M2 - MR Process - ResearchDesign

MARKETING
RESEARCH PROCESS
Module 2
HOW TO CONDUCT A MARKETING RESEARCH? -
MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS
1 2 3 4 5 6
Define the Develop the
problem Collect the Analyze the Present the Make the
research
information information findings decision
plan
1 DEFINE THE PROBLEM AND RESEARCH

Define OBJECTIVES
the
problem
1 Problem Definition: A broad statement of

Define general problem and identification of the
the
problem specific components of the marketing
research process
Tasks Involved
1 Discussion
with
Interviews
with
Secondary
Data
Qualitative
Research
Decision Maker(s) Experts Analysis
Define
the
problem
Environmental Context of the Problem
Step I: Problem Definition

Management Decision Problem
Marketing Research Problem
Step II: Approach to the Problem
Analytical Specification
Objective/ Model: Verbal, Research of
Theoretical Hypotheses
Questions Information
Foundations Graphical,
Mathematical Needed
Step III: Research Design

1 • Tasks involved in Problem Definition

Define
the • Discussions with Decision Makers
problem
• Interviews with Industry Experts
• Secondary Data Analysis
• Qualitative Research
Problem Audit
1 The problem audit is a comprehensive examination of a marketing
problem with the purpose of understanding its origin and nature.
Define
the
1. The events that led to the decision that action is
problem
needed, or the history of the problem.
2. The alternative courses of action available to the DM.
3. The criteria that will be used to evaluate the alternative
courses of action.
4. The potential actions that are likely to be suggested
based on the research findings.
5. The information that is needed to answer the DM's
questions.
6. The manner in which the DM will use each item of
information in making the decision.
7. The corporate culture as it relates to decision making.
Seven Cs of Interaction
1
The interaction between the DM and the
Define
the researcher should be characterized by the
problem seven Cs:
1. Communication
2. Cooperation
3. Confidence
4. Candour
5. Closeness
6. Continuity
7. Creativity
Factors to be Considered in the
1 Environmental Context of the Problem
Define
the
problem
Management Decision Problem Vs. Marketing Research Problem
1
Define Should a new product be To determine consumer preferences
the introduced? and purchase intentions for the
problem proposed new product.
Should the advertising To determine the effectiveness

campaign be changed? of the current advertising
campaign.
Should the price of the To determine the price elasticity

brand be increased? of demand and the impact on sales
and profits of various levels
of price changes.
The Manager-Researcher Relationship

• Manager’s obligations
• Specify problems
• Provide adequate background information
• Access to company information gatekeepers
• Researcher’s obligations
• Develop a creative research design
• Provide answers to important business questions
Manager-Researcher Conflicts
• Management’s limited exposure to research
• Manager sees researcher as threat to
personal status
• Researcher has to consider corporate culture
and political situations
• Researcher’s isolation from managers
1 Proper Definition of the Research Problem

Define
the
problem
1 Components of an Approach
Define . Objective/Theoretical Foundations
the
problem . Analytical Model
. Research Questions
. Hypotheses
. Specification of the Information Needed
1 Literature Review
Define • According to University of Wisconsin writing centre, a
the
problem literature review is a
“critical analysis of a segment of a
published body of knowledge through
ummary, classification, and comparison
of prior research studies, reviews of
literature, and theoretical articles”
1 Key points of a literature review

Define • Tell me what the research says(Theory)
the
problem • Tell me how the research was carried out
(Methodology)
• Tell me what is missing or the gap that research
intends to fill.(Research gap)
1 Why review the literature?

Define
the • Without it you will not acquire:
problem
• an understanding of your topic, of what has
already been done on it
• how it has been researched,
• what the key issues are.
1 Why review the literature?

Define
the
problem
Major reasons for doing
literature review
For planning
Primary As an end
research in itself
1 Literature in this context consists of:

Define Books
the
• Encyclopedias
problem • Year books
• Text books
• Reference books
Journals
• Published monthly,quarterly,half yearly or annually
Reports
• Reports of commissions appointed by Govt.
• Seminar reports
Research dissertations & Thesis
News papers
Micro forms: Audio & Video tapes

The main sources from where literature can be searched
1
Define
the
problem
1 Types of Literature Review

Define • On the purpose of research, there are 3 main
the
problem types of literature review:
• Evaluative Review
• Explorative Review
• Instrumental Review
1 Evaluative Review
Define
the
• Evaluative Review is a type of literature review
problem which focus on providing a discussion of the
literature in terms of its coverage and
contribution to knowledge in particular area.
• It is often used to directly compare research
findings of a project with other, when findings
are directly available.
1 Exploratory Review
Define
the
• This type of literature review which is seeking to
problem find out what actually exists in the academic
literature in terms of theory, empirical evidence
& research methods, as they pertain to specific
research topic & its related wider subject area.
• It is also used to sharpen, focus & identify
research questions that remain unanswered in
the specific topic.
1 Instrumental Review
Define
the
• This type of literature review which is seeking to
problem find out how to conduct some research on a
highly specific research problem.
• It is not designed not to identify the state of
current knowledge in an area but to identify the
best way to carry out a research with out
incurring unnecessary & unavoidable cost.
Purpose of literature
review
1 Process of Literature Review

Define • A literature review can be divided into 2 processes:
the
problem 1. The search for material & resources
2. Writing literature review
In the first process, topics include

i. What to review & purpose of review
ii. Literature search procedure
iii. Planning of research work
In the second process, topics include:
i. Note taking
Contents of Literature Review
1 Models
Define An analytical model is a set of variables and their
the
problem interrelationships designed to represent, in whole or
in part, some real system or process.
In verbal models, the variables and their

relationships are stated in prose form. Such
models may be mere re-statements of the main
tenets of a theory.
1 Graphical models are visual. They are used to

Define isolate variables and to suggest directions of
the
problem relationships but are not designed to provide
numerical results.
Awareness
Understanding: Evaluation
Preference
Patronage
1 Mathematical models explicitly specify the

relationships among variables, usually in
Define
the equation form.
problem
n
y  a0   ax
i i
i 1
Where
y = degree of preference
= model parameters to be estimated

statistically
1 Types of Variables
Define
the
problem • Independent
• Dependent
• Moderating
• Extraneous
• Intervening
Define
the • Independent & Dependent
problem
• Leadership style & Employee performance or
Job satisfaction
• Price of a product & Demand
• Independent
• Cause, Stimulus, Predictor, Antecedent
• Dependent
• Effect, Response, Criterion, Consequence
Define
the
• Moderating
problem • In each relationship there is one Independent
Variable (IV) & one Dependent Variable (DV)
• Five day work week (IV) will lead to higher productivity
(DV)
• Moderating variable is a second independent
variable that has significant effect on the
originally stated IV–DV relationship
• Five day work week (IV) will lead to higher productivity
(DV), especially among young workers (MV)
Define
the
• Extraneous
problem • Infinite number of extraneous variables (EV)
exist that might effect the relationship
• Most of such variables have little or no effect
on the given situation and these may be
ignored
• Others may have highly random occurrence
as to have little impact
• For the five day productivity example: election of a new
mayor, rainy days, bird flu, strike etc.
Define
the
• Intervening
problem • Intervening variable (IVV) is defined as a
factor which theoretically effects the
observed phenomenon but can not be seen
measured or manipulated
• Its effect can be inferred from the effects on
the observed phenomenon
• Five day work week (IV) will lead to higher
productivity (DV) by increasing job satisfaction (IVV)
Development of Research Questions and
1 Hypotheses
Define
the
problem
1 Research Questions and Hypotheses

Define • Research questions (RQs) are refined
the
problem statements of the specific components of
the problem.
• A hypothesis (H) is an unproven statement
or proposition about a factor or
phenomenon that is of interest to the
researcher. Often, a hypothesis is a
possible answer to the research question.
1 Propositions & Hypotheses

Define
the
problem
• Proposition
• A statement about concepts that may be
judged as TRUE or FALSE if it refers to
observable phenomenon
• Proposition formulated for empirical testing is
Hypothesis
• Example
• Infosys employees have higher than average
achievement motivation
1 Hypotheses
Define
the
problem • An unproven proposition
• A possible solution to a problem
• Guess
1 Role of Hypotheses
Define
the • Guides the direction of the study
problem
• Identifies facts that are relevant
• Suggests which form of research design is
appropriate
• Provides a framework for organizing the
conclusions that result
1 Characteristics & Types of a Good

Define
the
Hypothesis
problem
• A good hypothesis should fulfill three
conditions:
• Must be adequate for its purpose
• Must be testable
• Must be better than its rivals
• Hypothesis types
• Descriptive
• Relational: Correlation & Causal
1 Types of Hypothesis
Define
the • Descriptive
problem • Describes the existence, size, form or distribution of some
variables
• Eighty percent of shareholders of HUL favour increasing the
company’s cash dividend
• It can also be stated as research question
• Do shareholders of HUL favour an increased cash dividend?
• Either form is acceptable, but descriptive
hypothesis format has advantages
• Encourages researcher to crystallize thinking
• Encourages to think about implications of either an accepted
or rejected finding
• Useful for testing statistical significance
Define
the
problem
• Relational
• Statements that describe the relationship
between two variables with respect to
some case
• Foreign (variable) refrigerators are not
perceived to be of better quality (variable)
by Indian consumers
Define
the • Two types of Relational Hypothesis:
problem
Correlation & Causal
• Correlation
• Merely states that variables occur together
without implying that one causes the other
• People in Kerala give more importance to
education, than people in Punjab
• In an office, old employees are more responsive
than young employees
Define
the • Causal (or Explanatory)
problem
• There is an implication that existence of
(or a change in) one causes or leads to
a change in the other
• Causal variable is called Independent
variable and the other Dependent variable
• Advertisement causes higher sales
• Increase in income leads to higher savings
1 Problem Definition
Define • Any situation requiring further investigation is a
the problem
problem
• Not all problems require fresh MR to be carried
out. Many can be decided upon based on past
data, trend, experience
• Distributor Credit
• Manufacturing out put
• Stocking level
• Problem Definition should be
• Specific – neither too broad nor too narrow
• Target outcome should be precise
• Should be manageable within time & resource
available
1 Problem Definition
Define
the
problem
1 Research Objectives
Define
the • Precise
problem
• Detailed
• Clear
• Operational
• Operational definitions describe the
operations to be carried out in order
for constructs to be measured.
2 DEVELOP THE
Develop RESEARCH PLAN
the
research
plan
DATA RESEARCH RESEARCH SAMPLING CONTACT

SOURCES APPROACH INSTRUMENT PLAN METHODS
• Primary • Observational • Questionnaire • Sampling unit • Mail
• Secondary • Ethnographic • Qualitative • Sample size Questionnaire
• Focus Group Measures • Sampling • Telephone
• Survey • Technological procedure interview
• Behavioral Devices • Personal
interview
• Experimental
• Online
interview
3 COLLECT THE INFORMATION

Collect
the info
4 ANALYZE THE INFROMATION

Analyze
the info
5 PRESENT THE FINDINGS / WRITE REPORT

Present
the
findings
6 MAKE THE DECISION

Make the
decision
MARKETING
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research Design
Marketing research methods vary from focus
groups to stimulated test markets to large,
nationally representative sample surveys.
Research design is a set of advance decisions
that make up the master plan, specifying the
methods and procedures for collecting and
analysing data.
Each research problem is unique. However,
There are similarities among research problems to
allow us to use the best plan to solve the problem.
There are basic research designs that can be
successfully matched to a given research problem.
Three Types of Research Design
Research designs are classified into three
categories: exploratory, descriptive, and causal.
Choice depends largely on objectives of the
research.
Research does not necessarily follow the order
of exploratory, descriptive and casual designs.
Caution about thinking about research in a
step-by-step process.
Exploratory Research: is most commonly
unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to
gain background information about the general nature
of the research problem.
Exploratory research is systematic and flexible and
allows the researcher to investigate whatever sources
he or she desires.
Such research may consist of going to the library and
reading published secondary data; of asking questions,
salespersons acquaintances for their opinions about a
company, its products and services, and prices; or of
simply observing everyday company practices.
 Exploratory Research is used in a
number of situations:
1. Gain background information- When very little
is known about the problem or when the
problem has not been clearly formulated.
 Firms having an MIS in which a review of internal
information tracked over time can provide useful
insights into the background of the company,
brand, sales territories etc.
 Exploratory Research is used in a number
of situations:
2. Define Terms – Exploratory research helps to define
terms and concepts.
What is Airtel’s image? The researcher learns that
“image” is composed of several components –
innovative products, friendly sales/customer service,
good corporate citizen and so on.
of situations:
3. Clarify Problems and Hypotheses – Exploratory
research allows the researcher to define the problem
more precisely and to generate a hypotheses for the
upcoming study.
For e.g..: banks have three types of customers: retail
customers, commercial customers and other banks
for which services are performed for fees. Define
which group bank image should be measured.
of situations:
4. Establish Research Priorities – Exploratory
research can be used to prioritise research topics in
order of importance, especially when it is faced with
conducting several research studies.
i.e.: customer complaint letters may indicate the
product or service that needs attention.
i.e.: Office furniture store owner decided to conduct
research on the feasibility of carrying overhead
projectors after interviewing his sales people revealed
that customers were requesting overhead projectors.
 Methods of Conducting Exploratory
Research:
1. Secondary Data Analysis – refers to the process
of searching for and interpreting existing information
relevant to the research problem.
Sources of secondary data includes: information found in
books, journals, magazines, special reports, bulletins,
newsletters, and so on.
An analysis of secondary data is often the “core” of exploratory
research.
Research:
2. Experience Surveys – refer to gathering
information from those thought to be knowledgeable
on the issues relevant to the research problem.
3. Case Analysis – we refer to a review of available
information about a former situation(s) that has some
similarities to the present research problem.
4. Focus Groups – bringing small groups of people
together and guided by a moderator through an
unstructured, spontaneous discussion for the purpose
of gaining information relevant to a research problem.
Research:
5. Projective Techniques – we refer to the process
of searching for and interpreting existing information
relevant to the research problem.
Sources of secondary data includes: information
found in books, journals, magazines, special reports,
bulletins, newsletters, and so on.
An analysis of secondary data is often the “core” of
exploratory research.
Descriptive Research: which provides
answers to questions such as who, what,
where, why and how, as they are related
to the research problem.
Who- may be defined as a firm’s (competitors)
customers.
What- defined as brands, brands, sizes that are being
purchased.
Where- places where customers are purchasing
products.
Why- we can not conclusively answer the question of
why using descriptive research. Need to use causal
research designs.
 Classification of Descriptive Research
Studies:
1. Cross-sectional studies- are very prevalent in
market research, outnumbering longitudinal
studies and casual studies.
 Because cross-sectional studies are one time
measurements.
 Often described as “snapshots” of the population.
 For e.g.: Research to describe the readership of
a magazine in terms of demographics.
Studies:
2. Longitudinal studies- repeatedly measure the
same population over a period of time.
 Often described as “movies” of the population.
 To be successful researchers must have access
to the same members of the sample, called a
panel
 Refer LASI (Longitudinal Aging Study in India )
Studies:
3. Causality- may be thought of as understanding a
phenomenon in terms of conditional statements
of the form “If x, then y.” These “if-then”
statements become our way of manipulating
variables of interest.
 “If I spend more on advertising will sales
increase?”
 Causal is difficult in terms of “if-then” in
understanding business problems.
Experiments
 An Experiment – is defined as manipulating an
independent variable to see how it affects a
dependent variable, while also controlling the
effects of additional extraneous variables
 Types of experiments:
 Laboratory experiments – are desirable when the
intent of the experiment is to achieve high levels of
internal validity.
 Field experiments – those in which independent
variables are manipulated and the measurements of
the dependent variable are made on test units in
their natural setting.
Test Marketing
 Test Marketing – is the phase commonly used to
indicate an experiment, study, or test that is
conducted in a field setting.
 Companies may use one or several test market
cities, which are geographical areas selected in
which to conduct the test.
 There are two broad classes of uses of test
markets:
 To test the sales potential for a new product or
service
 To test variations in the marketing mix for a product or
service.
Test Marketing
Types of Test Markets:
1. Standard test market is one in which a firm tests the product
and/or marketing mix variables through the company’s normal
distribution channels.
2. Controlled test markets are conducted by outside research
firms who guarantee distribution of the product through pre
specified types and numbers of distributors.
3. Electronic test markets in which a panel of consumers have
agreed to carry an id card that they present when buying
goods and services.
4. Simulated test markets (STMs) are those in which a limited
amount of data on consumer response to a new model are fed
into a model containing certain assumptions regarding
planned marketing programs, which generates likely sales
volumes.
Test Marketing
Consumer versus Industrial Test
Markets:
 With industrial test markets, prototype
products are tested, revised, and
retested under actual conditions.
 Companies like 3M are experimenting
with this concept
Test Marketing
“Lead Country” Test Markets:
 Is test marketing conducted in specific
foreign countries that seem to be good
predictors for an entire continent.
 i.e. Colgate-Palmolive use lead country
test marketing when it launched its
Palmolive Naturals shampoo and
conditioner.
Test Marketing
Pros and Cons of Test Marketing:
 Test markets are considered by some
to be the “ultimate” way to test a new
product.
 Test markets are costly and subject to
competitive sabotage.
 Predicting changing consumer
behavior is difficult.
Review your Knowledge - Module 2
1. Describe, in detail, the Marketing Research Process.
2. What role is played by the Marketing Manager with the researcher in
defining the research problem?
3. “In MR, identifying the problem is the first step in solving it.” Do you
agree? Explain the factors that are considered in problem
identification.
4. Explain the process of defining a problem.
5. Explain the process of conducting literature review for research.
6. How would you conduct a comprehensive literature review for your
Marketing Research?
7. What is the need for using Hypothesis in marketing research?
Explain with examples.
8. What is Research Design? What are the characteristics of a good
research design?
9. Distinguish between Exploratory research and descriptive research.
10. Explain the methods of controlling the effect of extraneous variables.
11. How is Quasi-experimental design different from true experimental
design?

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MARKETING

1 DEFINE THE PROBLEM AND RESEARCH

1 Problem Definition: A broad statement of

Step I: Problem Definition

Marketing Research Problem

Step II: Approach to the Problem

Step III: Research Design

1 • Tasks involved in Problem Definition

Should the advertising To determine the effectiveness

Should the price of the To determine the price elasticity

The Manager-Researcher Relationship

1 Proper Definition of the Research Problem

1 Key points of a literature review

1 Why review the literature?

1 Why review the literature?

1 Literature in this context consists of:

Research dissertations & Thesis

Micro forms: Audio & Video tapes

1 Types of Literature Review

1 Process of Literature Review

In the first process, topics include

In verbal models, the variables and their

1 Graphical models are visual. They are used to

1 Mathematical models explicitly specify the

= model parameters to be estimated

1 Research Questions and Hypotheses

1 Propositions & Hypotheses

1 Characteristics & Types of a Good

DATA RESEARCH RESEARCH SAMPLING CONTACT

3 COLLECT THE INFORMATION

4 ANALYZE THE INFROMATION

5 PRESENT THE FINDINGS / WRITE REPORT

6 MAKE THE DECISION

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