Download The Marketing Research Process

Course Outline
6-1
Marketing Activities of a Firm
6-2
Chapter 5
Global Management Information
Systems and Marketing Research
(Lecturer: Minli Wan)
Chapter Learning Objectives
Understanding the importance of information
technology (IT) and a marketing information
system (MIS).
Understanding the steps of the marketing
research process and issues that should be
considered in conducting global marketing
research.
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Contents
IT and MIS:
Introduction to IT and MIS
Components of MIS
Tools of MIS
Importance of IT and MIS
Develop a global vision through marketing
research:
Concept of marketing research
The marketing research process
Issues that should be considered in global marketing
research
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Introduction to IT and MIS
Information is a critical ingredient in developing a
successful marketing strategy and tactics.
IT refers to an organization’s processes for creating,
storing, exchanging, using and managing
information.
An MIS provides a means for gathering, sorting,
analyzing, evaluating and reporting the relevant
data. It produces a continuous flow of information
about company internal operations and external
environment for marketing decision makers.
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Components of MIS
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Components of MIS (Cont’d)
Internal reporting system (内部记录系统):
Provides internal company records such as sales reports
and financial statements.
Marketing intelligence system (营销情报系统):
Provides everyday information about the marketing
environment such as competitors and development in
the marketplace.
Marketing research system (营销调研系统):
Allows marketers to collect data in a purposeful way to
address a well-defined research problem by conducting
formal studies of specific situation;
Links marketers to customers and the public through
information gathered.
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Tools of MIS
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI/电子数据交换)
Efficient Consumer Response (ECR/电子卖点)
Electronic point of sale (EPOS/有效的用户反应)
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Data warehouses
The establishment and implementation
company’s MIS is based on its Intranet
of
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a
Intranet
A Private network that allows
authorized company personnel (or
outsiders)
to
share
information
electronically.
Allows a company’s information
system to serve as a 24-Hour nerve
center.
Enables companies like Amazon.com
and Dell to operate as real time
enterprises.
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Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Allows a company’s business units to:
Submit orders (提交订单);
Issue invoices (开具发票);
Conduct business electronically with
other company units and outside
companies.
Transaction formats are universal.
Allows computers at different
companies to speak the same
language.
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Efficient Customer Response (ECR)
In addition to EDI, retailers are increasing using
ECR in an effort to work more closely with vendors
on stock replenishment.
ECR can be defined as a joint initiative by members
of a supply chain to work toward improving and
optimizing aspects of the supply chain to benefit
customers.
Supply chain: A system of individuals, organizations,
activities, information and resources involved in the
creation and sale of a product, from delivering raw
materials from the supplier to the manufacturer, and then
delivering products from the manufacturer and to the end
customer.
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Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS)
ECR system utilize EPOS data
gathered by checkout scanners to
help retailers:
Identify product sales trends;
Detect
how
consumer
preferences vary geographically.
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CRM
A new business model that:
is designed to support the sales process;
helps companies collect, store and analyze customer data.
It is a philosophy that values two-way
communication between company and customer.
Every point of contact with a customer is an
opportunity to collect data.
If implemented correctly, CRM can make
employees more productive and enhance corporate
profitability, simultaneously benefit customers by
providing value-added products and services.
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Data Warehouses
An integral part of a
company’s CRM system.
Help
retailers
fine-tune
product assortments with
multiple locations;
Enhance the ability of
manages to respond to
changing business conditions
by adjusting marketing mix
elements.
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Importance of IT and MIS
Today, IT is profoundly affecting
global marketing activities by
allowing managers to access and
manipulate data to assist in
decision making.
Global competition intensifies
global companies’ need for an
effective MIS to scan the world for
information
about
marketing
opportunities and problems.
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Developing a Global Vision through the
Marketing Research
Without research, a company enters a
market like a blind man.
----Philip Kotler (“Father of Marketing”)
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Marketing Research
Marketing research is the process of systematic
gathering, recording, analyzing and reporting of
data to provide useful information in marketing
decision making.
Research processes and methods are the same
whether applied in China or the USA.
Global marketing research involves two additional
complications:
Information must be communicated across cultural
boundaries;
The environments where research tools are applied are
often different in foreign markets.
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The Marketing Research Process
The marketing research process for all countries should
follow the following five steps:
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1. Defining the Research Problem and
Establishing Research Objectives
The research process should begin with a
definition of the research problem and the
establishment of specific research objectives.
Problems are barriers that prevent the attainment
of organization goals, so a clearly defined problem
allows researchers to focus the research process on
securing the necessary data for solving problems.
Research problems stem from gaps between what
is supposed to happen and what did happen and
gaps between what did happen and what could
happen.
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1. Defining the Research Problem and
Establishing Research Objectives
Examples:
What should be our overall marketing strategy for the new product
line?
What message should we use in our promotion in foreign markets?
“Strategic transformation in the value-added wood products
companies: Case study evidence from China”:
• Research problem: Despite China’s growing importance in the
global wood products market, the sources of competitiveness
and the strategies in the Chinese wood products companies
have not been studied in the international context.
• Research objective: To fill these gaps by analyzing the
strategies in the Chinese companies and identifying the
linkages between companies’ internal resources and
capabilities and the sources of competitiveness.
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Overcoming the SRC
The SRC occurs when a person’s values and beliefs
intrude on the assessment of a foreign culture.
E.g., When Mattel first introduced Barbie in Japan,
managers assumed that Japanese girls would find the doll’s
design just as appealing as the American girls did. This may
due to the SRC tendency on the part of American managers.
Marketers must be aware of the SRC because it can:
Enhance management’s willingness to conduct market
research;
Ensure that research design has minimal home-country bias;
Increase management’s receptiveness to research findings.
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2. Developing the Research Plan
The second step of the marketing research process is
to design an efficient and affordable research plan.
This step calls for decisions on:
2.1 Data source
2.2 Research approaches
2.3 Research instruments
2.4 Sampling plan
2.5 Unit of analysis
2.6 Contact methods
2.7 Value of the research
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2.1 Data Source
Primary data:
The data collected specifically for a particular purpose or
research project;
Obtained from primary research.
Secondary data:
The data that were collected for other purposes and
already exist somewhere.
Obtained from secondary research.
Sources:
• Internal sources: Company reports, previous company research,
salesperson feedback, customer feedback.
• External sources: Government publication, periodical and books,
commercial data, online data.
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Examining Data Availability
Can the information be acquired
from the existing data?
If so, secondary information will
be utilized (however, data on
foreign markets may be difficult to
find);
If not, primary research will be
necessary.
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Reliability of Secondary Data Sources
in Foreign Markets
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2.2 Research Approaches –
Primary Data Collection Methods
Often, the market researcher must collect primary
data.
Market research methods can be grouped into two
basic types:
Quantitative research
Qualitative research
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Quantitative Research
Used to quantify the problem via the way of
generating numerical data.
In quantitative research, usually a large number of
respondents are asked to answer structured questions
by using a specific response format (such as
“yes/no”) or selecting a response from a set of
choices.
Provides marketers with responses that can be
presented with precise estimations.
Generalizes results from a large sample population.
Survey research is associated with quantitative
research.
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Survey
A good way of gathering a large amount of data.
Often conducted by means of a closed-end
questionnaire distributed through mail, e-mail,
telephone or face-to-face.
Used to learn about people’s knowledge,
behavior, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, preferences
and satisfaction and to measure these magnitudes
in the general population.
Best suited for descriptive research.
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Qualitative Research
Questions are always open-ended, and respondents
are supposed to provide unstructured/semistructured responses that reflect the person’s
thoughts, feeling and understanding of a given
subject, rather than quantifying relevant aspects.
The sample size is typically small.
Can be classified in three broad categories:
Observation;
Personal interviews;
Focus groups (group discussions).
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Observation
Gathering data by observing the relevant actors
and settings:
When using observation as a data collection
method, one or more trained observers watch
and record, e.g., a marketer may”
Walk around the supermarket to observe the behavior
of buyers there or
Observe the people in queue and raise the question:
“Will the amount of people in a line affect some
people’s waiting patience?”
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Personal Interviews
A great way to learn detailed information from an
individual:
Allow researcher to ask “why?” and then explore
answers with the respondent on a face-to-face basis.
Can be conducted face-to-face or by phone.
Can range from in-depth, semi-structured to
unstructured, depending on the information
sought.
The most versatile, expensive and require more
administrative planning and supervision.
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Focus Groups
A gathering of 6 to 10 people who are invited to
spend a few hours with a trained moderator in
discussing a predetermined set of topics.
Useful to further explore some topics and gain
deeper insights, providing a broader understanding
of why the target group may behave or think in a
particular way, and assist in determining the reason
of attitudes and beliefs.
Conducted with a small sample of the target group
-> Avoid generalizing the reported perceptions of
the focus-group participants to the whole market.
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Focus Group Research in Progress
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2.3 Research Instruments
Questionnaire: The most common instrument to
collect primary data:
Closed-end questionnaire: Easy to interpret and
tabulate;
Open-end questionnaire: Provide more and further
information.
Note: Questionnaire must be worded objectively,
clearly and without bias in order to communicate
with respondents.
Mechanical devices: video, camera.
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2.4 Sampling Plan
After deciding the research approach and
instruments, the researcher must design a sampling
plan:
Sampling unit — Who is to be surveyed?
Sampling size — How many people should be surveyed?
Sampling procedure — How should the respondents be
chosen?
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2.5 Choosing a Unit of Analysis
Will the target market be:
Global
A region
A country
A province
A state
A city
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2.6 Contact Methods
Mailing questionnaire
Telephone
Face-to-face interviewing
On-line interviewing
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2.7 Assessing Value of Research
How much is the marketing information worth
verse how much will it cost to collect?
How much will it cost if the data are not
collected?
What will the company gain with this
information?
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3. Collecting Data
Data collection is very important because
regardless of the data analysis methods used, data
analysis cannot fix bad data.
In marketing research, data collection is the most
expensive and the most prone to error. Four
problems may arise:
Some interviees may not be able to participate in the
interview but inform the interviewer too late.
Some respondents are not cooperative;
Some will give biased or dishonest answers;
Some interviews will be biased or dishonest.
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Challenges of Collecting Primary Data
in International Marketing Research
Most challenges stem from access
to foreign markets and cultural
differences among countries.
Cultural differences offer the best
explanation for respondents’:
Inability to communicate their
opinions;
Unwillingness to respond to research
surveys (e.g., high-context culture
countries).
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Language Barrier
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4. Analyzing the Information
This forth step is to extract findings from the collected
data, involving first entering, cleaning, coding and
tabulating data in computer files, and then applying
appropriate methods and models to analyze the
results:
Data cleaning is the process by which raw data are checked
to verify that the data are correctly input to the computer
software program.
Statistical techniques for data analysis: ANOVA, regression
analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, conjoint analysis
(Factor analysis is a useful technique for reducing large
quantities of data to a few underlying dimensions.)
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Challenges for Analyzing and
Interpreting the Information
The meaning of words, the customer’s attitudes to a
products, the interviewee’s attitude or the situation
can distort research findings.
The global marketing researcher must possess three
talents to generate meaning marketing information:
A high degree of cultural understanding of the market in
which research is conducted;
A creative talent for adapting research methods;
A skeptical attitude in handling both primary and
secondary data.
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5. Presenting the Research Findings
In this last step of the marketing research process,
the research presents the major findings that are
relevant to the management’s key decisions.
Report must:
Clearly address problem identified in Step 1 and be
effectively communicated to decision makers;
Include executive summary of the key findings, a
description of research methods, results, discussions
and conclusions (incl. recommendations).
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Homework
Exercises for Chapter 5
Discuss questions:
Differences
between
supply
chain
management and value chain management;
The advantages and disadvantages of
different data collection methods.
Preview Chapter 6 Segmentation,
Targeting, and Positioning.
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Research Instruments
Questionnaire: flexibility, the most common
instrument used to collect primary data.
Closed-end: easy to interpret and tabulate;
Open-end: more information; explanatory research.
Qualitative measures:
Qualitative techniques: word associations,
visualization, projective techniques, laddering
Technological devices
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Table 1: Profitability Samples
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Table 2: Nonprofitability Samples
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Marketing Research
Marketing research is the process of systematic
gathering, recording, analyzing and reporting of
data provide useful information in marketing
decision making.
Global marketing research is the marketing research
conducted on a global basis:
Challenge is to recognize and respond to national
differences that influence the way information is
obtained.
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Define the Problem and Set the Objectives
What information do I need?
Existing Markets – customer needs already
being served by one or more companies;
information may be readily available
Potential Markets
• Latent market – an undiscovered market; demand
would be there if product was there
• Incipient market – market will emerge as macro
environmental trends continue
Why do I need this information?
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Sources of Secondary Information
Secondary research, also known as desk research,
involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis
of existing research rather than primary research.
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Enhancing Comparability of Data
Emic analysis
Ethnographic in
nature
Studies culture
from within
Uses culture’s own
meanings and
values
Etic analysis
From the outside
Detached
perspective that is
used in multicountry studies
Enhances
comparability but
minimizes precision
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Global Issues in Marketing Research
Many country markets must be included
markets with low profit potential justifies
limited research expenditures
Data in developing countries may be
inflated or deflated
Comparability of international statistics
varies greatly
Limits created by cultural differences
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3. Collecting Data
Data quality:
Validity – the extent to which the research measures
what it was intended to measure;
Reliability – the extent to which research measurement
techniques are free of errors;
Representativeness.
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