Introduction to Marketing Research

Definition:

The American Marketing Association defines marketing research as:

“Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.

Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyses the results, and communicates the findings and their implications.”

Marketing Research

Problem Identification

Research

Problem-Solving Research

Market Potential Research Segmentation Research

Market Share Research Product Research

Image Research Pricing Research

Market Characteristics Research Promotion Research

Sales Analyses Research Distribution Research

Forecasting Research

Business Trends Research

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The Marketing Research Process: It consists of six steps:

1. Problem Definition The first step is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the researcher should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, the information needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.

2. Development of an Approach to the Problem Development of an approach to the problem includes formulating an objective or theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions, and hypotheses and identifying the information needed. This process is guided by discussions with management and industry experts, analysis of secondary data, qualitative research, and pragmatic considerations.

3. Research Design Formulation A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedure necessary for obtaining the required information, and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making. Considering exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study. More formally, formulating the research design involves the following steps:

o Definition of the information neededo Secondary data analysiso Qualitative researcho Methods of collecting quantitative data (survey, observation and experimentation)o Measurement and scaling procedureso Questionnaire designo Sampling process and sample sizeo Plan of data analysis

4. Fieldwork or Data Collection Data collection involves a field force or staff that operates either in the field, as in the case of personal interviewing (in-home, mall intercept, or computer assisted personal interviewing), from an office by telephone (telephone or computer-assisted telephone interviewing), through mail (traditional mail and mail panel surveys with pre-recruited households), or electronically (e-mail or internet). Proper selection, training, supervision and evaluation of the field force help minimize data-collection errors.

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5. Data Preparation & Analysis Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected or edited and, if necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires are transcribed or keypunched onto magnetic tape or disks, or input directly into the computer. The data are analyzed to derive information related to the components of the marketing research problem and, thus to provide input into the management decision problem.

6. Report Preparation & Presentation The entire project should be documented in a written report that addresses the specific research questions identified; describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and data analysis procedures adopted in a comprehensible format so that management can readily use them in the decision-making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact. The internet is also being used to disseminate marketing research results and reports, which can be posted on the Web and made available to managers on a worldwide basis.

The Role of Marketing Research in Marketing Decision Making:

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Customer Groups Consumers Employees Shareholders Suppliers

Controllable Marketing Variables:

Product Pricing Promotion Distribution

MARKETING RESEARCH

Uncontrollable Environment Factors:

Economy Technology Competition Laws & Regulations Social & Cultural factors Political Factors

Assessing Information

Needs

Providing Information

Marketing Decision Making

Marketing Managers Market Segmentation Target Market Selection Marketing Programs Performance and Control

Marketing Research and Competitive Intelligence:

Competitive intelligence (CI) may be defined as the process of enhancing marketplace competitiveness through a greater understanding of a firm’s competitors and the competitive environment. This process involves the legal collection and analysis of information regarding the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of business competitors, conducted by using information databases and other ‘open sources’ and through ethical marketing research inquiry.

CI enables senior managers in companies of all sizes to make informed decisions about everything from marketing, R & D, and investing tactics to long-term business strategies. Effective CI is a continuous process involving the legal and ethical collection of information, analysis that does not avoid unwelcome conclusions, and controlled dissemination of actionable intelligence to decision makers. CI is a crucial part of the emerging knowledge economy. By analyzing rivals’ moves, CI allows companies to anticipate market development rather than merely react to them.

The Decision to Conduct Marketing Research:

Marketing research is quite useful in a variety of situations, but the decision to conduct research is not automatic. Rather, this decision should be guided by a number of considerations, including the costs versus the benefits, the resources available to conduct the research, the resources available to implement the research findings, and management’s attitude toward research. Marketing research should be undertaken when the expected value of information it generates exceeds the costs of conducting the marketing research project. In general, the more important the decision confronting management and the greater the uncertainty or risk facing them, the greater the value of information obtained. Formal procedures are available for quantifying the expected value as well as the costs of a marketing research project. Although in most instances the value of information exceeds the costs, there are instances when the reverse may be true.

Resources, especially time and money, are always limited. However, if either time or money is not available in adequate amounts to conduct a quality project that project probably should not be undertaken. If management does not have a positive attitude toward research, then it is likely that the project report will gather dust after the project is conducted.

There are other instances that may argue against conducting a marketing research project. If the required information is already available within the organization, or the decision for which the research is to be conducted has already been made or the research is going to be used for gaining political ends, then the value of information generated is greatly reduced and the project is generally not warranted. However, if the decision is made to conduct marketing research, then management may also rely on marketing research suppliers and services to obtain the specific information needed.

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Marketing Information System (MIS):

MIS is a formalized set of procedures for generating, analyzing, storing, and distributing pertinent information to marketing decision makers on an ongoing basis. Decision Support Systems (DSS):

DSS are the information systems that enable decision makers to interact directly with both databases and analysis models. The important component of a DSS includes hardware and a communications network, database, model base, software base, and the DSS user (decision maker).

MIS DSS

Structured problems Unstructured problems Use of reports Use of models Rigid structure User-friendly interaction Information displaying restricted Adaptability Can improve decision making by

clarifying raw data Can improve decision making by using

‘What If’ analysis

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Defining a Marketing Research Problem & Developing an Approach:

Problem definition involves stating the general problem and identifying the specific components of the marketing research problem. Only when the marketing research problem has been clearly defined can research be designed and conducted properly. All the efforts, time, and money spent from this point on will be wasted if the problem is misunderstood or ill defined.

The Process of Defining a Marketing Research Problem & Developing an Approach:

Tasks Involved

Discussions with Decision Makers

Interviews with Experts

Secondary Data Analysis

Qualitative Research

Environmental Context of the Problem

Step I: Problem Definition

Management Decision Problem

Marketing Research Problem

Step 2: Approach to the Problem

Objective/Theoretical Foundations

Analytical Model: Verbal, Graphical,

Mathematical

Research Questions

Hypotheses Specification of information

needed

Step 3: Research Design

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Tasks Involved:

Discussions with Decision Makers:

The decision maker needs to understand the capabilities and limitations of research. Research provides information relevant to management decisions, but it cannot provide solutions require managerial judgment. Conversely, the researcher needs to understand the nature of the decision manager face and what they hope to learn from the research. The problem audit provides a useful framework for interacting with the DM and identifying the underlying causes of the problem. The problem audit is a comprehensive examination of a marketing problem with the purpose of understanding its origin and nature. The problem audit involves discussions with the DM on the following issues:

1. The events that led to the decision that action is needed, or the history of the problem.2. The alternative courses of action available to the DM.3. The criteria that will be used to evaluate the alternative courses of action.4. The potential actions that are likely to be suggested based on the research findings.5. The information that is needed to answer the DM’s questions.6. The manner in which the DM will use each item of information in making the

decision.7. The corporate culture as it relates to decision making.

A problem audit, which involves extensive interaction between the DM and the researcher, can greatly facilitate problem definition by determining the underlying causes. In order to be fruitful, the interaction between the DM and the researcher should be characterized by the seven Cs:

1. Communication2. Cooperation3. Confidence4. Candor5. Closeness6. Continuity7. Creativity

Interviews with Industry Experts:

Interviews with industry experts, individuals knowledgeable about the firm and the industry, may help formulate the marketing research problem. These experts may be found both inside and outside the firm. Typically, expert information is obtained by unstructured personal interviews, without administering a questionnaire. It is helpful, however, to prepare a list of topics to be covered during the interview. The order in which these topics are covered and questions to ask should not be predetermined but decided as the interview progresses. This allows greater flexibility in capturing the insights of the experts.

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Secondary Data Analysis:

Secondary data are data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand. Primary data, on the other hand, are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem. Secondary data include information made available by business and government sources, commercial marketing research firms, and computer databases. Secondary data are an economical and quick source of background information. Analysis of available secondary data is an essential step in the problem definition process: Primary data should not be collected until the available secondary data have been fully analyzed.

Qualitative Research:

An unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples intended to provide insight and understanding of the problem setting. It may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as focus groups (group interviews), word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and depth interviews (one-by-one interviews that probe the respondents’ thoughts in detail). Other exploratory research techniques, such as pilot surveys and case studies, may also be undertaken to gain insights into the phenomenon of interest. Pilot surveys: tend to be less structured than large-scale surveys in that they generally contain more open-ended questions and the sample size is much smaller. Case studies: involve an intensive examination of a few selected cases of the phenomenon of interest. Cases could be customers, stores, or other units.

Environment Context of the Problem:

To understand the background of a marketing research problem, the researcher must understand the client’s firm and industry. In particular, the researcher should analyze factors that have an impact on the definition of the marketing research problem. These factors, encompassing the environmental context of the problem, include past information and forecasts pertaining to the industry and the firm, resources and constraints of the firm objectives of the decision maker, buyer behavior, legal environment, economic environment, and marketing and technological skills of the firm.

Management Decision Problem:

Management decision problem is the problem confronting the decision maker. It asks what the decision maker needs to do.

Marketing Research Problem:

A problem that entails determining what information is needed and how it can be obtained in the most feasible way.

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Management Decision Problem Marketing Research Problem

It asks what the decision maker needs to do Asks what information is needed and how it should be obtained

Action oriented:

Should a new product be introduced? Should the advertising campaign be

changed? Should the price of the brand be

increased?

Information oriented:

To determine consumer preferences and purchase intentions for the proposed new product.

To determine the effectiveness of the current advertising campaign.

To determine the price elasticity of demand and the impact on sales and profits of various levels of price changes.

Focuses on symptoms Focuses on the underlying causes

Defining the Marketing Research Problem:

The general rule to be followed in defining the marketing research problems is that the definition should, (1) allow the researcher to obtain all the information needed to address the management decision problem, and (2) guide the researcher in proceeding with the project.

Broad Statement: The initial statement of the marketing research problem that provides an appropriate perspective on the problem.

Specific Components: The second part of the marketing research problem definition. The specific components focus on the key aspects of the problem and provide clear guidelines on how to proceed further.

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Components of the Approach:

Objective/Theoretical Framework: A conceptual scheme based on foundational statements, or axioms, that are assumed to be true. Objective evidence (Unbiased evidence that is supported by empirical findings) is gathered by compiling relevant findings from secondary sources.

Analytical Model: An analytical model is an explicit specification of a set of variables and their interrelationships designed to represent some real system or process in whole or in part. Verbal models are analytical models that provide a written representation of the

relationships between variables. Graphical models are analytical models that provide a visual of the relationships

between variables. Mathematical models are analytical models that explicitly describe the relationships

between variables, usually in equation form. Research Questions: Research questions are refined statements of the specific components of the problem.

Hypotheses: A hypothesis is an unproven statement or proposition about a factor or phenomenon that is of interest to the researcher. Hypotheses go beyond research questions because they are statements of relationships or propositions rather than merely questions to which answers are sought. Whereas research questions are interrogative, hypotheses are declarative and can be tested empirically. An important role of a hypothesis is to suggest variables to be included in the research design.

Specification of Information Needed: By focusing on each component of the problem and the analytical framework and models, research questions, and hypotheses, the researcher can determine what information should be obtained in the marketing research project. It is helpful to carry out this exercise for each component of the problem and make a list specifying all the information that should be collected.

Ethics in Marketing Research:

Ethical issues arise if the process of defining the problem and developing an approach is compromised by the personal agendas of the client (DM) or the researcher. This process is affected when the DM has hidden objectives such as gaining a promotion or justifying a decision that has already been made. The DM has the obligation to be candid and disclose to the researcher all the relevant information that will enable a proper definition of the marketing research problem. Likewise the researcher is ethically bound to define the problem so as to further the best interest of the client, rather than the interest of the research firm. At times this may mean making the interest of the research firm subservient to those of the client, leading to an ethical dilemma.

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Research Design

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It specifies the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problem. Typically, a research design involves the following components, or tasks:

Design the exploratory, descriptive, and/or causal phases of the research. Define the information needed. Specify the measurement and scaling procedures. Construct and pretest a questionnaire or an appropriate form for data collection. Specify the sampling process and sample size. Develop a plan of data analysis.

Research Design: Classification

Research Design

Exploratory Research Design

Conclusive Research Design

Descriptive Research

Causal Research

Exploratory Research: A type of research design, which has as its primary objective the provision of insights into and comprehension of the problem situation confronting the researcher. As its name implies, the objective of exploratory research is to explore or search through a problem or situation to provide insights and understanding. Exploratory research could be used for any of the following purposes:

Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely. Identify alternative courses of action. Develop hypotheses. Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination. Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem. Establish priorities for further research.

Conclusive Research: Research design to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating, and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation.

Difference between exploratory and conclusive research

Exploratory Conclusive

Objective: To provide insights and understanding

To test specific hypotheses and examine relationship.

Characteristics: Information needed is defined only loosely.

Research process is flexible and unstructured.

Sample is small and non-representative.

Analysis of primary data is qualitative.

Information needed is clearly defined.

Research process is formal and structured.

Sample is large and representative.

Data analysis is quantitative.

Findings/Results: Tentative. Conclusive.Outcome: Generally followed by further

exploratory or conclusive Findings used as input into

decision making.

Cross-sectional Research

Longitudinal Research

SingleCross-sectional

Research

MultipleCross-sectional

Research

research.

Descriptive research: A type of conclusive research that has as its major objective the description of something – usually market characteristics or functions. Descriptive research is conducted for the following reasons:

To describe the characteristics of relevant groups e.g. heavy users To estimate the percentage of units in a specific population exhibiting certain

behaviour e.g. the percentage of heavy users of Big Bazaar who also patronize Dollar Shop.

To determine the perceptions of product characteristics e.g. how do household perceive the various departmental stores in terms of salient factors of the choice criteria?

To determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated e.g. to what extent is shopping at department stores related to eating out?

To make specific predictions e.g. what will be the retail sales of a specific store for specific product category in a specific region?

A descriptive design requires a clear specification of: the who, what, when, where, why, and in what way (the six W’s) of the research. In brief, descriptive research, in contrast to exploratory research, is marked by a clear statement of the problem, specific hypotheses, and detailed information needs. Other examples of descriptive research are: Market studies, Market Share studies, Sales analysis studies, Image studies, Product usage studies, Distribution studies, Pricing studies, Advertising studies etc.

A Comparison of Basic Research Designs

Exploratory Descriptive Causal

Objective: Discover ideas and insights.

Describe market characteristics or functions.

Determine cause and effect relationships.

Characteristics: Flexible Versatile. Often the front end

of total research design.

Marked by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses.

Preplanned and structured design.

Manipulation of one or more independent variables.

Control of other mediating variables.

Methods: Expert surveys Pilot surveys Secondary data:

analyzed qualitatively.

Secondary data: analyzed quantitatively.

Surveys Panels

Experiments.

Qualitative Research.

Observational and other data.

Cross-sectional Design: A type of research design involving the collection of information from any given sample of population elements only once.

Single Cross-sectional Design: A cross-sectional design in which one sample of respondents is drawn from the target population and information is obtained from this sample once.Multiple Cross-sectional Design: A cross-sectional design in which there are two or more samples of respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once. One type of multiple cross-sectional design of special interest is cohort analysis.

Cohort Analysis: A multiple cross-sectional design consisting of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate time intervals, where the cohort serves as the basic unit of analysis. The cohort refers to the group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval. For example, a birth (or age) cohort is a group of people who were born during the same time interval, such as 1951 through 1960.

Longitudinal Design: A type of research design involving a fixed sample of population elements that is measured repeatedly on the same variables. The sample remains the same over the time, thus providing a series of pictures which, when viewed together, portray a vivid illustration of the situation and the changes that are taking place over time.

Sometimes, the term panel is used interchangeably with the term longitudinal design. A penal is a sample of respondents who have agreed to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period.

Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Designs:

Evaluation criteria Cross-sectional Design Longitudinal DesignDetecting changes - +Large amount of data - +Accuracy - +Representative sampling + -Response bias + -

Note: A + indicates a relative advantage over the other design, whereas a – indicates a relative disadvantage.

The main disadvantage of panels is that they may not be representative because of:

Refusal to cooperate – panel members may refuse to cooperate and may not wish to be bothered

Mortality – panel members may move away or lose interest Payment – certain types of people may become members of panel for payment

making group of people unrepresentative.

Causal Research: A type of conclusive research where the major objective is to obtain evidence regarding cause-and-effect (causal) relationships. Marketing managers continually make decisions based on assumed causal relationships. These assumptions may not be justifiable, and the validity of the causal relationships should be examined via formal research. Causal research is appropriate for the following purposes:

To understand which variables are the causes (independent variables) and which variables are the effects (dependent variables) of a phenomenon.

To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted.

Relationships among exploratory, descriptive and causal research: The distinctions among these classifications are not absolute. The following guidelines are useful for choosing research designs:

When little is known about the problem situation, it is desirable to begin with exploratory research.

Exploratory research is the initial step in the overall research design framework. It should, in most instances, be followed by descriptive or causal research.

It is not necessary to begin every research with exploratory research. It depends upon the precision with which the problem has been defined and the researcher’s degree of certainty about the approach to the problem. A research design could well begin with descriptive or causal research.

Although exploratory research is generally the initial step, it need not be. Exploratory research may follow descriptive or causal research.

Potential Sources of Error: Several potential sources of error can affect a research design. The total error is the variation between the true mean value in the population of the variable of interest and the observed mean value obtained in the marketing research. The total error is composed of:

Random Sampling Error: the error due to the particular sample selected being an imperfect representation of the population of interest. It may be defined as the variation between the true mean value for the sample and the true mean value of the population.

Non-sampling Error: these are the errors that can be attributed to sources other than sampling, and they can be random or nonrandom.

Non-response Error: A type of non-sampling error that occurs when some of the respondents included in the sample do not respond. This error may be defined as the variation between the true mean value of the variable in the original sample and the true mean value in the net sample.

Response Error: A type of non-sampling error arising from respondents who do respond, but give inaccurate answers or their answers are misrecorded or misanalyzed. It may be defined as the variation between the true mean value of the variable in the net sample and the observed mean value obtained in the marketing research project.

Errors made by the researcher include:

Surrogate Information Error: It may be defined as the variation between the information needed for the marketing research problem and the information sought by the researcher.

Measurement Error: It may be defined as the variation between the information sought and the information generated by the measurement process employed by the researcher.

Population Definition Error: It may be defined as the variation between the actual population relevant to the problem at hand and the population as defined by the researcher.

There are still more types of errors:- Sampling Frame Error- Data Analysis Error- Respondent Selection Error- Questioning Error- Recording Error- Cheating Error- Inability Error- Unwillingness Error

Budgeting and Scheduling the Project: These are the management tools needed to help ensure that the marketing research project is completed within the available resources. A useful approach for managing a project is the critical path method (CPM). It is a management technique of dividing a research project into component activities, determining the sequence of these components and the time each activity will require. An advanced version of CPM is the program evaluation and review technique (PERT), which accounts for the uncertainty in project completion times. An even more advanced scheduling technique is the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) in which both the completion probabilities and the activity costs can be built into a network representative.

Marketing Research Proposal: It is the official layout of the planned marketing research activity for management. It describes the research problem, the approach, and the research design, data collection methods and reporting method. Normally, it contains the following elements:

1. Executive Summary: summary of the major points from each of the other sections, presenting an overview of the entire proposal.

2. Background: includes discussion of the environmental context.

3. Problem Definition / Objective of the Research: Normally, a statement of the problem, including the specific components, should be presented. If this statement has net been developed (as in the case of problem identification research), the objectives of the marketing research project should be clearly specified.

4. Approach to the Problem: a review of the relevant academic and trade literature should be presented. Research questions and hypotheses should be included, if they are identified.

5. Research Design: information should be given on the type of research design that should be adopted. Other information that should be adopted include: (i) kind of information to be obtained, (ii) method of administering the questionnaire, (iii) Scaling techniques, (iv) nature of the questionnaire (type of questions asked, length, average interviewing time0, and (v) sampling plan and sample size.

6. Field Work / Data Collection: the proposal should discuss how the data will be collected and who will collect it. Control mechanisms to ensure the quality of data collected should be described.

7. Data Analysis: the kind of data analysis that will be conducted and how the results will be interpreted should be described.

8. Reporting: the proposal should specify whether intermediate reports will be presented and at what stages, what will be the form of the final report, and whether a formal presentation of the results will be made.

9. Cost and Time: the cost of the project and a time schedule, broken down by phases, should be presented. A CPM or PERT chart might be included.

10. Appendices: any statistical or other information that is of interest only to a few people should be contained in appendices.

Ethics in Marketing Research: rights of the respondents must be respected. While adopting the type of research design, certain ethical issues are involved: a research firm that has not conducted many longitudinal studies may try to justify the use of cross-sectional design. The researcher must ensure that the research design utilized will provide the information needed to address the marketing research problem that has been identified. The client should have the integrity not to misrepresent the project and should describe the constraints under which the researcher must operate and not make unreasonable demands. If time is an issue, or if customer contact has to be restricted, the client should make these constraints known at the start of the project. Finally, the client should not take undue advantage of the research firm to solicit unfair concessions for the current project by making false promises of future research contracts.

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Exploratory Research Design: Secondary Data

Primary Data:

Data obtained by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem.

Secondary Data:

Data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand.

A Comparison of Primary and Secondary Data:

Primary Data Secondary Data

Collection purpose For the problem at hand For other problemsCollection process Very involved Rapid and easyCollection cost Relatively high Relatively lowCollection time Relatively long Relatively short

Advantages and Uses of Secondary Data: Rich dividends obtained by the general rule regarding secondary data – “examination of available secondary data is a prerequisite to the collection of primary data. Start with secondary data. Proceed to primary data only when the secondary data sources have been exhausted or yield marginal returns. Secondary data can help the researcher:

Identify the problem. Better define the problem. Develop an approach to the problem.

Formulate an appropriate research design (e.g. for identifying key variables) Answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses.

Interpret primary data more insightfully.

Disadvantages of Secondary Data: Because secondary data have been collected for purpose other than the problem at hand, there are certain disadvantages associated:

Usefulness is limited. Limited relevance

Lack accuracy Need to be evaluated before use

Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data

Criteria Issues Remarks

Specifications/Methodology

Data collection methodResponse rateQuality of dataSampling techniqueSample sizeQuestionnaire designFieldworkData analysis

Data should be reliable, valid, and applicable to the problem at hand

Error/ Accuracy

Examine errors in: approach, research design, sampling, data collection, data analysis, reporting

Assess accuracy by comparing data from different sources.

Currency Time lag between collection and publication. Frequency of updates

Census data are periodically updated by syndicated firms.

Objective Why were the data collected? The objective will determine the relevance of the data.

Nature Definition of key variablesUnit of measurementCategories usedRelationships examined

Reconfigure the data to increase their usefulness, if possible.

Dependability Expertise, credibility, reputation, and trustworthiness of the source

Data should be obtained from an original rather than an acquired source.

Classification of Secondary Data: Secondary data can be classified as internal data are those available within the organization for which the research is being conducted and external data that originate from external sources to the organization. Internal data can be further classified into - ready to use data and data that requires further processing. External data can have further classification based on the source viz. published data, computerized data or syndicated data. Published external sources may be broadly classified as general business sources are comprised of guides, directories, indexes, and

statistical data. Government sources may be broadly categorized as census data, and other publications.

Computerized Databases: Databases (bibliographic, numeric, full-text, directory, and special purpose), stored in computers, which require a telecommunications network to access

Internet Databases: Internet databases can be accessed, searched, and analyzed on the internet. It is also possible to download data from the internet and store it in the computer or an auxiliary storage device.

Offline Databases: Databases those are available on diskette or CD-ROM

Syndicated Sources of Secondary Data: Information services offered by marketing research organizations that provide information from a common database to different firms that subscribe to their services.

Overview of Syndicated Services: Surveys: conducted at regular intervals, advantages: most flexible way of obtaining data; information on underlying motives. Disadvantages: interviewer errors; respondent errors. Uses: market segmentation, advertising theme selection, and advertising effectiveness.

Purchase Panels: households provide specific information regularly over an extended period of time; respondents asked to record specific behaviours as they occur. Advantages: recorded purchase behaviour can be linked to the demographic/psychographic characteristics. Disadvantages: lack of representatives; response bias; maturation. Uses: forecasting sales, market share, and trends; establishing consumer profiles, brand loyalty, and switching; evaluating test markets, advertising, and distribution.

Media Panels: electronic devices automatically recording behaviour, supplemented by a diary. Advantages: same as purchase panels. Disadvantages: same as purchase panels. Uses: establishing advertising rates; selecting media program or air time; establishing viewer profiles.

Scanner Volume Tracking Data: household purchases recorded through electronic scanners in supermarkets. Advantages: data reflect actual purchases; timely data; less expensive. Disadvantages: data may not be representative; errors in recording purchases; difficult to link purchases to elements of marketing mix other than price. Uses: price tracking, effectiveness of in-store modeling.

Scanner Panels with Cable TV: scanner panels of households that subscribe to cable TV. Advantages: data reflect actual purchases; sample control; ability to link panel data to household characteristics. Disadvantages: data may not be representative; quality of data limited. Uses: promotional mix analyses, copy testing, new-product testing, positioning.

Audit Services: verification of product movement by examining physical records or performing inventory analysis. Advantages: relatively precise information at the retail and wholesale levels. Disadvantages: coverage may be incomplete; matching of data on competitive activity may be difficult. Uses: measurement of consumer sales and market share, competitive activity, analyzing distribution patterns: tracking of new products.

Industrial Product Syndicated Services: data banks on industrial establishments created through direct inquiries of companies, clipping services, and corporate reports. Advantages: important source of information in industrial firms, particularly useful in initial phases of the projects. Disadvantages: data are lacking in terms of content, quantity, and quality. Uses: determining market potential by geographic area, defining sales territories, allocating advertising budget.

Syndicated Data from Households:

Surveys: interviews with a large number of respondents using a pre-designed questionnaire

Psychographics: quantified psychological profiles of individuals

Lifestyles: distinctive pattern of living that is described by the activities people engage in

Purchase panels: data-gathering technique in which respondents record their purchases online or in a diary

Media Panels: data-gathering technique that is comprised of samples of respondents whose television viewing behaviour is automatically recorded by electronic devices, supplementing the purchase information recorded online or in a diary

Scanner Data: data obtained by passing merchandise over a laser scanner that reads the universal product code (UPC) from the packages

Volume Tracking Data: data collected from check-out scanner tapes that provide information on purchases by brand, size, price, and flavour

Scanner Panels: scanner data where panel members are identified by an ID card allowing each panel member’s purchases to be stored with respect to the individual shopper

Scanner Panels with Cable TV: the combination of a scanner panel with manipulations of the advertising that is being broadcast by cable television companies

Syndicated Data from Institutions:

Retailer and Wholesaler Audits: a data collection process derived from physical records or by performing inventory analysis.

Industry Services: provide syndicated data about industrial firms, businesses, and other institutions

Combining Information from Different Sources:

Single-source Data: An effort to combine data from different sources by gathering integrated information on household and marketing variables applicable to the same set of respondents.Computer Mapping: maps that solve marketing problems are called thematic maps. They combine geography with demographic information and a company’s sales data or other proprietary information and are generated by a computer.

== 0 ==Exploratory Research Design: Qualitative Research

Like secondary data analysis, qualitative research is a major methodology used in exploratory research. Researchers undertake qualitative research to define the problem or develop an approach by generating hypotheses and identifying variables.

Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research:

Qualitative Research Quantitative ResearchObjective To gain a qualitative

understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations

To quantify the data and generalize the results from the sample to the population of interest

Sample Small number of non-representative cases

Large number of representative cases

Data collection Unstructured StructuredData analysis Non-statistical StatisticalOutcome Develop an initial understanding Recommend a final course of action Rationale for using Qualitative Research:

There are several reasons to use qualitative research. It is not always possible or desirable to use fully structured or formal methods to obtain information from respondents. People may be unwilling or unable to answer certain questions. People are unwilling to give truthful answers to questions that invade their privacy, embarrass them, or have a negative impact on their ego or status. A Classification of Qualitative Research Procedures:

Direct Approach: purposes of the project are disclosed to the respondents or are obvious, given the nature of the interview

Indirect Approach: the purposes of the project are disguised from the respondents.

Focused Group: an interview conducted by a trained moderator among a small group of respondents in an unstructured and natural manner

Characteristics of Focus Groups

Group size 8 to 12Group composition Homogeneous: respondents prescreened Physical setting Relaxed, informal atmosphere Time duration 1 to 3 hoursRecording Use of audiocassettes and videotapes Moderator Observational, interpersonal, & communication skills of the

moderatorProcedure for Planning and Conducting Focus Groups:

Determine the objectives of the marketing research project and define the problem. Specify the objectives of qualitative research. State the objectives / questions to be answered by focus groups. Write a screening questionnaire. Develop a moderator’s outline. Conduct the focus group interviews. Review tapes and analyze the data. Summarize the findings and plan follow-up research or action.

Variations in Focus Groups:

Two-way Focus Group: This allows one target group to listen to and learn from a related group. In one application, physicians viewed a focus group of arthritis patients discussing the treatment they desired. A focus group of these physicians was then held to determine their reactions.

Dual-moderator group: This is a focus group interview conducted by two moderators. One moderator is responsible for the smooth flow of the session, and the other ensures that specific issues are discussed.

Dueling-moderator Group: Here also there are two moderators, but they deliberately take opposite positions on the issues to be discussed. This allows the researcher to explore both sides of controversial issues.

Respondent-moderator Group: In this type of focus group, the moderator asks selected participants to play the role of moderator temporarily to improve group dynamics.

Client-participant Group: Client personnel are identified and made part of the discussion group. Their primary role is to offer clarifications that will make the group process more effective.

Mini Groups: These groups consist of a moderator and only 4 to 5 respondents. They are used when the issues of interest require more extensive probing than is possible in the standard group of 8 to 12.

Telesession Groups: Focus group sessions by phone using the conference call technique.

Advantages of Focus Groups:

Synergism: produce wider range of information Snowballing: one person’s comment triggers a chain reaction Stimulation: level of excitement over the topic increases Security: participants feel secure and express their ideas and feelings Spontaneity: responses are spontaneous and unconventional Serendipity: ideas more likely to arise out of the blue Specialization: large number of participants justifies use of highly trained, but

expensive interviewer Scientific scrutiny: the group interview allows close scrutiny of the data collection

process Structure: allows for flexibility in the topics covered and depth with which they are

treated Speed: number of individuals are being interviewed at the same time, data collection

and analysis proceed relatively quickly

Disadvantages of Focus Groups:

Misuse: focus groups can be misused or abused by considering the results as conclusive rather than exploratory

Misjudge: results can be more easily misjudged than the results of other data-collection techniques

Moderation: difficult to moderate. Moderators with all the desired skills are rare.

Messy: the unstructured nature of responses makes coding, analysis, and interpretation difficult.

Misrepresentation: results are not representative of the population and are not projectable.

Applications of Focus Groups: Focus groups can be used to address substantive issues such as:

1. Understanding consumers’ perceptions, preferences, and behaviour concerning a product category

2. Obtaining impressions of new product concepts

3. Generating new ideas about older products4. Developing creative concepts and copy material for advertisements5. Securing price impressions6. Obtaining preliminary consumer reaction to specific marketing programs

The methodological applications include:

1. Defining a problem more precisely2. Generating alternative courses of action3. Developing an approach to a problem4. Obtaining information helpful in structuring consumer questionnaire5. Generating hypotheses that can be tested quantitatively6. Interpreting previously obtained quantitative results

Online Versus Traditional Focus Groups

Characteristics Online Focus Group Traditional Focus GroupGroup size 4 - 6 8 – 12Group composition Anywhere in the world Drawn from the local areaTime duration 1 – 1.5 hours 1 – 3 hoursPhysical setting Researcher has little control Under control of the researcherRespondent identity Difficult to verify Can be easily verifiedRespondent attractiveness

Respondents can engage in other tasks

Attentiveness can be monitored

Respondent recruiting

Easier; can be recruited online, by e-mail, panel, or by traditional means

Recruited by traditional means (telephone, mail, mail panel)

Group dynamics Limited Synergistic, snowballing effectOpenness of respondents

Respondents are more candid due to lack of face-to-face contact

Respondents are candid, except for sensitive topics

Nonverbal communication

Body language cannot be observed; emotions expressed by using symbols

Body language and emotions observed

Use of physical stimuli

Limited to those that can be displayed on the internet

A variety of stimuli (products, advertising, demonstrations, etc.) can be used.

Transcripts Available immediately Time consuming and expensive to obtain

Observers’ communication with moderator

Observers can communicate with the moderator on a split screen.

Observers can manually send notes to the focus group room.

Unique moderator skills

Typing, computer usage, familiarity with chat room slang.

Observational

Turnaround time Can be set up and completed in Takes many days for setup and

a few days completionClient travel costs None Can be expensiveBasic focus group costs

Much less expensive More expensive due to facility rental, food, video/audio taping, and transcript preparation

Depth Interviews: An unstructured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is p-robed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings on a topic.

Depth Interview Techniques: Three techniques are popular – laddering, hidden issue questioning, and symbolic analysis.

Laddering: A technique for conducting depth interviews in which a line of questioning proceeds from product characteristics to user characteristics

Hidden Issue Questioning: A type of depth interview that attempts to locate personal sore spots related to deeply felt personal concerns.

Symbolic Analysis: A technique for conducting depth interviews in which the symbolic meaning of objects is analyzed by comparing them with their opposites.

Advantages of Depth Interviews: Can uncover greater depth of insights than focus group Attribute the responses directly to the respondent Result in free exchange of information

Disadvantages of Depth Interviews: Skilled interviewers capable of conducting interviews are expensive and difficult to

find Lack of structure makes the results susceptible to the interviewer’s influence Quality and completeness heavily depend upon interviewer’s skills Data obtained are difficult to analyze and interpret and requires services of skilled

psychologists The length of the interview combined with high costs means that the number of depth

interviews in a project will be small.

Applications of Depth Interviews: As with focus groups, the primary use of depth interviews is for exploratory research to gain insights and understanding. However, unlike focus groups, depth interviews are used infrequently in marketing research. Nevertheless, depth interviews can be effectively employed in special situations, such as follows: Detailed probing of the respondents Discussion of confidential, sensitive, or embarrassing topics Situations where strong social norms exist and the respondent may be easily swayed

by group response

Detailed understanding of complicated behaviour Interviews with professional people Interviews with competitors, who are unlikely to reveal the information in a group

setting Situations where the product consumption experience is sensory in nature, affecting

mood states and emotions Projective Techniques: An unstructured and indirect form of questioning encourages the respondents to project their underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the issues of concern. These techniques are classified as association, completion, construction, and expressive.

Association Techniques: A type of projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind. A projective technique in which respondents are presented with a list of words, one at a time is called word association. After each word, they are asked to give the first word that comes to mind.Completion Techniques: A projective technique that requires the respondent to complete an incomplete stimulus situation. Common completion techniques in marketing research are sentence completion and story completion.Construction Techniques: A projective technique in which the respondent is required to construct a response in the form of a story, dialogue, or description. The two main construction techniques are picture response and cartoons.Expressive Techniques: Projective techniques in which the respondent is presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation. The two main expressive techniques are role playing and third-person technique.

Advantages of Projective Techniques: They may elicit responses that subjects would be unwilling or unable to give if they

knew the purpose of study. Validity of responses is greater when purpose of projective technique is disguised.

This is particularly true when the issues to be addressed are personal, sensitive, or subject to strong social norms.

Helpful when underlying motivations, beliefs, and attitudes are operating at a subconscious level.

Disadvantages of Projective Techniques: Require highly trained interviewers for personal interviews. Skilled interpreters are also required to analyze the responses. Hence they tend to be

expensive. There is serious risk of interpretation bias. With the exception of word association, all techniques are open ended, making the

analysis and interpretation difficult and subjective. Some techniques like role playing require respondents to engage in unusual

behaviour. in such cases, the researcher may assume that respondents who agree to

participate are themselves unusual in some way. Therefore, they may not be representative of the population interest.

Application of Projective Techniques: Projective techniques can be used in a variety of situations. The usefulness of these techniques is enhanced when the following guidelines are observed: Projective techniques should be used because the required information cannot be

accurately obtained by direct methods. Projective techniques should be used for exploratory research to gain initial insights

and understanding. Given their complexity, projective techniques should not be used naively.

A Comparison of Focus Groups, Depth Interviews, and Projective Techniques:

Criteria Focus Groups Depth Interviews Projective Techniques

Degree of structure Relatively high Relatively medium Relatively lowProbing of individual respondents

Low High Medium

Moderator bias Relatively medium Relatively high Relatively highInterpretation bias Relatively low Relatively medium Relatively highUncovering subconscious information

Low Medium to high High

Discovering innovative information

High Medium Low

Obtaining sensitive information

Low Medium High

Involve unusual behaviour/ questioning

No To a limited extent Yes

Overall usefulness Highly useful Useful Somewhat useful

Analysis of Qualitative Data: Compared to quantitative research, where numbers and what they stand for are the units of analysis, qualitative data analysis uses words as the units of analysis and is guided by fewer universal rules and standard procedures. The goal in qualitative research is to decipher, examine, and interpret meaningful patterns or themes that emerge out of the data. The meaningfulness of patterns and themes is determined by the research question at hand. There are three general steps that should be followed when analyzing qualitative data:

Data Reduction: In this step, the researcher chooses which aspects of the data are emphasized, minimized, or set aside for the project at hand.Data Display: In this step, the researcher develops a visual interpretation of the data with the use of such tools as a diagram, chart, or matrix. The display helps to illuminate patterns and interrelationships in the data.

Conclusion Drawing and Verification: In this step, the researcher considers the meaning of analyzed data and assesses its implications for the research question at hand.

Software Packages: Software packages are available that can be used to assist the analysis of qualitative data. There are six main types: word processors, word retrievers, text-base managers, code-and-retrieve programs, code-based theory builders, and conceptual network builders. It is important to remember that although these packages may help in the manipulation of relevant text segments, they cannot determine meaningful categories for coding or define important themes and factors; these steps are the responsibility of the researcher. The specific things that various programs can do are: coding, memoing / annotation, data linking, search and retrieval, conceptual / theory development, data display, graphics editing etc.

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