Download BA3150 Marketing Research - University of London International

University of London International Programmes
BSc Business Administration
Lead College – Royal Holloway
BA3150 Marketing Research
Aims
Marketing Research is fundamental for informed management decision-making in modern organisations. The
course prepares students in both how to identify and how to obtain appropriate marketing information for
strategic and tactical marketing decisions. In addition, the course seeks to develop students’ analytical skills
and critical thinking to properly interpret the results of a marketing research exercise. Marketing Research
(MN303) focuses on providing students with the necessary skills that will enable them to carry out marketing
research projects within a real life environment.
Pre-requisites
BA2070 Strategic Management
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this module
will be able to:
Essential Reading
Doing Research Projects in Marketing,
Management and Consumer Research (Hackley
C.)
Included as study materials once registered on
the course.
Assessment
This module is assessed by a two hour unseen
written examination.
•
formulate, organise and conduct a
marketing research project;
•
apply and evaluate different sources of
marketing information;
•
apply and evaluate various data collection
techniques;
•
apply and evaluate various methods of data
analysis; and
•
write a comprehensive market research
report
Syllabus
Topic 1 This topic has two broad aims. One is to
introduce you to the ideas and processes of
managerial market research and how we will
address these issues in the course. The other is to
establish a broader perspective on research in
marketing. We will explore the various debates
and controversies within the field in the context of
a general exposition of marketing research
principles and practice. This exposition
emphasises macro issues and analytical schools of
thought rather than detailed accounts of data
analytical procedure.
Topic 2 This topic explores the basics of market
research practice. It will also reflect critically on
some of the assumptions of the managerial
marketing world-view by drawing on the wider
realm of research in marketing. This topic returns
to the distinction drawn between ‘marketing
research’ and ‘research in marketing’ made in
Topic 1 to take a closer look in terms of the
debates that have occurred concerning the most
effective and appropriate inter-relationship
between the two.
Topic 3 The marketing research function is said to
feed into the larger marketing information system
by responding to specific p rob lems and issues
with tailored research programmes as required.
The marketing research process entails five main
stages, the first of which – defining the research
problem/issue – will be the focus of this topic.
Topic 4 Research design refers to the linked and
mutually dependent events that must happen in
order for a research project to be completed
successfully. There will normally be some overarching theme that gives the separate events
coherence and direction. Research design involves
a number of choices which are not self-evident, no
matter how carefully the research question or
problem was formulated. There are a number of
parameters within which research projects are
constrained, the most obvious being timescale and
budget. In this topic we will focus on the aspect of
choosing the type of study within the concept of
research design.
Topic 5 Data gathering decisions in marketing
research depend very much on pragmatic
considerations as well as on issues of research
objectives and research design. The time, budget,
personnel available, not to mention the willingness
and authentication of respondents to participate, are
all important considerations that can be more
compelling than theoretical issues. The researcher’s
task is to get the best results possible within the
terms of the study and within the practical
constraints. This topic is organised around several
distinctions to illustrate the broad issues and p rob
lems at stake in decisions regarding data collection
method and focuses on primary data collection.
Topic 6 Qualitative data sets are more difficult to
collate and analyse than quantitative data sets in the
sense that qualitative data are ‘messier’ and less easy
to categories. However, qualitative data can sets
generate rich insights in elusive contexts. Such data
can generate insights in the quality of experience of
individuals in particular context. Typically used
methods of gathering qualitative data include ‘depth’
interviews, focus or discussion groups, projective
techniques, observation, diaries and ethnographies
(and ‘netnographies’). In this topic we will look at the
mechanisms for gathering qualitative data.
Topic 7 Data, whether quantitative or qualitative, do
not speak for themselves. Meaning must be
conferred upon them by the researcher using an
interpretive strategy. The particular interpretive
strategy adopted is based on the underlying
assumptions of the research design, since research
design, data collection method and interpretive
strategy are mutually connected. It is these issues of
fact and interpretation that we will be looking at in
this topic.
Topic 8 One member of the 1984 AMA task force
referred to in Topic 2, Professor Morris Holbrook of
Columbia University, New York , argued that research
in marketing should focus less on applied managerial
problem-solving and more on what he called ‘pure’
marketing research. Many scientific fields have
worked in this way, with academics undertaking ‘blue
skies’ research that spin off practical applications.
Holbrook argued in favour of an eclectic, ‘pure’
approach to research in marketing that drew on a
wide range of cultural and theoretical influences
and explored topics creatively for their own
intellectual sake. In this topic we will discuss these
and other alternative approaches in marketing
research.
Topic 9 At the beginning of this module it was
noted that, while marketing research is central to
the claims and ethos of managerial marketing
management, it has been by no means necessary
in a great many marketing innovations. The
conventional research-product design-marketing
mix sequence has often been by-passed by
inspired and visionary innovators. It was noted
that marketing research studies are invaluable for
incremental activities such as improvements in
service or product quality, and for pre-testing
ideas in promotion and product design. But the
emphasis on creativity, innovation in marketing
has led to a greater emphasis on ‘new model’
research approaches.