Market research

MARKET RESEARCH

Prepared By :-

Guided By :- Prof. Karan Jagani

OUTLINE

• What is Market Research?• Advantages, Disadvantages & Uses• Importance and Need• Types and Difference• Procedure• Methods• Criteria to select a research • When not to conduct • Sectors which use MR in India• Interpretation • Case Study• Our Idea

“It ain’t the things we don’t know that gets us in trouble. It’s the things we know that ain’t so.”

Artemus Ward

WHAT IS MR?

• Market research provides important information to identify and analyze the market need, market size and competition.

• Market research, which includes social and opinion research, is the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making.

• It is a very important component of business strategy.

ADVANTAGES OF MR

• Market research guides your communication with current and potential customers.

• Market research helps firms to discover consumers opinions on a huge range of issues, e.g. views on products’ prices, packaging, recent advertising campaigns, indentify competition, indentify opportunities/gaps in the market and reduce the loss of the business.

• Market research helps you identify opportunities in the marketplace.• Market research helps you minimize risks.• Market research measures your reputation.• Market research helps you plan ahead.• Market research can help you establish trends.

DISADVANTAGES OF MR

• Research Costs: Market research can be costly depending on the methods chosen by the company.

• Time: Time is directly related to the costs, as the longer the research takes, the more costly it may turn out for the company.

• Limited Volunteers: Market research is primarily based on people’s opinions and views of a single product or service. The lack of respondents may also be a negative factor for a company’s market research.

IMPORTANCE AND NEED OF MR

• Analyzing the impact and effectiveness of businesses. • To analyze what are the specifications of the buyers and what are

the goods that appeal to them.• To find out what are the price specifications of the buyers.• To assess the usefulness, demand and likelihood of a specific

product in varied demographics.• To assess appeal of a product according to customer’s age,

location, gender and income.

Market research

TYPES

Market Research

Primary Research Secondary Research

Qualitative

Quantitative

PRIMARY RESEARCH

• Primary research refers to original or custom research – gathering information from original sources

• It is usually proprietary to a client and not made available to the marketplace

• Primary research involves finding out new information. It finds the answers to specific questions for a particular purpose. These enquiries may take the form of direct questioning.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

• It may include face-to-face surveys, postal or online questionnaires, telephone interviews or focus groups.

• This type of direct contact with people is valuable as it gives specific feedback to the questions asked.

• Although primary research can be expensive and time-consuming, the up-to-date and relevant data collected can give organizations a competitive advantage. This is because their rivals will not have had access to it.

QUANTITATIVE MARKET RESEARCH

• Quantitative research is simply defined as research that involves statistical analysis and mathematics. As such, quantitative research should be used whenever you need to identify a numerical output .

• Quantitative research presents information in a numeric way, such as graphs, tables or charts that can be used to analyze the information.

• Quantitative techniques are applied to generate meaningful metrics that clearly define the magnitude of a response.

QUALITATIVE MARKET RESEARCH

• Qualitative market research differs from quantitative market research in that it is not numerically-based, but opinion-based. 

• Qualitative research can be used to explain or understand quantitative research, as well as offering insight to help you improve your proposition, by uncovering how people feel and what they think about your product, and identifying trends within the written or spoken work.

• Qualitative research methods strive to understand how people feel or to tap their creative juices.

COMMONLY USED METHODSQualitative Methods Quantitative Methods

Focus groups (ideal size 4-6 people) Telephone interviews

Mini groups (fewer people or shorter duration)

Self administered mail surveys

One-on-one in-depth personal interviews Online sources – via email or websites

Paired in-depth interviews Electronic surveys – compiled on diskette

Advisory panels Real time moment-to-moment(primarily for media research)

QUALITATIVE Vs QUANTITATIVE

Qualitative Quantitative

Type of Question Probing Simple

Sample Size Small Large

Information per respondent High Low(ish)

Questioner’s skill High Low(ish)

Analyst’s skill High High

Type of analysis Subjective, Objective,

Interpretative Statistical

Ability to replicate Low High

Areas probed Attitudes Choices

FeelingsFrequency

MotivationsDemographics

Which is best?

• Quantitative analysis will give you a hard, cold answer as to the attractiveness of the market, the probability of success or the final outcome of your business opportunity.

• Qualitative analysis will help you to add color to your insight and build a bigger picture of the scenario you are looking at, which will be more useful when creating your marketing materials and developing your idea, working out your position in the market, your pricing – and crucially, what sets you apart from the competition.

• Ideally, you need a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research to gain a reliable picture of the market and to define and hone your proposition.

Secondary research

• Secondary research (or desk research) gathers existing information through available information sources. Secondary research examples include:– Information on the internet– Existing market research results– Existing data from your own stock lists and customer database– Information from agencies such as industry bodies, government

agencies, libraries and local councils.

• Secondary research may be quicker to carry out but may give less specific outcomes for the topic in question.

MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS

DEFINING THE PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES

Distinguish between the research type needed e.g.

• - exploratory

• - descriptive

• - causal

COMMENT :

If a problem is vaguely defined, the results can have little bearing on the key issues

DEVELOPING THE RESEARCH PLAN

Decide on :-

• Budget

• Data sources

• Research approaches

• Research instruments

• Sampling plan

COMMENT:

The plan needs to be decided upfront but flexible enough to incorporate changes/ iterations

COLLECTING THE INFORMATION

• Information is collected according to the plan (N.B. it is often done by external firms)

COMMENT : This phase is the most costly and the most liable to error

ANALYSING THE INFORMATION

• Statistical manipulation of the data collected (e.g. regression) or subjective analysis of focus groups

COMMENT:

Significant difference in type of analysis according to whether

market research is quantitative or qualitative

PRESENTING THE FINDINGS

• Overall conclusions to be presented rather than overwhelming statistical methodologies.

Comment :

Can take various forms:

Oral presentation ,written conclusions supported by analysis

and data tables

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

1. Data Cleaning - Data often arrives in a messy, disorganized fashion. Data points may be duplicated or improperly entered. It may need to be collated and prepared for entry into a database.

2. Quality of Data Audit - The quality of data is important to ensure results you can use to better understand the business model. 

3. Analysis of Missing Observations - Determining what variables may be missing from the data, why they are missing and what effect they might have on the integrity of the analysis.

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

4. Analysis of Extreme Observations - Outlying data points are important in many ways and we can ensure they are not ignored when performing analysis of data.

5. Analysis of Homogeneity - We provide comprehensive analysis of data points to find common threads that can help you determine where best to move assets and how best to make key business decisions.

1. Surveys

2. Focus groups

3. Personal interviews

4. Observations

5. Field trials

Five Basic Methods of Market Research

Survey method

• The Survey method is the technique of gathering data by asking questions to people who are thought to have desired information. A formal list of questionnaire is prepared. Generally a non disguised approach is used.

The respondents are asked questions on their demographic interest opinion.

Types of survey methods. Survey Methods Classified by Mode of Administration i. Telephone Methods a. Traditional Telephone Interviews b. Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing

(CATI)

ii. Personal Methods a. Personal In-home Interviews b. Mall-Intercept Personal Interviews

c. Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)

iii. Mail Methods a. Mail Interviews

iv. Electronic Methodsa. E-mail Surveys b. Internet Surveys

Social Networking and Surveys

Social networking sites:-

• Can be used to gather useful information in understanding consumer decisions

• Provide a new way for marketers to conduct market research.

Advantages of Survey Method

• Broader range of information than direct observation, experimentation.

• Effective to produce information on socio-economic characteristics, attitudes, opinions, motives etc .

• Information for planning product features, advertising media, sales promotion, channels of distribution and other marketing variables.

• Faster questioning .• Questions are simple to administer.• Reliable data.• The variability of results is reduced.• Relatively simple to analyze, quote and interrelate the data obtained

.

Disadvantages of Survey Method

• Unwillingness of respondents to provide information.

• Inability of the respondents to provide information.This may happen due to :a ) Lack of knowledgeb ) Lapse of memory

• Human Biases of the respondents . for eg: “Ego”

Benefits of a Personal Interview

• Rapport• More in-depth

– Probes– Follow-up– Tests

• Longer• Yield more information• Respondents can be carefully selected, reasons for nonresponse

explored• Allow you greater flexibility

Evaluation of Survey Methods

• Flexibility of Data Collection

• Diversity of Questions

• Use of Physical Stimuli

• Sample Control

• Control of the Data Collection Environment

• Quantity of Data

• Response Rate

• Social Desirability/ Sensitive Information

• Potential for Interviewer Bias

• Speed and cost

Criteria for Selecting a Research Supplier

• What is the reputation of the supplier?• Do they complete projects on schedule? • Are they known for maintaining ethical standards? • Are they flexible? • Are their research projects of high quality? • What kind and how much experience does the supplier have? Has the firm

had experience with projects similar to this one? • Do the supplier's personnel have both technical and non-technical

expertise? • Can they communicate well with the client?

Competitive bids should be obtained and compared on the basis of quality as well as price.

Value of Market Research Should Exceed Its Estimated Costs

Value

Decreased uncertaintyIncreased likelihood of correct decisionImproved marketing performance and resulting higher profits

Costs

Research expendituresDelay of marketing decision and possible disclosure of information to rivalsPossible erroneous research results

WHEN AND HOW NOT TO CONDUCT MARKET RESEARCH

• Lack of resources

• Closed mindset

• Research results not actionable

• Vague objectives

• Cost outweighs benefit

• Poor timing

Occasion Comments/Example

Lack of resources

Research results not actionable

Closed mindset

Late timing re: process

Poor timing re: marketplace

Vague objectives

Cost outweighs benefit

If quantitative research is needed, it is not worth doing unless a statistically significant sample can be used

Where psychographic data (for example) is used which won’t help the company form firm actions

When research is used only as a rubber stamp of a preconceived idea

When research results come too late to influence the decision

If a product is in the ‘decline’ phase (e.g. records) there’s little point in researching new product varieties

Market research cannot be helpful unless it is probing a particular issue

The expected value of the information should outweigh the cost of gathering the data

WHEN AND HOW NOT TO CONDUCT MARKET RESEARCH

Market Research in India

• The market research industry in India is 35 years old and its turnover is about Rs 325 crore. • In the last few years, the market has been growing at about 10%. • Research expertise available in India is truly on the top of the rung, and methodologies used in India are comparable with the best in the world. • This is part of the reason that India is heading towards becoming an outsourcing hub in market research for the rest of the world.

• Automobile Sectors• Food & Drug Sectors• Pharmaceutical Industries• Indian Banks• IT Sectors• Indian Television Industry• Retail Sectors• Technology Sectors• Textile Sectors• Infrastructure Sectors

List of Sectors/ Industries that use MR

44%

21%

13%

9%

4%4% 5

%

Manufacturing Companies

Service companies

Retailers and wholesalers

Ad. agencies

Public sector

Non-ad. research agencies

Other

Problem Definition – an example

Incomplete Problem Definition

Better Problem Definition

1. Product Refrigerator Refrigerator – Ordinary & Frost free

2. Market West Zone West Zone with spl ref to Mumbai, Nashik, Pune & Nagpur

3. Market Segment

---- Office & Institutional Sector & NOT Households

4. Current Mkt Share

Not available 12% over all3% in Office & Inst

5. Problem Sales not picking up at the rate at which they should

Last year our growth 5%Industry grew by 25%

6. MR Problem To find out the reason

To find out the reasons for shortfall in our growth rate in office & inst segments & suggest specific strategies followed by Brands A & B

Case StudyMeasuring Customer Satisfaction with the “Contact Management”

System

42

Background & ObjectivesBackground:

ABC Company, a manufacturer of consumer electronics, wants to track customer satisfaction with their contact management and see if there are improvements from year to year.

Questions:• Overall, how satisfied are consumers with ABC Company as a

manufacturer of consumer electronics?• How likely are consumers to buy products manufactured by ABC

Company again in the future?• Would you recommend ABC Company’s products to a friend or

colleague who was considering buying a consumer electronics product?

• What are the consumers’ reasons for contacting ABC Company?

43

Respondent Profile – Consumer Profile

% of Respondents

Age 2007 2008

Younger than 25 years of age 8% 1%

25–34 12% 18%

35–44 19% 28%

45–54 25% 24%

55–64 14% 17%

65 years of age or older 13% 11%

Prefer not to say 9% 1%

% of Respondents

Education 2007 2008

Less than high school 1% 2%

High school/graduate 36% 17%

Technical/trade school/some college 23% 29%

College graduate 29% 36%

Masters degree 5% 11%

Doctorate degree 1% 5%

Prefer not to say 4% 2%

2008 vs. 2007: Slightly older

respondent base

2008 vs. 2007: Slightly more educated

respondent base

44

% Use For Questions % Use For Complaints

Communication Method 2007 2008 2007 2008

Call a toll-free number 82% 87% 87% 89% Visit the Web site 14% 11% 5% 2% Send an e-mail 4% 3% 8% 9% Send a fax 0% 0% 0% 0% Mail a letter 0% 0% 0% 1%

When you have a question about a product, what ONE method of communication do you MOST prefer?

When you have a complaint about a product, what ONE method of communication do you MOST prefer?

“Call a toll-free number” is the most preferred method of contact for both questions and

complaints.

Respondent Profile – Method of Contact

45

48%

35%

16%

26%

4% 6% 5%

11%

27%22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Very Satisfied Somewhat Satisfied Neither Satisfied norDissatisfied

SomewhatDissatisfied

Very Dissatisfied

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Now, thinking about your overall satisfaction, how satisfied are you with ABC Company as a manufacturer of consumer electronics?

Overall Satisfaction

Migration from “Very Satisfied” to “Somewhat

Satisfied”

46

32%

21%

26%

32%

10%

21%

13%10%

18% 17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Definitely Would Probably Would Might or Might Not Probably Would Not Definitely Would Not

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

How likely are you to buy products manufactured by ABC Company again in the future?

Repurchase Intention

Migration from “Definitely Would” to “Probably Would” repurchase

47

40%

26% 25% 26%

4%

19%

6%11%

25%

18%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Definitely Would Probably Would Might or Might Not Probably Would Not Definitely Would Not

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Would you recommend ABC Company’s products to a friend or colleague who was considering buying a consumer electronics product?

Recommend Intention

Migration from “Definitely Would” to “Might or Might

Not” recommend

48

% All Reasons for Contact % Primary Reason for Contact

Reason for Contact 2007 2008 2007 2008

Request for repair of product 70% 76% 55% 48% Question on how to use/set-up/work something on the product

21% 23% 13% 10%

Complaint about the product 32% 55% 13% 21% Request for information on a specific product 17% 35% 9% 8% Ordering a product or part 18% 30% 6% 10% Question about status of order/shipment 8% 13% 3% 2% Request for information on the company 5% 7% 1% 1% Other (Specify) 1% 1% 0% 1% Question about a promotion or contest 0% 2% 0% 0% Complaint about advertising 0% 2% 0% 0% Complaint about a promotion or contest 0% 1% 0% 0%

Reason for Contact

What are the key reasons you contacted ABC Company? Of all the reasons, what is your primary reason for contact?

“Request for repair of product” is the primary reason for contact both in 2007 and 2008.

49

Product % of 2007 Respondents TV/DVD/VCR 43% Other 9% Microwave 7% Peripherals 5% Audio 2% Telephone 1%

Product About Which Contacting

About what product were you contacting ABC Company?(Asked only for those with product related reason)

Product % of 2008 Respondents Washing machine 37% Microwave 21% Refrigerator 18% Dryer 17% Air conditioner 6% DVD/Video/LCD Monitor 2%

50

Number of Reasons for Contact

52%

23%

34%

41%

9%

21%

5%

17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 2 3 4+

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Number of reasons for contact

Average number of reasons for contact

2.3 (1.7 in 2007)

Minimum = 1 (1 in 2007)Maximum = 7 (7 in 2007)

Average number of reasons for contact

2.3 (1.7 in 2007)

Minimum = 1 (1 in 2007)Maximum = 7 (7 in 2007)

Migration from 1 reason for contact to multiple reasons for contact

51

36%

52%

63%

48%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes No

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Contacted Others

Prior to contacting ABC Company, did you contact anyone else at the retail store, dealer or distributor about your primary question, request or problem?

A higher percent of respondents contacted

others prior to contacting ABC Company.

52

Satisfaction is Impacted by Contacts to Others

50% 49%

30%

43%

11%18%

37%

28%

39%

33% 34%29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Satisfied Mollified Dissatisfied

Contacted Others (2007)

Did Not Contact Others (2007)

Contacted Others (2008)

Did Not Contact Others (2008)

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Note: “Satisfied” = Top box; “Mollified” = Middle 2 boxes ; “Dissatisfied” = Bottom box

Satisfaction with Action Taken

Satisfaction with action taken is much higher if the respondents did not contact others prior to

contacting ABC Company.

53

% All methods of contact % Primary method of contact

Method of contact 2007 2008 2007 2008

Called the toll-free number 95% 93% 82% 69% Visited the Web site 18% 35% 6% 9% Called a long distance number 17% 10% 5% 7% Sent an e-mail 9% 10% 3% 12% Other 4% 8% 3% 5% Mailed a letter 4% 2% 1% 0% Sent a fax 3% 4% 0% 0% Participated in a Web chat session 0% 1% 1% 2%

Method of Contact

“Call a toll-free number” is the main

method of contact for both questions and

complaints.

What are the methods you used to contact ABC Company? Of all the methods you used, what is your primary method for contact?

54

75%

27%24%

19% 20% 18%

46%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Transferred once Transferred morethan once

Put on hold for anexcessive amount

of time beforereaching

Difficulty decidingwhat to select in

the press 1,press 2..

Put on hold for anexcessive amountof time during the

call

Excessivenumber of rings

before phone wasanswered

No Difficulties

When you called ABC Company about your primary question, request or problem, did you experience any of the following difficulties—yes or no?

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs s

ayi

ng

“y

es”

Telephone Experience

% Experienced some sortof telephone difficulties

54% in 2008

% Experienced some sortof telephone difficulties

54% in 2008

55

57%

21%

51%

12%

54%

24%

41%

27%

48%

27%

46%

27%

52%

27%

45%

31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Professionalism Knowledge Responsiveness* Authority to answer myquestion or resolve my

problem*

% very satisfied (2007)

% somewhat/very dissatisfied (2007)

% very satisfied (2008)

% somewhat/very dissatisfied (2008)

Satisfaction With Representative

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

How satisfied are you with the [professionalism/knowledge/responsiveness/authority to solve your problem] of the representative?

Note: Only asked of customers who indicated that either called a toll-free number or called a long distance number was their primary method of contact* Key drivers of satisfaction with action taken in 2007 and 2008

Compared to 2007, satisfaction with representative went down for

all attributes in 2008.

56

47%

33%

48%

24%

47%

40% 42%

32%

53%

26%

50%

23%

52%

44%

39%40%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Timeliness* Helpfulness*/** Clearness*/** Follow Through*

% very satisfied (2007)

% somewhat/very dissatisfied (2007)

% very satisfied (2008)

% somewhat/very dissatisfied (2008)

Satisfaction With Response %

of

cust

om

ers

How satisfied are you with the [timeliness/helpfulness/clearness/follow through] of the response?

* Key drivers of satisfaction with action taken in 2007** Key drivers of satisfaction with action taken in 2008

Satisfaction with follow through declined

significantly in 2008.

57

Time to Respond

53%

36%

28%

42%

0%

12%8% 7%

13%

4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Immediately Within 7 days 8-14 days 15 - 28 days Over 28 days

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Time to final response

No final action 48% in 200750% in 2008

Average time to final responseWithin 2 days in 2007 & 2008

No final action 48% in 200750% in 2008

Average time to final responseWithin 2 days in 2007 & 2008

Have you received a final response to your primary question, request or problem—yes or no?How long did it take for you to receive a final response to your primary question, request or

problem?

Migration from “Immediately” to “Within 7 days”

58

55%

45%

14%

26%

5%

14%

4%8% 10%

3%

12%

4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 Contact 2 Contacts 3 Contacts 4 Contacts 5 Contacts 6+ Contacts

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Number of contacts

Number of Contacts

In total, how many times did you contact ABC Company in an attempt to have your primary question, request or problem resolved?

Average number of contacts2.5 in 20072.7 in 2008

Average number of contacts2.5 in 20072.7 in 2008

Migration from 1 contact to multiple contacts

59

49%

36%

13%18%

3%

14%

5% 7%

30%25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Completelysatisfied

Action acceptable Some action taken Dissatisfied withaction

Dissatisfied noaction

2007 2008

% o

f cu

sto

me

rs

Which one of the following statements best describes your feelings about theoverall action taken by ABC Company to resolve your primary question, request or problem?

Satisfaction With Action Taken

Satisfied MollifiedDissatisfied

Migration from “Satisfied” to “Mollified”

60

How to Completely Satisfy Customers?

Actions to completely satisfy (based on coding of verbatim responses) % Respondents

Better follow through 20% Repair/replace product 20% Provide better service 19% Make a better product/better instruction manual 11% Be more knowledgeable/provide better information 10% Other 9% Quicker resolution 6% Provide better solution to problem 5%

Those who were not completely satisfied were asked….”What could the company have done to cause you to be completely satisfied?”

61

Summary Findings (1/2)

• Overall satisfaction with and willingness to recommend ABC Company have decreased significantly in 2008 as compared to 2007.

• The primary reason for contacting ABC company for both 2007 and 2008 was “request for repair of product,” with the average number of reasons for contact increasing significantly since last year.

• Compared with 2007, a higher percentage of consumers contacted someone else (e.g., a retailer) prior to contacting ABC Company, with those who contacted someone else first being significantly less satisfied than those who did not contact someone else first.

• Satisfaction with the action taken to resolve consumers’ primary reason for contact has decreased significantly since 2007.

62

Summary Findings (2/2)

• Satisfaction with the representative (e.g., professionalism, knowledge) and response (e.g., timeliness, helpfulness) decreased slightly.

• Satisfaction with follow-through decreased significantly since 2007 and was the area most frequently mentioned in the response to the question – “What could the company have done to completely satisfy you?”

• Compared with 2007, consumers need to make more contacts to obtain resolution (especially with “product complaints”) and it takes longer for a consumer to obtain resolution.

• If contacts are not resolved in one contact and within 7 days, there is a significant drop in satisfaction.

OUR IDEA

Giving a succinct gist of our idea, we plan to distribute knowledge by the concept of e-learning. We intend to utilize this concept across various technical streams and provide services such as:- • online certification courses • coaching for competitive exams • CSR (corporate social responsibility) for companies

IMPLEMENTATION OF STUDY OF MARKET RESEARCH IN OUR

IDEAOur Market Research will focus on the following data :-1. Number of students who have a minimum qualification

of H.S.C.2. Number of educated housewives.3. Number of dropouts in undergraduate courses.4. Number of students who wish to pursue courses besides

their academic syllabi.5. Number of companies doing or going to do CSR in the

near future.6. Number of companies having a systematic employee

training program.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Are you comfortable with learning through videos and animations?

YES MAYBENO

2. How many hours in a week would you be willing to learn new courses online?

1-3 hours 3-5 hours 5-8 hours3. Will you be willing to pay to get a certificate for the course that

you have completed? YES MAYBE

NO4. Which courses would you like to pursue online?

__________________________________________.

THANK YOU!!!

“It ain’t the things we don’t know that gets us in trouble. It’s

the things we know that ain’t so.”

Artemus Ward