1

Chapter 4Marketing Research

What Language Do We Speak?English Words1. Pram2. Nappy3. Solicitor4. Pillar Box5. Lorry6. Smalls7. Turf Accountant

8. Gangway9. Sweet10.Lift11.Let12.Fortnight13.Torch14.Wireless15.Trunk Call

3

What Language Do We Speak?Australian Word1. Ankle Biter2. Boomer3. Cheese and Kisses4. Earbasher5. Pokies6. Sheila7. grasshopper

8. Tomato Sauce9. Amber Fluid10.Brolly11.Chrissie12.Jumper13.Sanger14.Strides15.Mozzie

4

What is Marketing Research?• It is the systematic

collection, analysis, and interpretation of information used to develop a marketing strategy or to solve a problem.

• Firms can do marketing research on their own or hire a marketing research firm, such as the Environics Research Group , Vebsite

5

• Marketing research uses hard data (Information based on supportable facts)

• Not Intuition – (decisions based on feelings and prior knowledge)

6

Why is Marketing Research Important?

• Find out what people like; want/need• Make the company more successful• Learn how to improve your

product/service• To find out who your target market is.• Where, when, & how people shop• What forms of promotions to use• To understand different cultures• Know the competition• Style of packaging• Et cetera

7

Types of Information• Secondary Data• Primary Data

8

4.2 Secondary Data is marketing-research information that has been collected and published by others.• Secondary data is collected by

means of on-line surveys, telephone marketing surveys, marketing research groups, etc.

• Secondary research ~ collection and analysis of secondary data.

9

Sources for Secondary Data

• Books• Periodicals ~ magazines, newspapers

etc.• The Internet• Databases ~ lists of information

organized by category • Indexes ~ list of all articles published

about a specific topic over a particular period

• Consultants ~ local chambers of commerce or business development offices are the best sources for free information. Canada Business Organization

• Marketing-Research Professionals ~ companies that sell their data.

10

How is Secondary Data used?

• Can be used by any business to help develop its marketing strategy and assist in decision making and problem solving

• Read pages 130-132

11

4.3 Primary Data• Unanalyzed, current

information collected by a researcher for a specific purpose.

• There are two types of Primary Research;– Qualitative & Quantitative

12

• Qualitative Research ~ research about how people feel toward or think about a product. (Blind taste tests, opinion polls)

• Quantitative Research ~ research based on data taken from surveys or figures based on a sample of the target market. (Quantitative = Measurable)

13

USING THE DATA• Researchers use the

results to make predictions about the entire target market.

• They use a number of techniques to gather this information: 1. Test Marketing2. Internal Information

Sources3. Surveys4. Observation5. Focus-group Interviews

14

1. TEST MARKETING• to see how well a product

might sell, marketers may produce a limited quantity and introduce it into a test market.

• Test Markets ~ are sites that mirror the demographic composition of the country as a whole. (Peterborough, ON, is often used in Canada)

• Often used for packaged goods, i.e. soup, toothpaste & Movies

15

How Test Markets Are Administered• Selling a product in one or

two major retails stores or• Changing the price, product

packaging, in-store display location, in-store advertising etc., in one store and not changing anything in another store or

• Trying different promotional activities in each store

• ...and then monitoring the sales.

• Disadvantages: expensive, not always accurate. (Competitors)

16

2. Internal Information Sources:

• Sales Records ~ provides information on the popularity or product lines, shows the seasonal fluctuations, data on stock turnover, and can help predict future sales & inventory stock

• Inventory Records ~ provides more information on seasonal fluctuations

• Advertising & Promotional Records ~ provides information on the success or failure of specific ads or promos. (What worked in the past might work in the present/future)

• Production Records ~ indicates peak ordering and downtimes, helps with the scheduling of marketing & advertising plans

17

Company Databases• Can hold both personal data and

purchasing information on customers.

• Businesses obtain this information through a variety of means, client cards, frequent-purchaser cards, reward programs and other programs that require the consumer to provide personal data.

• Each time one of these cards is used the company is supplied with specific purchasing data.

• This information is used for data mining

18

Data Mining• Generally, data mining

(sometimes called data or knowledge discovery) is the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information - information that can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both.

• Video

3. Surveys• a set of carefully planned

questions that are used to gather data. The people chosen must be random.

• Most surveys use closed-ended questions. (respondents select one answer from two or more choices) Examples: Yes/No; Agree/Disagree; “Select a, b, c, or d” or “Rate on a scale of 1 to 10.

• Some use open-ended questions , questions that allow respondents to develop their own answers.

• Ex. What do you like most about this flavour?

20

4. Observations • collecting information by

watching the actions of people.

• Observations can be made using tv cameras, audiotapes, one-way mirrors and other mechanical methods.

• Mechanical methods – bar-code scanners, eye-tracking devices.

• Eye-tracking photography video

21

5. Focus Group Interviews• bringing a small group of

people together to discuss a particular product or problem.

• Focus Group Video One• Second Video• UK video

22

Section 4.4 Types of Marketing Research

The type of research a marketer uses depends on whether they need information on their consumers or their competitors.

23

Consumer Research• Consists of all the efforts

marketers use to determine people’s buying behaviour.

• There are nine methods:– Product Research– Motivation Research– Media Research– Consumer Tracking Device– Awareness, Attitude, and Usage

Studies– Consumer Satisfaction Studies– Market Dimension Analysis– Advertising Research– Consumer Segmentation Analysis

24

• Awareness, Attitude, and Usage Studies (AAU) ~ measures consumers’ awareness, attitude and usage of a product

• Consumer Segmentation Analysis ~ used to group potential customers into target markets based on shared demographics, geographic or psychographic characteristics.

• Market Dimension Analysis ~ analysis of a segment of the potential market about what would influence them to purchase a product like the one being marketed.

25

• Product Research ~ examines each detail of the product or service & analyzes its potential impact on the market. Looks at variables such as color, package, flavor, scent, etc.

• Media Research ~ attempts to segment consumers based on which newspapers & magazines they read, which TV programs

• Consumer-Tracking Device ~ machines that gather information on consumer’s’ purchasing habits while they shop (e.g., bar code scanners, internet software)

26

• Motivation Research ~ research into why customers buy what they do

• Consumer Satisfaction Studies ~ studies that show how happy a consumer is with a product or service

• Advertising Research ~ research to determine how to effectively convey a product message to potential consumers

27

Competitive Research• used to determine what

other products your product is competing with.

• Competitive Market Analysis – uses a variety of tools to compare all of the products available in a particular market category.

28

• Competitive Intelligence – hard data collected on the competitors company. (e.g. copies of annual reports from the internet, samples of advertising, promotions etc.)

• Pricing Research – looks at what a customer will pay for a product.

• Conjoint (tradeoff) Analysis – used to identify the individual features of a product that contribute to its perceived worth. (Value equation)