Chapter 4

Sport Marketing Research

Company

Research & Information Collection

Company Mission & Goals

Consumer Competitor Climate

Segmentation

Target Market Decisions

Sport Marketing Mix Decisions & Strategies

Marketing Management Strategies

Implementation – Management – Evaluation – Adjustment

The Sport Marketing Management Model

PriceProduct Place Promotion

Figure 3.3 The Sport Marketing Management Model

Why is research vital to sport marketing?

• To gain relevant information needed or to solve a problem to inform decisions in the sport business

• To enhance the body of knowledge in sport marketing as a field of study

• To publish this information in journals and books, deliver to students in sport management classrooms, and share with industry professionals for their work.

Sport Marketing Research Continuum

Simple: Reading a newspaper, magazine, or sport management journal.

Results: learn about a new sport business opening; a new technology being used in sporting equipment; a study on the demographics of fans of the LPGA.

Complex: The design and conduct of a study that involves, for example, (a) a new metal for a new softball bat, (b) a longitudinal study of children with disabilities in sports activities to determine their sports activity choices in adulthood, or (c) a study of arena advertising to determine its effects on spectators over a long period of time.

SIMPLE COMPLEX

Purposes of Sport Marketing Research

To Form a Link Between the Consumer in the Sport Industry and the Sport Company.

The “Link” is the consumer’s need or desire for something.

Info is collected through research so the company can know their consumers and what they want.

See examples page 98 PUMA North America National Sports Center for the Disabled

To Identify and Define Marketing Opportunities, Problems, and Threats.

• Opportunity: a chance for a sport company to capitalize on something that will most likely be positive for the company

• Problem: something isn’t quite right

• Threat: occurs when something will most likely have a negative effect on the sport company.

To Generate, Refine, Evaluate, and Monitor To Generate, Refine, Evaluate, and Monitor Marketing Actions.Marketing Actions.

Marketing Actions (activities) Determine the company’s products as well as pricing,

promotional, and distribution activities and methods. Decisions about what product to offer and how to offer

it can only be made after the research is conducted. Once all decisions are in place, they should be

monitored constantly to evaluate their effectiveness and performance

To Monitor Marketing Performances.To Monitor Marketing Performances.

Determine if marketing efforts are performing according to the established goals

(Ex.—Does the money spent on an ad in the Yellow (Ex.—Does the money spent on an ad in the Yellow Pages actually bring in business?)Pages actually bring in business?)

To Improve Understanding of Marketing as a To Improve Understanding of Marketing as a Process.Process.

Some research is conducted to gain an understanding of the process of marketing – how it works, does it work, etc.

Can there be practice without theory? Can there be theory without practice?

Often, this type of research is done to understand and improve your business’ techniques.

Additionally, this type of research is conducted and published in scholarly journals and textbooks, as in the next slides.

To Analyze and Understand the Sport To Analyze and Understand the Sport Company, Its Industry, and Its Competition.Company, Its Industry, and Its Competition.

Knowledge derives from information; information derives from research and study.

[see Tables 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6 (pp. 105-107)]

The 7-step Marketing Research Process

1. Define the objective.

2. Locate existing relevant information.

3. Consider hiring research company.

4. Determine the research design.

5. Conduct the study.

6. Analyze the data.

7. Use any new knowledge.

Sources of Information

• Primary Sources: sources from which information is gathered directly. Ex.—Studies

• Secondary Sources: sources that contain information that someone else compiled and reported, published, or collected.

Research Methods

• Surveys: In Person, Phone, Mail, Web• Observation: Formal or Informal• Interview• Focus Group• Purchase Behavior• Test Marketing• Other Scientific Research