The Marketing Research

Process
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 Marketing Research: Definition

• Many definitions of Marketing Research:

– “Marketing research is the systematic design,

collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings
relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the
company.”
– Marketing research is the process of designing,
gathering, analyzing, and reporting information that
may be used to solve a specific marketing problem.

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 Need For Marketing Research

• Why do businesses need accurate and up-to-date information?

– To undertake marketing effectively

– Changes in technology
– Changes in consumer tastes
– Market demand
– Changes in the product ranges of competitors
– Changes in economic conditions
– Distribution channels

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 Purpose Of Marketing Research

• Gain a more detailed understanding of consumers’ needs:

– e.g., views on products’ prices, packaging, recent advertising
campaigns
• Reduce the risk of product/business failure:
– there is no guarantee that any new idea will be
a commercial success
– Can help to achieve commercial success
• Forecast future trends:
– it can also be used to anticipate future customer needs

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 EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH IN MARKETING

Marketing
Types of Research
Decision

Target sales, market size; demand for product, customer characteristics, purchase behavior,
Markets customer satisfaction, website traffic

product development; package protection, packaging awareness; brand name selection;

Product
brand recognition, brand preference, product positioning
Distribution distributor interest; assessing shipping options; online shopping, retail store site selection
advertising recall; advertising copy testing, sales promotion response rates, sales force
Promotion
compensation, traffic studies (outdoor advertising), public relations media placement
Pricing price elasticity analysis, optimal price setting, discount options
External
competitive analysis, legal environment; social and cultural trends
Factors
Other company image, test marketing

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 USES

• Identify marketing opportunities and problems

• Generate, refine, and evaluate potential marketing
actions
• Monitor marketing performance
• Improve marketing as a process
• Reduces uncertainty
• Reduces risk
• Helps focus decision making

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 OVERVIEW OF THE MARKETING
RESEARCH PROCESS
• Why should we do research?

• What research should be done?

• Is it worth doing the research?

• How should the research be designed to achieve the

research objectives?

• What will we do with the research?

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 STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1) Define the decision problem or opportunity

2) Specify the research objectives
3) Develop a research design
4) Design the questionnaire
5) Manage and implement the data collection
6) Analyze Data
7) Write a Final research report

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 PROBLEM DEFINITION

• Problem means management problem

• “A problem well-defined is half solved”

• Identifying and defining the problem or opportunity is a crucial first

step in the marketing research process.

• When defining the problem, it is important to think broadly about the

possible causes.

• Defining the Problem Results in Clear Cut Research Objectives.

• Marketing problems may be difficulty-related or opportunity-related.

For both, the prerequisite of defining the problem is to identify and
diagnose it.

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 SPECIFY THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• What specific information should the project provide?

• If more than one type of information will be developed from

the study, which is the most important? and

• What are the priorities?

• When specifying research objectives, development of

hypotheses, might be very helpful.

• When achieved, objectives provide the necessary information

to solve the problem.

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 DEVELOP A RESEARCH DESIGN

• A research design is a framework or blueprint for

conducting the marketing research project.

M A R K E T IN G R E S E A R C H

Q U A L IT A T IV E R E S E A R C H Q U A N T IT A T IV E R E S E A R C H

E X P LO R A TO R Y D E S C R IP T IV E C A U S A L
F o c u s G ro u p ; S u rv e y re s e a rc h L a b o r a t o r y E x p e r im e n t
O b s e r v a t io n ; F ie ld E x p e r im e n t
O th e rs .

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 DESIGN THE QUESTIONNAIRE

• Questionnaire design is one of the basic building

blocks of marketing research.

• Its first and prime role is to draw accurate information

from the respondent.

• There are 3 different types of Question Classifications:

– Behavioral
– Attitudinal
– Classification

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Behavioral questions address the following:
• Have you ever ........?
• Do you ever ........?
• Who do you know ........?
• When did you last ........?
• Which do you do most often ........?
• Who does it ........?
• How many ........?
They determine people's
actions in terms of what they
have eaten (or drunk), bought,
used, visited, seen, read or
heard. Behavioral questions
record facts and not matters of
opinion.

• Do you have ........?

• In what way do you do it ........?
• In the future will you ........?

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Attitudinal questions address the following:
• What do you think of ........?

• Why do you ........?

Attitudes are opinions or basic
• Do you agree of disagree ........? beliefs which people have
about the products
they buy, the companies they
deal with and it is attitudes that
• How do you rate ........? motivates people
in their actions.

• Which is best (or worst) for ........?

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Classification questions:
• Sex.
– There can be no other classifications other than
• MALE and
• FEMALE. Classification questions are
required to check that the
correct quota of people or
companies have been
• Household status. interviewed.

– Most researchers classify adults into three groups which are:

• Head of household ( )
• Housewife ( )
• Other adult ( )

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 MANAGE AND IMPLEMENT THE DATA
COLLECTION
• This process includes field work and desk work for collecting all
relevant data and information

• Field work 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.

• Desk work includes contacting personals over telephone or via

series of emails and web meetings.

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 ANALYZE DATA

• This process is the most important process in the research

as the results are generated on the basis of data preparation.
• After the data collecting stage the collected data is
– edited,
– Coded,
– transcribed
– corrected if required and
– validated.
• Uni/multivariate techniques are used for analyzing data
when there is a single/multiple measurement of each
element or unit in the sample data.

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 WRITE A FINAL RESEARCH REPORT

• The final report should addresses the

– specific research questions identified
– the research design
– data collection
– data analysis procedures adopted
– presents the results and the major findings
• The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so

that they can be readily used in the decision making process.

• Oral presentation should be made to management using tables,
figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact.

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 Nielsen Collects Data from
Retailers & Consumers...
Manufacturer

Data

Retailer Consumer
…& sells / trades data to the
manufacturer & retailer
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 Our Associates Interpret the Data

What Does It All Mean?

$$
Leads to
business
success for
We draw our clients
conclusions
Our associates & make recos
analyze & to clients
interpret the
Data is collected data
from stores &
consumers

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Thank You

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