Chapter FifteenChapter Fifteen

Copyright © 2006John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Managing Marketing

Research and Research

Ethics

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Learning Objectives

1. To understand what clients want from a research supplier or department.

2. To appreciate the role of communications in managing marketing research.

3. To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, cost control, adherence to time schedules, maintenance of client profitability, and staff development.

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Learning Objectives

4. To examine unethical practices among marketing research suppliers, clients, and marketing research field services.

5. To become familiar with respondents’ rights.

6. To discover methods by which the level of professionalism in marketing research can be raised

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To understand what clients want from a research supplier or department

Marketing Research Supplier

Management• Top Ten Things A Client Wants In A

Research Company Or Department1. Maintains client confidentiality

2. Is honest

3. Is punctual

4. Is flexible

5. Delivers against projects specifications

6. Provides high-quality output

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To understand what clients want from a research supplier or department

7. Is responsive to the client’s needs

8. Has high quality-control standards

9. Is customer-orientated in interactions with client

10. Keeps the client informed throughout a project

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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• Communications– Liaison

• Must communicate accurately honestly and frequently with client

• Should go over the project objectives, methodology, and timing with client

• Client should sing off on the questionnaire

• Ascertain how often the client wants progress reports

To appreciate the role of communication in managing marketing research

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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• Managing the Research Process– Research Management

• Data Quality Management– Integrity and Quality of Data– Procedures

– Time Management• Keep Project on Schedule• Two Problems

– The incident rate problem– A longer-than-anticipated interview

– System to Control Schedules

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development.

• Costs Management– Capture data collection and other costs daily.– Daily reporting of costs to project managers.– Communicate the budget picture to clients and

managers.– Quickly identify over-budget situations– Offer options to client early in the process.

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development.

• Client Profitability Management

– “Twenty percent of the clients generate eighty percent of the profits”.

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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• Staff Management and Development1. Create an environment that encourages risk

taking, experimentation, and responsibility

2. Foster recognition and accountability

3. Provide job autonomy

4. Attract and support people with entrepreneurial attitudes

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development.

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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5. Connect rewards to a business result

6. Open your financial books

7. Offer diversity within your organization

8. Provide clear promotional paths

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development

Marketing Research Supplier

Management

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• Selecting The Right Marketing Research Supplier

1. Determine the project’s requirements

2. Assess the capabilities of alternative suppliers

3. Consider the size of the firm

4. Establish up front the individual who will be managing the project

Managing a Marketing Research

Department

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development

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5. Research department manager needs to become acquainted with the backgrounds of the potential vendors

6. Questions that should be asked to determine the stability of the company

1. How long has the vendor been in business?

2. What other companies have they conducted research projects?

3. What are the academic backgrounds and experiences of those persons who will be working on the project?

4. Does the success of the project depend on the capabilities of a subcontractor

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development.

Managing a Marketing Research

Department

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7. Review the quality control standards of each potential vendors

8. The reputations of the firms must be considered in the decision

9. Avoid letting price be the sole determining factor in the selection

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development

Managing a Marketing Research

Department

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• Researcher’s Challenge– To shed their long held tradition role as a support

function

– To move beyond the task of simply crunching numbers and churning out results

– To begin to understand the underlying business issues at stake and adjust the information they gather and how they analyze it

– To reach out to other departments, building relationships and a better understanding of the issues companywide

To learn about the research management goals of assurance of data quality, time schedule, cost control, client profitability and staff development.

Managing a Marketing Research

Department

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To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

• Ethics:– Moral principles or values generally governing

the conduct of an individual or group.– Not a one-way relationship.

• Research Supplier Ethics– Low-ball Pricing– Underpaying Field Services– Allowing Subjectivity into the Research

Marketing Research Ethics

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– Abuse of respondents– Most common problem: lengthy interviews

– Refusal rate now averages 60 percent.

– Selling unnecessary research

– Violating client confidentiality

• Client Ethics– Requesting when a supplier has been predetermined

– Obtaining free advice and methodology via bid requests

– Making false promises

– Unauthorized request for proposals

To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

Marketing Research Ethics

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• Field Service Ethics– Over reporting hours worked– Falsifying data– Use of professional respondents

To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

Marketing Research Ethics

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• Data Collection Code of Ethics—Marketing Research Association– Issues in data collection

• Accuracy of statements given to respondents• Protection of respondents anonymity• Respect for the respondent’s right to refuse

cooperation• The need for parental consent before interviewing

children• Treating respondents with respect and not

attempting to influence responses

To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

Marketing Research Ethics

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– Field services responsibilities• Research should be conducted per client specifications• The confidentiality of techniques, information, clients,

and respondents will be protected• Multiple surveys are not administered sequentially

during one interview without expressed permission• Research results are reported accurately and promptly• No misrepresentations are made with regard to

qualifications, experience, skills, or facilities• Membership in the MRA is not to be used as proof of

competency

To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

Marketing Research Ethics

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– Client’s responsibilities• Clients will provide safe products/services and

disclose all product contents

• Clients will provide instructions

• Clients will not request activities that violate the code or are prohibited by law

To examine some unethical practices found among marketing research suppliers, clients, & marketing research field services

Marketing Research Ethics

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To become familiar with respondent’s rights

• Respondent Rights– The Right to Choose to Participate – The Right to Safety– The Right to be Informed– The Right to Privacy

Marketing Research Ethics

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• Ethics and Professionalism– Business ethics

• Employees’ needs and desires and the long-range best interests of the organization

• People directly affected by company activities and their long-range goodwill and best interests (creates good publicity for the firm)

• Social values and conditions for society at large that provide values, sanctions, and a social structure that enables the company to exist

Methods by which the level of professionalism in marketing research can be raised

Marketing Research Ethics

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– Challenges to professionalism• Push polls

• Sales pitches disguised as research

– Fostering Professionalism• Profession versus professionalism

• Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO)-trade association representing full-service marketing research firms

• CASRO—raising professionalism in the marketing research industry

Marketing Research Ethics

Methods by which the level of professionalism in marketing research can be raised

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– Researcher Certification• Licensing

• Certification

Marketing Research Ethics

Methods by which the level of professionalism in marketing research can be raised

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SUMMARY

• Marketing Research Supplier Management

• Managing a Marketing Research Department

• Marketing Research Ethics

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The End

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Son, Inc