marketing research & strategies: quantitative research

1

MARKETING RESEARCH & STRATEGIESBUSI-348-01Professor ConradQuantitative Research

2 SURVEY RESEARCH • Review research problem and objectives• Quantitative Research and Survey Design Defined• Response Rate Calculations• Survey Data Collection Methods

3

REVIEW Define the Research Problem

Failure to meet an objective (negative) or identification of an opportunity (positive)1. Recognize the problem2. Conduct a situation analysis3. Determine the decision(s) that need to be made4. Identify additional information that is needed5. Develop a concise problem statement

Develop Research Objective Further specifies the kind of information required, often including terminology specific to

a product category or technology Define the Constructs and Variables to be measured

Construct: abstract idea or concept composed of a set of attitudes or behaviors that are thought to be related (Burns, Veeck and Bush, 2017, p. 51)

Variable: something that changes or that can be changed : something that varies (Meriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017)

4

ACTIVE VERBS FOR OBJECTIVESIdentify

DefineMonitor

DescribeExplore

GenerateEvaluatePrioritize

SelectTest

MeasureTrack

Problems, opportunities, choice criteriaConcept, design, potentialTrends, competition, diffusionUsage model, decision process, work contextPerceptions, reactions, remediesHypotheses, alternatives, enhancementsFeasibility, attractiveness, potentialSegments, needs, opportunitiesProduct concept, ad execution, pricePreference, direction, profitabilityGrowth, size, frequencySpending, satisfaction, awareness

5

RESEARCH ACTIVITYClient: Dough Re MiBuckhannon, WV

6

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVESThe owner is concerned about how her business is going.• What is the status of sales for Dough Re Mi?

Secondary Research• Sales have remained stagnant for the past 12

months.

7

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVESQualitative Research• Why are sales remaining stagnant?• Conducts impromptu interviews off-site and

identifies that people don’t know about Dough Re Mi.Problem Statement for Quantitative

Research• How can we improve the awareness of Dough Re

Mi?

8

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVESDefining Constructs• Awareness and knowledge of local

businesses• Buckhannon residents• WVWC studentsDefine Variables

• Methods for gaining awareness/information

9

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVESResearch Objectives• Identify traditional promotional tactics

students use to learn about local businesses.

• Identify non-traditional promotional tactics students use to learn about local businesses

• Define the best possible promotional tactics to increase awareness with students

10

WHAT IS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH?Descriptive Research

“A research design in which the major emphasis is on determining the frequency with which something occurs or the extent to which two variables co-vary” (American Marketing Association, 2017).

Consumers are represented as precise sets of numerical relationships

To make measurements of the relationships“Research involving the administration of a set of structured questions with predetermined response options to a large number of respondents” (Burns, Veeck and Bush, 2017, p. 113)

11

12

SURVEY COLLECTIONDifference from Qualitative Research

Questions and answers are predesigned Large number of respondents

Evolution

PanelsInternet-

based Surveys

Computer-assisted

Telephone Interviews

Telephone-based Data Collection

Printed Questionnaire

s

13

Cost for Survey Research Sample Size

Free if you use your own list Panels can cost a few $1,000 Phone survey can cost >$100,000

Access to Sample General consumer population is less Specialized populations can be expensive

Survey Length Longer surveys affects response rate

Analysis Sophisticated analysis can be expensive Modest compared to other costs

Reasons for Survey Research

Customer Satisfaction Segmentation Studies Product Usage and Ownership Purchase Intentions Brand Image and Perceptions Tracking Studies Media Usage Readership Studies

SURVEY COLLECTION

14

Tells ‘what’ but not ‘why’Inability to probe for moreSimilar to interviews, may be limited and biasedResponse rates are increasingly declining (Why?)

ADVANTAGES

Provides large sample precisionStandardization

Easy and cost-efficientAnalysis is easy with technology

Reveal complex, multi-level distinctions among groups

Can compare segments/subgroups

DISADVANTAGES

15

RESPONSE RATE GOALSThe higher the response rate, the more accurate the results

McQuarrie (2016) >50% offers worst-case scenario <50% is an issue (McQuarrie, 2016)

SurveyGizmo.com (2017) Internal surveys (to employees/staff) typically receive 30-40% on average

External surveys (to customers) will average a 10-15% response rate

16

Activity:Dough Re Mi wants their survey to be 95% accurate with a +/-5% Margin of Error. What percentage of the total population needs to respond to the survey to provide the desired statistical accuracy?Consider:• Total Population• Demand for Coffee

Shops

5%

Source: (Van Bennekom, 2017)

17

CALCULATE THE NUMBER OF INVITES Activity:

Dough Re Mi will be using an incentive to increase response rates: A drawing for 3 $25 gift certificates.With this in mind, the owner expects a high response rate of 60%.How many invitations need to be sent out to meet this expectation?

Source: SurveyMonkey.com

18

IMPROVING RESPONSE RATESSurvey Design

Keep your survey short (10 minutes max)

Keep your language simple Let respondents skip open-ended questions

Test before full deploymentFocus on the Audience

Use a qualifying question to eliminate the wrong people

Source: SurveyMonkey.com and SurveyGizmo.com

Encourage Responses Offer survey results Offer incentive (e.g. drawing for gift card)

Survey Deployment Keep contact info up-to-date E-mail + Social Media + Print Customize the invite Send out reminders

19

METHODS FOR COLLECTING DATA

Person-administered and computer-assisted• In-home survey• Mall-intercept

survey• In-office survey• Telephone survey

Computer-administered• Fully automated

survey• Online survey

Self-administered• Group self-

administered survey

• Drop-off survey• Mail survey

20

21

RESEARCH ETHICS Treat respondents with respect and in a professional manner. Protect the rights of respondents, including the right to refuse to participate in

part or all of the research process. Influence no respondent’s opinion or attitude through direct or indirect

attempts, including the framing or order of questions. Protect the privacy of respondents. Proactively or upon request identify by name the research organization

collecting data. Obtain consent from respondents prior to utilizing their data in a manner

materially different from that to which the respondent has agreed. Ensure that respondent information collected during any study will not be used

for sales, solicitations, push polling or any other non-research purpose.Source: (Marketing Research Association, 2013)

22 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

23

MEASURES FOR QUESTIONNAIRE CONTENTNominal

• Categorizes respondents into subgroups• Descriptive characteristic• Demographics: Age, income, occupation,

education• Answers are standard

Ordinal• Profiles the respondents• Relative size difference: Greater than/less than• Natural order of object: 1st, 2nd or 3rd • Exact differences are unknown

Scale

• Measures the level of something: satisfaction• Ratio scale: has a true zero origin (dollars,

miles, years)• Interval scale: subjective (More likely, likely,

less likely)

24

25

26

COMMONLY USED INTERVAL SCALESLikert Scale

Measures the intensity of the respondent’s feelings Lifestyle inventory uses Likert scales

Purchase behaviors such as usage of a product, visits to a store or other customer types

Statement Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Vans shoes are good looking O O O O OVans shoes are reasonably priced O O O O OYou next pair of shoes will be Vans O O O O OVans make you look cool O O O O O

27

LIKERT SCALE PRACTICEUsing each of the following student activities, write the statement that would appear on a college student lifestyle inventory questionnaire. Statement Strongl

y Disagree

Disagree

Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Studying 1 2 3 4 5Going Out 1 2 3 4 5Working 1 2 3 4 5Exercising 1 2 3 4 5Shopping 1 2 3 4 5Dating 1 2 3 4 5Spending Money 1 2 3 4 5

28

COMMONLY USED INTERVAL SCALES Semantic Differential Scale

Properties of an object are measured by indicating locations along its continuum

Measures the implied meanings of an object, person or experience to understand the attitude toward the object

After selecting a concept or object, choose bipolar pairs of words/phrases used to describer the object’s noticeable properties. Hot – Cold High quality – Low quality Convenient – Inconvenient

29

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN PROCESS

Determine what and

how to measure

• Identify construct’s properties and type of measure for each

Decide on wording

• Word each question using dos and avoiding don’ts

Organize questionnair

e

• Write introduction, put questions in order, use skip logic as needed

Finalize and launch

• Get client approval, pretest, code and launch

30

31

BEST PRACTICE1. Questions should be clear, simple, specific and relevant to the study2. Focus on current attitudes and very recent behavior3. Start with general questions and move into more specific questions4. Avoid vague words (pretest)5. Use 5 – 8 response options for Likert-type response scales6. Include neutral/no opinion option on scale questions if possible7. Numeric labels should be shown to respondents8. Numeric/verbal scale endpoints should be explicit9. Use lower numbers to represent “Disagree,” higher for “Agree”10. Off a “Don’t Know” response11. Place demographic questions at the end of the questionnaire

32

DEVELOPING QUESTIONS

Develop research questions

that measure…

Attitudes

Beliefs

Behaviors

Demographics

Your research questions should measure• Attitudes• Beliefs• Behaviors • DemographicsThat are relevant to the research being conducted

33

DEVELOPING QUESTIONSDO

Stay focused on a single topic Keep it brief Keep it grammatically simple Keep it crystal clear

DON’T

“Lead” the respondent Use “loaded” questions

34

Stay focused on a single topic

Keep it brief Keep it grammatically simple

Keep it crystal clear

X “Lead” the respondent

X Use “loaded” questions

X Use ‘double-barreled” questions

X Use words that overstate the case

35

PUTTING THE SURVEY TOGETHER Introduction

Who is doing the survey? What is the survey about? How did you select the participants? Motivate them to respond.

Use incentives (Intrinsic and extrinsic) Ensure anonymity Ensure confidentiality

Qualify the participant with screening questions

Take great care writing the introduction – first impression of the research project for the participant. The intro could be what persuades them to respond to or ignore your questionnaire.

36

FLOW OF QUESTIONSScreening

??Have you shopped at

JCPenneys before?

Is this your first visit to the store?

Used to select the right respondent for the

survey.

Warm-up ??

How often do you shop at JCPenneys?

On what days of the week do you usually

shop for dress clothes?

Easy to answer, generates interest

Transition Statement

sFor the next few

questions, we will provide several

statements for which you will rate your level

of satisfaction.

Notifies respondent that format or subject

of questions is going to change.

37

FLOW OF QUESTIONSComplicated

??Rate each department on a friendliness of salespersons

on a scale of 1 to 10.

Respondent is committed by now. They need to be told or see that they’re

nearing the end.

Classification ??

What is your gender?

What is your annual income?

Personal (and possibly offensive) are placed at the

end.

38

39

WRITE QUESTIONS FOR DOUGH RE MI Problem Statement

How can we improve the awareness of Dough Re Mi?Constructs/Variables

WVWC Students’ awareness and knowledge of local businesses

Methods for gaining awareness/informationResearch Objectives

Identify traditional promotional tactics students use to learn about local businesses.

Identify non-traditional promotional tactics students use to learn about local businesses

Define the best possible promotional tactics to increase awareness with students

40

Marketing Research Association. (2013). MRA Code of Marketing Research Standards. Retrieved from Insights Associations: http://www.insightsassociation.org

Van Bennekom, F. (2017). Survey Statistical Confidence: How Many is Enough? Retrieved March 4, 2017, from Great Brook Consulting: http://greatbrook.com/survey-statistical-confidence-how-many-is-enough/

Variable. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/construct