 8. Used infrequently. Can be confusing.

14. Physical characteristics. Simple to complete. Headings for each section. Easy to understand directions. Enough room for responses to open-ended questions.