The Consumer Research Process

CHAPTERTWO

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Learning Objectives

1. To Understand the Importance of Consumer Research for Firms and Their Brands, as Well as Consumers.

2. To Understand the Steps in the Consumer Research Process.

3. To Understand the Importance of Establishing Specific Research Objectives as the First Step in the Design of a Consumer Research Project.

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Learning Objectives (continued)

4. To Understand the Purposes and Types of Secondary Consumer Research That Is Available for Making Decisions or Planning Future Consumer Research.

5. To Understand Specific Features and Applications of Different Research Methods to Be Carried Out in Consumer Research Studies.

6. To Understand Where Data Analysis and Reporting of Findings Fit in the Research Process.

7. To Understand How Each Element of the Consumer Research Process Adds to the Overall Outcome of the Research Study.

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Market Research and Marketing Research a difference.

Market Research: Involves researching specific industry’s or markets. Researching the computer industry to discover the number of competitors and their market share will be an example of market research.

Marketing Research: Marketing Research goes further. Marketing Research analyses a given marketing opportunity or problem, defines the research and data collection methods required to deal with the problem or take advantage of the opportunity, through to the implementation of the project.

In essence marketing research aims to discover the root cause for a specific problem within an organization ( eg declining sales) and put forward solutions to that problem.

Market Research & Marketing Research

Why Do Marketers Regularly Test Print Ads Like This One Before They Are Placed in the Media?

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To Test the Impact of the Message Before Spending Large Amounts of Money

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The Importance of the Consumer Research Process

• Marketers must understand customers to design effective:

– marketing strategies

– products

– promotional messages

Largely Influenced by Psychology, sociology, and anthropology

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The Consumer Research ProcessFigure 2.2

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The Consumer Research Process

• Secondary research

• Primary research

– Qualitative research includes focus groups and in‐depth interviews

– Quantitative observational research, experimentation, and survey research

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6 steps in Research 

1 Define the problem and research objectives

‐ not too broad or narrow

2 Develop the research plan 

3 Collect the information

4 Analyze the information

5 Present the findings

6 Make the decision

“An objective and scientific process”

Developing Research Objectives

• Defining purposes and objectives helps ensure an appropriate research design.

• A written statement of objectives helps to define the type and level of information needed.

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Discussion Questions

• Assume you are planning to open a new pizza restaurant near your campus.  

– What might be three objectives of a research plan for your new business?

– How could you gather these data?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 12Chapter Two Slide

Secondary Data

• Data that has been collected for reasons other than the specific research project at hand

• Includes internal and external data

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 13Chapter Two Slide

Types of Secondary Data

Internal Data• Data generated in‐house

• May include analysis of customer files

• Useful for calculating customer lifetime value

External Data• Data collected by an outside 

organization

• Includes federal government, periodicals, newspapers, books, search engines

• Commercial data is also available from market research firms

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Discussion QuestionsPersonal Privacy

• Many people do not like the fact that their personal data are used for marketing.

• How can marketers justify their need for data?  

• How can they acquire data and maintain customer privacy?

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Designing Primary Research

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.  16Chapter Two Slide

Qualitative Collection MethodDepth Interview

• Also called one‐on‐one interview

• Usually 20 minutes to 1 hour

• Non‐structured

• Interviewer will often probe to get more feedback (see following slide for probing)

• Session is usually recorded

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Probing Options for InterviewsFigure 2.3 

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Qualitative Collection Method Focus Group

• 8‐10 participants

• Respondents are recruited through a screener questionnaire

• Lasts about 2 hours

• Always taped or videotaped to assist analysis

• Often held in front of two‐way mirrors

• Online focus groups are growing

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Discussion Guides for Research

• Step‐by‐step outline for depth interviews and focus groups

• Interviewers will often “improvise”and go beyond the discussion guide

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Focus Group Discussion Guide ‐ Figure 2.4

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Qualitative Collection Method Projective Techniques

• Research procedures designed to identify consumers’subconscious feelings and underlying motivations 

– Done one on one & in closed settings

• Consist of a variety of disguised “tests”

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Common Projective ExercisesTable 2.1 (excerpt)

Description

Word Associations

The researcher has a list of words, some of them to be studied and some just as “filler.” The researcher asks the respondent (s) to react, one-at-a time, to each word by stating or (in a focus group setting) writing on a pad the first word that comes to mind, and to explain the link.

SentenceCompletion

The researcher has a series of incomplete sentences that the respondent (s) needs to complete with a word or phrase.

Photo/Visual for Storytelling

The researcher creates/selects a series of photos of consumers, different brands or products, range of print ads, etc., to serve as stimuli. The respondents are asked to discuss or tell a story based on their response to a photo or some other visual stimulus.

Role Playing Is quite similar to storytelling; however, instead of telling a story, the participant (s) will be given a situation and asked to “act out” the role (s), often with regard to a product or brand, or particular selling situation.

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people cannot easily locate and verbalize their true feelings topeople cannot easily locate and verbalize their true feelings toward a product category or brand.ward a product category or brand.

Qualitative Collection Method Metaphor Analysis

• Based on belief that metaphors are the most basic method of thought and communication

– much of communication is nonverbal and that people do not think as much in words as they do in images

• Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) combines collage research and metaphor analysis to bring to the surface the mental models and the major themes or constructs that drive consumer thinking and behavior.

– Respondents are asked to find pictures that describe their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about products, companies, and brands.  

– The results are then combined to see if there are common themes or constructs that consumers mention in their results

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Qualitative Collection Method “Looking‐In”

• Look at information from threads and postings on social media, including blogs and discussion forums 

– Emerging field of consumer research that works to interpret online conversations

• Methodology to capture consumers’ experiences, opinions, forecasts, needs, and interests 

– Growth in social marketing, there are increasing conversations and comments online regarding products and brands

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Designing Primary Research

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Data Collection MethodsObservational Research

• Helps marketers gain an in‐depth understanding of the relationship between people and products by watching them buying and using products

• Helps researchers gain a better understanding of what the product symbolizes

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Data Collection Methods Mechanical Observational Research

• Uses mechanical or electronic device to record consumer behavior or response 

– electronic traffic counters, videotape technology, and meters

• Consumers’ increased use of highly convenient technologies will create more records for marketers 

– frequent shopper cards / smart cards‐freq. flyer etc…

• Audits are a type of mechanical observation which monitor sales

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Data Collection Methods Experimentation

• Can be used to test the relative sales appeal of many types of variables

• An experiment is usually controlled with only some variables manipulated at a time while the others are constant

• Test markets are conducted on a single market area

• Experimentation can be conducted in laboratories or in the field

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Discussion Questions

• What might direct marketers test in experiments?

• How can they use the results?

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Data Collection MethodsTable 2.2

Mail Telephone Personal Interview

Online

Cost Low Moderate High Low

Speed Slow Immediate Slow Fast

Response rate Low Moderate  High Self‐selected

Geographic flexibility

Excellent Good Difficult Excellent

Interviewer bias N/A Moderate Problematic N/A

Interviewer Supervision

N/A Easy Difficult  N/A

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 32Chapter Two Slide

Validity and Reliability

• If a study has validity, it collects the appropriate data for the study. – Validity asks the question of whether the data is really applying to the 

objectives you have set 

• A study has reliability if the same questions, asked of a similar sample, produce the same findings. – Reliability tells you, the researcher, if the results would be repeated if 

conducted on a similar group at the same time.

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Attitude Scales

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Customer Satisfaction Measurement

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys

– Analysis of Expectations versus Experience

• Mystery Shoppers

• Customer Complaint Analysis

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Sampling and Data Collection

• Samples are a subset of the population used to estimate characteristics of the entire population.

• A sampling plan addresses:– Whom to survey– How many to survey– How to select them

• Researcher must choose probability or non‐probabililty sample.

Chapter Two Slide 36

Data Analysis and Reporting Findings

• Open‐ended questions are coded and quantified.

• All responses are tabulated and analyzed.

• Final report includes executive summary, body, tables, and graphs.

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Secondary Research vs. Primary Research

Advantages Disadvantages

Secondary research e.g census

• Inexpensive • Easy to access • Immediate

• Often outdated • Potentially unreliable • May not be relevant

Primary research • Applicable & useable • Accurate & reliable • Up-to-date

• Expensive • Not available immediately • Not always readily accessible