Chapter 2 Marketing research After going through this chapter, you should be able to: Explain the...
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Transcript of Chapter 2 Marketing research After going through this chapter, you should be able to: Explain the...
Chapter 2Chapter 2
Marketing researchMarketing research
After going through this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain the role marketing research plays in decision-making in the hospitality industry
Identify sources of marketing information available to hospitality organizations
Define secondary and primary data collection Explain the differences between qualitative and quantitative
research methods Recognize how bias and sampling errors can distort marketing
research findings Describe how hospitality organizations conduct online research.
Managers are paid to make decisions. The purpose of marketing research is to inform and improve
decision-making by reducing uncertainty. Marketing research can be defined as the systematic
gathering and analysis of data to provide relevant information to aid decision-making.
Marketing research is a planned process. Market research describes the investigation of consumer
and organizational markets Marketing research includes research into all the marketing
mix variables and the macro (PESTE) and micro-environments.
Presents unique problems because of the cultural and technological differences between countries:
Translation difficulties Variations in customer behaviour because of different
cultural backgrounds Variations in customers’ product knowledge Difficulties in obtaining comparable samples Different cultural responses to market research surveys Differences in the infrastructure
Hospitality managers need relevant, accurate, current and reliable information to be able to make effective decisions that will influence the future of the business.
Small, single-unit, owner-operated companies rely on informal approaches to data collection and interpretation.
Larger organizations need to develop more sophisticated marketing information systems to ensure
that corporate executives understand complex environment
The marketing information system helps marketers to identify trends and plan for the future
The hospitality marketing information systemThe hospitality marketing information system
Internal information is held by the organization Accommodation businesses hold a wealth of
information about customers because of legal requirements
Information sources include: Customer records Guest history Departmental reports Marketing and sales reports
External information can be collected via the Internet and publications including: International and national government
organizations Marketing research organizations Publicly quoted companies “Annual Accounts” Trade associations Hospitality industry trade press Financial press Universities and academic publishers
Secondary (desk) data are data that have already been collected It is relatively easy to obtain secondary data since the information
has already been published Limitations to secondary data include:
data have been collected and analysed by another organization
some organizations may deliberately manipulate data other organizations may have inadvertently introduced bias information is generally available to competitors secondary data and analysis can often be ‘dated’ because of
the long time between carrying out the research and publishing
the findings
Primary data consist of original information collected by an organization for a specific purpose.
The data have not been published before. The organization conducting or commissioning the research
determines the research objectives and research questions. Data are collected directly to provide answers to those questions. Primary research is usually more costly than the secondary
research. Advantages of primary research include the following:
The ability to frame the research questions to the needs of the organization
Research is current and not dated Research is confidential
Primary data can enable a hospitality company to gain competitive advantage if competitors are not carrying out similar research.
Qualitative research aims to provide a deep understanding of people’s contextualized behaviour
It aims to explain how and why people behave in certain ways
Qualitative research in hospitality uses: Observation in-depth interviews, focus groups (also known as group discussions) qualitative questions in surveys
Quantitative research uses a wide range of methods to obtain and analyse numerical data
Quantitative research counts numbers, in terms of either volume or value. For example: the number of customers, passengers, residents,
diners, room nights, room occupancy; restaurant unit’s sales; or a hotel chain’s room
sales. If data are numeric then the research is
quantitative
Quantitative research techniques are founded upon statistical theory
Correct statistical methods are required to reduce possible error and bias
Possible errors include: Sampling errors Respondent errors Investigator errors Administrative errors
In large surveys, statistical software packages are used to process the quantitative research data.
exit surveys mystery customer audits telephone (including mobile phone)
surveys online surveys omnibus surveys.
Closed questions provide a number of alternative answers from which the respondent chooses one answer, for example questions about: respondent’s age, sex, employment, income
Closed questions use a structured format which creates a data set thatcan be efficiently analysed using statistical methods.
Closed questions are essential if a quantitative research method is used
Open-ended questions allow respondents to provide their own answers, Examples include ‘Where would you stay tonight if this hotel was fully
booked?’ and ‘How did you feel about the quality of service?’ Open question allows respondents to use their own words to describe
their experience, feelings and opinions. Qualitative research findings using open questions provide ‘rich’ data Researchers usually ask a combination of both closed and open
questionsand combine qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Compare Le Meridien and Malmaison in-room customer questionnaires
Le Meridien customer questionnaireLe Meridien customer questionnaire
Le Meridien customer questionnaire (2)Le Meridien customer questionnaire (2)
Malmaison comment cardMalmaison comment card
There are six steps in the marketing research process:
Formulation of research objectives Development of a research plan Data collection Data analysis Assess the reliability and validity of data Presentation of findings
Advantages of online research include: significant cost savings in the design and
administration of questionnaires and discussion groups
the ability to accurately target surveys to current, former or potential customers.
Often, customers are incentivized to participate in online surveys
Post- consumption e-surveys provide customers with a convenient tool to give feedback on service quality and customer satisfaction.
Tools such as blogs and social networking sites are useful to obtain unsolicited such for customer- generated comment
The Internet is available to all sizes of hospitality companies.
Academics and practitioners have criticized modern marketing research for a number of reasons
The focus on collecting data and performing statistical analysis, which does not provide new insights for the business or inform decision-making
Flawed marketing research methodologies that introduce unacceptable levels of bias or error
The emphasis on research stifles creativity in marketing
Despite these criticisms, major hospitality companies recognize the importance of marketing research and carry out extensive customer and competitor research on a continuous basis
Altinay , L. , & Paraskevas , A. ( 2008 ). Planning research in hospitality and tourism, Oxford, UK : Butterworth-Heinemann .
Bowie, D & Buttle, F (2011), Hospitality Marketing: Principles and Practice, Oxford, UK : Butterworth-Heinemann
Brown , S. ( 2001 ). Marketing: The retro revolution . Sage . Chaffey , D. , Ellis-Chadwick , F. , Johnston , K. , & Mayer , R. (
2009 ). Internet marketing: strategy, implementation and practice ( 4th ed. ). Pearson Education .
Daymon , C. , & Holloway , I. ( 2002 ). Qualitative research methods in public
relations and marketing communications . Routledge .
Saunders , M. K. , Thornhill , A. , & Lewis , P. ( 2009 ). Research methods for business students ( 5th ed.). Financial Times/Prentice Hall .
Usunier , J. C. , & Lee , J. ( 2009 ). Marketing across cultures ( 5th ed.). Financial Times/Prentice Hall .