The Marketing Research

Process
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Marketing Research: Definition

Many definitions of 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.
Marketing research is the process of designing,
gathering, analyzing, and reporting information that
may be used to solve a specific marketing problem.

Need For Marketing Research

Why do businesses need accurate and up-to-date information?
To undertake marketing effectively
Changes in technology
Changes in consumer tastes
Market demand
Changes in the product ranges of competitors
Changes in economic conditions
Distribution channels

Purpose Of Marketing Research

Gain a more detailed understanding of consumers needs:
e.g., views on products prices, packaging, recent advertising
campaigns

Reduce the risk of product/business failure:

there is no guarantee that any new idea will be
a commercial success
Can help to achieve commercial success

Forecast future trends:

it can also be used to anticipate future customer needs

EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH IN MARKETING

Marketing
Decision

Types of Research

Target
Markets

sales, market size; demand for product, customer characteristics, purchase behavior,
customer satisfaction, website traffic

Product

product development; package protection, packaging awareness; brand name selection;

brand recognition, brand preference, product positioning

Distribution

distributor interest; assessing shipping options; online shopping, retail store site selection

Promotion

advertising recall; advertising copy testing, sales promotion response rates, sales force
compensation, traffic studies (outdoor advertising), public relations media placement

Pricing

price elasticity analysis, optimal price setting, discount options

External
Factors

competitive analysis, legal environment; social and cultural trends

Other

company image, test marketing

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USES
Identify marketing opportunities and problems
Generate, refine, and evaluate potential marketing
actions
Monitor marketing performance
Improve marketing as a process
Reduces uncertainty
Reduces risk
Helps focus decision making
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OVERVIEW OF THE MARKETING

RESEARCH PROCESS
Why should we do research?
What research should be done?
Is it worth doing the research?
How should the research be designed to achieve the
research objectives?
What will we do with the research?
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STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1) Define the decision problem or opportunity
2) Specify the research objectives
3) Develop a research design
4) Design the questionnaire
5) Manage and implement the data collection
6) Analyze Data
7) Write a Final research report

PROBLEM DEFINITION
Problem means management problem
A problem well-defined is half solved
Identifying and defining the problem or opportunity is a crucial first
step in the marketing research process.
When defining the problem, it is important to think broadly about the
possible causes.
Defining the Problem Results in Clear Cut Research Objectives.
Marketing problems may be difficulty-related or opportunity-related.
For both, the prerequisite of defining the problem is to identify and
diagnose it.
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SPECIFY THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

What specific information should the project provide?
If more than one type of information will be developed from
the study, which is the most important? and
What are the priorities?
When specifying research objectives, development of
hypotheses, might be very helpful.
When achieved, objectives provide the necessary information
to solve the problem.

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DEVELOP A RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is a framework or blueprint for
conducting the marketing research project.
M A R K E T IN G R E S E A R C H

Q U A L IT A T IV E R E S E A R C H
E XP LO R A TO R Y
F o c u s G ro u p ;
O b s e r v a t io n ;
O th e rs .

Q U A N T IT A T IV E R E S E A R C H
D E S C R IP T IV E
S u rv e y re s e a rc h

C A U S A L
L a b o r a t o r y E x p e r im e n t
F ie ld E x p e r im e n t

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DESIGN THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire design is one of the basic building
blocks of marketing research.
Its first and prime role is to draw accurate information
from the respondent.
There are 3 different types of Question Classifications:
Behavioral
Attitudinal
Classification
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Behavioral questions address the following:

Have you ever ........?

Do you ever ........?
Who do you know ........?
When did you last ........?
Which do you do most often ........?
Who does it ........?
How many ........?
Do you have ........?
In what way do you do it ........?
In the future will you ........?

They determine people's

actions in terms of what they
have eaten (or drunk), bought,
used, visited, seen, read or
heard. Behavioral questions
record facts and not matters of
opinion.

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Attitudinal questions address the following:

What do you think of ........?
Why do you ........?
Do you agree of disagree ........?
How do you rate ........?

Attitudes are opinions or basic

beliefs which people have
about the products
they buy, the companies they
deal with and it is attitudes that
motivates people
in their actions.

Which is best (or worst) for ........?

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Classification questions:
Sex.
There can be no other classifications other than
MALE and
FEMALE.

Household status.

Classification questions are

required to check that the
correct quota of people or
companies have been
interviewed.

Most researchers classify adults into three groups which are:

Head of household ( )
Housewife ( )
Other adult ( )

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MANAGE AND IMPLEMENT THE DATA

COLLECTION
This process includes field work and desk work for collecting all
relevant data and information
Field work includes interviewing the personals by interacting
them face to face by visiting them in home or offices or arranging
group meetings at any preferred place.
Desk work includes contacting personals over telephone or via
series of emails and web meetings.

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ANALYZE DATA
This process is the most important process in the research
as the results are generated on the basis of data preparation.
After the data collecting stage the collected data is

edited,
Coded,
transcribed
corrected if required and
validated.

Uni/multivariate techniques are used for analyzing data

when there is a single/multiple measurement of each
element or unit in the sample data.
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WRITE A FINAL RESEARCH REPORT

The final report should addresses the
specific research questions identified
the research design
data collection
data analysis procedures adopted
presents the results and the major findings
The findings should be presented in a comprehensible format so
that they can be readily used in the decision making process.
Oral presentation should be made to management using tables,
figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact.
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Nielsen Collects Data from

Retailers & Consumers...
Manufacturer

Data

Retailer
Consumer
& sells / trades data to the
manufacturer & retailer
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Our Associates Interpret the Data

What Does It All Mean?

Data is collected
from stores &
consumers

We draw
conclusions
Our associates & make recos
to clients
analyze &
interpret the
data

$$
Leads to
business
success for
our clients

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Thank You

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