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decision making in all situation of the business. Success of the firm depends upon the precise

decision making ability. Study of environmental analyses enables the firm to select the best

option for the success and growth of the firm.

Penetration pricing and priceskimming are marketing strategies commonly implemented when

companies launch new products or services. Both approaches have worked for

businesses, but you have to understand how your price relates to your overall marketing

and promotions strategies. Penetration pricing relies on a low upfront price to attract

customers, while skimming is the use of high upfront prices to maximize short-term

prots from the most eager and interested customers.

rowth !mphasis

Penetration pricing is intended to attract a larger contingent of customers away from

competing brands. "he idea is to use a better mix of product benets and a lower price

to lure customers only modestly satised with existing products. "his is not typically the

case with skimming, which often leads to a select market of initial customers, with

broader market appeal coming later when prices are reduced. #kimming may make more

sense with a niche market of highly selective customers.

$ompetitor %isruption

Penetration pricing can prevent competitors from cutting into your market at lower price

points. &f your upfront price is low and your product or service is of reasonable 'uality,

the burden falls on other providers to (ustify higher prices on similar o)erings. *ith

skimming, the door is left open for subse'uent competitors to undercut your prices and

defeat your ability to generate revenue and prots from early adopters. + superior

product may o)set the ability of competitors to attract 'uality-hungry customers who

prefer your o)ering.

$ost &mpact

$ompanies sometimes use penetration pricing in combination with e)orts to minimize

costs on products and supplies. By o)ering a low market price and creating signicantsales volume, you can order more products at once from distributors, often resulting in

bulk discounts. "his enables you to maintain reasonable prot even with low market

prices. #kimming is more about operating with a high upfront price point that creates

signicant prot margin regardless of your cost basis.

Prots

$ompanies not capable of achieving an industry-low cost structure may have a hard time

earning prot at rock bottom prices with penetration pricing. Penetration pricing also

does not allow you to take advantage of an eager market of customers with money to

spend and a willingness to do so. sers of price skimming hope to pocket signicant

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prot from initial customers and maintain high enough prices over time to maintain

steady long-term prot from value-oriented buyers.

Difference Between Departmental Stores And Multiple Shops

 

Departmental stores and multiple shops are both large-scale retail shops. However they are

different from one another, the differences between them are as follows:

1. Nature and volume of goods

Varieties of goods are sold out by departmental stores. Only one or few types of goods are

sold out by multiple shops.

2. Location

Departmental stores are generally established in the center of cities. Many multiple shops are

operated in many places in cities, and in different parts of the country so that the shops may

be within the reach of consumers.

3. Price of goods

Price of goods are relatively high in departmental stores. Price of goods in multiple shops

becomes lower than in departmental stores, because multiple shops become able to eliminate

middlemen.

4. Free services

Departmental stores provide different services free of charge due to which cost increases.Multiple shops do not provide free services.

5. Credit facility

Along with cash sales, departmental stores also provide credit facility. Multiple shops sell

goods only for hand cash.

6. Departmental division

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Departmental store is divided in different departments. Multiple shops are not divided in

different departments.

7. Nature of decoration

Departmental stores are decorated in and out but no uniformity is found in decoration and

display of goods. Multiple shops are decorated and goods are displayed in uniform manner in

all places.Difference Between DepartmentalStores And Multiple ShopsDepartmental stores and multiple shops are both large-scale retail shops. However they are

different from one another, the differences between them are as follows:

1. Nature and volume of goods

Varieties of goods are sold out by departmental stores. Only one or few types of goods are sold

out by multiple shops.

2. Location

Departmental stores are generally established in the center of cities. Many multiple shops are

operated in many places in cities, and in different parts of the country so that the shops may be

within the reach of consumers.

3. rice of goods

rice of goods are relatively high in departmental stores. rice of goods in multiple shops

becomes lower than in departmental stores, because multiple shops become able to eliminate

middlemen.

!. "ree services

Departmental stores provide different services free of charge due to which cost increases.

Multiple shops do not provide free services.

#. $redit facilit%

 !long with cash sales, departmental stores also provide credit facility. Multiple shops sell goods

only for hand cash.

&. Departmental division

Departmental store is divided in different departments. Multiple shops are not divided in different

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departments.

'. Nature of decoration

Departmental stores are decorated in and out but no uniformity is found in decoration and displayof goods. Multiple shops are decorated and goods are displayed in uniform manner in all places.

Department store has multiple departments within it.

Chain store has multiple locations/outlets.

A department store may be a chain store, but a chain store does not need to be a department store.

Chain store can have a single focus - home improvement or gardening for example - Lowes, Home

Depot, your local supermarket chain, but will always have multiple locations.

Department store can have only a single store/location, but will always have multiple "departments" -

for example, clothing, housewares, electronics - multiple varying focuses

 

Wholesaler and Retailer

[1] Wholesalers buy in bulk and sell in bulk. Unlike retailers.

[2] Wholesalers do not usually sell to the end-consumer unlike retailers. They (wholesalers) sell to

institutional customers (including retailers), while the retailers usually sell their stuff to the end-

customer, like you and me.

[3] Wholesalers are the intermediaries in the value-chain between the manufacturer and the customer.

Unlike the retailers which are the last link before the product/service reaches the end-user.

[4] The buying price and selling price of goods at the stage of a wholesaler is significantly lesser to the

price points at that of a retailer

$hannel conflict occurs when manufacturers "brands# disintermediate their channel

partners, such as distributors, retailers, dealers, and sales representatives, by selling their

products directly to consumers through general mar$eting methods and%or over the &nternet.

'ome manufacturers want to capture online mar$ets for their brands but do not want to createconflicts with their other distribution channels. (he )ensus *ureau of the +.'. Department of

)ommerce reported that online sales in grew /.0 percent over / to reach +'120.3

billion.456 *y comparison, total retail sales in grew 7. percent from /. 456 (hese numbers

made the online mar$etplace attractive to manufacturers, but raised the 8uestion of how to

participate without harming e9isting channel relationships.

 !ccording to orrester ;esearch and <artner  from 7, despite the rapid growth of online

commerce, an estimated = percent of manufacturers did not sell their products online. Of these,

00 percent identified channel conflict as their single biggest issue4citation needed 6

. However, results from

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a survey show that clic$-and-mortar  businesses have an 2> greater chance of sustaining a

business model during a three year period than those operating ?ust in one of the two channels.

@-commerce is the most popular second distribution channel because of its low overhead

e9penses and communication costs. (his advantage is also a disadvantage, since consumerscan also communicate less e9pensively and more easily with one another in the online

mar$etplace. (herefore, price and product differentiation is more challenging in online mar$ets. 46

)hannel conflict can also occur when there has been over production. (his results in a surplus of 

products. Aewer versions of products, changes in trends, insolvency of wholesalers and retailers

and the distribution of damaged goods also affect channel conflict. &n this connection, a

companyBs stoc$ clearance strategy is important.

(o avoid a channel conflict in a clic$-and-mortar business, it is necessary to ensure that bothtraditional and online channels are fully integrated. (his reduces possible confusion with

customers while providing the business benefits of a dual channel. 4364/646406

Manufacturers today sell their products through a broad array of channels. 'ince most

manufacturers sell through several channels simultaneously, channels sometimes find

themselves competing to reach the same set of customers. Chen this happens, channel conflict

is virtually guaranteed. &n turn, such conflict almost invariably finds its way bac$ to the

manufacturer.

(his can also be termed as a situation when a producer or supplier bypasses the normal channel

of distribution and sells directly to the end user. 'elling over the &nternet while maintaining a

physical distribution networ$ is an e9ample of channel conflict.

)hannel conflict comes in many forms. 'ome are mild, merely the necessary friction of a

competitive business environment. 'ome are actually positive for the manufacturer,

forcing out-of-date or uneconomic players to adapt or decline. Other conflicts, however,

can undermine the manufacturerBs business model. 'uch high-ris$ conflicts generally

occur when one channel targets customer segments already served by an e9isting

channel. (his leads to such a deterioration of channel economics that the threatened

channel either retaliates against the manufacturer or simply stops selling its product. (he

result is disintermediation, in which the manufacturer suffers.

(he two main disintermediation causes are finance and internet.

Finance4edit6

@limination of financial intermediaries "ban$s, bro$ers# between the suppliers of funds

"savers%investors# and the users of funds "borrowers%investees#. Disintermediation

occurs when inflation rates are high but ban$ interest rates are stagnant and the ban$

depositors can get better returns by investing in mutual funds or in securities.

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'nternet4edit6

@limination "by the online sources# of the traditional middleman the intermediary

between the seller and the buyer "such as an agent, bro$er, or reseller#, or between the

source and the recipient of information "such as an agency, official, or gate $eeper#

arketing $hannel$onicts$onict is an inherent behavioral dimension in all social system

including the marketing channel. &n any social system, when acomponent perceives the behavior of the other component to be

impending the attainment of its goal or the e)ective performance

of its instrumental behavior pattern, an atmosphere of frustration

prevails. *hen this frustration is not resolved by the other

component, a stage of conict may exist. ore over if the other

component also perceive it as the blockage in its attainment of 

goal then both the components become ob(ects of eachotherfrustration and the conict arises. &n distribution channel,

the same is also applicable. /ere the conict may be sales man

versus distributor, distributor versus wholesaler, wholesaler

versus retailer and so on. #ome time in bigger organizations the

conict may arise between product company versus supply

company, sales department versus production department. "his

type of channel conict are more common in the organizations

where every department is an independent cost center or prot

center and its e)ectiveness is monitored separately.

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Causes of Marketing ChannelConicts

0arious channel analysts have advanced a number of causes of 

conicts. 1obert 2ittle point to such cause as misunderstood

communication, divergent functional specialization and goals of 

the channel member and failing in (oint decision making process.

#ome other experts suggest di)erent economic ob(ective and

ideological di)erences among channel members as cause of 

conict.

 "he most comprehensive list of causes of marketing channels

conicts are given below3

1. Role incongruities: + role is a set of perception dening what

the behavior of position member should be. *hen applied to the

marketing channel, any given member of the channel has a series

to role to which he is expected to full. 4or example a franchiser isexpected to provide extensive management assistance and

promotional support for his franchises. &n return the franchisees

are expected to operate in strict accordance with the franchiser

standards operating procedure. &f either of the franchisee or

franchiser deviate from his role, conict situation may result.

2. Resource scarcities: "his refers to conict stemmingbetween channel members over the allocation of some valuable

resources needed to achieve their respective goals. + common

example of this is the allocation of resources between the

wholesaler and the salesman. &n the case both wholesaler and

salesman as a valuable resource necessary to achieve their target

view the retailer. 4re'uently the wholesale distributor decides to

keep some of high volume retailers for himself as his accounts.

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 "his leads to ob(ection by salesperson over what they consider to

be an unfavorable allocation of resources. "his kind of disputes is

often one of the conicts.

3. Perceptual dierence: Perceptions refers to the way an

individual selects and interprets environmental stimuli. "he way

stimuli are perceived however is often 'uite di)erent from

ob(ective reality. &n a marketing channel context, the various

channel members may perceive the same stimuli but attach

di)erent interpretation to them. + common example of this is the

case of sale material provided by manufacturing company fortheir retailer to put on at their retail counters. 4rom the company

point of view these sale material are valuable promotional tools

needs to move their products of the retailer shelves. *hereas the

retailer often perceives the material as useless (unk which serves

only to take up its valuable space.

4. !pectational dierence: 0arious channel members have

expectations about the behavior of the other channel members. &n

practice, these expectations are predictions or forecast

concerning the future behavior of the other channel members.

#ometimes this forecast turns out to be inaccurate but the

channel members who make the forecast will take action based

on the predictive outcome. By doing so, he can elicit a response

behavior from other channel member which might now haveoccurred in the absence of the original action. +n example of this

could be seen at the retail end where a retailer expects stock on

credit due to his past experience, now if the salesman, upon

instructions of the distributor, tries to tightens the credit suddenly

the retailer might refuse to oblige, resulting in possible conict.

". #ecision domain disagreement: each channel member

explicitly or implicitly carves out for himself an area of decision

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making which he feels is exclusively his own. &n contractual

channel system such as franchise, the decision domain is 'uite

explicit and usually spelled out clearly in franchise contract. But in

more traditional loosely aligned channels made up of independent

rms, the decision domains are sometime up for grabs. /ence

conicts can arise over which member has the right to moves to

make the decision.

$. %oal incompati&ilities: !ach member of the marketing

channel has his own set of goals and ob(ectives that are very

often incompatible with those of other channel members. *hengoals of two or more members are incompatible, conicts may

result and incompatible goals often arise between channel

members for example the most common conict issues, which

arise between manufacturer and industrial distributor.

• /ow to handle large accounts

•  "he re'uired inventory stocking levels

•  "he 'uality of distributors management

• #ize of distributor5s margin

$learly underline many of these issues, are the di)erence in

goals, aims and values among channel members involves.

4urthermore in consumer goods market there are literally items of 

thousands of small retailer served by large manufactures. 2arge

manufacturers tend to be growth oriented where as small

retailers are more interested in status 'uo. "he likelihood of the

conict is high in such situation is because in their pursuit of 

policies that re congruent with their dynamic goal. "he former

would likely adopt innovative programs that contradict the more

static orientation of the latter.

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'. Communication di(culties: $ommunication is the vehicle

for all interactions among these channel members. *hether such

interactions are cooperative or conictive. + foul up or break

down in the process of communication can turn 'uickly a

cooperative relationship into a conicting one. 4or example

manufacture often make changes in product design, prices and

promotional strategies. "he resellers generally feel that they are

entitled to ample advance notice of such changes so that they

can make appropriate strategic ad(ustments, if necessary. &f 

ade'uate communication is not provided and these failing results

in negative conse'uences for a channel member, severe conict

can result

u(licit% is the movement of information with the effect of increasing public awareness of a

sub?ect. (he sub?ects of publicity include people "for e9ample, politicians and performing

artists#, goods and services, organiations of all $inds, and wor$s of art or entertainment.

ublicity is gaining public visibility or awareness for a product, service or your company via the

media. &t is the publicist that carries out publicity, while ; is the strategic management function

that helps an organiation communicate, establish and maintain communication with the public.(his can be done internally, without the use of media.

rom a mar$eting perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one component

of mar$eting. (he other elements of the promotional mix  are advertising, sales promotion, direct

mar$eting and personal selling. @9amples of promotional tactics include:

•  !rt people

• event sponsorship

•  !rrange a speech or tal$

• Ma$e an analysis or prediction

• )onduct a poll or survey

• &ssue a report

• (a$e a stand on a controversial sub?ect

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•  !rrange for a testimonial

•  !nnounce an appointment

•

&nvent then present an award

• 'tage a debate

• Organie a tour of your business or pro?ects

• &ssue a commendation

(he advantages of publicity are low cost, and credibility "particularly if the publicity is aired in

between news stories li$e on evening (V news casts#. Aew technologies such as weblogs, web

cameras, web affiliates, and convergence "phone-camera posting of pictures and videos towebsites# are changing the cost-structure. (he disadvantages are lac$ of control over how your

releases will be used, and frustration over the low percentage of releases that are ta$en up by

the media.

ublicity draws on several $ey themes including birth, love, and death. (hese are of particular

interest because they are themes in human lives which feature heavily throughout life. &n

television serials several couples have emerged during crucial ratings and important publicity

times, as a way to ma$e constant headlines. !lso $nown as a publicity stunt, the pairings may or

may not be according to the fact.

Eublicity is not merely an assembly of competing messages: it is a language in itself which is

always being used to ma$e the same general proposal,E writes the art critic Fohn *erger. E&t

proposes to each of us that we transform ourselves, or our lives by buying. .publicity is not paif

for something more.E

Publicity is primarily an informative activity.

Publicity is primarily an informative activity, (opposed to the persuasive one.) Its ultimate goal

is to promote client’s product or services, and publicity plan, is a planned program aimed to

obtain a favorable media coverage for the organization’s product, or for the organization itself 

to enhance its reputation and relationship with the stakeholders.

The basic tool for the publicist is press release

he basic tool for the publicist is press release, other techni!ues like telephone press"

conference, wire"news stories, internet releases, multi"component video news release(#$%’s),

and in"studio tour. hese releases to be used by the media they must be of interest to the

public, or at least the market segment the media outlet is target to.

%etting noticed &) the press is all a&out sa)ing the right thing at the right

time.

Pros of Publicity&

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he advantage of publicity is the lo* cost and credi&ilit) (Particularly if the publicity is

aired between news story like event # news casts)

$ew echnologies such as &logs, webcams and video conferences, are changing the cost"

structure.

'ons of Publicity&

he disadvantage is the lack of control over how your released will be used, and the

frustration of the low percentage of the releases that are taken up by the media.

Publicity has several key themes like birth, love, and death, because these themes are of

interest to the human lives which feature heavily throughout life.

How is it different from advertising? Advertising and publicity are two very

different communication tools, even though both employ the mass media as a

vehicle for reaching large audiences.

•  "raditionally, most marketers placed heavy reliance onadvertising and only occasionally used publicity.

• 6n the other hand, public relations practitioners haveprimarily relied on publicity--or, as they sometimes prefer tocall it, media relations--and only rarely used advertising.

This does not mean that advertising should be seen only as a marketing tool and

that publicity should be seen only as a public relations tool. Thoughtfully used,

 both tools are valuable for both functions.

+d,ertising &u)s its *a) into the media.

An advertiser purchases air time on a broadcast medium or page space in a print

medium and then uses that media time/space to deliver whatever persuasive

messages the advertiser chooses to the media's audiences. Presumably, a smart

advertiser will purchase ad space in only those media whose audiences are known

to be consistent with the target audiences the advertiser wants to reach.

• ost often, advertising messages are inducements topurchase a product.

• /owever, advertising space can be used for non-productoriented messages.

o 7+dver-torials,7 for instance, are advertising messageswhich take sides and present a specic view or opinionabout public issues.

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o 7&mage ads7 are those which provide favorableinformation about an organization and its policies thatwould not normally be considered 7newsworthy7enough for the media to report it of their own volition.

The biggest advantage of advertising is that it gives the organization total control

of the message that will be presented to the audience. The advertiser, not the

media's editors, control the content, the timing, and the amount of time/space given

to the advertising.

The biggest disadvantages are the high price of advertising and the skepticism with

which audiences sometimes view advertising that they know is unedited opinion of 

the advertiser.

Pu&licit) is presented &) the media &ecause it-s

ne*s*orth).

A publicityseeker tries to "make the news"   i.e., to convince reporters/editors to

 present news coverage about a particular person, organization, or event by

saying or doing something that the news media will choose to report of their own

volition as part of their usual task of informing the public. The publicityseeker's

intent is to gain free and hopefully favorable editorial coverage.

!ther people and organizations who are fearful of receiving negative or harmful

 publicity will employ public relations practitioners to try to suppress or counteract

negative media coverage.

Publicityseekers are entirely at the mercy of the media's editors and other staff

members. The editors, not the individual or organization who wants the publicity,

decide whether or not anything will be reported in the media. And, even when

something is reported, it's the media staff who decide how it will be reported and

how much attention it will be given. "t's very possible that information which anorganization offers the media in a positive and flattering news release could show

up in a news story that casts a negative or critical light on the organization that

supplied it.

#or years the conventional wisdom was that the biggest advantages of publicity

were the lack of direct cost and the apparent $thirdparty endorsement$ effect.

• &t8s not necessary to buy media space9time, but publicity is

not totally free. "here are salary and production costs

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involved in having someone prepare news releases orperform other publicity work.

• edia audiences often give information presented as

publicity more credibility than if the same information werepresented in an ad. "hat8s because they know thatpresumably ob(ective editors decide what8s included in thenews whereas self-serving organizations decide what to putin their ads.

This conventional wisdom was at least partially ratified in a %&& landmark study

conducted by the (irthlin )roup that looked at the relative impact which publicity

and advertising have on consumers' buying decisions. According toO'Dwyer's PR

Services *+ept. &-, $Those surveyed reported that a news article or feature in a

newspaper or magazine would impact their buying decisions more than ads for a

 product or service.$ ore specifically, 0 percent of the adults over age %0 said a

news or feature story would be likely to influence their decision to buy a specific

 product, while only 0 percent said that an ad for the product would be likely to

influence their decision.

Alice Allen, president of the Allen 1ommunications )roup in 2ew 3ork which

helped fund the study, also pointed out that the relative impact of publicity,

 particularly newspaper and magazine stories, was further increased amongrespondents who had completed higher education and had higher income levels.

!n the other hand, the biggest disadvantages of publicity are the lack of control

over the specific content, the timing, and the amount of coverage.

/sed together0 ads and pu&licit) can create a po*erful

s)nerg)

"n the past, most practitioners would select and use either advertising or public

relations to get their messages out depending on which seemed most appropriate

for the prevailing circumstances. "n some instances, they may have even used both,

 but it wasn't a common practice and there was no evidence that pointed to it being

 particularly effective. "n the last few years, that's started to change.

4uring the %&&5's AT6T studied the relative effectiveness of advertising and media

relations in helping to ac7uire new customers. +ome of these findings and others

were recently published in a study by the "nstitute for Public 8elations *"P8- at the

9niversity of #lorida. The general conclusion of that study, as reported by prreporter  *:/%;/5%-, was that news coverage, whether generated through media

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relations efforts or not, $modulates the impact of advertising.$ ost of the time,

they work synergistically and reinforce one another, but there are e<ceptions.

•  "he most common circumstances involve routine amounts of 

positive or neutral news stories. &n situations like this,complementary or supporting advertising works with thenews coverage to produce an even more positive impact onpublic attitudes.

•  "he same is true when there is an unusually large amount of positive news coverage. "here8s a more positive impact onpublic attitudes with advertising than there is without it, butthe added impact of the advertising, while positive, issignicantly less forceful in this type of situation.

• 6n the other hand, when there is an unusual amount ofnegative news coverage, 7incremental advertising doesn8thave a positive incremental impact and may even have anegative one.7 Perhaps, and this is only my speculation, thisoccurs because the audience perceives the advertising as anattempt to overshadow or compensate for the negativenews. But, whatever the reason, the best suggestion basedon currently available evidence might be to reduce, not

increase, advertising during times when your organization isgetting bad press.

The best ways of using advertising and media relations to reinforce one another

remain to be determined. =ut, in the meantime, the "P8 study author =ruce

>effries#o< suggests, $that partnerships between media relations and advertising

would save money and pack a bigger punch. ... essages from both worlds

combine in the minds of consumers.$

hat is Marketing Research Meaning

Mar)eting research is Ethe process or set of processes that lin$s the consumers, customers,

and end users to the mar$eter through information G information used to identify and define

mar$eting opportunities and problems generate, refine, and evaluate mar$eting actions monitor

mar$eting performance and improve understanding of mar$eting as a process. Mar$eting

research specifies the information re8uired to address these issues, designs the method for

collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyes the

results, and communicates the findings and their implications.E 456

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&t is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of  8ualitative and 8uantitative data about

issues relating to mar$eting products and services. (he goal of mar$eting research is to identify

and assess how changing elements of the mar$eting mi9 impacts customer behavior . (he term is

commonly interchanged with mar$et research however, e9pert practitioners may wish to draw a

distinction, in that market  research is concerned specifically with mar$ets,

while marketing  research is concerned specifically about mar$eting processes. 46

Mar$eting research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target mar$et:

• )onsumer mar$eting research, and

• *usiness-to-business "**# mar$eting research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

• Iualitative mar$eting research, and

• Iuantitative mar$eting research

)onsumer mar$eting research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding

the preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a mar$et-based economy, and it aims

to understand the effects and comparative success of mar$eting campaigns. (he field of

consumer mar$eting research as a statistical science was pioneered by  !rthur Aielsen with the

founding of the  !)Aielsen )ompany in 5=3.436

(hus, mar$eting research may also be described as the systematic and ob?ective identification,

collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management in

decision ma$ing related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities

inmar$eting

Marketing Research has t*o *ords0 ,i.0 marketing and research.

arketing means buying and selling activities.

1esearch means a systematic and complete study of a problem. &t is done by

experts. &t uses scientic methods.

 "hus, we can say, :arketing 1esearch is a systematic method of collecting,

recording and analyzing of data, which is used to solve marketing problems

+ company faces many marketing problems. &t faces problems about consumers,

product, market competition, sales promotion, etc. arketing research helps to

solve these problems.

arketing research is a systematic process. &t rst collects data ;information<about the marketing problem. #econdly, it records this data. "hen it analysis

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;studies< this data and draws conclusions about it. +fter that, it gives suggestions

;advice< for solving the marketing-problem.

#o, marketing research helps to solve the marketing problems 'uickly, correctly

and systematically.

arketing research collects full information about consumers. &t nds out the

needs and expectations of the consumers. #o the company produces the goods

according to the needs and expectations of the consumers.

arketing research helps the company to make its production and marketing

policies. &t helps the company to introduce new products in the market. &t helps

to identify new-markets.

arketing research also collects full information about the competitors. "he

company uses this information to ght competition. &t also helps the marketing

manager to take decisions.

arketing research is a special branch and soul of 8arketing anagement8. &t is

of recent origin and widely used by manufacturers, exporters, distributors and

service organisations.

arketing research is very systematic, scientic, ob(ective and organised. &t has

a wide scope. &t includes product research, consumer research, packaging

research, pricing research, etc.

arketing research is a continuous process. &t has a few limitations. /owever, a

company cannot survive and succeed without it.

Definition of Mar)eting *esearch

(here are many definitions of mar$eting research. 'ome important ones are:

5. !ccording to American Mar)eting Association "!M!#,

JMar$eting ;esearch is the systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about problems relating to the

mar$eting of goods and services.K

. !ccording to hilip +otler ,

JMar$eting research is a systematic problem analysis, model building and fact finding for the purpose of improved

decision-ma$ing and control in the mar$eting of goods and services.K

3. !ccording to aul ,reen and Donald -ull,

JMar$eting research is the systematic and ob?ective search for, and analysis of, information relevant to the

identification and solution of any problem in the field of mar$eting.K

/. !ccording to David Luc), Donald -a%lor  and ugh /ales,

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JMar$eting ;esearch is the application of scientific methods in the solution of mar$eting problems.K

4eatures of arketing 1esearch

he salient characteristics or features of marketing research are asfollo*s:

ide and comprehensi,e scope - arketing research has a very wide scope.

&t includes product research, packaging research, pricing research, market

research, sales research, etc. &t is used to solve marketing problems and to take

marketing decisions. &t is used to make marketing policies. &t is also used to

introduce new products in the market and to identify new markets. arketing

research is used to select channels of distribution, in advertising strategy, for

sales promotion measures, etc.

5)stematic and scienti6c - arketing research is conducted in a step-by-step

manner. &t is conducted in an orderly fashion. "herefore, it is systematic.

arketing research uses scientic methods. "hus, it is also scientic.

5cience and art : + #cience collects knowledge ;data< while an +rt uses this

knowledge for solving problems. arketing research rst collects data. &t then

uses this data for solving marketing problems. "herefore, it is both, a #cience

and an +rt.

Collects and anal)es data - arketing research gathers data accurately and

ob(ectively. &t rst collects reliable data and then analyses it systematically andcritically.

Continuous and d)namic process - "he company faces marketing problems

throughout the year. #o, arketing research is conducted continuously. &t

continuously collects up-to-date data for solving the marketing problems. 2arge

companies have their own marketing research departments. "hey conduct

arketing research continuously throughout the year. "herefore, arketing

research is a continuous process. &t is a dynamic process because it goes on

changing. &t does not remain static ;the same<. &t uses new methods and

techni'ues for collecting, recording and analyzing the data.

ool for decision7making - "he marketing manager has to take many

decisions. 4or this, he re'uires a lot of data. arketing research provides correct

and up-to-date data to the marketing manager. "his helps him to take 'uick and

correct decisions. "herefore, arketing research is an important tool for decision-

making.

8ene6ts compan) and consumers - arketing research is useful to the

company in many ways. &t increases the sales and prots of the company. &t

helps the company to ght competition and boost its goodwill in the market. &t

reduces the marketing risks. &n short, arketing research brings success to the

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company. &t also brings the company closer to the consumers. &t gives

convenience and satisfaction to the consumers.

5imilar to militar) intelligence 7 arketing research is a commercial

intelligence-gathering activity. &t works similar to military intelligence. arketing

intelligence rst makes a systematic study and only then takes a business action.arketing research collects reliable data about the consumers, the competitors,

the market, etc. "his data is then organised and used for planning, decision-

making and problem solving. "his data is also further used for introducing new

products and services in the market.

+pplied research 7 +pplied research is used for solving problems. arketing

research is used for solving marketing problems. "herefore, we can say that,

arketing research is also an applied research. &t has a practical value because it

is used for solving present and future problems.

Connected *ith M95 - arketing research is a component of arketing

&nformation #ystem ;&#<. arketing research and &# are interrelated. Both are

used to solve marketing problems and to take marketing decisions.

Reduces gap &et*een producers and consumers 7 arketing research

informs producers about the needs and wants of the consumers. "he producers

produce goods according to the needs and demands of the consumers. "his

brings satisfaction to the consumers and in return producers make good prots.

#o, arketing research reduces the gap between the producers and the

consumers.

/ses dierent methods - arketing research uses three methods for collecting

data, viz., #urvey ethod, !xperiment ethod and 6bservation ethod. +ll three

methods are scientic. "he researcher has to use a suitable method for collecting

a reliable data.

as fe* limitations - arketing research has few limitations too. &t is not an

exact science. #o, it does not give accurate results. &t provides suggestions and

not solutions. &t is also a costly and time-consuming process.

+ccurate data collection and critical anal)sis - arketing research gives

much importance to accurate data collection and its critical analysis. "hus, in a

arketing research, the data must be rst collected accurately. "hat is, collected

data or gathered information must be accurate, reliable and relevant. 2ater, this

information must be systematically and critically examined before making any

decisions

(he mar)et research process involves a round of separate stages of data interpretation4disambiguation

needed 6, organiation and collection. (hese stages could be considered as a benchmar$ of mar$et

research, but it depends on an organiation how they have encapsulated their strategies tofollow this process. Hence some of the interlin$ed stages could be conducted repeatedly and

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some of the stages can also be omitted. <iven below is a typical mar$et research process which

is depicted stage-wise:

Defining the ro(lem or Need- (he starting phase is always identifying the reason or problem

for which research is to be conducted. (his includes collecting of relevant initial information andhow this information will affect decision ma$ing process. &t also includes defining problems after

discussing with decision ma$ers of the organiation. Once the problem is defined precisely and

the need of research is discussed, the further process could be conducted in an efficient manner.

Determining who will do the research- Once the initial stage of defining the problem and the

need of research is done, it is important to determine who will do the research and what will be

the approaches to resolve these problems. (his involves creating a problem solving framewor$

and analytical models after discussing with organiation e9perts. &n this sample case studies are

created according to the defined framewor$ by enforcing the relevant information and secondarydata.

ic)ing out the appropriate methodolog%- ! specific methodology is entailed by the research

professional after identifying the specific needs and e9ploring the case studies. &t may include a

combination of specific approaches li$e telephone survey, web or email survey, one-to-one

interviews, secondary research etc. (his methodology acts as a blueprint of research process

and following basic steps:

•

Methods for collecting and preparing 8uantitative information

• Determining the need of this information

• 'caling and measuring procedures

• Designing sample Iuestionnaire

• ormulating case studies and sampling process

• lanning information analysis

Data $ollection rocess- (his process includes field wor$ and des$ wor$ for collecting all

relevant data and information. ield wor$ includes interviewing the personals by interacting them

face to face by visiting them in home or offices or arranging group meetings at any preferred

place. Des$ wor$ includes contacting personals over telephone or via series of emails and web

meetings. (his could ta$e comparatively more time as compared to the field wor$. &nvolving

e9perienced and trained e9ecutive for this helps in reducing data collection errors.

Data reparation0 ta(ulation and anal%sis of results- !fter the data collecting stage thecollected data is edited, corrected if re8uired and validated. (his process is the most important

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process in the research as the results are generated on the basis of data preparation. 'o it is

re8uired for an organiation to verify the authenticity of the collected data and edit or correct it if

needed. (he final data is then segmented according to the business standards and inserted into

the );M database in a more tabulated form so that search or combination could be made easily.

- (he entire process is properly documented with respect to organiational standards so that it

can be referred in future for decision ma$ing process or to change or modify any specific process

or module. (his document contains overall architecture of the pro?ect depicting all the processes

with the help of tables, graphs and figures to provo$e impact and clarity.

Mar$et ;esearch undeniably plays a vital role in e9ploring the business. (he above process if

conducted in an efficient manner could help predicting and correlating customer needs and then

modeling or modifying the business strategies accordingly.

 Steps in the Marketing Research Process

Step 1: Define the Problem (or Opportunity)

!here(s a saying in marketing research that a problem half defined is a problem half solved.

&efining the )problem* of the research sounds simple, doesn(t it+ Suppose your product is

tutoring other students in a sub#ect you(re a whi at. -ou have been tutoring for a while, and

people have begun to realie you(re darned good at it. !hen, suddenly, your business drops off. r

it explodes, and you can(t cope with the number of students you(re being asked help. 'f the

 business has exploded, should you try to expand your services+ $erhaps you should subcontract

 with some other )whi* students. -ou would send them students to be tutored, and they would

give you a cut of their pay for each student you referred to them.

"oth of these scenarios would be a problem for you, wouldn(t they+ !hey are problems insofar as

they cause you headaches. "ut are they really the problem+ r are they the symptoms of

something bigger+ For example, maybe your business has dropped off because your school is

experiencing financial trouble and has lowered the number of scholarships given to incoming

freshmen. /onse0uently, there are fewer total students on campus who need your services.

/onversely, if you(re swamped with people who want you to tutor them, perhaps your school

awarded more scholarships than usual, so there are a greater number of students who need your

services. Alternately, perhaps you ran an ad in your school(s college newspaper, and that led to

the influx of students wanting you to tutor them.

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"usinesses are in the same boat you are as a tutor. !hey take a look at symptoms and try to drill

down to the potential causes. 'f you approach a marketing research company with either scenario

1either too much or too little business1the firm will seek more information from you such as the

following2

• &n what semester;s< did your tutoring revenues fall ;or rise<=

• &n what sub(ect areas did your tutoring revenues fall ;or rise<=

• &n what sales channels did revenues fall ;or rise<3 *ere there fewer ;or more<

referrals from professors or other students= %id the ad you ran result in fewer ;or

more< referrals this month than in the past months=

• +mong what demographic groups did your revenues fall ;or rise<>women or

men, people with certain ma(ors, or rst-year, second-, third-, or fourth-year

students=

!he key is to look at all potential causes so as to narrow the parameters of the study to the

information you actually need to make a good decision about how to fix your business if revenues

have dropped or whether or not to expand it if your revenues have exploded.

!he next task for the researcher is to put into writing the research ob#ective. !he research

ob(ective is the goal3s4 the research is supposed to accomplish. !he marketing research

ob#ective for your tutoring business might read as follows2

!o survey college professors who teach 566% and 766%level math courses to determine why the

number of students referred for tutoring dropped in the second semester.

!his is admittedly a simple example designed to help you understand the basic concept. 'f you

take a marketing research course, you will learn that research ob#ectives get a lot more

complicated than this. !he following is an example2

“To gather information from a sample representative of the U.S. population among those who are ‘very

likely’ to purchase an automobile within the next 6 months which assesses preferences !measure" on a #$

 % scale ranging from ‘very likely to buy’ to ‘not likely at all to buy’& for the mo"el "iesel at three "ifferent

 price levels. Such "ata woul" serve as input into a forecasting mo"el that woul" forecast unit sales by

geographic regions of the country for each combination of the mo"el’s "ifferent prices an" fuel

configurations. [1]' 

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8ow do you understand why defining the problem is complicated and half the battle+ Many a

marketing research effort is doomed from the start because the problem was improperly defined.

/oke(s ill%fated decision to change the formula of /oca%/ola in 59:; is a case in point2 $epsi had

 been creeping up on /oke in terms of market share over the years as well as running a successful

promotional campaign called the )$epsi /hallenge,* in which consumers were encouraged to do a

 blind taste test to see if they agreed that $epsi was better. /oke spent four years researching )the

problem.* 'ndeed, people seemed to like the taste of $epsi better in blind taste tests. !hus, the

formula for /oke was changed. "ut the outcry among the public was so great that the new

formula didn(t last long1a matter of months1before the old formula was reinstated. Some

marketing experts believe /oke incorrectly defined the problem as )<ow can we beat $epsi in

taste tests+* instead of )<ow can we gain market share against $epsi+

Step 2: Design the Research

!he next step in the marketing research process is to do a research design. !he research

design is your )plan of attack.* 't outlines what data you are going to gather and from whom,

how and when you will collect the data, and how you will analye it once it(s been obtained. =et(s

look at the data you(re going to gather first.

!here are two basic types of data you can gather. !he first is primary data. Primary data is

information you collect yourself, using hands%on tools such as interviews or surveys, specifically

for the research pro#ect you(re conducting. #econdary data is data that has already been

collected by someone else, or data you have already collected for another purpose. /ollecting

primary data is more time consuming, work intensive, and expensive than collecting secondary

data. /onse0uently, you should always try to collect secondary data first to solve your research

problem, if you can. A great deal of research on a wide variety of topics already exists. 'f this

research contains the answer to your 0uestion, there is no need for you to replicate it. Why

reinvent the wheel+

5ources of 5econdar) #ata

 -our company(s internal records are a source of secondary data. So are any data you collect as part of your

marketing intelligence gathering efforts. -ou can also purchase syndicated research. #yndicated

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research is primary data that marketing research firms collect on a regular basis and sell to other

companies. >.&. $ower ? Associates is a provider of syndicated research. !he company conducts

independent, unbiased surveys of customer satisfaction, product 0uality, and buyer behavior for various

industries. !he company is best known for its research in the automobile sector. ne of the best%known

sellers of syndicated research is the 8ielsen /ompany, which produces the 8ielsen ratings. !he 8ielsen

ratings measure the sie of television, radio, and newspaper audiences in various markets. -ou have

probably read or heard about !@ shows that get the highest 38ielsen4 ratings. 3Arbitron does the same thing

for radio ratings.4 8ielsen, along with its main competitor, 'nformation esources, 'nc. 3''4, also sells

 businesses scanner-based research. Scanner%based research is information collected by scanners at

checkout stands in stores. ach week 8ielsen and '' collect information on the millions of purchases made

at stores. !he companies then compile the information and sell it to firms in various industries that

subscribe to their services. !he 8ielsen /ompany has also recently teamed up with Facebook to collect

marketing research information. @ia Facebook, users will see surveys in some of the spaces in which they

used to see online ads. ?@A

"y contrast, Marketesearch.com is an example of a marketing research aggregator. A marketing

research aggregator is a marketing research company that doesn(t conduct its own research and sell it.

'nstead, it buys research reports from other marketing research companies and then sells the reports in

their entirety or in pieces to other firms. /heck out Marketesearch.com(s Web site. As you will see there

are a huge number of studies in every category imaginable that you can buy for relatively small amounts of

money.

 (arket research aggregators buy research reports from other marketing research companies an" then resell

them in part or in whole to other companies so they "on’t have to gather primary "ata.

 Source) http://www.marketresearch.com .

 -our local library is a good place to gather free secondary data. 't has searchable databases as well as

handbooks, dictionaries, and books, some of which you can access online. Bovernment agencies also collect

and report information on demographics, economic and employment data, health information, and

 balance%of%trade statistics, among a lot of other information. !he C.S. /ensus "ureau collects census data

every ten years to gather information about who lives where. "asic demographic information about sex,

age, race, and types of housing in which people live in each C.S. state, metropolitan area, and rural area is

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gathered so that population shifts can be tracked for various purposes, including determining the number

of legislators each state should have in the C.S. <ouse of epresentatives. For the C.S. government, this is

primary data. For marketing managers it is an important source of secondary data.

!he Survey esearch /enter at the Cniversity of Michigan also conducts periodic surveys and publishes

information about trends in the Cnited States. ne research study the center continually conducts is called

the )/hanging =ives of American Families* 3http399www.isr.umich.edu9home9news9research-

update9CCD-CE.pdf 4. !his is important research data for marketing managers monitoring consumer

trends in the marketplace. !he World "ank and the Cnited 8ations are two international organiations that

collect a great deal of information. !heir Web sites contain many free research studies and data related to

global markets. "able EC.E 7!xamples of Primary %ata #ources versus #econdary %ata

#ources7 shows some examples of primary versus secondary data sources.

 "able EC.E !xamples of Primary %ata #ources versus #econdary %ata #ources

Primar) #ata 5ources 5econdar) #ata 5ources

&nterviews $ensus data

#urveys *eb sites

Publications

 "rade associations

#yndicated research and market aggregators

%auging the ;ualit) of 5econdar) #ata

 When you are gathering secondary information, it(s always good to be a little skeptical of it. Sometimes

studies are commissioned to produce the result a client wants to hear1or wants the public to hear. For

example, throughout the twentieth century, numerous studies found that smoking was good for people(s

health. !he problem was the studies were commissioned by the tobacco industry. Web research can also

pose certain haards. !here are many biased sites that try to fool people that they are providing good data.

ften the data is favorable to the products they are trying to sell. "eware of product reviews as well.

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Cnscrupulous sellers sometimes get online and create bogus ratings for products. See below for 0uestions

 you can ask to help gauge the credibility of secondary information.

%auging the Credi&ilit) of 5econdar) #ata: ;uestions to +sk 

• *ho gathered this information=

• 4or what purpose=

• *hat does the person or organization that gathered the information have to gain by

doing so=

• *as the information gathered and reported in a systematic manner=

• &s the source of the information accepted as an authority by other experts in the eld=

• %oes the article provide ob(ective evidence to support the position presented=

)pes of Research #esign

8ow let(s look specifically at the types of research designs that are utilied. "y understanding different types

of research designs, a researcher can solve a client(s problems more 0uickly and efficiently without #umping

through more hoops than necessary. esearch designs fall into one of the following three categories2

E. !xploratory research design

. %escriptive research design

@. $ausal research design ;experiments<

 An exploratory research design is useful when you are initially investigating a problem but you haven(t

defined it well enough to do an in%depth study of it. $erhaps via your regular market intelligence, you have

spotted what appears to be a new opportunity in the marketplace. -ou would then do exploratory research

to investigate it further and )get your feet wet,* as the saying goes. xploratory research is less structured

than other types of research, and secondary data is often utilied.

ne form of exploratory research is 0ualitative research. Fualitative research is any form of research that

includes gathering data that is not 0uantitative, and often involves exploring 0uestions such as why  as

much as what  or how much. &ifferent forms, such as depth interviews and focus group interviews, are

common in marketing research.

!he depth interview1engaging in detailed, one%on%one, 0uestion%and%answer sessions with potential

 buyers1is an exploratory research techni0ue. <owever, unlike surveys, the people being interviewed aren(t

asked a series of standard 0uestions. 'nstead the interviewer is armed with some general topics and asks

0uestions that are open ended, meaning that they allow the interviewee to elaborate. )<ow did you feel

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about the product after you purchased it+* is an example of a 0uestion that might be asked. A depth

interview also allows a researcher to ask logical follow%up 0uestions such as )/an you tell me what you

mean when you say you felt uncomfortable using the service+* or )/an you give me some examples+* to

help dig further and shed additional light on the research problem. &epth interviews can be conducted in

person or over the phone. !he interviewer either takes notes or records the interview.

Focus groups and case studies are often utilied for exploratory research as well. A focus group is a group

of potential buyers who are brought together to discuss a marketing research topic with one another. A

moderator is used to focus the discussion, the sessions are recorded, and the main points of consensus are

later summaried by the market researcher. !extbook publishers often gather groups of professors at

educational conferences to participate in focus groups. <owever, focus groups can also be conducted on the

telephone, in online chat rooms, or both, using meeting software like Webx. !he basic steps of conducting

a focus group are outlined below.

he 8asic 5teps of Conducting a <ocus %roup

E. !stablish the ob(ectives of the focus group. *hat is its purpose=

. &dentify the people who will participate in the focus group. *hat makes them 'ualied

to participate= /ow many of them will you need and what they will be paid=

@. 6btain contact information for the participants and send out invitations ;usually e-

mails are most eGcient<.

H. %evelop a list of 'uestions.

I. $hoose a facilitator.

J. $hoose a location in which to hold the focus group and the method by which it will be

recorded.

D. $onduct the focus group. &f the focus group is not conducted electronically, include

name tags for the participants, pens and notepads, any materials the participants need to

see, and refreshments. 1ecord participants5 responses.

K. #ummarize the notes from the focus group and write a report for management.

 A case study looks at how another company solved the problem that(s being researched. Sometimes

multiple cases, or companies, are used in a study. /ase studies nonetheless have a mixed reputation. Some

researchers believe it(s hard to generalie, or apply, the results of a case study to other companies.

8onetheless, collecting information about companies that encountered the same problems your firm is

facing can give you a certain amount of insight about what direction you should take. 'n fact, one way to

 begin a research pro#ect is to carefully study a successful product or service.

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!wo other types of 0ualitative data used for exploratory research are ethnographies and pro#ective

techni0ues. 'n an ethnography, researchers interview, observe, and often videotape people while they

 work, live, shop, and play. !he Walt &isney /ompany has recently begun using ethnographers to uncover

the likes and dislikes of boys aged six to fourteen, a financially attractive market segment for &isney, but

one in which the company has been losing market share. !he ethnographers visit the homes of boys,

observe the things they have in their rooms to get a sense of their hobbies, and accompany them and their

mothers when they shop to see where they go, what the boys are interested in, and what they ultimately

 buy. 3!he children get seventy%five dollars out of the deal, incidentally.4?HA

Pro(ective techni'ues are used to reveal information research respondents might not reveal by being

asked directly. Asking a person to complete sentences such as the following is one techni0ue2

People who buy Coach handbags DDDDDDDDDD.

3Will he or she reply with )are cool,* )are affluent,* or )are pretentious,* for example+4

KFC’s grlled chcken s DDDDDD.

r the person might be asked to finish a story that presents a certain scenario. Word associations are also

used to discern people(s underlying attitudes toward goods and services. Csing a word%association

techni0ue, a market researcher asks a person to say or write the first word that comes to his or her mind in

response to another word. 'f the initial word is )fast food,* what word does the person associate it with or

respond with+ 's it )Mc&onald(s*+ 'f many people reply that way, and you(re conducting research for "urger

Eing, that could indicate "urger Eing has a problem. <owever, if the research is being conducted for

 Wendy(s, which recently began running an advertising campaign to the effect that Wendy(s offerings are

)better than fast food,* it could indicate that the campaign is working.

/ompleting cartoons is yet another type of pro#ective techni0ue. 't(s similar to finishing a sentence or story,

only with the pictures. $eople are asked to look at a cartoon such as the one shown in 4igure EC.K

7!xample of a $artoon-$ompletion Pro(ective "echni'ue7. ne of the characters in the picture will

have made a statement, and the person is asked to fill in the empty cartoon )bubble* with how they think

the second character will respond.

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'n some cases, your research might end with exploratory research. $erhaps you have discovered your

organiation lacks the resources needed to produce the product. 'n other cases, you might decide you need

more in%depth, 0uantitative research such as descriptive research or causal research, which are discussed

next. Most marketing research professionals advise using both types of research, if it(s feasible. n the one

hand, the 0ualitative%type research used in exploratory research is often considered too )lightweight.*

emember earlier in the chapter when we discussed telephone answering machines and the hit !@

sitcom !en"eld+ "oth product ideas were initially re#ected by focus groups. n the other hand, relying

solely on 0uantitative information often results in market research that lacks ideas.

#escripti,e Research

 Anything that can be observed and counted falls into the category of descriptive research design. A study

using a descriptive research design involves gathering hard numbers, often via surveys, to describe or

measure a phenomenon so as to answer the 0uestions of who, what , where, when, and how. )n a scale

of 5;, how satisfied were you with your service+* is a 0uestion that illustrates the information a descriptive

research design is supposed to capture.

$hysiological measurements also fall into the category of descriptive design. Physiological

measurements measure people(s involuntary physical responses to marketing stimuli, such as an

advertisement. lsewhere, we explained that researchers have gone so far as to scan the brains of

consumers to see what they really think about products versus what they say about them. ye tracking is

another cutting%edge type of physiological measurement. 't involves recording the movements of a person(s

eyes when they look at some sort of stimulus, such as a banner ad or a Web page. !he Walt &isney

/ompany has a research facility in Austin, !exas, that it uses to take physical measurements of viewers

 when they see &isney programs and advertisements. !he facility measures three types of responses2

people(s heart rates, skin changes, and eye movements 3eye tracking4. ?IA

 A strictly descriptive research design instrument1a survey, for example1can tell you how satisfied your

customers are. 't can(t, however, tell you why. 8or can an eye%tracking study tell you why  people(s eyes

tend to dwell on certain types of banner ads1only that they do. !o answer )why* 0uestions an exploratory

research design or causal research design is needed. ?JA

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Causal Research

$ausal research design examines cause%and%effect relationships. Csing a causal research design allows

researchers to answer )what if* types of 0uestions. 'n other words, if a firm changes #  3say, a product(s

price, design, placement, or advertising4, what will happen to $  3say, sales or customer loyalty4+ !o conduct

causal research, the researcher designs an experiment that )controls,* or holds constant, all of a product(s

marketing elements except one 3or using advanced techni0ues of research, a few elements can be studied at

the same time4. !he one variable is changed, and the effect is then measured. Sometimes the experiments

are conducted in a laboratory using a simulated setting designed to replicate the conditions buyers would

experience. r the experiments may be conducted in a virtual computer setting.

 -ou might think setting up an experiment in a virtual world such as the online game Second =ife would be a

 viable way to conduct controlled marketing research. Some companies have tried to use Second =ife for this

purpose, but the results have been somewhat mixed as to whether or not it is a good medium for marketing

research. !he Berman marketing research firm Eom#uniti was one of the first )real%world* companies to set

up an )island* in Second =ife upon which it could conduct marketing research. <owever, with so many

other attractive fantasy islands in which to play, the company found it difficult to get Second =ife residents,

or players, to voluntarily visit the island and stay long enough so meaningful research could be conducted.

3$lus, the )residents,* or players, in Second =ife have been known to protest corporations invading their

 world. When the Berman firm Eom#uniti created an island in Second =ife to conduct marketing research,

the residents showed up waving signs and threatening to boycott the island.4 ?DA

 Why is being able to control the setting so important+ =et(s say you are an American flag manufacturer and

 you are working with Walmart to conduct an experiment to see where in its stores American flags should be

placed so as to increase their sales. !hen the terrorist attacks of 9G55 occur. 'n the days afterward, sales

skyrocketed1people bought flags no matter where they were displayed. bviously, the terrorist attacks in

the Cnited States would have skewed the experiment(s data.

 An experiment conducted in a natural setting such as a store is referred to as a eld experiment.

/ompanies sometimes do field experiments either because it is more convenient or because they want to

see if buyers will behave the same way in the )real world* as in a laboratory or on a computer. !he place the

experiment is conducted or the demographic group of people the experiment is administered to is

considered the test market. "efore a large company rolls out a product to the entire marketplace, it will

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often place the offering in a test market to see how well it will be received. For example, to compete with

Miller/oors( sixty%four%calorie beer MB& HI, Anheuser%"usch recently began testing its Select ;; beer in

certain cities around the country. ?KA

Many companies use experiments to test all of their marketing communications. For example, the online

discount retailer .co 3formerly called verstock.com4 carefully tests all of its marketing offers and tracks

the results of each one. ne study the company conducted combined twenty%six different variables related

to offers e%mailed to several thousand customers. !he study resulted in a decision to send a group of e%mails

to different segments. !he company then tracked the results of the sales generated to see if they were in line

 with the earlier experiment it had conducted that led it to make the offer

5tep 3: #esign the #ata7Collection <orms

'f the behavior of buyers is being formally observed, and a number of different researchers are conducting

observations, the data obviously need to be recorded on a standardied data%collection form that(s either

paper or electronic. therwise, the data collected will not be comparable. !he items on the form could

include a shopper(s sexJ his or her approximate ageJ whether the person seemed hurried, moderately

hurried, or unhurriedJ and whether or not he or she read the label on products, used coupons, and so forth.

!he same is true when it comes to surveying people with 0uestionnaires. Surveying people is one of the

most commonly used techni0ues to collect 0uantitative data. Surveys are popular because they can be easily 

administered to large numbers of people fairly 0uickly. <owever, to produce the best results, the

0uestionnaire for the survey needs to be carefully designed.

;uestionnaire #esign

Most 0uestionnaires follow a similar format2 !hey begin with an introduction describing what the study is

for, followed by instructions for completing the 0uestionnaire and, if necessary, returning it to the market

researcher. !he first few 0uestions that appear on the 0uestionnaire are usually basic, warm%up type of

0uestions the respondent can readily answer, such as the respondent(s age, level of education, place of

residence, and so forth. !he warm%up 0uestions are then followed by a logical progression of more detailed,

in%depth 0uestions that get to the heart of the 0uestion being researched. =astly, the 0uestionnaire wraps

up with a statement that thanks the respondent for participating in the survey and information and

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explains when and how they will be paid for participating. !o see some examples of 0uestionnaires and how 

they are laid out, click on the following link2 http399cas.uah.edu9wrenb9mkt@H@9Pro(ect9#ample

LCFuestionnaires.htm.

<ow the 0uestions themselves are worded is extremely important. 't(s human nature for respondents to

 want to provide the )correct* answers to the person administering the survey, so as to seem agreeable.

!herefore, there is always a haard that people will try to tell you what you want to hear on a survey.

/onse0uently, care needs to be taken that the survey 0uestions are written in an unbiased, neutral way. 'n

other words, they shouldn(t lead a person taking the 0uestionnaire to answer a 0uestion one way or another

 by virtue of the way you have worded it. !he following is an example of a leading 0uestion.

%on’t you agree that teachers should be pad more+

!he 0uestions also need to be clear and unambiguous. /onsider the following 0uestion2

&hch brand o" toothpaste do you use+

!he 0uestion sounds clear enough, but is it really+ What if the respondent recently switched brands+ What

if she uses /rest at home, but while away from home or traveling, she uses /olgate(s Wisp portable

toothpaste%and%brush product+ <ow will the respondent answer the 0uestion+ ewording the 0uestion as

follows so it(s more specific will help make the 0uestion clearer2

&hch brand o" toothpaste ha'e you used at home n the past s( months) *" you ha'e used

more than one brand+ please lst each o" them. ?MA

Sensitive 0uestions have to be asked carefully. For example, asking a respondent, )&o you consider yourself 

a light, moderate, or heavy drinker+* can be tricky. Few people want to admit to being heavy drinkers. -ou

can )soften* the 0uestion by including a range of answers, as the following example shows2

,ow many alcoholc be'erages do you consume n a week +

•  NNCOI alcoholic beverages

•  NNIOEC alcoholic beverages

•  NNECOEI alcoholic beverages

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Many people don(t like to answer 0uestions about their income levels. Asking them to specify income

ranges rather than divulge their actual incomes can help.

ther research 0uestion )don(ts* include using #argon and acronyms that could confuse people. )<ow often

do you 'M+* is an example. Also, don(t muddy the waters by asking two 0uestions in the same 0uestion,

something researchers refer to as a double-barreled 'uestion. )&o you think parents should spend more

time with their children andGor their teachers+* is an example of a double%barreled 0uestion.

6pen-ended 'uestions, or 0uestions that ask respondents to elaborate, can be included. <owever, they

are harder to tabulate than closed-ended 'uestions, or 0uestions that limit a respondent(s answers.

Multiple%choice and yes%and%no 0uestions are examples of closed%ended 0uestions.

esting the ;uestionnaire

 -ou have probably heard the phrase )garbage in, garbage out.* 'f the 0uestions are bad, the information

gathered will be bad, too. ne way to make sure you don(t end up with garbage is to test the 0uestionnaire

 before sending it out to find out if there are any problems with it. 's there enough space for people to

elaborate on open%ended 0uestions+ 's the font readable+ !o test the 0uestionnaire, marketing research

professionals first administer it to a number of respondents face to face. !his gives the respondents the

chance to ask the researcher about 0uestions or instructions that are unclear or don(t make sense to them.

!he researcher then administers the 0uestionnaire to a small subset of respondents in the actual way the

survey is going to be disseminated, whether it(s delivered via phone, in person, by mail, or online.

Betting people to participate and complete 0uestionnaires can be difficult. 'f the 0uestionnaire is too long

or hard to read, many people won(t complete it. So, by all means, eliminate any 0uestions that aren(t

necessary. f course, including some sort of monetary incentive for completing the survey can increase the

number of completed 0uestionnaires a market researcher will receive.

5tep 4: 5pecif) the 5ample

nce you have created your 0uestionnaire or other marketing study, how do you figure out who should

participate in it+ bviously, you can(t survey or observe all potential buyers in the marketplace. 'nstead, you

must choose a sample. A sample is a subset of potential buyers that are representative of

 your entre target market, or population being studied. Sometimes market researchers refer to the

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population as the un'erse to reflect the fact that it includes the entire target market, whether it consists of 

a million people, a hundred thousand, a few hundred, or a doen. )All unmarried people over the age of

eighteen who purchased &irt &evil steam cleaners in the Cnited States during 7655* is an example of a

population that has been defined.

bviously, the population has to be defined correctly. therwise, you will be studying the wrong group of

people. 8ot defining the population correctly can result in flawed research, or sampling error. A sampling

error is any type of marketing research mistake that results because a sample was utilied. ne criticism of

'nternet surveys is that the people who take these surveys don(t really represent the overall population. n

average, 'nternet survey takers tend to be more educated and tech savvy. /onse0uently, if they solely

constitute your population, even if you screen them for certain criteria, the data you collect could end up

 being skewed.

!he next step is to put together the sampling frame, which is the list from which the sample is drawn. !he

sampling frame can be put together using a directory, customer list, or membership roster. ?ECA Eeep in mind

that the sampling frame won(t per"ectly  match the population. Some people will be included on the list

 who shouldn(t be. ther people who should be included will be inadvertently omitted. 't(s no different than

if you were to conduct a survey of, say, 7; percent of your friends, using friends( names you have in your cell

phone. Most of your friends( names are likely to be programmed into your phone, but not all of them. As a

result, a certain degree of sampling error always occurs.

!here are two main categories of samples in terms of how they are drawn2 probability samples and

nonprobability samples. A probability sample is one in which each would%be participant has a known and

e0ual chance of being selected. !he chance is known because the total number of people in the sampling

frame is known. For example, if every other person from the sampling frame were chosen, each person

 would have a ;6 percent chance of being selected.

 A nonprobability sample is any type of sample that(s not drawn in a systematic way. So the chances of

each would%be participant being selected can(t be known. A convenience sample is one type of

nonprobability sample. 't is a sample a researcher draws because it(s readily available and convenient to do

so. Surveying people on the street as they pass by is an example of a convenience sample. !he 0uestion is,

are these people representative of the target market+

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For example, suppose a grocery store needed to 0uickly conduct some research on shoppers to get ready for

an upcoming promotion. 8ow suppose that the researcher assigned to the pro#ect showed up between the

hours of 56 a.m. and 57 p.m. on a weekday and surveyed as many shoppers as possible. !he problem is that

the shoppers wouldn(t be representative of the store(s entire target market. What about commuters who

stop at the store before and after work+ !heir views wouldn(t be represented. 8either would people who

 work the night shift or shop at odd hours. As a result, there would be a lot of room for sampling error in this

study. For this reason, studies that use nonprobability samples aren(t considered as accurate as studies that

use probability samples. 8onprobability samples are more often used in exploratory research.

=astly, the sie of the sample has an effect on the amount of sampling error. =arger samples generally

produce more accurate results. !he larger your sample is, the more data you will have, which will give you a

more complete picture of what you(re studying. <owever, the more people surveyed or studied, the more

costly the research becomes.

Statistics can be used to determine a sample(s optimal sie. 'f you take a marketing research or statistics

class, you will learn more about how to determine the optimal sie.

f course, if you hire a marketing research company, much of this work will be taken care of for you. Many

marketing research companies, like esearch8ow, maintain panels of prescreened people they draw upon

for samples. 'n addition, the marketing research firm will be responsible for collecting the data or

contracting with a company that specialies in data collection. &ata collection is discussed next.

5tep ": Collect the #ata

 As we have explained, primary marketing research data can be gathered in a number of ways. Surveys,

taking physical measurements, and observing people are #ust three of the ways we discussed. 'f you(re

observing customers as part of gathering the data, keep in mind that if shoppers are aware of the fact, it can

have an effect on their behavior. For example, if a customer shopping for feminine hygiene products in a

supermarket aisle realies she is being watched, she could become embarrassed and leave the aisle, which

 would adversely affect your data. !o get around problems such as these, some companies set up cameras or

two%way mirrors to observe customers. rganiations also hire mystery shoppers to work around the

problem. A mystery shopper is someone who is paid to shop at a firm(s establishment or one of its

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competitors to observe the level of service, cleanliness of the facility, and so forth, and report his or her

findings to the firm

Survey data can be collected in many different ways and combinations of ways. !he following are the basic

methods used2

• 4ace-to-face ;can be computer aided<

•  "elephone ;can be computer aided or completely automated<

• ail and hand delivery

• !-mail and the *eb

 A face%to%face survey is, of course, administered by a person. !he surveys are conducted in public places

such as in shopping malls, on the street, or in people(s homes if they have agreed to it. 'n years past, it was

common for researchers in the Cnited States to knock on people(s doors to gather survey data. <owever,

randomly collected door%to%door interviews are less common today, partly because people are afraid of

crime and are reluctant to give information to strangers. ?EEA

8onetheless, )beating the streets* is still a legitimate way 0uestionnaire data is collected. When the C.S.

/ensus "ureau collects data on the nation(s population, it hand delivers 0uestionnaires to rural households

that do not have street%name and house%number addresses. And /ensus "ureau workers personally survey

the homeless to collect information about their numbers. Face%to%face surveys are also commonly used in

third world countries to collect information from people who cannot read or lack phones and computers.

 A plus of face%to%face surveys is that they allow researchers to ask lengthier, more complex 0uestions

 because the people being surveyed can see and read the 0uestionnaires. !he same is true when a computer

is utilied. For example, the researcher might ask the respondent to look at a list of ten retail stores and

rank the stores from best to worst. !he same 0uestion wouldn(t work so well over the telephone because the

person couldn(t see the list. !he 0uestion would have to be rewritten. Another drawback with telephone

surveys is that even though federal and state )do not call* laws generally don(t prohibit companies from

gathering survey information over the phone, people often screen such calls using answering machines and

caller '&.

$robably the biggest drawback of both surveys conducted face%to%face and administered over the phone by

a person is that they are labor intensive and therefore costly. Mailing out 0uestionnaires is costly, too, and

the response rates can be rather low. !hink about why that might be so2 if you receive a 0uestionnaire in the

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mail, it is easy to throw it in the trashJ it(s harder to tell a market researcher who approaches you on the

street that you don(t want to be interviewed.

"y contrast, gathering survey data collected by a computer, either over the telephone or on the 'nternet, can

 be very cost%effective and in some cases free. SurveyMonkey and Koomerang are two Web sites that will

allow you to create online 0uestionnaires, e%mail them to up to one hundred people for free, and view the

responses in real time as they come in. For larger surveys, you have to pay a subscription price of a few

hundred dollars. "ut that still can be extremely cost%effective. !he two Web sites also have a host of other

features such as online%survey templates you can use to create your 0uestionnaire, a way to set up

automatic reminders sent to people who haven(t yet completed their surveys, and tools you can use to

create graphics to put in your final research report. !o see how easy it is to put together a survey in

SurveyMonkey, click on the following

link2 http399help.surveymonkey.com9app9tutorials9detail9aNid9H@.

=ike a face%to%face survey, an 'nternet survey can enable you to show buyers different visuals such as ads,

pictures, and videos of products and their packaging. Web surveys are also fast, which is a ma#or plus.

 Whereas face%to%face and mailed surveys often take weeks to collect, you can conduct a Web survey in a

matter of days or even hours. And, of course, because the information is electronically gathered it can be

automatically tabulated. -ou can also potentially reach a broader geographic group than you could if you

had to personally interview people. !he Koomerang Web site allows you to create surveys in forty different

languages.

 Another plus for Web and computer surveys 3and electronic phone surveys4 is that there is less room for

human error because the surveys are administered electronically. For instance, there(s no risk that the

interviewer will ask a 0uestion wrong or use a tone of voice that could mislead the respondents.

espondents are also likely to feel more comfortable inputting the information into a computer if a

0uestion is sensitive than they would divulging the information to another person face%to%face or over the

phone. Biven all of these advantages, it(s not surprising that the 'nternet is 0uickly becoming the top way to

collect primary data. <owever, like mail surveys, surveys sent to people over the 'nternet are easy to ignore.

=astly, before the data collection process begins, the surveyors and observers need to be trained to look for

the same things, ask 0uestions the same way, and so forth. 'f they are using rankings or rating scales, they

need to be )on the same page,* so to speak, as to what constitutes a high ranking or a low ranking. As an

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analogy, you have probably had some teachers grade your college papers harder than others. !he goal of

training is to avoid a wide disparity between how different observers and interviewers record the data.

Training people so they know what constitutes "ifferent ratings when they are collecting "ata will improve the *uality

of the information gathere" in a marketing research stu"y.

+ ,-#- upiterimages /orporation

For example, if an observation form asks the observers to describe whether a shopper(s behavior is hurried,

moderately hurried, or unhurried, they should be given an idea of what defines each rating. &oes it depend

on how much time the person spends in the store or in the individual aisles+ <ow fast they walk+ 'n other

 words, the criteria and ratings need to be spelled out.

Collecting 9nternational Marketing Research #ata

Bathering marketing research data in foreign countries poses special challenges. <owever, that doesn(t stop

firms from doing so. Marketing research companies are located all across the globe, in fact. ight of the ten

largest marketing research companies in the world are head0uartered in the Cnited States. <owever, five of 

these eight firms earn more of their revenues abroad than they do in the Cnited States. !here(s a reason for

this2 many C.S. markets were saturated, or tapped out, long ago in terms of the amount that they can grow.

/oke is an example. As you learned earlier in the book, most of the /oca%/ola /ompany(s revenues are

earned in markets abroad. !o be sure, the Cnited States is still a huge market when it comes to the revenues

marketing research firms generate by conducting research in the country2 in terms of their spending,

 American consumers fuel the world(s economic engine. Still, emerging countries with growing middle

classes, such as /hina, 'ndia, and "rail, are hot new markets companies want to tap.

 What kind of challenges do firms face when trying to conduct marketing research abroad+ As we explained,

face%to%face surveys are commonly used in third world countries to collect information from people who

cannot read or lack phones and computers. <owever, face%to%face surveys are also common in urope,

despite the fact that phones and computers are readily available. 'n%home surveys are also common in parts

of urope. "y contrast, in some countries, including many Asian countries, it(s considered taboo or rude to

try to gather information from strangers either face%to%face or over the phone. 'n many Muslim countries,

 women are forbidden to talk to strangers.

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 And how do you figure out whom to research in foreign countries+ !hat in itself is a problem. 'n the Cnited

States, researchers often ask if they can talk to the heads of households to conduct marketing research. "ut

in countries in which domestic servants or employees are common, the heads of households aren(t

necessarily the principal shoppersJ their domestic employees are. ?EA

!ranslating surveys is also an issue. <ave you ever watched the !@ comedians >ay =eno and &avid

=etterman make fun of the nglish translations found on ethnic menus and products+ esearch tools such

as surveys can suffer from the same problem. <iring someone who is bilingual to translate a survey into

another language can be a disaster if the person isn(t a native speaker of the language to which the survey is

 being translated.

ne way companies try to deal with translation problems is by using back translation. When back

translation is used, a native speaker translates the survey into the foreign language and then translates it

 back again to the original language to determine if there were gaps in meaning1that is, if anything was lost

in translation. And it(s not #ust the language that(s an issue. 'f the research involves any visual images, they,

too, could be a point of confusion. /ertain colors, shapes, and symbols can have negative connotations in

other countries. For example, the color white represents purity in many Western cultures, but in /hina, it is

the color of death and mourning. ?E@A  Also, look back at the cartoon%completion exercise in 4igure EC.K

7!xample of a $artoon-$ompletion Pro(ective "echni'ue7. What would women in Muslim countries

 who aren(t allowed to converse with male sellers think of it+ /hances are, the cartoon wouldn(t provide you

 with the information you(re seeking if Muslim women in some countries were asked to complete it.

ne way marketing research companies are dealing with the complexities of global research is by merging

 with or ac0uiring marketing research companies abroad. !he 8ielsen /ompany is the largest marketing

research company in the world. !he firm operates in more than a hundred countries and employs more

than forty thousand people. Many of its expansions have been the result of ac0uisitions and mergers.

5tep $: +nal)e the #ata

Step H involves analying the data to ensure it(s as accurate as possible. 'f the research is collected by hand

using a pen and pencil, it(s entered into a computer. r respondents might have already entered the

information directly into a computer. For example, when !oyota goes to an event such as a car show, the

automaker(s marketing personnel ask would%be buyers to complete 0uestionnaires directly on computers.

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/ompanies are also beginning to experiment with software that can be used to collect data using mobile

phones.

nce all the data is collected, the researchers begin the data cleaning, which is the process of removing

data that have accidentally been duplicated 3entered twice into the computer4 or correcting data that have

obviously been recorded wrong. A program such as Microsoft xcel or a statistical program such as

$redictive Analytics Software 3$ASW, which was formerly known as S$SS4 is then used to tabulate, or

calculate, the basic results of the research, such as the total number of participants and how collectively

they answered various 0uestions. !he programs can also be used to calculate averages, such as the average

age of respondents, their average satisfaction, and so forth. !he same can done for percentages, and other

 values you learned about, or will learn about, in a statistics course, such as the standard deviation, mean,

and median for each 0uestion.

!he information generated by the programs can be used to draw conclusions, such as what all customers

might like or not like about an offering based on what the sample group liked or did not like. !he

information can also be used to spot differences among groups of people. For example, the research might

show that people in one area of the country like the product better than people in another area. !rends to

predict what might happen in the future can also be spotted.

'f there are any open%ended 0uestions respondents have elaborated upon1for example, )xplain why you

like the current brand you use better than any other brand*1the answers to each are pasted together, one

on top of another, so researchers can compare and summarie the information. As we have explained,

0ualitative information such as this can give you a fuller picture of the results of the research.

$art of analying the data is to see if it seems sound. &oes the way in which the research was conducted

seem sound+ Was the sample sie large enough+ Are the conclusions that become apparent from it

reasonable+

!he two most commonly used criteria used to test the soundness of a study are 354 validity and 374

reliability. A study is valid if it actually tested what it was designed to test. For example, did the experiment

 you ran in Second =ife test what it was designed to test+ &id it reflect what could really happen in the real

 world+ 'f not, the research isn(t valid. 'f you were to repeat the study, and get the same results 3or nearly the

same results4, the research is said to be reliable. 'f you get a drastically different result if you repeat the

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study, it(s not reliable. !he data collected, or at least some it, can also be compared to, or reconciled with,

similar data from other sources either gathered by your firm or by another organiation to see if the

information seems on target.

5tage ': rite the Research Report and Present 9ts <indings

'f you end up becoming a marketing professional and conducting a research study after you graduate,

hopefully you will do a great #ob putting the study together. -ou will have defined the problem correctly,

chosen the right sample, collected the data accurately, analyed it, and your findings will be sound. At that

point, you will be re0uired to write the research report and perhaps present it to an audience of decision

makers. -ou will do so via a written report and, in some cases, a slide or $ower$oint presentation based on

 your written report.

!he six basic elements of a research report are as follows.

E. itle Page. "he title page explains what the report is about, when it was conducted

and by whom, and who re'uested it.

. a&le of Contents. "he table of contents outlines the ma(or parts of the report, as

well as any graphs and charts, and the page numbers on which they can be found.

@. !ecuti,e 5ummar). "he executive summary summarizes all the details in the

report in a very 'uick way. any people who receive the report>both executives and

nonexecutives>won5t have time to read the entire report. &nstead, they will rely on the

executive summary to 'uickly get an idea of the study5s results and what to do about

those results.

I. Methodolog) and =imitations. !he methodology section of the report explains the technical

details of how the research was designed and conducted. !he section explains, for example, how the

data was collected and by whom, the sie of the sample, how it was chosen, and whom or what it

consisted of 3e.g., the number of women versus men or children versus adults4. 't also includes

information about the statistical techni0ues used to analye the data.

very study has errors1sampling errors, interviewer errors, and so forth. !he methodology section

should explain these details, so decision makers can consider their overall impact. !he margin of

error is the overall tendency of the study to be off kilter1that is, how far it could have gone wrong in

either direction. emember how newscasters present the presidential polls before an election+ !hey

always say, )!his candidate is ahead I: to II percent, plus or minus 7 percent.* !hat )plus or minus* is

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the margin of error. !he larger the margin of error is, the less likely the results of the study are

accurate. !he margin of error needs to be included in the methodology section.

I. <indings. "he ndings section is a longer, eshed-out version of the executive

summary that goes into more detail about the statistics uncovered by the research that

bolster the study5s ndings. &f you have related research or secondary data on hand that

back up the ndings, it can be included to help show the study did what it was designed

to do.

J. Recommendations. "he recommendations section should outline the course of

action you think should be taken based on the ndings of the research and the purpose of 

the pro(ect. 4or example, if you conducted a global market research study to identify new

locations for stores, make a recommendation for the locations. ?EHA

 As we have said, these are the basic sections of a marketing research report. <owever, additional sections

can be added as needed. For example, you might need to add a section on the competition and each firm(s

market share. 'f you(re trying to decide on different supply chain options, you will need to include a section

on that topic.

 As you write the research report, keep your audience in mind. &on(t use technical #argon decision makers

and other people reading the report won(t understand. 'f technical terms must be used, explain them. Also,

proofread the document to ferret out any grammatical errors and typos, and ask a couple of other people to

proofread behind you to catch any mistakes you might have missed. 'f your research report is riddled with

errors, its credibility will be undermined, even if the findings and recommendations you make are

extremely accurate.

Many research reports are presented via $ower$oint. 'f you(re asked to create a slideshow presentation

from the report, don(t try to include every detail in the report on the slides. !he information will be too long

and tedious for people attending the presentation to read through. And if they do go to the trouble of

reading all the information, they probably won(t be listening to the speaker who is making the presentation.

'nstead of including all the information from the study in the slides, boil each section of the report down to

key points and add some )talking points* only the presenter will see. After or during the presentation, you

can give the attendees the longer, paper version of the report so they can read the details at a convenient

time, if they choose to.

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Marketing Research Process: > 5tages to Marketing Research 5uccess

5tage 1: <ormulating the Marketing Research Pro&lem

4ormulating a problem is the rst step in the research process. &n many ways,

research starts with a problem that management is facing. "his problem needs to

be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.

/owever, most management problems are not always easy to research. +

management problem must rst be translated into a research problem. 6nce you

approach the problem from a research angle, you can nd a solution. 4or

example, :sales are not growing is a management problem.

 "ranslated into a research problem, we may examine the expectations and

experiences of several groups3 potential customers, rst-time buyers, and repeat

purchasers. *e will determine if the lack of sales is due to3

Poor expectations that lead to a general lack of desire to buy, or

Poor performance experience and a lack of desire to repurchase.

*hat then is the di)erence between a management problem and a research

problem= anagement problems focus on an action. %o we advertise more= %o

we change our advertising message= %o we change an under-performing product

conguration=

&f so, how=

1esearch problems, on the other hand, focus on providing the information youneed in order to solve the management problem.

$lick here to learn specically how to formulate the research problem.

5tage 2: Method of 9n?uir)

 "he scientic method is the standard pattern for investigation. &t provides an

opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point and proceed

impartially.

 "he scientic method includes the following steps3

4ormulate a problem

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%evelop a hypothesis

ake predictions based on the hypothesis

%evise a test of the hypothesis

$onduct the test

+nalyze the results

 "he terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. /owever, there

are subtle di)erences in the way the steps are performed. 4or example, the

scientic method is ob(ective while the research process can be sub(ective.

6b(ective-based research ;'uantitative research< relies on impartial analysis.

 "he facts are the priority in ob(ective research. 6n the other hand, sub(ective-

based research ;'ualitative research< emphasizes personal (udgment as youcollect and analyze data.

5tage 3: Research Method

&n addition to selecting a method of in'uiry ;ob(ective or sub(ective<, you must

select a research method.

 "here are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer any research

'uestion3 experimental research and non-experimental research.

!xperimental research gives you the advantage of controlling extraneous

variables and manipulating one or more variables that inuences the process

being implemented. Qon-experimental research allows observation but not

intervention.

 Rou simply observe and report on your ndings.

5tage 4: Research #esign

 "he research design is a plan or framework for conducting the study and

collecting data. &t is dened as the specic methods and procedures you use toac'uire the information you need.

5tage ": #ata Collection echni?ues

 Rour research design will develop as you select techni'ues to use. "here are

many ways to collect data. "wo important methods to consider are interviews

and observation.

&nterviews re'uire you to ask 'uestions and receive responses.

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$ommon modes of research communication include interviews conducted face-

to-face, by mail, by telephone, by email, or over the &nternet. "his broad

category of research techni'ues is known as survey research.

 "hese techni'ues are used in both non-experimental research and experimental

research.

+nother way to collect data is by observation. 6bserving a person5s or

company5s past or present behavior can predict future purchasing decisions.

%ata collection techni'ues for past behavior can include analyzing company

records and reviewing studies published by external sources.

&n order to analyze information from interview or observation techni'ues, you

must record your results. Because the recorded results are vital, measurement

and development are closely linked to which data collection techni'ues you

decide on.

 "he way you record the data changes depends on which method you use.

5tage $: 5ample #esign

 Rour marketing research pro(ect will rarely examine an entire population. &t5s

more practical to use a sample>a smaller but accurate representation of the

greater population. &n order to design your sample, you must nd answers to

these 'uestions3

4rom which base population is the sample to be selected=

*hat is the method ;process< for sample selection=

*hat is the size of the sample=

6nce you5ve established who the relevant population is ;completed in the

problem formulation stage<, you have a base for your sample. "his will allow you

to make inferences about a larger population. "here are two methods of

selecting a sample from a population3 probability or non-probability sampling.

 "he probability method relies on a random sampling of everyone within thelarger population.

Qon- probability is based in part on the (udgment of the investigator, and often

employs convenience samples, or by other sampling methods that do not rely on

probability.

 "he nal stage of the sample design involves determining the appropriate

sample size. "his important step involves cost and accuracy decisions. 2arger

samples generally reduce sampling error and increase accuracy, but also

increase costs.

5tage ': #ata Collection

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6nce you5ve established the rst six stages, you can move on to data collection.

%epending on the mode of data collection, this part of the process can re'uire

large amounts of personnel and a signicant portion of your budget. Personal

;face-to-face< and telephone interviews may re'uire you to use a data collection

agency ;eld service<.

&nternet surveys re'uire fewer personnel, are lower cost, and can be completed

in days rather than weeks or months.

1egardless of the mode of data collection, the data collection process introduces

another essential element to your research pro(ect3 the importance of clear and

constant communication.

5tage @: +nal)sis and 9nterpretation

&n order for data to be useful, you must analyze it.

+nalysis techni'ues vary and their e)ectiveness depends on the types of

information you are collecting, and the type of measurements you are using.

Because they are dependent on the data collection, analysis techni'ues should

be decided before this step.

5tage >: he Marketing Research Report

 "he marketing research process culminates with the research report.

 "his report will include all of your information, including an accurate description

of your research process, the results, conclusions, and recommended courses of

action. "he report should provide all the information the decision maker needs to

understand the pro(ect.

&t should also be written in language that is easy to understand. &t5s important to

nd a balance between completeness and conciseness. Rou don5t want to leave

any information outS however, you can5t let the information get so technical that

it overwhelms the reading audience.

6ne approach to resolving this conict is to prepare two reports3 the technical

report and the summary report. "he technical report discusses the methods and

the underlying assumptions. &n this document, you discuss the detailed ndings

of the research pro(ect.

 "he summary report, as its name implies, summarizes the research process and

presents the ndings and conclusions as simply as possible.

+nother way to keep your ndings clear is to prepare several di)erent

representations of your ndings. PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports are all common methods for presenting your information.

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+long with the written report for reference, these alternative presentations will

allow the decision maker to understand all aspects of the pro(ect.

-he S%stems and -otal $ost Approaches to Logistics'ystems approach L indicates that companys ob?ectives can be realied by recogniing the mutual

interdependence of the ma?or functional areas of the firm, such as marketing , production, finance,andlogistics.

&mplications of the systems approach:

• One logistics system does not fit all companies

• 'toc$-$eeping units "'N+s# or line items of inventory "stoc$s of goods that are maintained fora variety of purposes#

o rom logistics perspective L the proliferation of 'N+s means more items to identify,

store, and trac$.

ntrafunctional logistics L coordinating inbound logistics, materials management, and physical

distribution in a cost-efficient manner that supports an organiations customer service ob?ectives.

n(ound Logistics Movement and storage of materials into the firm.

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Materials Management Movement and storage of materials and components within a firm.

h%sical Distri(ution 'torage of finished product and movement to the customer.

 

ogistics Managers use the total cost approach to coordinate inbound logistics, materials

management, and physical distribution in a cost-efficient manner. (his means that all relevant

activities should be considered as a whole, not individually. +se of this approach re8uires

understanding of cost tradeoffs, in other words, changes to one logistics activity can cause some

costs to increase and other to decrease. (his is also referred to as a total logistics concept.

hat is 8randing hat is a 8rand !perience

*hen brands were rst introduced, it was the brand name, brand promise, and

logo and packaging that established the brand identity. Qow, branding has grown

to include the entire development process of creating a brand, brand name,

brand identity, and, in some cases, brand advertising.

+ brand experience is an individual audience member5s experience as he or she

interacts with a brand>every time he or she interacts with that brand. !very

interaction a person has with a brand contributes to his or her overall perceptionof the brand. &t is either a positive, negative, or neutral experience. &n a

consumer society, where we all come into contact with advertising ;in print, on

radio and television, and online<, with visual identity applications ;such as logos,

packaging design, and corporate communications<, and with branded

environments ;in stores, malls, zoos, museums, and in public spaces<, each

visual communication application builds our perception of a brand and is an

individual experience that contributes to the overall brand experience