UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI

J. P. Rizal Ext., West Rembo, Makati City

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL SCIENCE

Marketing Department
Course Title Title

Module No. 1 MARKETING RESEARCH – THE INTRODUCTION AND

MARKETING RESEARCH THE NATURE OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Prepared by DR. FERDINAND J. PIANO

1. Explain what is marketing research;

2. Identify the importance of a marketing research;
Learning Outcomes 3. Discuss what a research title is;
4. Describe the nature of a research problem;
5. Explain the importance of identifying the research problem.

MARKETING RESEARCH is a significant part of such a marketing intelligence system. Through providing
relevant, accurate, and timely (RAT) information, marketing research helps to improve management decision
INTRODUCTION

making. Every decision creates distinctive needs for information. Decision-making on what:

What products to produce? Where to sell? How much to sell?

What strategies are to be used? When will the Product, Plan, Strategy, or Program be launched?
How do we position? How do we attack?
Who to compete? Where to compete?
At what costs will these take? Who to serve (target customers)?
Learn about the customers and/or hear their voice/s! Learn about the competition!

Why Do We Need a Marketing Research?

Market research provides critical information about your market and your business landscape. It can tell you
how your company is perceived by the target customers and clients you want to reach. It can help you
understand how to connect with them, show how you stack up against the competition, and inform how you
plan your next steps.

Market research can also play an important role in the process of developing your products and services,
bringing them to the marketplace, and marketing them to consumers. Here are a few ways that market
research can help inform your business strategy:

It can give you an accurate view of your business and your marketplace. For example, you can see how you
are perceived in comparison to your competitors, and evaluate what your competitors are doing to attract
CONTENT

customers (https://www.thehartford.com).

It can help you determine who and where your customers are, and which customers are most likely to do
business with you. (In fact, for customers who indicate that they don’t want to do business with you, market
research is your opportunity to ask them “why not?”.)

It can reveal how customers and prospects view your existing business and products, and show you if you are
or are not meeting your customers’ needs. It’s even possible you may uncover some opinions about your
business and/or products that you weren’t aware of.

It can help you decide whether a new idea for a business or product will fly – that is, if customers will find it
appealing – based on how similar products have performed in the marketplace. It can help you make wise
product packaging and promotional decisions, as well as effective marketing messages
(https://www.thehartford.com).
 DEFINITIONS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Businesses use this information to (1) design better products, (2) improve user/customer experience, and (3)
craft a marketing strategy that attracts quality leads and improves conversion rates

In most cases, Marketing Research is usually the first step in the marketing process. It is used to get hold of
the information from the marketplace. Companies obtain information to solve certain problems, determine the
needs and wants of consumers, competitors plans and programs, which then results to the development of
marketing strategies, etc. (Camillar-Serrano, 2016)

Marketing Research is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company's
target market (www.hotjar.com, 2022).

Market Research is the process of determining the viability of a new service or product through research
conducted directly with potential customers (Investopedia).

Marketing Research refers to the process by which an organization gathers information about its ideal
customer and larger market (www.questionpro.com, 2020).

Three Major Categories of Marketing Research

1. Programmatic Research – executed to develop marketing alternatives through market segmentation,

market opportunity analysis, or consumer attitude and product usage studies. This is more on the Consumer or
Market Research

2. Selective Research – made to examine different decision options like new product concept testing,
advertising copy testing, pre-test and test marketing. Marketers are selective in terms of the most appropriate
actions and responses to specific situations.

3. Evaluative Research – performed to appraise or review performance of marketing strategies and programs
such as tracking advertising recall, corporate and brand image studies, and measuring customer satisfaction
with the quality of the product and service.

Methods of Conducting Marketing Research

1. Focus Groups – are usually one-way mirrors so researchers can listen to consumers feedback about their
products and services. A moderator typically manages the focus group discussion using guide questions
related to the matter (product/service) being offered.

Researchers solicit ideas from more or less ten participants on various questions about the product.
Researchers may ask customers about their fish fillet sandwich meal, how they find the idea of a fish fillet for a
sandwich, how much would they pay for that, and will they be willing to pay for that sandwich.

2. One-on-One Interviews

3. Surveys

THE PROBLEM: MARKETERS NEED INFORMATION

A TV manufacturer learned that users/consumers regularly misplace their remote control. By listening and
understanding to the customers silent need, the company was able to develop a feature that resonated with its
target market, a remote control finer button in the TV set itself.

This outside-in approach of the marketers enabled them to solve target markets problem which could work to their
advantage. This removes the guesswork from the product development and reduces concerns related to
competitors by finding solutions to customer problems.

TWO BASIC STEPS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Problem Identification Research – helps marketing teams identify what types of problems customers might have.

Problem-Solving Research – helps identify ways to solve a given problem either through its marketing mix or
strategic segmentation.
Examples of Problem Identification Research

1. Brand Image – it is the customers perception of a brand. Its very essential for marketers to be aware of how
customers view a company. Determining which strategies must be applied to positively influence the brand.

2. Market Characteristics – customers in different areas and walks-of-life has different purchasing behaviors.
Recognizing these differences between subcultures and meeting the needs of those differences will be critical
to the success of the marketing strategies.

3. Market Potential – if a company understands how consumers might react to a certain promotion or price
adjustments before taking action, it will be more prepared and will be able to maximize profit potentials.

4. Market Share – the percent of total product sales compared to that of it’s competitor. It provides an estimate
of the amount of market a company holds as compared to its competition therefore reveals where are its
products strengths or weaknesses.

Examples of Problem-Solving Research

1. Distribution Research – this is determining where the products should be sold and how to get it there.
2. Market Segmentation – this is grouping of customers by similar profile or background and/or identical
purchasing behaviors.
3. Pricing Research – this is about determining the most ideal price for the company’s product. In setting the
price for a product, it needs to keep the customer in mind
4. Product Research – this concerns testing the company’s new or improved products before it can be sold or
distributed to the customers.
5. Promotional Research – this is on the effectiveness of the company’s advertising or promotional strategies.
This involves checking the budget in promotions or advertising and how does it meet its desired target.

Syndicated Marketing Research Firms

Syndicated Marketing Research Firms are companies who conducts research and prepare their reports
accordingly. AC Nielsen is an example of a market research company who believes that companies are
regularly look for consumer behavior studies, purchasing patterns, and so on.
Thus AC Nielsen regularly presents report on buying patterns, industry trends and analysis, and sector
analysis which is then sold at a cost to all companies.

As a Product Head of P&Gs Ariel Detergent, you will need a report on the detergent. Such report will be ready
with AC Nielsen as it carries out research reports for the open market, and not for specific companies.

Other Sources of Syndicated Research Reports

1. Industry Association –Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), Philippine Retailers Association (PRA),
Philippine Amalgamated Supermarket Association, etc.
2. Universities (and Libraries)
3. Government Agencies like Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), DTI, SEC, etc.

Marketing Research Firms: A Cost Effective Solution

1. Providing a representative overview of the market

2. Identifying industry trends
3. Measuring brand awareness, strength, and perception
4. Offering competitive intelligence
THE PROBLEM FORMULATION

• The first step in any marketing research study is to define the problem, while considering the purpose of
the study, the relevant background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in
decision making. The tasks involved in formulating the marketing research problem include discussions
with management, including the key decision-makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of
secondary data, and qualitative research.
• The researcher should avoid defining the marketing researcher problem either too broadly or too
narrowly. The research problem or the research questions should be formulated in a sequential
manner. One can adopt a logical manner to reach the desired research problem, objectives and
research questions. does he have the desired knowledge in the particular research area or not and
does he have interest in conducting research on that particular area. Knowledge is necessary in order
to deal with the research justly and clearly.

THE SIX KEY STEPS IN FORMULATING MARKETING PROBLEM

1. Meet the Client

• In general, planned and unplanned changes in the marketing environment are the sources of marketing
problems. The nature of the problem and the type of research required can be properly determined by
understanding the root cause of the problem.
2. Clarify the Problem/Opportunity
• Researchers play a key role in problem formulation because they bring a new perspective to the
problem/opportunity situation. Researchers posed as consultants in determining together with the
manager thee root causes and clear paths of action. The true nature of problem should be spotted. In
order to help find out the problem the researcher may conduct exploratory research.
3. State the Manager’s Decision Problem
• Discovery-oriented decision problems Typically ask “what” or “why” and generate information that can
be used By managers to make important decisions. These problems are frequent with unplanned
changes in the marketing environment for which managers simply need basic information. In dealing
with unplanned changes the Researcher is asked to give facts that decision makers can apply in
strategizing. Information about customer satisfaction, overall awareness of customers or consumer
perceptions can be provided by the researcher.
4. Research Problem
• Typically, In strategy oriented decision problem there are only limited possible research problems. In
the example of the laundry shop, from discovery-oriented decision problem to strategy-oriented
decision problem, the question would be “How do I increase the shop traffic” Some strategic option
could be increasing level of sales promotion, introduction of advertising campaigns, rearranging the
store layout and others. Perhaps the best area to consider for research in this example is advertising in
the presence of factors like the manager’s experience, the available budget and the results of
discovery-oriented research.
5. Selecting (Arranging) Possible Research Problems
▪ With selecting possible research problems, one can do it by collecting information from the perception
of the customers, and by finding the research problem/s one should prioritize the research problem that
degrades the health of the business (roots of the problem of the business).
• Every decision that one integrates into doing market research on research problems should be
considered thoroughly for the fact that acting on research problems may cost money and time for those
implemented decisions to work and be effective
6. Prepare and Submit a Research Request Agreement
• The Research request agreement summarize the problem formulation process in written form and
submitted to managers for approval it includes the following action:
a. Background - this includes the events that led to manager’s decision problem in order to gain deeper
understanding of the problem.
b. Decision Problem - This contains a short discussion of the sources of the problem whether these is
planned or unplanned change as well as if the problem is a discovery oriented or strategy oriented one.
c. Research Problem(s) - This is the list of research problems and the input that each would provide to
the decision problem.
d. Use - The manner each information will be used is written in this section. For discovery-oriented
decision problem key information to obtained and how this information will be used by the manager
must be pointed out.
e. Target and their Sub Groups - The groups from which the information must be collected should be
specified to determine appropriate sample.
f. Logistics - Time and money estimation to conduct the research is available in this section,

Content provided in this module were taken from the Reference book: Marketing Research by Dr. Angelita
Camillar-Serrano and Rolando Palad
 Online/Face-to-Face Quiz

Chapter Test

#ACTIVITY NO. 1

Direction: Read the questions carefully. Using all the information and ideas shared in our class and video
ASSESSMENT

lecture/s from all the previous lessons of Chapter 1 and 2:

1. Marketing research is an important function in the marketers decision-making. This refers to what
aspects of the decision-making in marketing? Cite examples to better support you answer.
2. Explain why syndicated marketing research firms is considered a business (on an industry) in itself.
How important are their services to businesses and marketers alike?

Note: Team Members shall provide 1-2 sentence answer to each question, while the Team Leader will
be in-charge of consolidating all his/her team member’s answers. The leader may also contribute if
needed or if desired (for better team score). Preferably 1 or may be 2 paragraphs per question. One
output per team and one submission per team only. Send your answers via email. Strictly no Copy-
Paste from online sources.

Textbook: Marketing Research by Dr. Angelita Camillar-Serrano and Rolando Palad

REFERENCES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNYGRktPzwo

Prepared by:

DR. FERDINAND J. PIANO

CBFS-MKTG