Chapter 2

The Marketing
Research Process
The Marketing Research Process: 11 Steps
Step One: Establishing the Need for Marketing
Research
Step Two: Defining the Problem
Step Three: Establishing Research Objectives
Step Four: Determining Research Design
Step Five: Identifying Information Types and
Sources
Step Six: Determining Methods of Accessing
Data
The Marketing Research Process: 11 Steps
cont
Step Seven: Designing Data Collection Forms
Step Eight: Determining Sample Plan and Size
Step Nine: Collecting Data
Step Ten: Analyzing Data
Step Eleven: Preparing and Presenting the Final
Research Report

The Marketing Research Process
Step One: Establish the Need for Marketing Research
When Marketing Research is not needed
The information is already available
Decisions need to be made now
We cant afford research
Costs outweigh the value of the research

The Marketing Research Process
Step Two: Define the Problem
The most important step in the marketing
research process is defining the problem.

The Marketing Research Process
Step Three: Establish Research Objectives
What information is needed in order to solve the
problem?

The Marketing Research Process
Step Four: Determine Research Design
Exploratory Research: collecting information in
an unstructured and informal manner
Descriptive Research: refers to a set of methods
and procedures describing marketing variables
Causal Research (experiments): allows isolation
of causes and effects


The Marketing Research Process
Step Five: Identify Information Types and Sources
Secondary Data: information that has been
collected for some other purpose other than the
research at hand
Primary Data: information that has been gathered
specifically for the research objectives at hand


The Marketing Research Process
Step Six: Determine Methods of Accessing Data
Secondary Data: accessing data through sources such as
the Internet and library
Primary Data: collecting data through methods such as
telephone, mail, and face-to-face (quantitative) and
observation studies and focus groups (qualitative)

The Marketing Research Process
Step Seven: Design Data Collection Forms
The design of the data collection form that is
used to ask and record information in marketing
research projects is critical to the success of the
project.
Questionnaires
Observation Studies

The Marketing Research Process
Step Eight: Determine Sample Plan and Size
Sample plan: refers to the process used to select
units from the population to be included in the
sample
Sample size: refers to determining how many
elements of the population should be included in
the sample
The Marketing Research Process
Step Nine: Collect Data
Data collection is very important because,
regardless of the data analysis methods used,
data analysis cannot fix bad data.
12

Nonsampling errors may occur during data
collection.


The Marketing Research Process
Step Ten: Analyze Data
Data analysis: involves entering data into
computer files, inspecting data for errors, and
running tabulations and various statistical tests


Data cleaning: process by which raw data are
checked to verify that the data have been
correctly inputted from the data collection form to
the computer software program


The Marketing Research Process
Step Eleven: Prepare and Present the Final
Research Report
The last step is one of the most important phases
of marketing research.
Its importance cannot be overstated because it is
the report, or its presentation, that properly
communicates the results to the client.