Marketing: Real People, Real Choices

Ninth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 4
Market Research

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Learning Objectives

4.1 Explain the role of a marketing information system and

a marketing decision support system in marketing
decision making

4.2 Understand the concept of customer insights and the

role it plays in making good marketing decisions

4.3 List and explain the steps and key elements of the
market research process

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Real People, Real Choices: Campbell’s
Soup

• Which option should be pursued?

 Option 1: Carve out a new space
within the soup portfolio for this
millennial-driven soup offering.
 Option 2: Reposition an existing brand
to be the face of the millennial
portfolio.
 Option 3: Don’t take the risk, and stick
with our existing solutions.

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Knowledge is Power

• Successful market planning depends upon informed

decision making.
 Developing marketing objectives
 Selecting target markets
 Positioning products
 Developing 4 Ps strategies
• Information is the fuel that runs the marketing engine.

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Marketing Research Ethics

• Marketing research ethics refers to taking an

aboveboard approach in conducting market research that
does no harm to the participant.
 Privacy issues
 Confidentiality issues

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 4.1 The Marketing Information
System

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Internal Company Data

• Information generated from within the company

 Used to produce reports on sales and marketing activities
 Commonly accessed via secure intranets

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Market Intelligence (1 of 2)

• Gathered via monitoring of everyday data sources,

observations, and discussions with sales representatives.

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Market Intelligence (2 of 2)

• Market intelligence system

• Information may come from mystery shoppers,
speaking with buyers, trade shows, purchasing,
or using reverse engineering

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Market Research
• Refers to the process of collecting, analyzing, and
interpreting data about customers, rivals, and the
business environment
 Syndicated research
 Custom research reports

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Acquired Databases

• Externally sourced databases can be used to collect

various types of useful information
 Noncompeting businesses
 Government databases
• Misuse of databases can be problematic and has led to
“do-not-call” lists and anti-spamming laws

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 4.2 Marketing Decision Support
System

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Customer Insights and Marketing

• Goal of the Marketing Insights function -transform data

into information
 Data are raw unorganized facts
 Information is interpreted data
• More complicated than it sounds
 Massive amounts of data
 Much data is unstructured
 Functional silos

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 4.3 Steps in the Market Research
Process

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 1: Define the Research Problem

• Specify the research objectives

 What questions will the research attempt to answer?
• Identify the consumer population of interest
 What are the characteristics of the consumer group(s) of
interest?
• Place the problem in an environmental context
 What factors in the firm’s internal and external business
environment might influence the situation?

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 2: Determine the Research Design

• Once the problem is isolated, the next step is to

determine a ‘plan of attack’
 A research design is a plan that specifies what
information marketers will collect and what type of study
they will do
• Research designs fall into two categories:
 Secondary data
 Primary data

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Research with Secondary Data

• Does information already exist?

• Trade associations compile data
• Secondary data can save time and money

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 4.4 Market Research Designs

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Research with Primary Data
• Primary data refers to data collected by the firm to
address a specific question
 When a company needs to make a specific decision,
secondary data may not be enough!
 May include demographics, psychological info,
awareness, attitudes, and opinions
• Exploratory, descriptive, and causal research

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Exploratory Research
• Exploratory research is useful for:
 Gaining better understanding of problem
 Identifying new opportunities
• Often qualitative in nature
 Focus
 Market research online community (MROC)
 Case studies
 Ethnographies

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Descriptive Research
• Descriptive research
 Systematically investigate marketing problem
 Results expressed in quantitative terms
 Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal designs

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Causal Research
• Causal research
 Attempts to identify cause-
and-effect
 Often involves experiments
 Independent and dependent
variables
Sales of beer and diapers are
correlated, but does one cause
the other?

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 3: Choose the Method to Collect
Primary Data
• Primary data collection falls
into two broad categories
 Survey
 Observation
• Use of new technologies
 Neuromarketing
 Virtual stores

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Survey Methods
• Survey methods are used to interview respondents
 Mail questionnaires
 Telephone interviews
 Face-to-face interviews
 Online questionnaires

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Table 4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages
of Survey Data Collection Methods (1 of 2)

Data Collection Method Advantages Disadvantages

Mail questionnaires • Respondents feel anonymous • It may take a long time for questionnaires to be returned
Blank • Low cost • Low rate of response; many consumers may not return
questionnaires
Blank • Good for on-going research • Inflexible questionnaire format
Blank Blank • Length of questionnaire is limited by respondents’
interest in the topic
Blank Blank
• Unclear whether respondents understand the questions
Blank Blank • Unclear who is responding
Blank Blank • No assurance that respondents are being honest
Telephone interviews • Fast • Decreasing levels of respondent cooperation
Blank • High flexibility in questioning • High likelihood of respondent misunderstanding
Blank • Low cost • Respondents cannot view materials
Blank • Limited interviewer follow-up • Cannot survey households without phones
Blank • Limited questionnaire length • Consumers screen calls with answering machines and
caller ID
Blank Blank • Do-not-call lists allow many research subjects to opt out
of participation

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Table 4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages
of Survey Data Collection Methods (2 of 2)
Data Collection Method Advantages Disadvantages
Face-to-face interviews • Flexibility of questioning • High cost
Blank
• Can use long questionnaires • Interviewer bias a problem
Blank Blank
• Can determine whether respondents have
trouble understanding questions
Blank • Take a lot of time Blank

Blank Blank
• Can use visuals or other materials

Online questionnaires • Instantaneous data collection and analysis • Unclear who is responding

Blank • No assurance that respondents are being

• Questioning very flexible
honest
Blank • Low cost • Limited questionnaire length
Blank • Unable to determine whether respondent
• No interviewer bias
understands the question
Blank • No geographic restrictions • Self-selected samples
Blank • Can use visuals or other materials Blank

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Observational Methods
• Data collection approach in
which researcher records
consumer behaviors, often
without their knowledge
 Personal observation
 Unobtrusive measures
 Mechanical systems

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Online Research
• Two major types of online research
 Gathering info from online surfing (e.g., cookies)
 Gathering info via online sources (e.g., hash tag searches)
• Predictive technology uses shopping patterns of large
numbers of people to determine which products are likely
to be purchased if others are

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Data and Measurement Quality Issues
• Quality of market research
insights based on “garbage in,
garbage out!”
• Three key considerations:
 Validity
 Reliability
 Representativeness

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 4: Design the Sample (1 of 2)
• Probability sampling
 Each member of the population has some known chance
of being included (example: action films vs. “chick flicks”)
 Simple random sample
 Systematic sampling procedure
 Stratified sample

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 4: Design the Sample (2 of 2)
• Nonprobability sampling
 A sample in which personal judgment is used to select
respondents (example: surveying random individuals at
your favorite restaurant)
 Convenience sample
 Quota sample

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 5: Collect the Data
• The quality of research conclusions is only as good as
the data used to generate them
• Challenges to gathering data in foreign countries
 Cultural issues
 Language issues

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 6: Analyze and Interpret the Data
• Data must be analyzed and interpreted to be meaningful!
• Tabulation
 Arranging data in a table or other summary form to get a
broad picture of overall response
• Cross-tabulation
 Exploring data by sub-groups in order to see how results
vary across categories

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Step 7: Prepare the Research Report
• Research reports typically include the following sections:
 Executive summary
 Description of research methods
 Discussion of study results
 Limitations of study
 Conclusions and recommendations

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.