Running Head: MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

Marketing Intelligence
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institute]
[Date]

Marketing Intelligence

Marketing Intelligence

Introduction
This report will evaluate the different types of marketing research techniques and will
assess these techniques in finding Sainsburys customers response. As a business analyst, I will
research the level of Sainsburys customer satisfaction with the help of marketing research
technique and will assess the validity and reliability of research findings.

Discussion
Marketing Research
Marketing research is a very important part of the entire marketing system. It is the
systematic approach towards identifying the problem related to the product or service, and on
that basis conducting a research for collecting, recording, and evaluating the data related to those
issues, to finally come up with a solution (Shukla, 2008, p. 1).It is different from that of market
research where market research is just the research of a particular market, it is a much broader
term which not only includes market research but also research about products, advertising,
distribution and much more.

Research Purpose
The purpose of marketing research ranges from fundamental issues to strategic issues.
Firms may conduct research to modify their positioning, to introduce new products in the market,
to identify the reasons behind the decline in sales of their products (Kent, 2007, p. 1). Market
research is a process of collecting data to determine the effectiveness of particular product or

Marketing Intelligence

service with respect to customer needs and wants (Shukla, 2008, p. 1). Market research is
necessary for business survival and growth. It allows organizations to improve the competitive
conditions of businesses and reduce the associated risk by identifying the threats and
opportunities of the business (Shukla, 2008, p. 1). Market research provides organization with
the sufficient information required for making right decisions.

Marketing Research Techniques

Marketing research provide important information about the customers needs, wants,
preferences and opinions. Many ways are identified to perform market research, but the nature of
information and the research budget will decide the suitable technique for business (Kent, 2007,
p. 1). The most common techniques are defined as follow:

1. Personal Interviews
Personal interviews consist of unstructured and open-ended questions, the minimum
time-limit allocated to these interviews last for one hour and are recorded. These interviews
provide more subjective information as compare to surveys (Kent, 2007, p. 1). The result
generated does not provide valuable insights of customer attitudes and does not provide solutions
related to the product development issues.

2. Surveys

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This technique of marketing research is usually concise and contains basic simple
questions. This technique can be evaluated within a sample group that represents the business
target market. This techniques reliability depends on the number of sample size. The different
types of survey include:

Telephonic Survey This survey method is cheaper than in-person survey method but is
costly than mail method. Getting people involved in telephonic survey is different.

In-Person Survey This is one-on-one interview technique which allow a marketer to

present their product or service sample to people to get direct feedback.

Mail Survey This method is relatively inexpensive than other survey methods and it is
the most suitable way to reach a broad audience. This method is cheaper than other
methods; however, the response outcome is between only 3 to 15 percent.

Online Survey This survey method has no control over respondent pool and can
generate unpredictable response rate as well as unreliable data. This is the easiest form of
survey to collect customers feedback and information related to customer opinion and
preferences.

3. Observations
This is the appropriate method to gather the data related to peoples actual behaviour
(Kent, 2007, p. 1). In this method customers actual behaviour is being recorder by videotaping

Marketing Intelligence

them in stores, home or at work by observing their actual buying behaviour. This technique
provides marketer with a clear and accurate picture of customer buying behaviour.

4. Focus Groups
Focus groups consists of sessions in which a moderator, facilitator uses a discussion
guideline to direct people with the discussion among groups (Kent, 2007, p. 1). These sessions
are conducted at neutral locations by videotaping or tape recording techniques. This session is of
approximately two to three hours and acquires results from at least three groups.

5. Field Trials
This research technique place new product samples to different stores to get customer
response, and provide information about product modifications, improvement in packaging, price
adjustments and so on.

Marketing Research Plan

Marketing research plan consist of several steps from problem identification to the usage
of marketing technique for collecting data and analysing the data and findings for making
strategic decisions (Shukla, 2008, p. 1). The marketing plan is used to assess the organisational
performance through identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the current market and by
establishing marketing objective which can be achieved through the research findings.

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Marketing Objective
The objective of this research is to find out the level of satisfaction among Sainsburys
customers by checking the reliability of the below statement:
Our five areas of focus are underpinned by our strong values and culture, as well as our
commitment to operational excellence. We put the customer at the heart of everything we do,
aiming to make their lives easier every day by offering great quality and service at fair prices.

Specific Technique used for Research

The primary focus is to evaluate the satisfaction level of Sainsburys customers. There
will be both primary and secondary research in order to extract maximum data for this research.
In order to collect the data with regard to the marketing objective, data will be retrieved from the
surveys, online journals, websites on the Internet and e-books. Besides this, the studies of the
previous researchers will also be examined for finding the factors for customer satisfaction. The
specific technique used for this research is survey technique. The primary data will have the
dependence on the qualitative data extracted with the help of questionnaire filled with the help of
several respondents. A proper sample size for the research study will be constructed in order to
collect maximum data for the research. For secondary data collection, we will use reliable
sources to collect data. All these methods would turn out to be very useful for the entire research
study.

Secondary Data: Literature Review

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Satisfaction can also be described by certain characteristics. Customer satisfaction

depends on their needs and expectations, and it will be changed, with the change in the level of
satisfaction with the purchase of the same product, just made in a different period of life of the
consumer (Michael, 2010, p. 1). Besides, it can still prove that the goods competitors better meet
the expectations of the client, which undoubtedly will impact the satisfaction with products
previously purchased. It also appears clear that satisfaction with the purchase of a single product
can happen once and cannot result from long-term experience with particular branded goods.

Satisfaction is important because satisfied customers generate profit for the company and
build its positive image through the principle of endorsement by other customers. Customer
satisfaction has to do with customer loyalty (Rai & Medha, 2013, p. 139). However, this is not
always directly proportional system. If customer satisfaction is high, then the state will help win
his loyalty, but usually satisfaction is treated as a narrower concept of loyalty.
Standard business loses approximately 20 percent of its customers annually just by failing to
focus on customer relationships. In several industries this outflow is as high as 80 percent. The
cost, in either case, is stunning, but few businesses truly understand the implications.
Consumers satisfaction is a post-consumption evaluative judgment about a product or a
service. The researcher known as Solomon (2009) defined it as a comparison between prepurchase expectations and perceptions of performance during and after the consumption
experience. The researchers known as Michael (2010) claimed that determinants of customer
satisfaction were product and service features, attributions of service success or failure, customer
emotions, perceptions of equity or fairness, and members of the family, friends and other
consumers.

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Sainsbury is the 3rd largest retailer of UK in retail and grocery industry, with the increase
in their product range. Sainsbury serves more than 16 million customers every week in its 455
supermarkets and 301 convenience stores over UK (Sainsbury, 2014). A huge number of
employees are working under Sainsburys umbrella. The strong belief of Sainsbury about
providing high quality products at low price has maintained the sustainability and growth of
Sainsbury. Sainsbury is continuously working for their products and have categorised them with
different ideas, customers preference and thoughts, and according to customers needs.
Sainsburys management is improving under the new managerial structure which is helping them
to introduce a broad range of products and services (Sainsbury, 2014). Sainsbury is highly
dedicated for maintaining its customers loyalty and satisfaction (Article, 2011). Their
continuous efforts have made them the largest supermarket of United Kingdom. They want to
entertain their customers with variety of new products.
Customer satisfaction helps them in building up a relation between the organisation and
customer. The most important feature of this relationship is trust. When a customer is satisfied
with the quality of food, services and the environment, he or she will always prefer the same
store or market (David, 2011, p. 1). This helps in developing strong customer loyalty.

Data Collection Instrument: Questionnaire

The instrument that is used for data collection in this research study is questionnaire. The
reason to use this research instrument is to collect maximum data in order to conduct a detailed
analysis.

Sample Size

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The respondents that would be given a chance to participate in this research would
comprise of different occupations like teachers, students, doctors, bankers etc. The sample size of
the research will be 50 respondents. This particular type of research method will assist in
collecting maximum data for the research. In this way, the proper opinion of all the respondents
related to the satisfaction level of Sainsburys products and services can be evaluated by testing
the reliability of the provided statement.

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Data Analysis and Findings
The data is analysed from the filled questionnaire, the results generated from the
instrument are positive and are consistent for evaluating the reliability of the Sainsbury
statement. Hence, Sainsburys customers are highly satisfied with the products and services of
Sainsbury.

Criteria
Overall Performance
Value for Money
Quality
Delivery / Programme
Health & Safety

2
45
35
48
30
35

Quality Rating
0
0
5
0
5
3

1
5
10
0
10
10

-1
0
0
0
5
2

Awareness

Overall Performance
100%
80%
Overall
Performance

60%
40%
20%
0%
2

-1

-2

-2
0
0
2
0
0

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Value for Money

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Value for Money

-1

-2

Quality
50
40
Quality

30
20
10
0
2

-1

-2

Delivery / Programme
30
25

Delivery /
Programme

20
15
10
5
0
2

-1

-2

10

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Health & Safety Awareness

40
30

Health & Safety

Awareness

20
10
0
2

-1

-2

Interpretation and Findings

Above questionnaire was filled to evaluate the customers satisfaction level for Sainsbury
products and services. After conducting the survey, following results came forward:
The customers are satisfied with Sainsburys overall performance.

Customers are highly satisfied with the Sainsburys pricing strategy for their products and
services whereas, some customers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with Sainsburys
products prices.

Customers are highly satisfied with the quality of products and services of Sainsbury, as
it is the 3rd largest grocery chain of UK, which offers thousand of products in more than
850 super stores and convenience stores.

Customers are highly satisfied with the product delivery system of Sainsbury; however,
few customers are dissatisfied with the delivery system of Sainsbury.

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Customers are satisfied with the health and safety awareness campaign of Sainsbury
about its products, however, few customers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and few
are dissatisfied from this campaign.
After evaluating the results from primary and secondary sources of information, it is

found that customers are highly satisfied with the strong values and culture of Sainsbury because
they commit to provide best quality products to its customers at fair prices.

Recommendation

Creating Customer Service Departments and claims management, through analysis of

claims and complaints, the first step in identifying opportunities for improvement.

Creating Systems for measuring customer satisfaction with periodic surveys to assess the
degree of customer satisfaction, without waiting for its claim.

Creation of the concept of loyalty and management of loyalty to the client, getting to
know in depth the factors that lead to loyalty and disloyalty by a methodology of work
that increases customer loyalty.

Validity and Reliability of Research Findings

The purpose of this report was to find the reliability of Sainsbury statement, by
evaluating the customers level of satisfaction for Sainsburys products and services. These
findings are valid because they are generated from both sources, primary and secondary. By

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collecting the previous data from Sainsburys website, journal and article, we have evaluated the
importance of customer satisfaction and after conducting the primary research; we have collected
the feedback of Sainsburys products and services. The findings are reliable as the sample
contains Sainsburys customers but there are various limitations of the research, the first and
biggest is time-constraint, as I had a limited time to carry this research, I could not conduct the
research in as much dept as was necessary. Moreover, the sample size I choose for the research
was really limited and thus does not give us efficient and appropriate representation of the data
as was necessary. The future researchers can carry out this research over a longer span of time
and study a much greater sample population. The topic is immensely important as customer
satisfaction is the most important factor of any business growth and success.

Conclusion
After conducting the research, it is concluded that Sainsburys customers are highly
satisfied with the offered products and services. However, an effective customer service and
claims management department will help Sainsburys management to improve the companys
performance much better. To conclude I would say that in todays world where there is cut throat
competition amongst brands, where people choose an alternative brand just for its lesser price, it
is very hard to retain the existing customers but by planning and implementing accurate retention
strategies a company can retain its loyal customers.

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References

Article. (2011) Sainsbury's unveils new commitment to customers, to help them "Live Well for
Less". [Blog] Data Retrieved from: http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/media/lateststories/2011/20110915-sainsburys-unveils-new-commitment-to-customers-to-help-themlive-well-for-less/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2014].
David, E. (2011) Customer Satisfaction with Services. Encyclopedia of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology. SAGE Publications.
Kent, R. (2007) Marketing Research: Approaches, Methods and Applications in Europe.
Thomson Learning. Data Retrieved from:
https://www.cengagebrain.com.au/content/kent03279_1844803279_02.01_chapter01.pdf
Michael, D. (2010) Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit: An Integrated
Measurement and Management System. Manchester: Manchester National Press
Rai, A. K. & Medha, S. (2013) The Antecedents of Customer Loyalty: An Empirical
Investigation in Life Insurance Context. Journal of Competitiveness, vol. 5(2), pp. 139163. Data Retrieved from: http://www.cjournal.cz/files/139.pdf
Sainsbury (2014) Business Strategy and Objectives, J Sainsbury plc. Data retrieved from:
http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/
Shukla, P. (2008) Essentials of Marketing Research. London Business School. Data retrieved
from: http://www.dl.is.vnu.edu.vn/bitstream/123456789/255/1/marketing-research-anintroduction.pdf
Solomon, M. (2009) Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being. Upper Saddle River, NJ,
Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 240-250.

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Appendix
Research Questionnaire
Dear Participants,
This questionnaire intends to find out the level of satisfaction amongst the customers of
Sainsburys. It addresses the perspective of the organization that it keeps its customer at the
heart of everything they do, by attaining operational excellence and placing a significant
emphasis on the establishment of a strong culture and corporate values. Tick mark one from the
options at a time, and help us know if Sainsburys know you better.
Criteria

+2

Quality Rating
+1
0

-1

-2

Overall Performance
Value for Money
Quality
Delivery / Program
Health & Safety Awareness
+2 = Totally Satisfied

Scoring Key
0 = Neither satisfied or

-1 = Dissatisfied

+1 = Satisfied

-2 = Totally Dissatisfied
dissatisfied
Remarks (please provide recommendations for future improvements)

Would you like us to contact

you and discuss any concerns

YES

NO

you may have?

Completed By:

Date:

(Please tick)

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Thank you for your feedback

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