Marketing Research Concepts Overview

Marketing Research Functions

• Connects consumers and marketers
• Links environmental scans, risk analysis, and marketing program monitoring

Why Conduct Marketing Research?

• Forecasting
• Product development
• Strategy development
• Competitor analysis
• Segmentation
• Consumer behavior analysis
• Pricing

Two Main Aspects of Marketing Research

• Why?

  • Exploratory research: Used when the right questions are unknown
  • Descriptive research: Provides detailed information about a topic
  • Causal research: Investigates cause-and-effect relationships

• How?

  • Surveys
  • Experiments
  • Observation

Hallmarks of Good Research

• Reliability: Consistency of research results across target markets
• Validity:
  • Internal Validity: Measuring what is intended to be measured.
  • External Validity: Generalizability - It is possible to have internal validity without external validity, but external validity requires internal validity.

Research Process

• Problem Definition:
  • Critical step in research
  • Exploratory research helps define the problem
  • Secondary vs. Primary data sources
  • Focus groups: Participants should be current or future users of the product
  • Depth interviews
  • Open-ended questionnaires

Data Sources

• Primary:

  • Informal (e.g., customer feedback)
  • Quantitative (e.g., surveys)
  • Qualitative (e.g., focus groups)

• Secondary:

  • Internal (e.g., company sales data)
  • External (e.g., industry reports)

Research Design

• Not representative
• Aims to find solutions to the identified problem

Basic Techniques (Methods): Central Component of the Research Plan

• Surveys:

  • What?: Asks questions about specific topics
  • How?: Uses dichotomous questions (yes/no)
  • Provide incentives to encourage participation
  • Panel data: Data collected from the same group over time

• Experiments:

  • The only method to check causal relationships
  • Involves independent and dependent variables
  • Manipulating the independent variable to observe its effect on the dependent variable
  • Example: The impact of product placement on purchase likelihood
    • Dependent Variable: Purchase likelihood
    • Independent Variable: Placement height (high, medium, low)

• Approaches:

  • Personal interviews
  • Online surveys
  • Mail surveys

• Evaluation: Consider cost, time, response rate, and potential biases

This quiz explores key functions and aspects of marketing research, including its importance, methodologies, and hallmarks of good research. Test your knowledge on how effective marketing research connects consumers with marketers and aids in strategic decision-making.