Download Marketing Research Process

The Marketing Research
Process
The Research Purpose
• A shared understanding between manager and
researcher about
– Problem or opportunity to be studied
• Exploratory (qualitative) research to identify problems or
opportunities
• Goal is to move from exploratory to confirmatory (quantitative)
research (decision-focused)
– Evaluation of decision alternatives
• If there are no decision alternatives, no research is necessary
– Research users
• External bodies may require high-quality research designs
Research Purpose: Your projects
• Manager / Researchers?
– You are the researchers –
Your professor is the
manager
• Identify the research
• Example Case:
•
problem:
– Identify and write down
your team’s research
problem / opportunity that
you want to study
•
Promoting a New
Health Cub in town
Research problem:
Consumers largely
ignore advertising
Research opportunity:
Competitor’s facilities
are outdated
Market Research Process
1. Agree on Research Purpose
2. Establish Research Objectives
Research Objective
• A statement, in as precise terminology as
possible, of what information is needed to satisfy
the research purpose
• What do we plan to achieve (know) through this
research, that dovetails into the research purpose
• Case: Promoting a New Health Club in town
– Research Objective: Understanding the best way to
promote the new health club
• For your projects: Write down your research
objective
Explicating the Research Objective
Research Question
What specific information do we want under the broad
research objective
Hypothesis Development
Can we make a specific statement about a research
question which we believe to be accurate
Research Boundaries
Who should be included / excluded from the research
The Research Question (RQ)
• Specifies information the decision maker
needs to achieve the research purpose
• One Research Objective may lead to many
research questions
• RQs used when we do not have sufficient
information to state a hypothesis
Case: New Health Club: Research
Questions: Consumers Ignore Advertising
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How much do consumers notice health club advertising in
general?
How much do consumers like health club advertising in
general?
What are consumers’ perceptions about our competitors?
Which ad did consumers rate the highest? The lowest?
When do consumers usually watch TV, what times and
which channels and programs?
What attitude to advertising do consumers have?
Do consumers frequently ‘zip’ and ‘zap’ when the
commercial breaks come on?
What is our consumers attitude to being personally
approached to sell?
Case: New Health Club: Research
Questions: Outdated competitor’s facilities
• What are the different dimensions on which
•
•
•
consumers evaluate health clubs?
What is their relative importance in the
evaluation?
Would “state of the art” facilities be enough
reason to switch to the new health club?
How much extra would consumers be willing to
pay for “state-of-the-art facilities?
Your projects
• Begin writing research questions that
dovetail into your research objective
The Hypothesis
• A statement related to the research
question which you believe to be accurate
• Two types (Null & Research) – research to
reveal which of these are correct
• Specify variables to be measured with /
without value OR variables to be
measured and relationship between them
Hypothesis Development
Theory
Research
Purpose
Research
Question
Management
Experience
Exploratory
Research
Hypothesis
Research
Design
Role of the Hypothesis
• Introduces more detail than the RQ
• RQ: Why are sales in the Northeast lower than
the national average?
• H1: The competitor released a new ad campaign
• H2: The weather was abnormally cold
• H3: A distribution problem prevented products
from reaching the retailers
• Introduces variables to be included in the
research design (e.g. new ad campaign,
temperature, distribution problems)
Case: New Health Club: Hypotheses:
Consumers ignore advertising?
• Consumers do not notice health club
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•
•
•
advertising in general
Consumers dislike health club advertising in
general
Consumers like competitor A more than
competitor B
The ad with the “___” is least liked.
Consumers like being approached personally to
sell
Case: New Health Club: Hypotheses:
Outdated competitor’s facilities
• Consumers feel facilities are more
important than location in a health club
• “State of the art” facilities alone is not
reason enough to switch health clubs
• Consumers prefer discounts to paying a
premium for modern facilities
• Consumers are not satisfied with
competitors’ facilities
The Marketing Research Process
(Research Objective)
Research
Purpose
Research
Question
Develop a can How effective is
design for the
each of several
new Miller beer different design
alternatives?
Hypothesis
The design that
conforms to the
advertising message
is best.
Increasing
What is the current Builders Square’s
Builders Square image of Builders image is not as good
store traffic
Square?
as its competitor’s
image.
The Research Process Pyramid
Abstract level
Research Problem
Research Objectives
Research Questions
Hypotheses
Operational level
Questionnaire Items