Marketing Research and Data Analysis

Types of Marketing Research Services

• Technical and analytical services: provide guidance in developing research design and computer analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
• Data analysis services: firms that conduct statistical analysis of data
• Branded marketing research products: specialized data collection and analysis procedures to address specific marketing problems

Marketing Information Systems

• Marketing information system (MIS): a formalized set of procedures for generating, analyzing, storing, and distributing pertinent information to marketing decision makers
• Decision support system (DSS): an information system that enables decision makers to interact directly with databases and analysis models

International Marketing Research

• International marketing research: research conducted in markets other than the domestic market of the research commissioning organization
• More complex due to environmental factors that need to be considered

Marketing Research Stakeholders

• Marketing research has 4 stakeholders: the marketing researcher, the client, the respondent, and the public
• Ethical issues arise when stakeholders' interests conflict or when one or more stakeholders neglect their responsibilities

Defining the Marketing Research Problem

• Problem definition: a statement of the management decision problem and the marketing research problem
• Problem definition process: defining the management decision problem and the marketing research problem
• Tasks involved in problem definition: discussion with decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and qualitative research

Problem Audit and Data

• Problem audit: a comprehensive examination of a marketing problem to understand its origin and nature
• Secondary data: data collected for a purpose other than the problem at hand
• Primary data: data originated by the researcher specifically to address the research problem
• Analyzing available secondary data is essential before primary data collection

Qualitative Research and Environmental Context

• Qualitative research: an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples to provide insight and understanding of the problem setting
• Environmental context of the problem: factors that impact the definition of the marketing research problem, including past information, forecasts, resources, and constraints of the firm

Objectives

• Objectives: the goals of the organization and of the decision maker that must be considered in conducting successful marketing research
• Two types of objectives: organizational objectives and personal objectives of the decision maker