MKTG2113 Marketing Research

Lecture 1: course
introduction & overview of
the research
Presented by process
Dr. Jeffrey Lim
Discipline of Marketing

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 Agenda

Introduction & housekeeping

Teaching team
Unit overview
Assessment requirements

Lecture 1
Overview of the research process

Concluding comments & wrapping up

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 Teaching team

Unit coordinator: Tutors:

Dr. Jeffrey Lim | MMSRS Gilad Ravitz
Office Location: Room 4204 Email:
(Level 4) gilad.ravitz@sydney.edu.au
Abercrombie Precinct (H70)
Email: Shivaun Sarkis
jeffrey.lim@sydney.edu.au Email:
Tel: 9351 5264 shivaun.sarkis@sydney.edu.au
Consultation: Monday 10am
12noon or by appointment. Max Yu
Email: M.Yu@econ.usyd.edu.au
Please check your timetable
for your allocated tutorial (to
be held in Codrington
The University of Sydney Computer Labs, H69). Page 3
 Unit overview

Key unit focus: Prescribed text:

Engage in the research
process
Research planning
Research executing
Analysing data
Generating insights
Hands-on/action-learning
approach
Teamwork environment 10% discount if you
purchase online from
Collaborative-learning publisher: CENGAGEbrain by
The University of Sydney using CODE:
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SAVE10CENGAGE
 Unit schedule

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 Unit schedule cont.

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 Assessment requirements

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Tutorial participation (10%)

Tutorial participation (8%) Research participation (2%)

On-going throughout the 2 options to choose from:
semester. Participate in a
Discussion and activities Marketing Discipline
oriented. research study, or
Provide guidance to project Review a marketing
completion. journal paper
Your prior preparation & Up to June 2nd (Friday, 5pm)
contributions during class to complete this
discussions/activities will be component.
vital. Please contact Dr.
Please refer to the [tutorial Christina Anthony
schedule] posted in Bb for (subject-pool
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weekly coverage. coordinator) if you have
 Key tutorial (project-related) activities

Tutorial 1 (week Group-based tutorial

Tutorial 2 (week
2) Tutorial 3 (week
3)
4)
activities ~ 1-2 pages
Group
establishment
Research
Research plan (when required), allows
objectives
form you to feed into your
Tutorial 4 (week No tutorials final report.
Tutorial 5 (week
5) (week 7)
6)
Initial findings Mid-semester Submitted to tutor at the
Questionnaire
& challenges exam end of that class to note
Tutorial 6-9
participation.
Tutorial 10 & 11
(weeks 8-11) Group Use as discussion points
presentations
Data analysis for group meetings and
staff consultations.
Also for your record &
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progress monitoring
 Exams (20% + 30%)
Mid-semester exam (20%) Final exam (30%)
Format: may include MCQ
&/or short-answer.
Topics: week 1 5.
To be held on April 27th
(week 7) in your allocated
lecture stream.
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Topics: week 6 13.
Format: may include
MCQ &/or short-answer.
To be held during the
formal examination
period scheduled by the
Exams Office.
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For the group project presentation (10%) +
final report (30%)
3 possible orientations to choose from: Othe
r qu
Qualitative only: quan alita
titat tive
E.g. ~3-4 focus group sessions, or met i ve or
h re
wou ods you search
E.g. ~10-20 1-1 depth interviews, or ld r
Plea like to group
s u
befo e seek a se?
A reasonable combination of the above.
reha p
Quantitative only: nd proval
.
E.g. ~40-50 survey (questionnaire) respondents.
Mix of qualitative and quantitative:
E.g. ~10 1-1 depth interviews + ~30 survey (questionnaire)
respondents.
Presentation & report guidelines posted in Bb.
Note: Peer evaluations will be used in both group presentation and
finalof report.
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Lecture 1
Overview of the research process

Text reading: chapter 1 the role of marketing research and the

research process
Quote of the week:
If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it
makes perfect sense to say that it is the journey that counts, not reaching
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the destination. - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
 What is marketing & the marketing concept?

Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered a

separate function it is the whole business seen from the
customers point of view. P. Drucker

Marketing is a human activity directed at satisfying needs

and wants through exchange processes. P. Kotler

The marketing concept is a management attitude in which

management dedicates all the efforts of the organisation to
understanding the needs and wants of customers, orienting
the entire organisation to delivering the product and/or
service satisfaction better and more effectively than
competitors. P. Kotler
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 Central idea?

Customers (consumers) have needs & wants.

Collectively unique can be grouped into

different target markets and segments based on
needs, wants trade-offs and choices.

Needs change future needs have to be

identified and predicted to maintain customer
relationships.

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 Therefore, we need research to gather

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 Insight (source: Dictionary.com)
The
buz industr
zw y
or d
!

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Why organisations need to be insight-driven?

Increasingly competitive/dynamic
environments/markets.
We are living in and through a disruptive/sharing era.
Any
t hin
g!

Technology advancement.
Staying in touch with their customers attracting
new customers.
Developing consumer insights-led marketing strategy
is seen as crucial.
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 Data is everywhere it is how we tap into &
use it that matters!
Even within the digital space:
Web search data
What are people
searching for?
E-commerce transactions
What are people buying?
Social media posts
What are people saying?
Apps/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi data
What can/do organisations do with What are you doing?
this accumulation and massive Where are you going? Etc.
amount of data?
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 The MR industrys response to disruptive
era
Establish Challenges how & where
New
ed MR
MR tools we search, collect, store
tools
and analyse vast amount of
Observation data.
Social
1-1 interviews media/listenin BIG/small data?
or focus
groups DgIY
researchers What are people doing?
Ethnography e.g. survey
monkey
BIG data
And, why?
Surveys,
analytics
experiments
etc.
Hence, theres a continuing
role/demand for
researchers using
established/new MR tools
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to deal with BIG/small
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data
 What the MR industry needs your
curiosity
Soft skills Hard skills
Interpersonal Data crunching and
Story-telling analytical
Contextualising Using SPSS, Excel or
Project & similar software
Interpreting client
manageme
nt skills

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The University of Sydney Page 21
 What the
Ultimately, the role of MR industry or
creating insights
organisations
need

MEANING /
RAW
INFO. KNOWLED INSIGHTS
DATA
GE

1. Identifying & evaluating

opportunities
2. Analysing & selecting TM
3. Planning & implementing MKTG
mix
4. Analysing market performance
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Marketing research reduces the
uncertainty of marketing strategies
and tactics implemented to
achieve an organisations strategic
goals. Page 22
 What is market (& social) research?

According to the Australian Market & Social

Research Society (AMSRS):
Market and social research means the
systematic investigation of the behaviour,
needs, attitudes, opinions, motivations or other
characteristics of a whole population or a
particular part of a population, in order to
provide objective, accurate and timely
information to clients (government, commercial
and not-for-profit organisations) about issues
relevant to their activities, to support their
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 What is marketing research?

The systematic and objective process of

generating information to aid in making marketing
decisions
1. Specifying the information required to address
market (& social) issues.
2. Designing the method for collecting
information.
3. Managing and implementing the data
collection process.
4. Analysing the results.
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 2 broad classifications & purpose

Basic (pure) research Applied research

Expand the limits of Conducted when a decision
knowledge and to learn more must be made about a
about a certain concept specific real-life problem
Not aimed at solving a Aimed to understand and
particular problem answer
Informs or questions about
specific problems
contributes
Verify the acceptability of a Undertaken to make decisions
given theory about particular courses of
action or policies

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 Common MR studies and the product life cycle
+
Focus group ma
research mo ny
re!
Awareness/attitud Awareness/attitud
Market definition
research e research e research
Segmentation
Target segment Usage research Tracking research research
identification
research Tracking research Positioning Lifestyle research
Sales

Concept testing
research
Product Repositioning
research
refinement Promotion testing research
Name/package testing research research
evaluation research Pricing/price
New advertising Market structure elasticity
Product testing
strategy testing research research
research
research
Cost reduction
Copy testing
research
research
Pre- Introduction Growth Maturity Decline
commercialisatio
Pre-test market
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n
 Is research (always) needed?
Time or
resource
constrai
nts

Costs vs. MR Availabili

ty of
benefits
? data

Nature
of
decision

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 The research process
Defining the Research design
PLANNI
problem/opportun NG Sample decision
ity

Providing
insights:
interpreting & Qualitative vs.
Reportin INSIG Executin
Quantitative
presenting your g g
findings in the
HT research methods
context of the to collect data
clients business
environment
Analysin
Manual vs. g Making sense of qualitative
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Pagedata
28
 From your text

Which do you think

is the most critical
stage of the
research process?
Why?
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 1. Defining the research problem

The research process begins with problem

discovery.
Often, only symptoms of the problem may be
apparent.
Example, sales may be declining, but
management may not know the exact nature or
cause of the problem.

Problem definition stage

The stage in which management seeks to
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 defining the problem cont.

An orderly definition of the research problem

lends a sense of direction to the investigation.
Every marketing problem can be classified on a
continuum ranging from complete certainty to
absolute ambiguity.
Uncertainty influences the type of research
selected.

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 defining the problem cont.

Statement of research objectives

After identifying and clarifying the problem
(with the client), the researcher should make a
formal statement of the problem and the
research objectives.
The best expression of a research objective is a
well-formed, testable research hypothesis.
A hypothesis is a statement that Can can be refuted
qualitative
research be used to
or supported by empirical data.test a hypothesis?
test a hypothesis?
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Why?
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 2. Planning the research design

A research design is a master plan that specifies

the methods and procedures for collecting and
analysing the needed information.
The researcher must determine the sources of
information, the design technique, the sampling
methodology, the schedule and the cost of the
research.
Different methods and techniques are associated
with exploratory, descriptive or causal research
design.
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exploratory research
Initial research conducted to Narrowing of the research
clarify and define a problem, scope happens:
gain insights and discover new by investigating any
ideas. existing studies on the
Purpose is to: subject.
progressively narrow the by talking with
scope of the research knowledgeable individuals
topic. and experts.
transform ambiguous by informally investigating
problems into well-defined the situation.
research objectives. Exploratory research
Expectation that subsequent techniques:
research will be required to a. Secondary data analysis
provide
The University conclusive evidence.
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b. Pilot studies
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exploratory research techniques

a. Secondary data Gathered more

Data previously collected quickly and
and assembled for some inexpensively than
project other than the one primary data
at hand. Data may be out-
Can be sourced from: dated or may not
the company, library, exactly meet
internet research needs
firms specialising in
What other concerns
providing data (e.g.
might secondary
ABS).
data pose to
literature reviews of researchers?
journals and books.
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published reports and
exploratory research techniques cont.

b. Pilot studies
Collection of data from actual research subjects (using a
limited/small sample) to serve as a guide for a larger
study.
Data collection methods are informal and findings may
lack precision.
E.g. focus group interview to obtain qualitative
information.
Sharing of ideas and preferences of six to ten people
in a group.
For example, use of focus groups to identify attitudes
and motivations of young people towards
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descriptive research

Purpose is to describe characteristics of a population.

Example: Determining who purchases a product,
portraying the size of the market, identifying
competitors actions etc.
Seeks to determine the answers to who, what, when, where
and how questions.
Segmentation and target marketing.
Revealing the nature of consumer behaviour.
Descriptive studies are based on some previous
understanding of the nature of the research problem.
Note that this is distinct from exploratory research.
Accuracy is of paramount importance.
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descriptive research techniques
Surveys
Most common method of descriptive research. Information is gathered
from a sample of people using a questionnaire.
Researchers may choose to contact respondents by telephone or mail,
on the internet or in person. Each survey method has advantages and
disadvantages, and researchers need to decide on the appropriate
method for the data collection.
Secondary data
An example of descriptive research using secondary data includes a
mathematical model (e.g. regression) to predict sales on the basis of
past sales.
Generally, the quantitative analysis of secondary data is more
sophisticated than that of exploratory studies.
Observation methods
Observation methods involve recording behaviour without relying on
reports from respondents.
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E.g. counting number of automobiles that pass by a proposed site for a
 causal research
Main goal is to identify cause-and-effect relationships
among variables.
A typical causal study has management change one
variable (for example, advertising spend) and then observe
the effect on another variable (such as sales).
Exploratory and descriptive research normally precedes
causal research.
Researchers seek certain types of evidence to help them
understand and predict relationships.
No causal relationship exists if there is no association
between two variables.
Marketing experiments, such as test marketing, hold the
greatest potential for causal studies.
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 Exploratory vs.
causal research techniques descriptive vs.
causal. Which is the
BEST research
Experiments design?
Experiments can establish cause-and-effect relationship.
Experimentation allows investigation of changes in one
variable (such as sales), while manipulating one or two
other variables (perhaps price or advertising) under
controlled conditions in order to test a hypothesis.
Experimental control provides a basis for isolating causal
factors by eliminating outside, or exogenous, influences.
Many companies in the fast-moving consumer goods
industry conduct experiments that simply determine
consumer reactions to different types of packaging.
Pilot (experiment) study often used to help improve
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 Sampling issues:
3. Planning the sample Target population: Who is to be
A sample is a subset of a sampled?
larger population. Sample size: How big should the
Sampling procedure uses a sample be?
small number of items or a Sampling method: How to select
portion of the population to the sampling units?
make a conclusion Sampling techniques
regarding the whole Probability sampling: Every
population. member of the population
Results of a good sample has a known, non-zero
should have the same probability of selection.
characteristics as the Non-probability sampling:
population as a whole. Members of the population
Researcher determines who are selected based on
is to be sampled, how large certain judgement criterion
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a sample is needed and how of researchers.
4. Gathering the data

Data may be collected by humans or recorded by machines.

Textual qualitative data
Numerical quantitative data

Many research techniques involve various methods of data

collection.

Two phases of data gathering

Pretesting: small scale (pilot) study on a small sub
sample to determine the appropriateness of the research
design and minimise errors.
Main
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 5. Processing and analysing the data

Editing:
Checking the data collection forms for omissions,
legibility and consistency in classification.
Coding:
Developing rules for interpreting, categorising, recording
and transferring the data to the data storage media.
Analysis:
Application of reasoning to understand the data.
Analysis may involve summarising relevant findings,
determining consistent patterns, statistical analysis etc.

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 6. Drawing conclusions and preparing a report

Researchers should look at the analysis of information

collected and ask, What does this mean to management?
Consists of interpreting information (drawing insights) and
making conclusions for managerial decisions.
Research reports should effectively communicate the
findings & insights from the research to your audience
(client).
What is the story? How can I
convey it meaningfully to my
audience?
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 The limitations of research

Lack of Poor or
Poor problem or Inherent limitations
understanding of the inappropriate
opportunity of the method/s
problem (or research design &
definition used
project/clients brief) method/s used

Incorrect Elapsed time from

Poor execution of Research can never
interpretation of the start to finish to
the research be perfect
results application

THE USE AND

THE USE / MISUSE /
MISUSE / NON-USE
NON-USE OF
OF RESEARCH
RESEARCH DATA BY
EVIDENCE BY
THE RESEARCHER
DECISION MAKERS
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 The nature of research

1. Reading it theory and jargon-

laden.
2. Doing it action-oriented.
3. Gathering data systematic
process.
4. Testing an assertion e.g. a
hypothesis to find out if it is
supported (or not).
5. Engaging with the real world in
planned or unplanned
interactions.
6. Reporting/creating insights with
evidence. putting a puzzle
together.
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 6 friends to constantly keep in touch with

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Concluding comments and wrapping up

In this MR course, you will

Get the opportunity to manage and execute the research
process.
Take a hands-on approach in collecting, analysing and
interpreting (qualitative and/or quantitative) data.
Learn to present your findings in a non-technical way
that is useful to management/client.
Help make better business decisions or enhance our
understanding through creating insights.
Work and learn with one another across diverse
backgrounds and styles.
Enjoy
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 Concluding comments and wrapping up C
o mi
cont. lectur ng up
e 2: in
the de
rese fining
prob arch
lem

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