CHAPTER 39

Marketing Research
and Marketing
Information

© Macmillan Publishers India

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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

⮚ Appreciate that Marketing Information is the Foundation of the
Value Delivery Endeavour
⮚ Grasp how an MIS can be Designed
⮚ Identify the Kind of Outputs One Gets from the MIS
⮚ Get the Meaning and Scope of Marketing Research
⮚ Comprehend the Benefits Conferred by MR
⮚ Grasp how MR Applications/Projects can be Classified
⮚ Identify the Steps Involved in Marketing Research
⮚ Understand A Few Major Techniques of MR
⮚ Appreciate the Scope of Qualitative MR
⮚ Recognise how MR is Emerging as a Vital Tool in the Value
Delivery Endeavour of the Firm
© Macmillan
⮚ Gather an Idea Publishers
of MR in India India
– The Contemporary Scene
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Marketing Information is the Foundation of the Value
Delivery Endeavour of the Firm
■ Marketing Planning, Implementation, and Control, All Rest on
Marketing Information
● As knowledge becomes a major input in managing businesses,
importance of information keeps growing
⮚ From data to information to knowledge
● Marketing information becomes marketing knowledge/intellectual capital
⮚ Attributes of good marketing information

Designing a Marketing Information System (MIS)

⮚ Why do we need a system to handle marketing information?
Chart 39.1 A System Framework for MIS Confers Many Advantages (Page 740)
⮚ MIS has to serve as a DSS
⮚ MIS must be a unified system

© Macmillan
Chart 39.2 Steps Publishers
in Designing and DevelopingIndia
an MIS (Page 740)
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Designing an MIS (…contd)
■ The Kind of Outputs One Gets from the MIS
⮚ Periodic reports
⮚ Triggered reports
⮚ Demand reports
⮚ Specialised databases: Customer database, Marketing intelligence
■ Data Warehousing and Data Mining

Marketing Research (MR)

■ The Benefits from MR Every area of marketing benefits from MR
Exhibit 39.1 Toyota utilising MR
Meaning and Scope of MR while entering India (Page 743)
•MR is Concerned with the manifold problems of marketing
• Its purpose is to aid decision making in marketing
• Systematic gathering and analysis of info is its route

Classification of MR Applications/Projects
■ Classification Based on the Subject Researched
© Macmillan Publishers India
Chart 39.3 MR Applications Based on Subject Researched (Page 744)
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Steps Involved in Marketing Research
Information

© Macmillan Publishers India

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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information

Steps Involved in Marketing Research

■ Defining the Marketing Problem and Identifying the MR Problem

■ Assessing and Specifying the Information Requirement

■ Developing the Research Design, Procedure, and Instruments

■ Data Collection

■ Analysing and Interpreting the Information

■ Summarising the Findings/ Preparing the Research Report

© Macmillan Publishers India

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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Steps Involved in Marketing Research (…contd)
■ Defining the Marketing Problem and Identifying the MR Problem
Involved
• Wrong problem-definition misdirects research
■ Assessing and Specifying the Information Requirement
• Any addition to the information list, midway through the project means
unnecessary cost and time over runs
■ Developing the Research Design, Procedure, and Instruments
• Research design is the blueprint of the research project
• Research procedure spells out the plan for gathering the information
• Research instruments are the tools employed for gathering the info
■ Data Collection
• It is the heart of all MR; it is the elaborate process through which the
researcher gathers the data required for the project

⮚ The various aspects relating to data, data collection, methods of

data collection and data sources are now discussed in detail
© Macmillan Publishers India
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information

Data Collection (…contd)

■ Data can be classified into two:

Primary Data and Secondary Data
• Primary data is data gathered for the first time by the researcher himself
• Secondary data is data taken by the researcher from secondary sources,
internal and external
⮚ Since collection of primary data involves elaborate steps, it is
discussed in detail in subsequent slides, after covering the topic of
secondary data
■ Secondary Data
⮚ Secondary data is of two kinds- Internal and External
• Sources of internal secondary data
Customer database, a valuable internal secondary data
• Sources of external secondary data

Exhibit 39.2 Sources of External Secondary Data (Page 748)

© Macmillan Publishers India
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Data Collection (…contd)
Primary Data
⮚ Research instruments for collecting primary data
Interview, the common method, questionnaire the common
instrument
• Mail interview, Telephone/Internet/Personal interview, Mall intercept
▪ Questionnaire development
• Nuances of questionnaire development
• Questions in a survey usually are of two types: Open-end and Closed-end
• A step-by-step approach will help in questionnaire development
■ Measuring the Response – Scaling Techniques
⮚ For measuring qualitative responses like perceptions, feelings,
likes and dislikes, inclinations etc. scaling techniques are used
• Ordinal scale
• The Semantic differential
• The Likert scale
• Multi-dimensional scaling
© Macmillan Publishers India
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Primary Data (…contd)
■ Sampling
● Sampling is used to collect primary data when the sources of data are far
too many to be exhaustively covered
● A sample is only a portion of the relevant universe/population
⮚ Advantages of sampling
⮚ Terms commonly used in sampling
● Population or universe
● Sample
● Parameter
● Statistic
● Precision, representativeness, and stability
● Confidence limits, confidence interval, and confidence level
⮚ Developing the sample design
● Choosing the sample unit, the sample size, the sample procedure and the
sample media

Chart 39.5 Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions:

How © Macmillan
They Publishers
Differ and How India
They are Used (Page 750)
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Sampling (…contd)
■ Sampling Methods
⮚ Sampling methods fall under two broad categories :
Probability / random sampling
Non-probability / non-random sampling
⮚ Different methods of probability sampling
● Simple random sampling
● Systematic sampling
● Stratified sampling
● Area sampling
⮚ Non-probability sampling methods
● Convenience sampling
● Quota sampling
● Judgement sampling
© Macmillan
● Panel sampling Publishers India
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Sampling (…contd)

Sampling Methods (…contd)

⮚ Different sampling methods have their respective advantages
⮚ Sampling errors
• Sampling errors are basically of two kinds:
Sampling error and Sampling bias
• Sampling errors arise out of sample size inadequacy
• Sampling bias arises out of non-representative nature of sample
• In probability sampling, extent of sampling error involved can be
computed by statistical methods
• In non-probability samples, the sampling error cannot be computed
⮚ Non-sampling errors
• Response errors, Non-response error, Deficiencies of enumerators,
Coding errors, Processing errors, Errors due to wrong framing of
questions
⮚ Sampling requires expertise
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
A Few Major Techniques of MR
■ Panel Research
● A panel refers to a sample of respondents- individuals, households, retail
shops or companies from whom information is elicited by the researcher
at regular intervals
● While the survey uses a new sample every time, panel research uses the
same sample over and over
⮚ Advantages and disadvantages of panels
⮚ Types of panels
● Consumer panel
● Retail panel or retail audit
● Advertising audience panels
■ Market Survey
⮚ Steps involved in a market survey
Chart 39.6 Steps Involved in a Market Survey (Page 757)
● On line surveys through the Internet
■ Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS)
■ Conjoint Analysis
© Macmillan Publishers India
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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
Information
Qualitative Marketing Research
⮚ Qualitative MR renders special support in the value delivery
endeavour
● Qualitative MR does sensitive probing of small purposive samples
● It probes feelings, attitudes, predispositions and perceptions of
respondents
● Confers quite a few advantages Exhibit 39.3 Distinctive
features of Qualitative
■ Qualitative vs Quantitative (Soft vs Hard) MR MR (Page 759)
Chart 39.7 Qualitative and Quantitative MR
What They do and How They Differ (Page 757)
⮚ The various approaches employed in qualitative research
● Depth interviews
● Observational studies/participant observation
● Projective tasking/thematic appreciation tests (TAT)
● Use of Internet – the advent of netnography
● Focus group
Exhibit 39.4 P&G
■ The New Surge Towards Qualitative Research Studies Housewife’s
● Rin, Parachute,
© Macmillan Publishers
Vim, Pepsi, BlackBerry, India
P&G Daily Chores (Page 760)

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 Chapter 39: Marketing Research and Marketing
MR Emerging as Vital Tool in Value Delivery Endeavour
Information

● MR is shedding its traditional approaches and transforming into a

versatile tool
● Orientation has to shift from mere data to solution-led work
● Better integration has to take place between Marketing and MR

MR in India – The Contemporary Scene

■ The Growth of MR
• The Market for market research keeps growing
• India facilitates pursuit of International assignments
■ The Growth of MR Agencies in India: MNCs become the major force
⮚ The leading agencies: IMRB, AC Nielsen, ORG-MARG, TNS Mode

⮚ IMRB: Customer-specific quantitative research services, Customer-specific

qualitative research services, Syndicated research services
⮚ AC Nielsen: Retail audit, media measurement, consumer panels,
customised research
⮚ ORG-MARG: Customer specific and syndicated services, Quanti and Quali
services, Consumer and retail research services
⮚ TNS Mode:©Conversion
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Model India
and the AdEval System, Key offerings
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