Marketing Research Process

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Topic 2
Marketing Analysis Research (MAR3613) By
Kanghyun Yoon

• Marketing Research Process

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Importance of Marketing Research

• Why do we need marketing research?
• To make the right decisions, marketing managers
  must have accurate, valuable, and timely
  decision-making information.
• So, marketing research is a primary channel for
  providing accurate, valuable, and timely
  information.
• Role of marketing information on
  decision-makings
• Managers want to reduce the perceived risk in
  making managerial decisions.
• Two dimensions of the perceived risk (Cunningham
  1967)
• Uncertainty involved in making managerial
  decisions.
• Undesirable consequences of making wrong choices.
• Thats why managers are seeking for accurate,
  valuable, and timely information from various
  sources, especially from marketing research.

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Functions of Marketing Research

• In general, there are three types of functions of
  marketing research
• Identification function
• Purpose Identification of problems or
  opportunities and finding out the types of
  information needed to solve the problem.
• Key output It attempts to identify key variables
  and the underlying relations among the identified
  variables.
• This is the main body of exploratory research.
• Descriptive/Diagnostic function
• Purpose Gathering the snapshot of the fact.
• Key output It attempts to present some
  characteristics of the key variables.
• This is the main body of descriptive research.
• Predictive function
• Purpose Investigation of the causal
  relationships.
• Key output It attempts to predict the value of
  dependent variable using the causal relationship
  among the identified key variables.
• This is the main body of causal research.

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Marketing Research Process

• Step 1 Formulation of the Research Problem
• Identify research problems or opportunities.
• Gather background information about research
  problems.
• Identify key variables and the relationship among
  the identified variables.
• Step 2 Preparation of Statement of the Research
  Objectives
• State research objectives along with hypotheses.
• Identify the types of information to be gathered
  from the research.
• Define research purpose and research scope.
• Step 3 Creation of Research Design
• Choose an appropriate research method (e.g.,
  exploratory, descriptive, or causal study)
• Design an appropriate sampling procedure.
• Step 4 Collection of the Data
• Develop a questionnaire when using the survey
  method.
• Design an experiment to test causal relationships
  among the variables.
• Step 5 Analysis of the Data

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Formulating the Research Problems

• Importance of defining a problem or an
  opportunity correctly
• Given the identification of the problem, defining
  a problem correctly is much more difficult than
  solving it.
• Importance of a statement a problem well
  defined is a problem half solved.
• Goal of this and next stage Developing clear,
  concise, and meaningful marketing research
  objectives.
• How to identify the problems or opportunities
• Looking at the symptoms Considering sales
  declining, and so on.
• Monitoring environmental changes (unanticipated
  changes) SWOT analysis.
• Performances of planned changes Predict the
  performance of new advertising campaigns.
• Listening to the voices of customers Check the
  major complaints of customers.
• Use exploratory research to gather background
  information about the problem (when little is
  known).
• Pilot studies Small-scale data collection
  activities using focus group interview (FGI).
• Experience studies Discussion with knowledgeable
  individuals such as experts.
• Secondary data analysis Gather previously
  collected data for other project and literature
  review.
• Case studies Reviewing information from
  situations that are similar to the current one.
• Output of this stage
• Output 1 Research background information about a
  problem or an opportunity.

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Stating the Research Objectives

• Translation of managerial problems into marketing
  research problems
• Any research problem specifies 1) what
  information is needed to solve the problem and 2)
  how that information can be obtained.
• Examples of managerial problems and marketing
  research problems
• Formulation of research questions and hypotheses
• To prepare a written statement of research
  objectives that clarify any ambiguity about what
  the marketing research is intended to accomplish,
  it is wise for researchers to formulate a series
  of research questions and hypotheses.
• Examples of research questions
• Preparation of marketing research objective(s)
• Marketing research objective is a goal statement
  that defines the specific information needed to
  solve the marketing research problems.
• When stating the research objectives,
• Research objectives should be presented in a
  written form.
• Research objectives must be as specific and
  unambiguous as possible in measurable terms.
• Research objectives must determine what
  information are needed to make informed
  decisions.
• Researchers should specify the scope of marketing
  research.
• Output of this stage
• Output 1 A written statement of research
  objective(s).
• Output 2 Types of key information being sought
  to resolve managerial decisions.

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Creating the Research Design

• What is research design?
• The framework or plan for addressing the research
  objectives or hypotheses to make informed
  decision-makings.
• Components of research design 1) the type of
  data, 2) the basic research method for gathering
  data, and 3) the sampling procedure.
• Type of data
• Primary vs. secondary data.
• Types of research design and its research method.
• Exploratory study when research problems are
  ambiguous.
• Gathering background information about the
  research problems.
• Descriptive study when research problems are
  partially defined.
• Providing an accurate snapshot or profile about
  the research problems.
• Causal study when research problems are clearly
  defined.
• Investigating the causal relationships about the
  research problems.
• Sampling procedure
• Description of sample
• Sampling frame the list of population elements
  from which the sample will be drawn.
• Sample selection procedure non-probability vs.
  probability sample.

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Collecting the Data

• Understanding the measurement process
• What to be measured? Concept, conceptual def. and
  operational definition.
• On what basis will numbers or scores be assigned
  to the concept? Rule of measurement, types of
  scales, and types of attitudinal scales.
• Types of scales and attitudinal scales
• Types of scales nonimal, ordinal, interval, and
  ratio scales.
• Types of attitudinal scales ranking, rating,
  sorting, and choice scales.
• Concepts of the reliability and validity
• Reliability The degree to which a measure is
  free from random error to yield consistent
  results.
• Validity The degree to which what was being
  measured was actually measured.
• Survey method
• What is the survey method? A method of collecting
  primary data using a questionnaire.
• Three criteria for making a good questionnaire
• The questionnaire design process For example,
  qualifying, warm-ups, transitions,
  difficult/complex, and classifying/demographics
  questions.
• Experiment method
• What is an experiment? It has the purpose of
  investigating the causal relationships.
• Three conditions for causality temporal
  sequence, correlation, alternative explanations.

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Analyzing the Data

• Statistical background
• Sampling concept population vs. samples.
• Mathematical difference vs. statistical
  difference.
• Basic statistical terminologies population
  parameters vs. sample statistics.
• Hypothesis testing procedure How to use the SPSS
  and interpret the results.
• Procedure of data analysis
• Step one Data validation and editing.
• Step two Coding.
• Step three Data entry.
• Step four Data cleaning.
• Step five Tabulation and statistical analysis.
• Step six Interpretation of the results.
• How to choose an appropriate statistical tool?
• The selection of statistical tools depends on the
  type of measurement scales of the variable(s).
• Statistical tools for sample description
  Descriptive and frequency analysis.
• Statistical tools for difference testing T-test
  and ANOVA.
• Statistical tools for relationship testing
  Crosstabulation and regression analysis.

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Preparing the Research Report

• Outputs of research project
• Executive summary
• Table of contents
• Research background and research objectives
• Details of research design
• Methodology (e.g., data gathering and data
  analysis procedure)
• Major findings
• Conclusions and recommendations for managerial
  decision-makings.
• Appendix data collection forms, bibliography,
  and other supporting materials.
• Importance of research report
• A key step in the process because of convincing
  the managers that the results are accurate,
  reliable, and timely information.
• Writing criteria 1) completeness, 2) accuracy,
  3) clarity, and 4) conciseness (Churchill, Jr.
  and Brown 2004).

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Reference

• Zikmund, William G. (2003), Essentials of
  Marketing Research , 2nd ed., Thomson
  South-Western. (see chapter 3)
• McDaniel, Carl and Roger Gates (2004), Marketing
  Research Essentials, 4th ed., John Wiley Sons,
  Inc. (see Chapter 2)
• Churchill, Jr., Gilbert A. and Tom J. Brown
  (2004), Basic Marketing Research, 5th ed.,
  Thompson South-Western. (see Chapter 3)