Session 9 Marketing Management Learning from the session Marketing Research What is Marketing Research? Systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company Various areas of Marketing research Research on consumer Research on product or brand Research on competition Research on distribution Research on price Research on advertising and promotion Research on sales methods Steps involved in Marketing Research Defining the problem and research objectives Defining the problem and research objectives Developing the research plan Developing the research plan Collect the information Collect the information Analyze the information Analyze the information Present the findings Present the findings Make the decision Make the decision Interpreting and reporting the findings Defining the problem and research objectives Problem definition should not be too narrow or too broad What is to be researched? Why is it to be researched? eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new product? eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new product? Set up research objectives, which could be Exploratory research --- Gather preliminary information, which would help to identify the problem and suggest hypotheses Descriptive research --- Description of things, such as consumer attitudes towards a product Causal research --- Test hypothesis about cause and effect relationships eg. Would 5% reduction in price lead to increase in sales? Develop the research plan Data sources --- primary or secondary data or both Collection of secondary data --- through online databases Secondary data could be easily got at a lower cost, but may not be comprehensive enough Secondary data should be relevant, accurate, current and impartial Primary data collection Research approaches Research instruments Sampling plan Contact methods Various kinds of research approaches Observational research --- Gain primary data by observation of relevant people, actions, situations Ethnographic research --- Kind of observational research by sending trained observers to gain an in depth understanding about day to day activities of consumers Provides information which customers are unwilling or unable to provide, hence suited for exploratory research Helpful in developing markets, where companies are not very knowledgeable about consumers eg. ITCs e-choupal and Choupal sagar Focus group research Gathering data out of a moderated group discussion among 6-10 people, about a product, service, organization Moderator focuses the discussion on the core issue Gift/ incentive for attending it Recordings of the discussion helpful in understanding consumer beliefs, attitudes and behaviour Survey research Best for descriptive research Surveys to understand about customer preferences, buying behaviour, customer satisfaction etc Flexible, useful to gain data in a variety of situations Online or Internet marketing research--- Primary data collection through online surveys and focus groups Biased and ignorant answers Some consumers dislike the intrusion to their privacy Research using behavioural data Research based on actual purchases eg. Data from check out scanners More reliable than surveys Experimental research Most scientifically valid Involves selection of similar groups, give them differential treatment, control all factors except the one under research and evaluate the differences in group responses eg. Different prices for a product in 2 cities Various research instruments Questionnaires --- closed end or open end Qualitative measures Technological devices Various kinds of closed end questions Dichotomous questions Questions with 2 possible answers Eg. In arranging this trip, did you contact Kingfisher Airlines? Yes No Multiple Choice Questions A question with 3 or more answers Eg. With whom are you traveling on this trip? No one Spouse Spouse and children Children only Business associates/friends/relatives An organized tour group Likert Scale A statement with which the respondent shows the amount of agreement/ disagreement Eg. Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Small airlines generally give better service than large ones. Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree Semantic Differential Scale connecting 2 bipolar words Respondent selects the point that represents his or her opinion Kingfisher Airlines Large ....Small Experienced..Inexperienced Modern...Old-fashioned Importance Scale Scale which rates importance of an attribute Eg. Airline food service is _____ to me Extremely important Very important Somewhat important Not very important Not at all important Rating Scale Scale to rate an attribute from poor to excellent Eg. Kingfisher Airlines food service is _____ Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor Intention- to-buy- scale A scale which would describe the respondents intention to buy Eg. How likely are you to purchase tickets on Kingfisher Airlines if in-flight Internet access is available? Definitely buy Probably buy Not sure Probably not buy Definitely not buy Various kinds of open end questions Completely unstructured A question which could be answered in unlimited number of ways Eg. What is your opinion of Kingfisher Airlines? Word Association Certain words are presented, one by one Respondents mention the first word which come to mind What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following? Airline _____________________ Kingfisher _____________________ Travel _____________________ Sentence Completion An incomplete sentence to be filled up Eg. When I choose an airline, the most important consideration in my decision is: _______________________________________ Story Completion An incomplete story to be completed Eg. I flew Kingfisher Airlines a few days ago. I noticed that the exterior and interior of the plane had very bright colors. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings. Now complete the story. _______________________________________ ______________________________________ Picture (Empty Balloons) The respondent need to empathise with the customer and fill in the probable conversation in the empty balloon Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) A picture is presented to the respondents, who in turn need to make a story of what they think is happening or may happen in the picture Donts Avoid negatives Avoid words that could be misheard Use response bands (eg. Age range) Avoid overlap between questions Questionnaire Dos and Donts Dos Ensure questions are free of bias Make questions simple & specific Avoid jargons (eg. same store sales) and sophisticated words Avoid ambiguous words (usually, frequently) Provision for other in fixed response questions