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Conducting
Marketing Research
 Chapter Questions

 What constitutes good marketing research?

 What are the best metrics for measuring
marketing productivity?
 How can marketers assess their return on
investment of marketing expenditures?

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 Venus Razor

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 What is Marketing Research?

Marketing research is the systematic design,

collection, analysis, and reporting of data
and findings relevant to a specific marketing
situation facing the company.

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 Types of Marketing Research Firms

Syndicated

Custom

Specialty-line

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 The Marketing Research Process

 Define the problem

 Develop research plan
 Collect information
 Analyze information
 Present findings
 Make decision

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 Step 1: Define the Problem

Define the problem



 Specify decision alternatives

 State research objectives

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 Types of Research

Exploratory

Descriptive

Causal

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 Step 2: Develop the Research Plan

Data sources


 Research approach
 Research instruments
 Sampling plan
 Contact methods

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 Data sources

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 Research Approaches

 Observational and ethnographic

 Focus group
 Survey
 Behavioral
 Experimental

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 Focus Groups

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 Research Instruments

Questionnaires
 Qualitative Measures
 Technological Devices

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 Qualitative Techniques

Word Associations

Visualization

Projective Techniques

Laddering

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 Questionnaire Do’s and Don’ts

Ensure questions are 
Avoid negatives
free of bias 
Avoid hypotheticals

Make questions simple  Avoid words that could

Make questions specific be misheard

Avoid jargon 
Use response bands

Avoid sophisticated  Use mutually exclusive
words categories

Avoid ambiguous words 
Allow for “other” in fixed
response questions

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 Question Types - Dichotomous

In arranging this trip, did you contact

American Airlines?
 Yes  No

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 Question Types - Multiple Choice

With whom are you traveling on this trip?

 No one
 Spouse

 Spouse and children

 Children only
 Business associates/friends/relatives
 An organized tour group

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 Question Types - Likert Scale
Indicate your level of agreement with the
following statement: Small airlines generally
give better service than large ones.
 Strongly disagree
 Disagree

 Neither agree nor disagree

 Agree
 Strongly agree

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 Question Types -
Semantic Differential
American Airlines
Large ………………………………...…….Small
Experienced………………….….Inexperienced
Modern……………………….…..Old-fashioned

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 Question Types -
Importance Scale
Airline food service is _____ to me.
 Extremely important
 Very important

 Somewhat important
 Not very important
 Not at all important

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 Question Types - Rating Scale

American Airlines’ food service is _____.

 Excellent
 Very good
 Good
 Fair
 Poor

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 Question Types -
Intention to Buy Scale
How likely are you to purchase tickets on
American Airlines if in-flight Internet access
were available?

 Definitely buy
 Probably buy
 Not sure
 Probably not buy
 Definitely not buy
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 Question Types -
Intention to Buy Scale
How likely are you to purchase tickets on
American Airlines if in-flight Internet access
were available?

 Definitely buy
 Probably buy
 Not sure
 Probably not buy
 Definitely not buy
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 Question Types -
Completely Unstructured
What is your opinion of American Airlines?

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 Question Types -
Word Association
What is the first word that comes to your mind
when you hear the following?
Airline ________________________
American _____________________
Travel ________________________

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 Question Types -
Sentence Completion
When I choose an airline, the most important
consideration in my decision is:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
__________________.

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 Question Types -
Story Completion
“I flew American a few days ago. I noticed
that the exterior and interior of the plane had
very bright colors. This aroused in me the
following thoughts and feelings.” Now
complete the story.
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
_______________________________
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 Technological Devices

 Galvanometers
 Tachistoscope
 Eye cameras
 Audiometers
 GPS

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 Sampling Plan

Sampling unit: Who is to be surveyed?



 Sample size: How many people should be

surveyed?
 Sampling procedure: How should the
respondents be chosen?

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 Contact Methods

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 Pros and Cons of
Online Research
Advantages Disadvantages
Inexpensive 
 Small samples
 Fast  Skewed samples
 Accuracy of data  Technological
 Versatility problems
Inconsistencies


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 What is a
Marketing Decision Support
System (MDSS)?

 A marketing decision support system is a

coordinated collection of data, systems,
tools, and techniques with supporting
hardware and software by which an
organization gathers and interprets relevant
information from business and environment
and turns it into a basis for marketing action.

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 Barriers Limiting the Use of
Marketing Research
 A narrow conception of the research
 Uneven caliber of researchers
 Poor framing of the problem
 Late and occasionally erroneous findings
 Personality and presentational differences

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 Market Research Can Fail

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 Table 4.3 Characteristics of
Good Marketing Research
 Scientific method
 Research creativity
 Multiple methods
 Interdependence
 Value and cost of information
 Healthy skepticism
 Ethical marketing

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 What are Marketing Metrics?

Marketing metrics are the set of measures

that helps marketers quantify, compare, and
interpret marketing performance.

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 Table 4.4 Marketing Metrics
External Internal

Awareness 
Awareness of goals
 Market share  Commitment to goals
Relative price Active support
 


Number of complaints 
Resource adequacy

Customer satisfaction 
Staffing levels

Distribution 
Desire to learn

Total number of 
Willingness to change
customers 
Freedom to fail
 Loyalty  Autonomy

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 What is Marketing-Mix Modeling?

Marketing-mix models analyze data from a

variety of sources, such as retailer scanner
data, company shipment data, pricing,
media, and promotion spending data, to
understand more precisely the effects of
specific marketing activities.

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 Figure 4.2 Marketing
Measurement Pathway

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 Figure 4.3 Marketing Dashboard

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 Table 4.4 Sample Customer-Performance
Scorecard Measures

% of new customers to average #

% of lost customers to average #

% of win-back customers to average #

% of customers in various levels of satisfaction

% of customers who would repurchase

% of target market members with brand recall

% of customers who say brand is most preferred

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 For Review

 What constitutes good marketing research?

 What are the best metrics for measuring
marketing productivity?
 How can marketers assess their return on
investment of marketing expenditures?

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 4-42

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