1. Marketing Research

2. Marketing Research
The process of defining a marketing problem and opportunity, systematically collecting and analyzing information, and recommending action.

3. Uses of Marketing Research
Movies
Shoeless Joe became Field of Dreams
3000 became Pretty Woman
Sneak Previews help with selecting scenes
Pocahontas has scenes cut because preview audiences were confused
My Best Friend’s Wedding ending changed because preview audiences didn’t like the ending

4. Marketing Research
Helps identify and define things that might be wrong with your product/service
Improves the marketing of products/services
Is not foolproof
Can reduce some risk in marketing decisions

5. Difficulties in Marketing Research
If a researcher asks a “Yes/No” question, that’s all they’re going to get
Brand new products have nothing to be compared to
Personal questions
“Actual Self” vs. “Ideal Self”

6. Definitions Decision Decision Making
Conscious choice from among two or more alternatives
Decision Making
Act of consciously choosing between alternatives with formal, structured approaches

7. Marketing Research Approach
Step #1: Define Problem
Step #2: Develop the Research Plan
Step #3: Collect Relevant Information
Step #4: Develop Findings
Step #5: Take Marketing Actions

8. Marketing Research Approach

9. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Fisher-Price Example
NY nursery children play with toys in a room with a one-way mirror
Watch kids play with various versions of their toy

10. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Set Research Objectives
Marketing objectives must be specific and measurable
Examples include increase sales, increase profits, find out consumer wants, find out why your product is selling poorly
Fisher-Price objective is to decide to market new phone or not

11. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Set Research Objectives
After objectives are set, you have to decide what kind of research you will complete
Kinds of Research
Exploratory Research – Can provide ideas about a relatively vague problem (Interview for new ideas)
General Mills figured out first version of Hamburger Helper wasn’t well liked by consumers. Interviewed for improvement ideas

12. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Set Research Objectives
Kinds of Research
Descriptive Research – The frequency that something occurs or the extent of the relationship between 2 factors
How many people buy your product and how many buy competitions product

13. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Set Research Objectives
Causal Research – Most advanced form of research, looks at determining how much the change in one product changes another
Changing toy design is related to changes in amount of time kids play with that toy

14. Marketing Research Approach Step 1: Define Problem
Identify Possible Marketing Actions
Decision makers create measures of success
Criteria or standards used in evaluating proposed solutions to a problem
Findings in your research lead to different marketing actions based on measures of success

15. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Specify Constraints
Constraints are restrictions that are placed on potential solutions to a problem
Examples are time and money used

16. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Identify data needed for marketing actions
Only focus on information that is relevant to solve this particular problem

17. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Determine How to Collect Data
Concepts in marketing are ideas about products or services
In marketing research, new product concepts are a picture or verbal description of a product or service that the firm might offer for sale
Chatter Telephone with noisemaker, wheels, eyes

18. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Determine How to Collect Data
Methods are approaches that can be used to collect data to solve all or part of a problem
Sampling
Statistical Inference

19. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Determine How to Collect Data
Sampling is selecting elements from an entire population that are representative of that population
Probability Sampling uses exact rules to select sample so that each element has a specific known chance of being selected
Sample is representative of entire population and allows conclusions to be drawn about entire population

20. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Determine How to Collect Data
Nonprobability Sampling uses arbitrary judgements to select samples so that chance of selecting a particular element may be unknown.
Allows bias and can be dangerous in research outcome

21. Marketing Research Approach Step 2: Develop Research Plan
Determine How to Collect Data
Statistical Inference draws conclusions about the research population from a sample
Population is entire group of people that the researchers are wanting to find out information – MTSU students, dog owners, children between ages of 3-4
Sample is a portion of the population

22. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Data are the facts and figures related to a problem
Primary data are new facts and figures just collected for problems
Secondary data are facts and figures that you already had before working on problem

23. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Secondary Data
Secondary data has two components – Internal and External
Internal data is what’s already been collected and is stored inside the company
Product sales data, customer service logs
External data is published outside company
Information from U.S. Census Bureau, Nielsen Media Research

24. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Secondary Data
Advantages
Time saving
Low cost
More detail than primary data
Disadvantages
Out of date
Categories may not be specific to your project
May not be specific enough for your project

25. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Also has two components
Observing people
Asking people questions

26. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Observational data is facts and figures obtained by watching how people behave
Best Western hotels found women decide when to stop on road trips and where to stay – target more messages to women

27. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Questionnaire data are facts and figures obtained by asking people about attitudes, awareness, intentions, and behaviors
Try to focus on project at hand

28. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Questionnaire data
Individual Interviews (research by asking one person a question
Focus Groups (groups of 6-10 past, present, or prospective customers)
Use moderator to lead discussion
Usually recorded
One way mirrors
Get ideas and concerns because of group discussion, not just answer to question

29. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Questionnaire data
Unique ways to collect data
Results in very basic actions/questions
Identify upcoming trends
Example is Teenage Research Unlimited. They collect data from 2,000 teens twice a year. They ask what they like, wear, listen to, watch, read. Identifies lifestyles, attitudes, trends, behavior. Directly asks what the teens think are “cool” products.

30. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.

31. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Questionnaire data
Sample includes past, present, and prospective customers
Large sample size

32. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Questionnaire Data – Types
Personal Interviews
Mall Intercept Surveys
Mail Surveys
Telephone Interviews
, Fax, Internet Surveys

33. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data

34. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
A panel is a sample of consumers that researchers take a series of measurements over time
Asks panel participants many questions about many various products
Conducted by research firm
Company can look at this and see how consumers change over time
Disadvantage – research firms must replace participants that quit

35. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Experiments obtain data by manipulating factors under tightly controlled conditions to test cause and effect
Want to see if changing an independent variable (cause) changes the dependent variable that is being studied (the result)
Independent variables usually are the marketing mix elements (Ads, coupons)
Dependant variable is usually purchase behavior

36. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Experiments
Test markets offer product in a limited area for a limited time to help decide effectiveness of marketing actions.
Wal-Mart opened 3 stand-alone supercenters in 1988 to test market, now has over 1,000
Disadvantage is outside factors

37. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Primary Data
Advantages
More specific than secondary data
Disadvantages
More expensive than secondary data
More time consuming that secondary data

38. Marketing Research Approach Step 3: Collect Relevant Info.
Data mining
Taking “hidden” information from large databases
Finds links that may suggest marketing actions
Example is Fingerhut magazine
People that move are 3 times as likely to buy more “home” products
Created special magazine for people that recently moved

39. Marketing Research Approach Step 4: Develop Findings
“Collecting data is like collecting garbage. You’ve got to know what you’re going to do with the stuff before you collect it.”
Mark Twain

40. Marketing Research Approach Step 4: Develop Findings
Analyze data collected to see if answers research objectives set in Step #1
Present findings
Clear and easily understood
Concise

41. Marketing Research Approach Step 5: Take Marketing Actions
Make action recommendations based on research findings
Implement the action(s) recommended
Evaluate results
Determine if the recommended action needs to continue to be effective in the long run
Determine if the market research and analysis was effective
Always look for improvement