Independent and Dependent Variables

• Key research term: Variable, a phenomenon or event that can be measured or manipulated in research
• Variables can change during research and have multiple values along a continuum such as gender, education, and brand awareness
• Variables are classified by their relationships with one another

Independent Variable

• Changes are caused by itself
• It is the presumed cause that the researcher manipulates

Dependent Variable

• Changes are based on the result of others
• It is the presumed effect that the researcher measures and observes

Research Questions

• Will consumers' ethnicities influence their brand perceptions of Toyota?
  • IV: Ethnicity
  • DV: Toyota brand perception
• Does gender influence people's tendencies to purchase goods and services?
  • IV: Gender
  • DV: Goods and service purchase tendencies

Intervening Variable

• Operates between dependent and independent variables
• Explains the relationship between two variables
• A dependent variable in one study may be an independent variable in another

Control Variable

• Kept constant and unchanged to measure the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable in the study of interest
• Example:
  • IV: Team performance
  • Control Variables: Temperature, type of beer, where the game is, etc
  • DV: Concessions profit/beer sales in stadium

Operational Definition

• Defines what is to be observed in the research, expressing abstract concepts in concrete terms
• Enables investigators to measure variables accurately
• Example: Attitude towards a brand is a measure of a consumer's feeling towards that brand

Hypothesis

• Is what is expected to happen
• A prediction of the outcome of the research

STCO Research Process and Analysis

• Situation analysis is the first step in research after receiving a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the client
• The goal is usually to create a research proposal to present to the agency

Major Components of Situation Analysis

• 3C's: Client, Competitors, Consumers
• 4C is the tool used to analyze the client

Competitor Analysis

• Usually conducted for the three main competitors using the same 4C's analysis as the client
• Step 1: Identify potential competitors
  • Study the industry where the client's business falls under
  • Direct competitors are within a specific category
  • Indirect competitors are within a broad category when few or no direct competitors exist
    • (Ex: M&M directly competes with Hershey and Kit Kat, and indirectly competes with Skittles)
• Step 2: Analyze each competitor with the 4C's analysis
• Step 3: Summarize the highlights of the 4C's analysis in a matrix format, focusing on key information

Consumer Analysis

• Focuses on analyzing who the consumers are, not just their wants and needs

Communication Analysis

• The communication process: Sender -> Message -> Channel -> Receiver -> Effect
• Use the 4C's to analyze
  • Consumer wants and needs
  • Cost
  • Convenience
  • Communication
• Communication analysis should be the major part analyzed in this 4C

Steps to Conduct Analysis

• Step 1: Identify different types of communication channels used by each brand
• Step 2: Define the main goal of each communication channel
  • Common goals: Customer service, commerce, brand awareness
• Step 3: Find the relevant metric/Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and evidence to check how the brand is achieving its goal of communication:
  • Google analytics of the client's website
  • Website traffic analysis
  • Comparison of client's website vs. competitors' websites

Social Media Analysis

• Approached the same way as general communication analysis -Identify different social media used by the client vs. competitors -Identify the goal of social media usage by client vs. consumer -Choose the relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to measure each goal

Syndicated Research

• Secondary study conducted by a research firm/agency to serve various users
• It is not for any specific client and is proprietary for the paid clients only (ex: Mintel, MRI, emarketer, Warc)
• It is collected based on survyes and reports.
• Presents the survey results in a matrix or cross-tabulated data format in rows and collumns

Population vs. Sample

• Population: The entire group you want to understand
  • (ex: gen z consumers, tcu population, museum visitors)
• Sample: A subgroup of the total study population used for the survey
  • (ex: 500 genz, 250 TCU, 100 museum visitors)
• Making an inference from the sample, you can apply that back across to the whole population

Reading Syndicated Data for MLB Example

• Column A: Total population of the specific demographic group in the U.S.
• Column C: Projected number of brand users in the population
• Column D: % detal: Percentage of the specific demographic group out of all brand users (Column D is percentage of Column C)
• Column E: % target: percentage of brand users in the specific demographic group
• Column F: Index colum: likelihood of using brand in the specific group compared to rest of population
  • (Likelihood of using brand/detail in each demographic group) -Above average: over 100; Average: 100; Below average: below 100

Example Target Demographic (Buffalo Wild Wings):

• Men who graduated from college and pursue further education
• 55-64 years old
• Work in management or business.
• White
• HHI of over $150,000
• From the Northeast
• From Country size A

Industry/Consumer Trend Analysis

• Conduct secondary research about the industry (where client's product belongs)
• Consumer trends identify opportunities or threats
  • (use at least 3-5 to make it short) -Important trends organized by relevance including the need to cite accurately using American Psychological Association (APA) formatting

SWOT Analysis MUSTS

• Must be based on facts, not just from your opinion
• Don't include suggestions in opportunities
• Prioritize components of sections of the SWOT (bullet point order matters)
• Each item must be exclusive and unique (no double dipping)

Stages of Marketing Funnel

• Illustrates overall journey to the product
  • Awareness: Introduce potential customers to your products or services
  • Consideration: Help customers evaluate your products/services against alternatives
  • Decision: Influence customers to purchase your product or service

Projective Techniques

• It is used in qualitative research tapping into the respondents deepest feelings
• Makes the respondents project themselves intro situations, objects, other people, or scenarioeople, or scenario
• This is done by helping research participants share their ideas, feelings, and experiences in a group or personal interview setting

Why Use This Technique:

• Don’t feel comfortable
• Unable or unwilling to verbalize Avoid telling truth

6 types of projective techniques:

• Association - Word association tests
• Construction
• Completion
• Expressive
• Choice ordering
• Perceptual mapping