CB Module 2 (Research Process)

CHAPTER
TWO
The Consumer
Research Process
Learning Objectives
1. To Understand the Importance of Consumer

Research for Firms and Their Brands, as Well as
Consumers.
2. To Understand the Steps in the Consumer
Research Process.
3. To Understand the Importance of Establishing
Specific Research Objectives as the First Step in
the Design of a Consumer Research Project.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Two Slide 2
Learning Objectives (continued)
4. To Understand the Purposes and Types of Secondary
Consumer Research That Is Available for Making
Decisions or Planning Future Consumer Research.
5. To Understand Specific Features and Applications of
Different Research Methods to Be Carried Out in
Consumer Research Studies.
6. To Understand Where Data Analysis and Reporting of
Findings Fit in the Research Process.
7. To Understand How Each Element of the Consumer
Research Process Adds to the Overall Outcome of the
Research Study.
The Importance of the Consumer
Research Process
• Marketers must understand customers
to design effective:
– marketing strategies
– products
– promotional messages
The Consumer Research Process
The Consumer Research Process
• Secondary research
• Primary research
– Qualitative
– Quantitative
Developing Research Objectives
• Defining purposes and objectives helps ensure

an appropriate research design.
• A written statement of objectives helps to
define the type and level of information
needed.
Discussion Questions
• Assume you are planning to open a new pizza

restaurant near your campus.
– What might be three objectives of a research plan
for your new business?
– How could you gather these data?
Secondary Data
• Data that has been

collected for reasons
other than the specific
research project at hand
• Includes internal and
external data
Types of Secondary Data
Internal Data External Data

• Data generated in-house • Data collected by an outside
• May include analysis of organization
customer files • Includes federal
• Useful for calculating government, periodicals,
customer lifetime value newspapers, books, search
engines
• Commercial data is also
available from market
research firms
Personal Privacy
• Many people do not like the fact that their
personal data are used for marketing.
• How can marketers justify their need for data?
• How can they acquire data and maintain

customer privacy?
Designing Primary Research
Qualitative Collection Method
Depth Interview
• Also called one-on-one interview
• Usually 20 minutes to 1 hour
• Nonstructured
• Interviewer will often probe to get more
feedback (see following slide for probing)
• Session is usually recorded
Probing Options for Interviews
Focus Group
• 8-10 participants
• Respondents are recruited through a screener
questionnaire
• Lasts about 2 hours
• Always taped or videotaped to assist analysis
• Often held in front of two-way mirrors
• Online focus groups are growing
Discussion Guides for Research
• Step-by-step outline
for depth interviews
and focus groups
• Interviewers will
often “improvise”
and go beyond the
discussion guide
Focus Group Discussion Guide
Projective Techniques
• Research procedures designed to identify
consumers’ subconscious feelings and
underlying motivations
• Consist of a variety of disguised “tests”
Common Projective Exercises
Description
Word The researcher has a list of words, some of them to be studied and some
Associations just as “filler.” The researcher asks the respondent(s) to react, one-at-a
time, to each word by stating or (in a focus group setting) writing on a
pad the first word that comes to mind, and to explain the link.
Sentence The researcher has a series of incomplete sentences that the
Completion respondent(s) needs to complete with a word or phrase.
Photo/Visual The researcher creates/selects a series of photos of consumers, different

for brands or products, range of print ads, etc., to serve as stimuli. The
Storytelling respondents are asked to discuss or tell a story based on their response
to a photo or some other visual stimulus.
Role Playing Is quite similar to storytelling; however, instead of telling a story, the
participant(s) will be given a situation and asked to “act out” the role(s),
often with regard to a product or brand, or particular selling situation.
Metaphor Analysis
• Based on belief that metaphors are the most
basic method of thought and communication
• Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique
(ZMET) combines collage research and
metaphor analysis to bring to the surface the
mental models and the major themes or
constructs that drive consumer thinking and
behavior.
“Looking-In”
• Look at information from threads and postings
on social media, including blogs and
discussion forums
• Methodology to capture consumers’
experiences, opinions, forecasts, needs, and
interests
Designing Primary Research
Data Collection Methods
Observational Research
• Helps marketers gain an in-depth
understanding of the relationship between
people and products by watching them buying
and using products
• Helps researchers gain a better understanding
of what the product symbolizes
Mechanical Observational Research
• Uses mechanical or electronic device to record
consumer behavior or response
• Consumers’ increased use of highly
convenient technologies will create more
records for marketers
• Audits are a type of mechanical observation
which monitor sales
Experimentation
• Can be used to test the relative sales appeal of
many types of variables
• An experiment is usually controlled with only
some variables manipulated at a time while
the others are constant
• Test markets are conducted on a single market
area
• Experimentation can be conducted in
laboratories or in the field
• What might direct marketers test in

experiments?
• How can they use the results?
Mail Telephone Personal Online

Interview
Cost Low Moderate High Low
Speed Slow Immediate Slow Fast
Response rate Low Moderate High Self-selected

Geographic Excellent Good Difficult Excellent
flexibility
Interviewer N/A Moderate Problematic N/A
bias
Interviewer N/A Easy Difficult N/A
Supervision
Validity and Reliability
• If a study has validity, it collects the

appropriate data for the study.
• A study has reliability if the same questions,
asked of a similar sample, produce the same
findings.
Attitude Scales
Types of Attitude Scales :
1)Single item Scale
2)Multi-item Scales
Single item scales are those with which only one item
is measured. The following are the important single item
scales:
1) Itemised Category Scales:
Are those in which respondents have to select an
answer from a limited number of ordered categories.
Eg. A hotel customer is asked to indicate the level of
satisfaction for the service provided
Highly Considerably Reasonably Unsatisfied Highly

Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied
2) Rank Order Scales :
They are comparative scales where
respondents were asked to rate an item in
comparison with another item or a group of items
on a common criterion.
Example:
Rank order scale for analysing Motor Cycles
Brand Affordable Cost High Mileage Stylish Great Pick up
Hero Honda
TVS
Bajaj
Rank the brands with 1 being the brand that best meets the
characteristics , 7 being the worst of the characteristics
3) Comparative Scales :
The Researcher provides a point of comparison for
respondents to provide answers. Therefore, all
respondents will have a uniform point of comparison for
selecting answers.
Example:
Respondent is asked to rate the sweet shop ‘X’ in
comparison to sweet shop ‘Y’ in Kochi:
Excellent Very Good Good Both are same Poor Very poor
Multi-item Scales :
These are applied when it is difficult to measure

people’s attitude based on only one attribute.
Eg. Ask a person whether he/she is satisfied with
Indian Railway.
‘Overall I am satisfied’. ‘But there are many
factors with which I am dissatisfied.’
In such cases it is impossible to capture the
complete picture with one overall question.
A number of scales have to be developed that can
measure a respondent’s attitude towards several
issues
From most favourable to most unfavourable.
1) Semantic Differential Scale :
It is used to describe a set of beliefs that underline a
person’s attitude towards an object.
This scale is based on the principle that individuals think

dichotomously or in terms of polar opposites such as
reliable-unreliable, modern-old fashioned etc.
Eg. Comparing four brands of car :

Mitsubishi(L) ; Hyundai(E) ; Skoda(O) ; Honda
Fast -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Slow
Large -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Small
Plain -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Stylish
In-
Expensive -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Expensive
2) Staple Scales :
It is an attitude measure that places a single

adjective or an attitude describing an object in the centre
of an even number of numerical values. Generally it is
constructed on a scale of 10 ranging from -5 to +5,
without a neutral point ( zero ). It is similar to Semantic
Scale, except for it is single polar.
This scale is useful for the Researchers to

understand the positive and negative intensity of
attitudes of respondents.
Staple Scale Example - Measuring the attitude of
Flight Passengers:
+5 +5 +5
+4 +4 +4
+3 +3 +3
+2 +2 +2
+1 +1 +1
Friendly Cabin Comfortable Accurate Timings

Crew Interiors
-1 -1 -1
-2 -2 -2
-3 -3 -3
-4 -4 -4
-5 -5 -5
3) Likert Scale :
This scale consists of a series of statements where

the respondent provides answers in the form of
agreement or disagreement.
The respondent selects a numerical score for each

statement to indicate the degree of agreement or
otherwise.
Each such score is finally added up to measure the

respondents attitude.
Eg. of Likert Scale for evaluating the attitude of customers who have not used
Vacuum cleaner, but who have aware of its existence:
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree disagree
The Product 1 2 3 4 5
is costlier
I don’t find 1 2 3 4 5
time to use it
Advt. is not 1 2 3 4 5
convincing
Never use a 1 2 3 4 5
VC
I am satisfied 1 2 3 4 5
with the
present way
of cleaning
Its use is 1 2 3 4 5
cumbersome
Customer Satisfaction Measurement
• Customer
Satisfaction
Surveys
– Analysis of
Expectations
versus Experience
• Mystery Shoppers
• Customer
Complaint Analysis
Sampling
Whom to survey?
How many?
How to
select them?
Sampling
• Sampling may be defined as the selection of some part of an aggregate or totality
of the basis of which a judgment or inference about the aggregate or totality is
made.
• Obtaining information about an entire population by examining only a part of it
Objectives:-
• Reduce operational cost
• Reduce analytical & computing requirements
• Sampling is required to satisfy the decision maker’s reliability requirements
• Sufficient accuracy in the sample is possible for stable results
• Sampling is unavoidable. Sampling can reduce
• Sampling is required for high standards
• Appropriate sampling is needed for fresh & recent data
• Large samples or complex sampling may be avoided because they require too
much time & data
Basis of Sampling
• Characteristics of respondents
• Sample value (population value)
Advantages of Sampling
• Cheaper
• Expeditions
• Collection of detailed information
• Better quality
Disadvantages of Sampling
• Inflexible
• May mislead results
• Unreliable
• Sampling experts required
• Complicated sampling is time consuming
• Own limitations
• Additional problems of Sampling
Techniques of Sampling
Methods of Sampling
•Probability
•Non-probability
•Probability sampling:- simple random sampling
•Every item of the universe has an equal chance
of including in the sample
•If N is the size of the population and “n” units
are to be drawn in the sample
Sampling and Data Collection
• Samples are a subset of the population used

to estimate characteristics of the entire
population.
• A sampling plan addresses:
– Whom to survey
– How many to survey
– How to select them
• Researcher must choose probability or
nonprobabililty sample.
Data Analysis and Reporting Findings
• Open-ended questions are coded and

quantified.
• All responses are tabulated and analyzed.
• Final report includes executive summary,
body, tables, and graphs.
Report
• Communication of
Research
•What should be the
contents?

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CHAPTER

1. To Understand the Importance of Consumer

• Defining purposes and objectives helps ensure

• Assume you are planning to open a new pizza

• Data that has been

Internal Data External Data

• How can they acquire data and maintain

Photo/Visual The researcher creates/selects a series of photos of consumers, different

• What might direct marketers test in

Mail Telephone Personal Online

Response rate Low Moderate High Self-selected

• If a study has validity, it collects the

Highly Considerably Reasonably Unsatisfied Highly

These are applied when it is difficult to measure

This scale is based on the principle that individuals think

Eg. Comparing four brands of car :

It is an attitude measure that places a single

This scale is useful for the Researchers to

Friendly Cabin Comfortable Accurate Timings

This scale consists of a series of statements where

The respondent selects a numerical score for each

Each such score is finally added up to measure the

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

• Samples are a subset of the population used

• Open-ended questions are coded and

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