Marketing Research

Prof. Ravi Chhabra

 Marketing research overview 1.0 : Index
(1/2)

1.1 Definition
1.2 Function of marketing research
1.3 Classification
1.4 Need for marketing research
1.5 Marketing information system

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 Marketing research overview 1.0 : Index
(2/2)
1.6 Limitations of marketing research
1.7 Marketing Research organisations
1.8 Differences in marketing research results
1.9 Ethical considerations in marketing
research
1.10 Internet and Marketing research

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 Marketing research overview 1.1 :
Definition (1/1)
• Marketing research is a formalised means of
obtaining information, to be used in making
marketing decisions

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Marketing research overview 1.2 : Function
of marketing research (1/1)
• The function of marketing research is to
provide information that will assist marketing
managers in recognising marketing
opportunities or reacting to marketing
problems

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 M.R. overview 1.3 : Classification (1/3)

Classification of
Marketing
Research

Strategic Tactical
research research

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 M.R. overview 1.3 : Classification (2/3)

Examples of Strategic research :

• Demand forecasting
• Sales forecasting
• Segmentation studies
• Identification of target markets
• Identification of positioning strategies, etc.

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 M.R. overview 1.3 : Classification (3/3)
Examples of Tactical research :
• Concept research
• Product research, design and testing
• Packaging research
• Pricing research
• Promotional research
• Distribution and logistics related research
• Advertising research (including Copy testing and
Media research), etc.

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Marketing research overview 1.4 : Need for
marketing research (1/1)
• When there is identified information gap
• When the cost of marketing research is less
than the cost of taking a wrong decision taken
without the marketing research
• When the time taken for marketing research
does not delay decision making unreasonably

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 Marketing research overview 1.5 :
Marketing information system (1/4)
Marketing
information
system

Marketing Marketing
intelligence research

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Marketing research overview 1.5 : Marketing
information system (2/4)
Marketing intelligence :
• On-going process of continuously collecting
information about the industry in which
company operates, competitors’ moves in
marketing or other functional areas, suppliers,
government policies, etc.

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 Marketing research overview 1.5 :
Marketing info. system (3/4)
Marketing research :
• Clearly defined search for answers to
questions, to help company make critical
marketing decisions on a strategic or tactical
level

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 M.R. overview 1.5 : Marketing
information system (4/4)
Marketing intelligence Marketing research
On-going process Project based on information
gap
Usually performed in-house Mostly outsourced to M.R.
Not meant for immediate specialist companies
action Action oriented
General purpose Very specific answers to
Focus on competition, questions
environment, etc. Focus on consumers,
influencers, etc.

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 Marketing research overview 1.6 :
Limitations of marketing research (1/2)
• Marketing research (MR) is not the only input
for decision making
• Managerial judgment, intuition, experience,
passion and perception about consumer
behaviour, needs and expectations are used
by successful small businesses, instead of
numerical data
• MR works best when combined with above
factors

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 M.R. overview 1.6 : Limitations of
marketing research (2/2)
• Apart from MR, the success also depends on
design and implementation of appropriate
marketing plans
• Competitors can take actions which were not
foreseen while undertaking marketing
research
• In dynamic and fast-changing conditions, time
taken for research should be minimum
possible

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 Marketing research overview 1.7 :
Marketing research organisations (1/3)
Reasons for out-sourcing Marketing research :
• It’s an intermittent activity, based on identified
information gap
• Availability of large no. of professional M.R.
firms, with branches in India and overseas
• High cost of hiring and retaining qualified M.R.
staff

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 M.R. overview 1.7 : Marketing research
organisations (2/3)
• Specialisation in consumer research, industrial
research, quantitative research, service audits,
retail audits, etc.
• It’s economical to out-source marketing
research
• Leading M.R. players in India : IMRB, ORG-
MARG, TN Sofres MODE, Gallup-MBA, etc.

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 M.R. overview 1.7 : Marketing
research organisations (3/3)
Reasons for doing Marketing research (M.R.) in-
house :
• Large consumer goods companies with
multiple brands find it economically worth
while to have in-house M.R. dept.
• To protect confidential information about new
products or pricing

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 M.R. overview 1.8 : Differences in
marketing research results (1/1)
Reasons behind different results of research studies
or opinion polls conducted by different agencies
• The methodology followed by each agency is
usually different : The sampling method used, the
sample size, representativeness of the population,
quality of field staff conducting interviews,
conceptual skills in design and interpretation, etc.
• Important : Credibility of the agency and
appropriateness of the methodology

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (1/6)
Rights of the respondents in primary research :
• No misuse of responses : Field interviewing
staff must be selected carefully, to ensure that
any information collected for the purpose of
marketing research from respondents is not
misused for any other purpose

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (2/6)
• Voluntary response : Interviewer should
explain in advance as to why a particular
question is necessary (e.g. questions related
to income) and then leave it to respondent to
decide, if he wants to answer it. Respondents
should not be badgered or forced to answer a
question

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (3/6)
• Confidentiality : Replies given in good faith
should be protected confidentially. No one
outside the research organisation or its client
company should have access to the
information provided by the respondents

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (4/6)
• No embarrassment to respondents :
Answering questions of personal nature,
which may embarrass respondents, the
respondent must be given an opportunity to
think about it and to exercise option of not
participating in the study. Secondly trained
field staff of appropriate sex should be used to
reduce embarrassment caused

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (5/6)
• Accurate reflection of responses : It’s the
researcher’s responsibility to accurately reflect
respondents’ replies in his report. It should
not be based on any pre-conceived ideas of
the researcher. There should not be twisting
of the facts to suit any of the parties involved,
including the client organisation

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M.R. overview 1.9 : Ethical considerations in
mktg. research (6/6)
• Consumers’ right to privacy : It is unacceptable to
disturb consumers (i.e. respondents) at
inconvenient hours. Field interviewing staff must
think from the respondents’ point of view. If
interviewer encounters a less than enthusiastic
response to his request for co-operation, then he
should withdraw politely. Interviewing non-
cooperative or non-interested respondent may
lead to compromise on the quality of data

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (1/12)
• Use of e-mail and web sites, as a substitute to
personal or telephonic interview
• Presently use of internet for marketing research
in India has limited potential, because of low
penetration of PCs and the internet access
• The opinion of respondents with access to on-
line questionnaire could be different from those
who do not have access to the internet

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (2/12)
Advantages of doing research on the internet :
• Possibility of showing both text and graphics
to the respondents
• Speed of response
• Possibility of making the process interactive,
by asking consumers to create their product
designs or pack designs out of given options
• Secured access to on-line data can significantly
reduce threat of hacking by competitors or
third parties

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (3/12)
Advantages of doing research on the internet
(contd.) :
• Qualitative research is possible on the net in
the form of chat sessions, which works like
focus groups. Unlike focus groups (with audio,
video and manual recording), transcripts of
the discussions can be available almost
immediately

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (4/12)
Limitations of doing research on the internet :
• Ensuring that the population is relevant for
the research is difficult, because it is almost
impossible to cross-check the list, as some one
else has usually compiled the list
• Sampling is generally a difficult task for on-line
surveys
• Only the internet users are target population
for such studies, hence non-net users remain
unrepresented

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (5/12)
Limitations of doing research on the internet
(contd.) :
• On-line surveys should not exceed 10 to 20
minutes. Like personal and telephone surveys,
longer surveys reduce respondent’s co-
operation
• Unlike focus group, facial expressions and
emotional inputs can not be captured in on-
line surveys. Web cameras are of help only to
a certain extent

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (6/12)
Types of
on-line
primary
research

Downloadable
E-mail HTML interactive
surveys forms survey
applications

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (7/12)
E-mail surveys :
• E-mail is sent in text format to respondents, who
reply back the sender with their responses
• Advantages : Fastest and the simplest of the
three methods,
• Very little set-up time
• Wide reach. Able to reach any one with e-mail
address
• Limitations : Limited to text format, hence can
not include graphics, etc.

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (8/12)
HTML forms :
• Respondents are directed through e-mail to visit a
web page where the questionnaire to be answered is
located
• Advantages : Can create more complex questionnaire
with skip pattern (skipping over questions or asking
them in different sequence)
• Grid style rating questions
• Graphics and sound capability
• Limitations : Require programming efforts, resulting
in higher set-up time

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (9/12)
Downloadable interactive survey applications :
• They are in a form of executable files, which
respondent has to download on his computer
• Advantages : More interactive. More features can
be added to them
• Limitations : Response rate may be low, because
respondent has to download
• Programming cost and time is high
• Fear of downloading, for fear of catching a virus
• Possibility of hackers posing as market researcher

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (10/12)
Data warehousing and data mining :
• Capture of data on a regular basis from several
sources like company transactions, marketing
research surveys, marketing intelligence, etc.
• This huge amount of data is stored on
computers as a virtual or data warehouse
• This information is used to find pattern, test
hypothesis, etc., like in normal research

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (11/12)
Data warehousing and data mining (contd.) :
• Data mining : Looking for patterns of
purchase/ usage, behaviour, attitudes, etc. by
analysing data from the warehouse
• Techniques of analysis for data mining :
Correlation, regressions, cluster analysis,
discriminant analysis, etc.

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 M.R. overview 1.10 : Internet and
Marketing research (12/12)
Data warehousing and data mining (contd.) :
• The mined data can be used to design
marketing or communication campaigns or for
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
initiatives like specially designed promotions,
rewards, etc.
• Final step : Measure results of the campaign
and refine/ repeat the process, if required

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