Consumer Behaviour

The ConsumerResearch Process

CHAPTERTWO

Why Do Marketers Regularly Test Print Ads LikeThis One Before They Are Placed in the Media?

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Two Slide2

To Test the Impact of the Message BeforeSpending Large Amounts of Money


The Importance of the ConsumerResearch Process


• Marketers must understand customers to design effective:– marketing strategies– products– promotional messages

The Consumer Research ProcessFigure 2.2


The Consumer Research Process


• Secondary research• Primary research

– Qualitative– Quantitative

Developing Research Objectives


• Defining objectives helps ensure an appropriate research design.

• Collecting and evaluating secondary data.

• Designing a primary research study.

• Collecting primary data.• Analyzing the data, and• Preparing a report on the findings.

Secondary Data

•

•

Data that has been collected for reasons other than the specific research project at handIncludes internal andexternal data


Types of Secondary Data

Internal Data• Data generated in-house• May include analysis of

customer files• Useful for calculating

customer lifetime value

External Data• Data collected by an outside

organization• Includes federal

government, periodicals, newspapers, books, search engines

• Commercial data is also available from market research firms


Designing Primary Research

Qualitative Research• Depth

Interviews• Focus

Groups• Projective

Techniques• Metaphor

Analysis

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Two Slide 10

Qualitative Collection MethodDepth 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 InterviewsFigure 2.3


Qualitative Collection MethodFocus 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

Focus Group Discussion Guide - Figure 2.4


Qualitative Collection MethodProjective Techniques


• Research procedures designed to identify consumers’ subconscious feelings and underlying motivations

• Consist of a variety of disguised “tests”

Common Projective ExercisesTable 2.1 (excerpt)


Description

Word Associations

The researcher has a list of words, some of them to be studied and some 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.

SentenceCompletion

The researcher has a series of incomplete sentences that therespondent(s) needs to complete with a word or phrase.

Photo/Visual for Storytelling

The researcher creates/selects a series of photos of consumers, different brands or products, range of print ads, etc., to serve as stimuli. The 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.

Qualitative Collection MethodMetaphor Analysis


• Based on belief that metaphors are the most basic method of thought and communication.

• Consumer values also play an important role in understanding consumer behavior.– Sky – blue– Water – deep

Designing Primary Research

Quantitative Research• Observation• Experimentati

on• Survey

questionnaires


Data Collection MethodsObservational 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 understandingof what the product symbolizes

Data Collection MethodsMechanical 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

Data Collection MethodsExperimentation


• Can be used to test the relative sales appeal ofmany 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 inlaboratories or in the field

Data Collection MethodsTable 2.2

Mail Telephone Personal Interview

Online

Cost Low Moderate High Low

Speed Slow Immediate Slow Fast

Response rate Low Moderate High Self-selected

Geographic flexibility

Excellent Good Difficult Excellent

Interviewerbias

N/A Moderate Problematic N/A

Interviewer Supervision

N/A Easy Difficult N/A


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DATA COLLECTION METHODS:SURVEYS

Personal Interview

Mail

Telephone

Online

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• Asked to agree or disagree with a statement• Easy to prepare & interpret• Simple for consumers

Likert scales

• Includes bipolar adjectives• Relatively easy to construct and administer

Semanticdifferential scales

• Measures likelihood consumers will act a certain way• Easy to construct and administer

Behaviorintention scales

• Items ranked in order of preference in terms of somecriteriaRank-order scales


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LIKERT SCALEPlease place the number that best indicates how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about shopping on-line in the space to the left of the statement.

1 = Agree Strongly 2 = Agree3 = Neither Agree or Disagree4 = Disagree5 = Disagree Strongly

a. It is fun to shop online. b. Products often cost more on-line than they are worth. c. It is a good way to find out about new products. d. I’m afraid to give out my credit card number on-line. e. I can shop whenever I want--even at 2 o’clock in the morning. f. Some Web sites really encourage you to browse. g. It’s easy to compare different makes and models one-line.

Behavior intention scale

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RANK-ORDER SCALESA. Please rank the following e-mail providers in terms of ease of

access by placing a 1 in front of the service you think is best, a 2 alongside the second best, and continuing until you have ranked all six service providers. America Online _ Netscape _ Microsoft Explorer

AT&T Worldnet _ Juno _ Erols

B. Rank the following computer manufacturers in terms of hotline help by placing a 1 next to the one who provides the best telephone help a 2 next to the second best, until you have ranked all six. _ IBM _ Dell Compaq

_Hewlett Packard _ Toshiba NEC

Customer Satisfaction Measurement

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys– Analysis of

Expectations versus Experience

• Mystery Shoppers• Customer

Complaint Analysis


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 ornonprobabililty 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.

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mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Seven Slide 33

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing asPrentice Hall

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