Download Conducting Marketing Research & Forecasting Demand

Conducting Marketing Research
& Forecasting Demand
Vishnu Parmar, IBA
University of Sindh, Jamshoro
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The Marketing Research System
 Marketing Research as the systematic
design, collection, analysis and
reporting of data and findings
relevant to a specific marketing
situation facing the company.
 Most large companies have their own
Marketing Research Department
 Normally companies allocated budget
is 1% to 2% of their sales
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The Marketing Research System
Categories of Marketing Research Firms
1. Syndicated Service Firms: Gather
consumer and trade information and sell
for a fee e.g. NCAER (National Council for
Applied Economics Research)
2. Custom Marketing Research Firms:
designed and carry out research studies
for various clients based on specific briefs.
E.g. LUMS, IBA, SZABIST
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The Marketing Research System
3. Specialty Line Marketing Research Firm:
Specialized research services they may hire
academics and freelancers, collecting data
field, and preparing data analyses and
reports for other firms.
Companies can hire the services of a
marketing research firm or conduct
research in creative and affordable ways
like Engaging Professors and MBA students
or collecting secondary information by
various mediums
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Figure 4.1:
The Marketing
Research Process
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The Marketing Research Process
1. Defining the Problem, the Decision
Alternatives, and the Research
Objectives
 What is to be researched (the
content, the scope)?
 Why is it to be researched (the
decision that are to be made)?
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The Marketing Research Process
2. Develop the Research Plan
This step involves decisions on the data
sources, research approaches, research
instruments, sampling plan and contact
method
(i) Data Sources:
(a) Secondary Data
(b) Primary Data
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The Marketing Research Process
(ii) Research Approaches: Primary data can
be collected in five ways
a) Observational Research
b) Ethnographic Research (how people
live & work, to uncover unarticulated
desires that might not surface in other way)
c) Focus Group Research (6 or 10 people
invited to spent few hours with a skilled
moderator to discuss a product)
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The Marketing Research Process
d) Survey Research (for descriptive research,
to learn about people’s knowledge, beliefs,
preferences, and satisfaction)
e) Behavioral Data
(many high income group
do not buy expensive brands)
f) Experimental Research
(to capture
cause and effect relationship by eliminating
competing explanations of the observed
findings)
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The Marketing Research Process
Research Instruments
(I) Questionnaires
(II) Qualitative Measures
(unstructured
measurement approaches that permit a
range of possible responses)
(III)Technological Devices (occasionally
use in marketing research. E.g.
Galvanometer, Tachistoscope flashes
etc)
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A. Closed-end Questions
Name
Description
Example
Dichotomous
A question with two possible answers.
In arranging this trip, did you personally phone American?
Yes
No
Multiple Choice
A question with three or more answers.
With whom are you traveling on this flight?
Likert scale
A statement with which the respondent shows
the amount of agreement/ disagreement.
No one
Children only
Spouse
Business associates/friends/relatives
Spouse and
children
An organized tour group
Small airlines generally give better service than large ones.
Strongly
Disagree
Neither agree
Agree
Strongly
disagree
nor disagree
agree
1_____
2 _____
3_____
4_____
5_____
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The Marketing Research Process
 Sampling Plan
 Sampling unit (who should be survey?)
 Sample size (How many people should
be survey?)
 Sampling procedure (How should we
choose the respondents?)
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Table 5.3: Probability and Nonprobability Samples
A. Probability Sample
Simple random sample
Every member of the population has an
equal chance of selection
Stratified random sample
The population is divided into mutually
exclusive groups (such as age groups),
and random samples are drawn from each
group
Cluster (area) sample
The population is divided into mutually
exclusive groups (such as city blocks), and
the researcher draws a sample of the
groups to interview
Continued on next slide . . .
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Table 5.3: Probability and Nonprobability Samples (Continued)
B. Nonprobability Sample
Convenience sample
The researcher selects the most
accessible population members
Judgment sample
The researcher selects population
members who are good prospects for
accurate information
Quota sample
The researcher finds and interviews a
prescribed number of people in each of
several categories
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The Marketing Research Process
 Contact Methods
 Mail questionnaire
 Telephone interviewing
 Personal interviewing
 Arranged interviews
 Intercept interviews
 Online methods
 Click-stream
 Cookies
 Automated
telephone surveys
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The Marketing Research Process
 Step 3: Collect the
Information
 Step 4: Analyze the
Information
 Step 5: Present the
Findings
 Step 6: Make the
Decision
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The Seven Characteristics of Good
Marketing Research
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Scientific Method
Research Creativity
Multiple Methods Models
Interdependence
Value and Cost of Information
Healthy Skepticism
Ethical Marketing
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The Seven Characteristics of Good
Marketing Research
1. Scientific
method
Effective marketing research uses the principles of the
scientific method: careful observation, formulation of
hypotheses, prediction, and testing.
2. Research
creativity
At its best, marketing research develops innovative
ways to solve a problem: a clothing company catering
to teenagers gave several young men video cameras,
then used the videos for focus groups held in
restaurants and other places teens frequent.
3. Multiple
methods
Marketing researchers shy away from overreliance on
any one method. They also recognize the value of
using two or three methods to increase confidence in
the results.
See text for complete table
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The Marketing Research Process
 Overcoming Barriers to the Use of
Marketing Research
A narrow conception of the research
Uneven caliber of researchers
Poor framing of the problem
Late and occasionally erroneous
findings
 Personality and presentational
differences
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