Session 2

Defining Research Designs

 The Problem Definition and Approach Development Process

Tasks Involved

Discussions with
Decision Makers Interviews with Secondary Data Qualitative
(i.e., problem audit) Experts Analysis Research

Environmental Context of the Problem

Step 1: Problem Definition

Management Decision Problem

Marketing Research Problem (or Objectives)

Step 2: Approach to the Problem

Analytical Framework Research Specification of

and Models Questions and Hypotheses Information Needed

Step 3: Research Design

 Step 3: Research Design
• A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting t
he marketing research project. It details the procedures nece
ssary for obtaining the information needed to structure or sol
ve marketing research problems.
– e.g. McDonald considers a new product menu. What type of research
should we conduct (exploratory, descriptive, causal)? How shall it carry
out the MR project? What type of data to be collected? How should w
e collect data? When and where?

First,…
Second,…
…
Finally,….
 Tasks Involved In a Research Design

Define the Information Needed

Design the Exploratory, Descriptive, and/or Causal

Phases of the Research

Construct a Questionnaire
Specify the Measurement and Scaling Procedures

Specify the Sampling Process and the Sample Size

Develop a Plan of Data Analysis

 Case Study

Pacific Coffee was planning to launch a new

cafe targeting family market. Where shall it
search for the necessary info to assist
making this decision?
 Primary vs. Secondary Data

• Primary data – data originated by the researcher for the specific purpos
e of addressing the problem at hand. The collection of primary data invo
lves all six steps of the marketing research process

• Secondary data – data that have already been collected for some purpo
se other than the problem at hand

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 https://www.nielsen.com/ssa/en/
Library resource: http://libguides.library.cityu.edu.hk/c.php?g=423695&p=2895754
 Use of Secondary Data
• Identify the problem
• Better understand and define the problem
• Formulate an appropriate research design (e.g., by identifying
the key variables)
• Answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses
• Interpret primary data with more insightful

Thus, we should always examine the available

secondary data before collecting primary data
 Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data
 Specifications: Methodology Used to Collect the Data
 Error: Accuracy of the Data
 Currency: When the Data Were Collected
 Objective(s): The Purpose for Which the Data Were Collected
 Nature: The Content of the Data
 Dependability: Overall, How Dependable Are the Data
Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data
Criteria Issues Remarks
1. Specifications/ Data collection method Data should be
Methodology Response rate reliable, valid,
Quality of data and generalizable
Sampling technique to the problem
Sample size at hand.
Questionnaire design
Field work
Data analysis

2. Error/Accuracy Examine errors in: Assess accuracy by

Approach, Research design, comparing data
Sampling, Data collection, from different
Data analysis, Reporting sources.

3. Currency Time lag between collection Census data are

and publication periodically updated
Frequency of updates by syndicated firms.
Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data (Cont.)
Criteria Issues Remarks
4. Objective Why were the data The objective will
collected? determine the
relevance of data.

5. Nature Definition of key variables Reconfigure the

Units of measurement data to increase
Categories used their usefulness,
Relationships examined if possible.

6. Dependability Expertise, credibility, Data should be

reputation, and obtained from an
trustworthiness of the original rather
source. than an acquired
source.
 Basic rule of research…
• Examine available secondary data first. The research
project should proceed to primary data collection onl
y when the secondary data sources have been exhau
sted or yield marginal returns…

1) Check internal 2) Check external 3) Consider collecting

secondary data secondary data primary data
i.e. do we have some i.e. do others have some i.e. do we need to collect
useful data? useful data? additional data?
 Types of Research Design
• Three traditional categories:
1) Exploratory Research
2) Descriptive Research
3) Causal Research

• The choice of the most appropriate design depends l

argely on how much is known about the problem and
research objectives/questions.

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 1) Exploratory Research
• Discovery of ideas and insights
• Used when the management realizes a problem exists but
does not yet understand why
– For example
• Our sales are declining for no apparent reason

• Small scale studies in the form of

– Pilot surveys
– Experts interview
– Qualitative research
• Focus group
• Personal /in-depth interview
• Secondary data: qualitative analysis of social media content
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 1) Exploratory Research
• Characteristics
– Information needed is defined only loosely
– Research process is flexible and unstructured
– Sample is small and nonrepresentative
– Results are qualitative (i.e. conservations are summarized in words) an
d inconclusive (i.e. some important findings may require further study
or to be quantified by a large-scale survey with more specific question
s)
– Can be used at any point in the research process when the researcher
is unclear about the problem situation

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 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”

• Online shopping is popular in the marketplace

 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”
• Hospitality firms will experience significant transformations
because of the increased customer base available on the In
ternet and the popularity of online shopping……
 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”
• Exploratory Research
– To explore market opportunities for online business

• What can we do?

– Investigate any existing studies on the subject e.g. news articles, repor
ts (secondary data analysis)
– Talk with knowledgeable individuals such as hoteliers or potential cust
omers who have online shopping experience
– Conduct a focus group study with existing in-house guests
 2) Descriptive Research
• Assumes that the researcher has prior knowledge about the problem situa
tion
• Begin with a clear statement of the problem, specific hypotheses, and spe
cification of the information needed
• Major objective is to describe something such as market characteristics
– e.g. the profile of a target market, the frequency of product use, the satisfactio
n level of a cafe

• Data collection methods

– Survey
– Observation
– Secondary data: quantitative analysis of social media content
 2) Descriptive Research
• Characteristics:
– Information needed is clearly defined
– Data are collected in structured and formal fashion, typical
ly using large, representative samples
– Data analysis is quantitative
– Conclusive result: the findings are used to make generaliza
tions about an entire customer group or market => can be
used as input into decision making
– To test specific hypotheses
 2) Descriptive Research
• Can be further divided into two designs:

– Cross-sectional design
• The respondents is measured only once

– Longitudinal design
• The same respondents (i.e. the fixed sample or we call “panel” e.g.
employed students, households) are measured twice or more on t
he same variables (i.e. questionnaire) to track changes that take pl
ace over time

3-22
 2) Descriptive Research:
Figure 3.6 Cross Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs

Cross Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs

Cross Sample
Sectional Surveyed
Design at T1

Same
Longitudinal Sample Sample also
Design Surveyed at Surveyed at
T1 T2

Time T1 T2
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What type of research design for the following questions?
Longitudinal or Cross-sectional?

• Study 1 • Study 2
– How did the Hong Kong p – How did the Hong Kong pe
eople rate the performan ople change their view of M
ce of Mrs Carrie Lam as t rs Carrie Lam’s performanc
he Chief Executive in HK? e before and after HK prote
sts?

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 Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Designs

Cross-Sectional Longitudinal
Evaluation Criteria Design Design

1. Detecting change
2. Collecting a large amount of data
3. Accuracy
4. Obtaining representative sampling
5. Minimizing response bias
- +
- +
- +
+ -
+ -

Note: A “+” indicates a relative advantage over the other design, whereas a “-”
indicates a relative disadvantage.
 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”
• Based on exploratory research findings, we found that
– 17% of global consumers made hotel/tour reservations via the internet. Int
ent to make online hotel reservation in 2010 has increased 9 percentage po
ints when compared to 2009 (source of data: Global Trends in Online Shopping by ACNi
elsen)
– Hoteliers are willing to spend money in improving website design. However
, they are unsure which benefits or features consumers prefer and who are
the online consumers for their products
– Focus group study indicated that existing guests are interested in using hot
el website to book hotel room

We have some knowledge about the problems and underlying causes!

 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”
• Descriptive Research
– Cross-sectional survey is proposed (i.e. a one-off collection of information)
– Several research objectives are developed in the survey
1. To determine consumers’ online purchase behaviour
2. To evaluate which benefits or features preferred by our target consumer
s
3. To identify the ideal hotel website design
4. To describe the demographic and psychographic characteristics of our t
arget consumers
Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”

Survey findings can be directly

used as an input into decision
making!
Do you like this website?
 Design A

Design B

No Preference
Strongly like Strongly like
Design A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Design B
 3) Causal Research
• A planned and structured research design that can examine the
cause-and-effect relationships among variables (“If x, then y.”)
– For example
• Does language selection on hotel website (i.e. cause – independent variable) i
ncrease hotel liking (i.e. effect – dependent variable)?

• Data collection method

– Experiment

• Characteristics:
– Manipulation of one or more independent variables.
– Control of other mediating variables.

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 Demonstration – “Hotel Website Design”
• Causal Research
– To determine which hotel website design attributes (cause) is more attractive to t
arget consumers (effect)

• Use laboratory experiment

– Recruit a group of hotel guests (25 pax) between age of 20-50
– Assuming other hotel website design features are the same, marketer shows 2 ho
tel website designs (Hotel A contains language selection while Hotel B does not)
. Ask respondents to rate their preference on it (from strongly like Hotel A to stro
ngly like Hotel B ).
– Total 20 hotel website design attributes (e.g. language selection, background music, menu b
ar, slide show, scrolling text, hotel photo)

No Preference
Strongly like Strongly like
Hotel A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hotel B
Some Alternative Research Designs

Design 1:

Design 2:

Design 3:
 Example of Research Design
• A given project often use more than one basic resear
ch designs
Explore the market potential for smartphone by focus
group study (Exploratory Research)

Survey consumers about their evaluation of smartphone

(Descriptive Research)

Find out the reasons for the dissatisfaction by in-depth

interview (Exploratory Research)

Use experiment to determine the relationship between our

smartphone selling price and preferred features (Causal Research)
 General guidelines for
choosing research designs
1. Begin with exploratory research when little knowle
dge about problem situation, followed by descripti
ve or causal research.

2. Begin with descriptive or casual research if the rese

archer has a good understanding of the problem sit
uation.

3. Exploratory research can be used at any point in a s

tudy for insight
 Research Proposal

• A full research proposal should include the following:

– Executive Summary – summary of major points
– Background/Rationale of the study – business & marketing issues
– Problem Definitions and Research Objectives – in the format of statements or r
esearch questions
– Approach to the problem (optional) – the logical flow of how you analyze the m
arketing issues. It may base on some theories, published ideas, review of past re
search results, hypothesis, etc. It’s to document the latest understanding of the
market
– Research Design – how are you going to do this research (exploratory or descrip
tive), sample size, sampling method, etc.
– Fieldwork / Data Collection (could be combined with research design_ - telepho
ne interview, sampling methods etc.
– Data analysis – any advanced technique will be used?
– Cost and time (MUST DO!)
– Personnel (optional) – introduction of people involved in the project
– Appendices – reference, sources of information that is interested to the users, q
uestionnaire design (if any)
Your Project Guideline
 Your Task this WEEK!
• Form a team of 7-8 students
• Self-assign into Project Group in Canvas
• Submit team list
• Think of your research topic!
• Define management and research problems…s
tart searching secondary source of data….
For more example of research design process
, please refer to the Case of Citicorp Banks!
• The end!