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MARKETING
CHAPTER 4
Marketing Information
and Research:
Analyzing the
Business Environment
Off-line and Online
Knowledge is Power
• A Marketing Information System (MIS)
determines what information managers
need and then gathers, sorts, analyzes,
stores, and distributes relevant and timely
marketing information to system users
• 3 components of MIS
– data
– computer hardware and software
– MIS experts
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Figure 4.2: The Marketing Information System
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Marketing Decision
Support System
• Includes analysis and interactive
software that allows managers to
conduct their own analyses
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Search for Gold: Data Mining
Customer
Acquisition
Customer
Retention
Customer
Abandonment
Market
Basket
Analysis
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Figure 4.4: Steps in the Research Process
Define the Problem
Determine Research Design
Choose Data Collection Method
Design the Sample
Collect the Data
Analyze and Interpret Data
Prepare the Research Report
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Step 1: Define the Problem
• Specify the research objectives
• Identify the consumer population of
interest
• Place the problem in an environmental
context
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Step 2: Determine the Design
• Can the information be acquired from
existing data?
– If so, secondary data sources will be
utilized
– If not, primary research will be
necessary
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Step 3: Choose the Data Collection Method
• Communication
– Mail questionnaires
– Telephone
– Face to face
– Online
questionnaires
• Observation
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Data Quality
Validity
Reliability
Representativeness
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Probability Samples
Simple
Random
Systematic
Random
Stratified
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Non-Probability Samples
Convenience
Quota
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Garbologists Search for Clues
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Step 5: Collect the Data
• Implementation phase
• Special issues in data collection
– Gathering Data in Foreign Countries
– Single-Source Data
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Checkout Scanners
Checkout
scanners enable
marketers to
collect singlesource data
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Step 6: Analyze and Interpret Data
• Enter, clean, and code data
• Choose appropriate techniques for
analysis
• Interpret analysis
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Step 7: Prepare the Research Report
Executive Summary
Description of
Research Methods
Discussion
Limitations
Conclusions/
Recommendations
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Online Research - Online Tracking
• The Internet offers the ability to track
and monitor consumers while they surf
• Several behaviors can be monitored
– What sites are visited?
– How long did the visitor stay?
– What types of information did they
collect at the site?
– Where did they go after they left?
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Coremetrics
Coremetrics specializes in tracking the online
behavior of all visitors to their clients’ Web
sites
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Cookies
• Cookies are text files inserted on a user’s
hard drive by an Internet site
• Cookies allow for details of a Web visit to
be stored and tracked with future visits
• For marketers, cookies allow a way of
observing behavior and customizing Web
sites and offerings to specific users
• For consumers, cookies represent a tradeoff between privacy and customization
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MCI
In focus groups
and interviews
about online
shopping,
consumers
consistently rate
security their
number one
concern
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Online Activities/Experiments
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Purposes of Internet Research
Develop
new products
Estimate market
response
Test markets
Assess
attitudes
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Limitations of Online Research
•
•
•
•
Representativeness of the population
Self-selection bias
Influence from hackers
Threats of competitive intelligence
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Issues for Discussion
• What is the impact on legitimate
researchers when marketers disguise
themselves as market researchers in
order to attempt to sell something?
• Should marketers be allowed to conduct
research with young children?
• Are you willing to share personal
information with marketing researchers?
How much are you willing to tell?
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Issues for Discussion
• What is your overall attitude toward
marketing research? Is it beneficial from
the consumer’s perspective?
• Some firms use data mining to identify
and abandon customers who are not
profitable. What do you think of such
practices? Is it ethical?
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Issues for Discussion
• Do consumers have the right to “own”
data about themselves? Should
governments limit the use of the Internet
for data collection?
• Do you think marketers should have the
right to go through consumers’ or
competitors’ garbage? Is it ethical?
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