Welcome to Powerpoint slides

for
Chapter 1

Introduction, Evolution
and Emerging Issues

Marketing Research
Text and Cases
by
Rajendra Nargundkar
Slide 1 Role of Marketing Research

1. To provide information to decision makers in the marketing

department of an organization
2. Types of decisions – 1. Strategic and 2. Tactical
3. Strategic Decisions- Related to Segmentation of the Market,
Target Market Selection, and Positioning of the Product
4. Tactical decisions- Related to the 4 Ps of marketing –
Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place (distribution)

Segmentation
LEVEL 1 Marketing
(Strategic) Strategy Target Market Selection

Positioning
Information for
Marketing
Decisions
Ps of Marketing

PRODUCT
LEVEL 2 PRICING
Marketing
(Tactical) PROMOTION
Plan
PLACE

Fig 1. The Role of Marketing Research

Slide 2 Marketing Information System
1. Information can come from multiple sources
2.Two main sources are Marketing Intelligence and Marketing
Research
3.Marketing Intelligence - a continuous process, usually
internally managed, based on published or otherwise available
data, may be stored for future use
4.Examples of Intelligence - Industry Data, Competitor’s
Announcements
5.Marketing Research - data collected for specific action or
decision problem, focused, with a time and budget, done by
external marketing research company or by company staff,
usually with a written report and/or presentation to the study’s
sponsor
Marketing Intelligence Marketing Research
Ongoing Process Project based on
Information Gap
Usually done in-house Mostly outsourced to
M.R. Companies
Not meant for immediate Action oriented
action
General purpose Very specific answers
to questions
Focus on competition, Focus on consumers, influencers,
environment etc.
Table 1: Marketing Intelligence versus Marketing Research
Slide 3

Who Does The Marketing Research?

1. Professional marketing research companies like

ORG-MARG, IMRB, TN Sofres Mode, Gallup MBA.

2. In-house marketing research department

3. Company staff from marketing/sales/customer

service departments

Each of these has got advantages and disadvantages.

What could they be?
Slide 4
Typical Applications of Marketing Research

1. Segmentation Studies to identify consumer

segments based on their demographic, psychographic
or behavioral characteristics.

2. To evaluate specific product-markets/segments for

the potential demand

3. Positioning Studies to study consumer perceptions

regarding the brand being studied vis-à-vis competing
brands

4. Concept Testing, or Product –related research

5. Pricing research to determine price perceptions and

correct levels of prices

6. Distribution Research to determine convenience of

shopping channels, availability of brands and point of
purchase behaviour

7. Advertising Research to test effectiveness of ads,

media etc.
Slide 5
When To Do Marketing Research?

1. There is an information gap

2. The cost of filling this gap is less than cost of a wrong

decision

3. The research will be completed in time to help in

decision-making

Limitations of Marketing Research

1. It is not fool-proof, and involves some errors

associated with measurement and interpretation of
findings

2. Other inputs for decision-making which should be used

along with M.R. are corporate policy, marketing goals,
judgement, experience, intuition, and passion

3. The results of M.R. depend on the methodology used

Slide 6
Secondary and Primary Research

1. Primary research is information specifically

collected for the marketing research being done.

2. Secondary research is that which is available for

reference to a researcher, but collected for some other
purpose (not for the current marketing research)

3. Some common sources of secondary data are

newspapers, magazines, the internet, and internal or
external reports compiled or published by various
organizations

4. Some common forms of primary data collection are

personal or telephonic interviews with customers,
retailers, mail surveys of respondents, focus group
discussions, etc.
Slide 7
Ethical Considerations in Marketing Research

1. Like every profession, marketing research has

its own ethical code of conduct

2. Information collected for research purposes

should not be used out of context

3. Confidential information should be used only

by M.R. agency and the client.

4. Marketing Researcher should not be biased

towards any conclusions, and should report
accurately the findings of the research study

5. Respondent’s right to privacy and right not to

participate in a study must be respected
Slide 8

Emerging Issues

Marketing Research using the internet

1. It is possible to do online research using the

internet, but its validity is not easy to establish,
particularly in India

2. Online research can be done using email, HTML

forms, or downloadable survey forms

3. Qualitative research can also be done through

chat sessions as a substitute for focus groups.
These days, voice chats are also be possible
 Slide 9

DATA SOURCES
BUILD DATA
Company Records
WAREHOUSE
Surveys
Other Sources

Use the mined data

DATA MINING
to design marketing
or communication
Look for Patterns of
campaigns
Purchase, Behaviour,
Attitudes by analysing
data from
WAREHOUSE
Measure Results of
the Campaign, and
refine/repeat the
process if needed

Fig. 2. Using Data Warehousing and Data Mining

Slide 10
Data Warehousing and Data Mining

1. Data from various sources-scanners at

supermarkets, surveys, billing information etc. can
be stored on computer in a virtual warehouse.

2. This stored data can be examined (mined) for

correlations, patterns of purchase, and used to
design CRM initiatives to attract existing customers
or target new customers for a given product.

3. Huge amounts of data are involved, and require

hardware, specialized software, and creative and
analytically skilled people to make use of it