Marketing Research Process and Ethics

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Marketing Research Process and Ethics
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• What is Marketing Research?

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Remember the 4-Ps??

• The Marketing Concept
• Consumer orientation ? who should we target?
• Goal orientation ?
• Researching the Marketing Mix
• Marketing Mix is the unique blend of marketing
  elements designed to meet the needs of the
  companys target market (4-Ps)
• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Distribution (Place)
• Marketing Research evaluates the effectiveness of
  the 4-Ps

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Marketing Research Defined

• Marketing Research is the planning, collection,
  and analysis of data relevant to marketing
  decision making and the communication of the
  results of this analysis to management.

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Roles of Marketing Research

• Three functional roles of Marketing Research
• Descriptive
• What are the historic sales trend of the Palm
  Pilot?
• Diagnostic
• What was the impact on sales of Coke when Pepsi
  introduced Pepsi One?
• Predictive
• How would consumers respond to more stylish
  personal computers?

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Course Organization via the Marketing Research
Process
Choice of Research Method
Create Research Design
Selection of Sampling Procedure
Establish Need Define Problem Determine
Objectives
Surveys Observation Experimentation Measurement At
titude Measurement Questionnaire Design
Sampling Issues Sample Size
Secondary Data Qualitative Research
Writing Presenting the Report
Collection of the Data
Analysis of the Data
Data Preparation Hypothesis Testing Univariate
Analysis Bivariate Analysis Multivariate Analysis
Communication Report Writing
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Problem Identification

• The research process begins with the recognition
  of a marketing problem or opportunity.
• Problem/Opportunity identification requires a
  precise definition of the issue facing the firm
  in order to guide the research process.

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Problem Identification

• One must distinguish between the marketing
  problem
• General and broad in scope
• And a marketing research problem
• Specific, data oriented, sharply focused
• Often the marketing research problem addresses
  only one aspect of the marketing problem

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Identifying a Problem

• In order to clearly define the problem being
  researched
• Assess background
• Understand circumstances, objectives resources
• Clarify symptoms
• Review possible causes
• Discuss possible solutions
• Speculate consequences of solutions
• Identify assumptions
• Assess information state
• Often Exploratory Research is used to help
  clarify the problem or opportunity

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Definition of Exploratory Research

• Exploratory Research is the term used to refer
  to preliminary, often small-scale research used
  to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be
  solved.
• Tends to be flexible
• Focuses on understanding the environment in which
  the marketing question exists

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Types of Exploratory Research

• Some Types of Exploratory Research
• Interviews with experts
• Analysis of secondary data
• Pilot study (usually with convenience sample)
• Focus group interviews
• Depth interviews
• Projective techniques

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Objectives of Exploratory Research

• Objectives of Exploratory Research
• Obtain information quickly and cheaply
• Maximize information from a very limited
  expenditure of time and money
• Guide future research

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Research Objectives

• After defining the problem,
• Research Objectives need to be explicitly stated
  in a formal statement for a manager or client to
  review.
• They should be specific, detailed, unambiguous
  operational
• Review objectives
• Will you have enough information to make your
  decision?
• Avoid the Nice-to-Know syndrome
• Need to produce decision-making information
• How will the research results be implemented?

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Research Objectives

• Example of Research Objectives state as
  Hypothesis
• MM/Mars Candy may want to determine what of
  adults would be willing to try a light candy
  bar.
• RO If a light candy bar was marketed featuring
  25 less calories and 50 less fat, 60 of adults
  21-45 would be interested in making a sample
  purchase.

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Creating the Research Design

• The Research Design is the plan to be followed
  to answer the research question.
• It should include
• Problem statement and results of exploratory
  research into the issue
• Research objectives
• The chosen method of research
• The selected sampling procedure
• Description of data collection method
• Types of data analyses to be used

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Basic Methods of Research

• Three types of research methods

Surveys
Observation
Experiments
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Selecting a Sampling Procedure

• A Population includes all people of interest.
• A Sample is a subset from a this population.
• In a Probability Sample each element has a known,
  nonzero chance of being selected.
• In a Nonprobability Sample there is no
  probability associated with being selected.

Population
Sample
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Data Collection Analysis

• Data is collected according to the necessities
  of the research method selected.
• Data analysis can be of three types
• Univariate - examines a single variable
• Bivariate - examines the relationship between two
  variables
• Multivariate - examines the relationship between
  more than two variables

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Final Steps in the Marketing Research Process

• Next, the findings are formally presented in
  oral and written reports. Based on the data
  analysis, the researcher draws conclusions and
  makes recommendations.

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Importance of Marketing Research to Managers

• Marketing Managers can use Marketing Research to
  be more Proactive
• Altering the Marketing Mix to fit newly emerging
  patterns in the external environment (viewed as
  opportunities)
• Developing a Marketing Strategy to guide the
  long-run use of the firms resources given its
  existing capabilities and projected changes in
  the environment

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Deciding to Conduct Marketing Research

• There are some situations where it is best not
  to conduct Marketing Research
• Lack of Resources
• Results Wont Be Useful
• Decisions Already Been Made
• Managers Cant Agree on Whats Needed
• Information Already Exists
• Costs Greater than Benefits

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Definition of Ethics

• Ethics refers to moral principles or values
  generally governing the conduct of an individual
  or group.
• Conventional morality is morality based on the
  expectations of society
• In our case, we follow the conventional morality
  based on the expectations of the marketing
  research community

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Marketing Research Ethics

• Unethical Practices include
• Low-ball Pricing
• Lack of Objectivity
• Abuse of Respondents
• Selling Unnecessary Research
• Violating Client Confidentiality
• Use of Professional Respondents

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Respondents Rights
The Right to Choose
The Right to Safety
The Right To Be Informed
The Right to Privacy