needs a prior search of secondary sources; • Explain the advantages and disadvantages of secondary data; • Identify the different problems in secondary data; and • Identify the different problems in secondary data; and • List the different sources of internal and external sources of data. As a general rule, a thorough research of the secondary data should be carried out prior to conducting primary research. The secondary information will provide a useful background and will identify key questions and issues that will need to be addressed by the primary research. THE NATURE OF SECONDARY DATA
Secondary data is data which has
been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other than those of a particular research study. Secondary data are already available, because they were collected for some purpose other than solving the present problem. For example, if a government department has conducted a survey about family good expenditures, then a food manufacturer might use this data in the organization’s evaluations of the total potential market for a new product. In the same manner, statistics prepared by Department of Agriculture on Agricultural production will prove useful to a whole crowd of people and organizations, including those marketing agricultural supplies. Secondary data is classified in terms of its source which is either internal or external. Internal secondary data is secondary information acquired within the organization where research is being carried out. External secondary data is obtained from outside sources. No marketing research study should be undertaken without a prior search of secondary sources. There are several reasons for this statement, namely:
1. Secondary data may be available which is
completely fitting and entirely enough to draw conclusion and answer. 2. It is cheaper to collect secondary data than to obtain primary data. 3. It takes less time to gather secondary data than primary data. 4. Secondary sources of information can result to more accurate data than that obtained through primary data. 5. Secondary data has a considerable role in the exploratory phase of research when the task at hand is to define the research problem and to create hypotheses. 6. Secondary sources help define the population. Users of secondary sources rapidly develop a healthy disbelief. Regrettably, there are many reasons why a forecast, historical statistic, or estimate may be found to be immaterial or too imprecise to be useful. Before such a decision can be made, the researchers should have answer to the following question. • Who - this question applies especially to the character of the collecting agency for honest and thorough work and the reputation of the sponsoring organization.
• Why – data that are collected to further the
interests of a particular group are especially suspected.
• How - it is likely to assess the quality of
secondary data without the knowledge of the methodology used to collect them. • What – wide variations in geographic, age, and income groupings across studies are frequent. • When – the rate of obsolescence varies with the type of data, but in all cases the researcher should know when the data were collected. • Consistency – in the event that there is some incongruity between two sets of data, the process of reconciliation should first identify the respective partialities and determine which set is more believable. Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data
Secondary data are data that were
collected by persons or agencies for purposes other than solving the problem at hand. They are one of the cheapest or cost-effective and easiest means of access to information. Researchers have to locate and utilize the data that are relevant to their research.
The several advantages of using secondary
data in market research are time and cost Advantages of Using Secondary Data
1. Easy availability of information
2. Less expensive 3. Lots of available data 4. May highlight truths about conducting primary research 5. Answers research questions 6. Lots of free information available 7. Quicker to conduct Disadvantages of Using Secondary Data 1. Difficult to cut back on useful information/not specific 2. Lots of non-credible sources crate difficult/lack of quality research 3. Incomplete information also available 4. May not be updated How to Evaluate Secondary Data
1. Availability-if not available, go for
primary data 2. Relevance-units of measurement should b the same; concepts used must be same and currency of data should not be outdated. 3. Accuracy-specification and methodology used; margin of error should be examined; dependability of the source must be seen 4. Sufficiency-adequate data should be • The Problems of Secondary Sources
Even as the benefits of secondary
sources are considerable, their shortcomings have to be acknowledged. There is a need to evaluate the quality of both the source of data and the data itself. Definition The researcher has to be careful, when making use of secondary data, of the definitions used by those responsible for its preparation. Measurem When a researcher conducts fieldwork he is possibly ent error able to estimate inaccuracies in measurement through the standard deviation and standard error, but these are sometimes not published in secondary sources.
Source Researchers have to be aware of vested interests
bias when they consult secondary sources Reliability The reliability of published statistics may vary over time. It is not uncommon for the system of collecting data to have changed over time but without any indication of this o the reader of published statistics.
Time scale Most censuses take place at 10 year intervals, data
may be outdated at the time the researcher wants to make use of the statistics. • Researchers should use multiple sources of secondary data whenever possible in marketing. In this way, these different sources can be cross-checked as confirmation of one another. Where differences transpire an explanation for these must be found or the data should be set aside.
• Source: Marketing Research (2014) by Brown &
Suter INTERNAL SECONDARY DATA Sources of secondary data can come from within the firm itself, this is known as internal secondary data. This is usually a low-cost information source for the company conducting the research, and in the place to begin for existing operations. Internally generated sales and pricing data can be used as a research source. Internal sources of data should always be considered as a first line of inquiry for any investigation because they are usually the quickest, cheapest and most convenient source of information available. Internal data will also be exclusive to the organization that generated it, so that rival firms will not have access to it. However, internal data may be incomplete or out of data, and, if a market study is original, there may be no relevant data at all. In such cases, an organization may need to consider using external sources of secondary data. Source Categories of Secondary Data
1. Sales and Marketing Data
• Sales by territory • Sales by customer type • Prices and discounts • Average size of order by customer, customer type, geographical area • Average sales per sales person • Type of product/service purchased • Type of end-user/industry segment • Method of payment • Product/product line • Salesperson • Date of purchase • Amount of purchase • Application by product
This type of data is useful for identifying an
organization’s most profitable product and customers. It can also serve to track trends within the enterprise’s existing customer group. 2. Accounting and Financial Data An organization has a great deal of data within its files on the cost of producing, storing, transporting and marketing each of its products and product lines. Such data has many uses in marketing research including allowing measurement of the efficiency of marketing operations. Companies should also consider establishing performance indicators based on financial data. These can be industry standards or unique ones designed to measure key performance over a period of time and compare it to its competitors. Some example may be sales per employee, sales per square foot, expenses per employee (salesperson, etc.). 3. Transport Data Companies that keep good records relating to their transport operations are well placed to establish which are the most profitable routes, and loads, as well as the cost effective routing patterns. Good data on transport operations enables the enterprise to perform trade-off analysis and thereby establish whether it makes economic sense to own or hire vehicles, or the point at which a balance of the two gives the best financial outcome. 4. Storage Data This consists of the rate of stock turn; stock handling costs, assessing the efficiency of certain marketing operations and the efficiency of the marketing system as a whole. More sophisticated accounting systems assign costs to the cubic space occupied by individual products and the time period over which the product occupies the space. These systems can be further refined so that the profitability per unit, and the rate of sale, are added. In this way, the direct product profitability can be calculated. 5. Miscellaneous Reports These can include such things as inventory reports, service calls, number (qualifications and compensation) of staff, production and R&D reports. Also the company’s business plan and customer calls (complaints) log can be useful . EXTERNAL SECONDARY DATA
The marketing researcher who
seriously seeks after useful secondary data is more often surprised by its abundance than by its scarcity. Too often, the researcher has secretly (sometimes subconsciously) concluded from the outset that his topic of study is so unique or specialized that a research of secondary sources is futile. Sources of External Secondary Data 1. Trade Associations Trade associations differ widely in the extent of their data collection and information dissemination activities. However, it is worth checking with them to determine what they do publish. At the very least one would normally expect that they would produce a trade directory and, perhaps, a yearbook. 2. Commercial Services
This is another useful source of
supplying secondary data. Published market research reports and other publications are available from a wide range of organizations which charge for their information. Typically, marketing people are interested in media statistics and consumer information which has been obtained from large scale consumer or farmer panels. • The following websites are some examples of organizations making money out of providing data to advertisers. 1. www.acneilsen.com 2. www.arbitron.com 3. www.infores.com 4. www.burke.com 5. www.find/svp.com 6. www.harrisinteractive.com 7. www.synovate.com 3. National and International Institutions
bank economic reviews, university
research reports, journals and articles are all useful sources to contact. International agencies such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Health Organization (WHO), among others produce a plethora of secondary data which can prove extremely useful to the marketing researcher. 4. Government Statistics
There are innumerable publications
brought by national and local government, which contain valuable data for conducting marketing research. These may include all or some of the following: • Population censuses • Social surveys, family expenditure surveys • Import/export statistics • Production statistics • Agricultural statistics 5. The Internet
It is the most used secondary market
research source but has the disadvantage of several non-credible sources with incomplete information. It is true that the internet or the web is the greatest database for a wide variety of information and data but just relying on it and not using any other source could prove to be a big mistake as far as market research is concerned. One must remember that the internet may not always offer reliable sources and complete information. And, as they say, incomplete information is dangerous. 6. Other Sources
Besides the above mentioned sources
of marketing research, there are many other sources of supplying secondary data such as colleges and universities, stock exchanges and commodity exchanges, specialized libraries, internal sources such as sales and purchase records, salesman, reports, sales orders, customer complaints and records of other companies. Advantages of External Secondary Data External secondary research can be an extremely beneficial aspect of your market research process. Aside from the accessibility and efficiency, the added depth and perspective expands your scope. External secondary research is a tremendous tool with the following numerous advantages. • Cost-effective alternative • Time-saving accessibility • Credibility-enhancing perspective • Resource for primary research design Marketing Research in Actual Practice The Coronel's Secret Weapon: A Massive Database Source: Marketing Research, 3rd ed, 2006 by Malhotra, Hal Shaw and Oppenheim
With many company-owned and franchised
restaurants, KFC serves millions of Customers each year. To better understand customer profiles and trends, KFC hired Informix to develop Metacube Software which collects data from each of its 9000 restaurants and compiles it in their user- friendly spreadsheet format. According to Micki Tomas, KFC's director of information systems, "There's a day and a half lag between when someone buys an order and when a record of that transaction is available in our data warehouse!'This detailed data provides market researchers with a valuable tool in analyzing market research problems. The information can be used to help guide corporate marketing decisions and provide insights to individual stores that may not have the technology or expertise to complete their own market research. By using the data warehouse, customer profiles are developed, analyzing what is purchased and when, including the percentage of customers eating in, using the drive- throughand requesting home delivery. By understanding customer behavior, KFC can greatly improve the probability ad customer satisfaction within its individual franchises. For example, the database is used to forecast sales by the hour, day of the week and time of the year, based on historical data within the warehouse and economic trends in the geographical area. These forecasts are used to maximize the efficiency of employee scheduling and minimize food inventory. Thus, by using database marketing techniques, KFC helps franchisees anticipate customer needs, improve service and customer satisfaction, and maximize efficiency and profitability.