Session 9

Session 9Session 9Marketing Management Marketing Management

Learning from the sessionLearning from the session

Marketing Research Marketing Research

What is Marketing Research? What is Marketing Research?

Systematic design, collection, analysis and Systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the specific marketing situation facing the companycompany

Various areas of Marketing researchVarious areas of Marketing research

Research on consumer Research on product or brand Research on competition Research on distribution Research on price Research on advertising and promotion Research on sales methods

Steps involved in Marketing ResearchSteps involved in Marketing Research Defining the problem and research objectivesDefining the problem and research objectives

Developing the research planDeveloping the research plan Collect the informationCollect the information

Analyze the informationAnalyze the information

Present the findingsPresent the findings

Make the decision Make the decision

Interpreting and reporting the findingsInterpreting and reporting the findings

Defining the problem and research Defining the problem and research objectivesobjectives

Problem definition should not be too narrow or too broad Problem definition should not be too narrow or too broad What is to be researched?What is to be researched? Why is it to be researched? Why is it to be researched? eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new

product? product? Set up research objectives, which could be Set up research objectives, which could be Exploratory researchExploratory research --- Gather preliminary information, --- Gather preliminary information,

which would help to identify the problem and suggest which would help to identify the problem and suggest hypotheses hypotheses

Descriptive researchDescriptive research --- Description of things, such as --- Description of things, such as consumer attitudes towards a product consumer attitudes towards a product

Causal researchCausal research --- Test hypothesis about cause and effect --- Test hypothesis about cause and effect relationships eg. Would 5% reduction in price lead to relationships eg. Would 5% reduction in price lead to increase in sales? increase in sales?

Develop the research plan Develop the research plan

Data sources Data sources --- primary or secondary data or both--- primary or secondary data or both Collection of secondary data Collection of secondary data --- through online --- through online

databases databases Secondary data could be easily got at a lower cost, Secondary data could be easily got at a lower cost,

but may not be comprehensive enoughbut may not be comprehensive enough Secondary data should be relevant, accurate, current Secondary data should be relevant, accurate, current

and impartial and impartial

Primary data collection Primary data collection

Research approaches Research approaches Research instrumentsResearch instruments Sampling planSampling plan Contact methodsContact methods

Various kinds of research approaches Various kinds of research approaches Observational research Observational research --- Gain primary data by --- Gain primary data by

observation of relevant people, actions, situationsobservation of relevant people, actions, situations Ethnographic researchEthnographic research --- Kind of observational --- Kind of observational

research by sending trained observers to gain an in research by sending trained observers to gain an in depth understanding about day to day activities of depth understanding about day to day activities of consumers consumers

Provides information which customers are unwilling or Provides information which customers are unwilling or unable to provide, hence suited for exploratory researchunable to provide, hence suited for exploratory research

Helpful in developing markets, where companies are Helpful in developing markets, where companies are not very knowledgeable about consumers eg. ITC’s e-not very knowledgeable about consumers eg. ITC’s e-choupal and Choupal sagar choupal and Choupal sagar

Focus group research

Gathering data out of a moderated group discussion among 6-10 people, about a product, service, organization

Moderator focuses the discussion on the core issue Gift/ incentive for attending it Recordings of the discussion helpful in

understanding consumer beliefs, attitudes and behaviour

Survey research Best for descriptive research Surveys to understand about customer preferences,

buying behaviour, customer satisfaction etc Flexible, useful to gain data in a variety of situations Online or Internet marketing research--- Primary

data collection through online surveys and focus groups

Biased and ignorant answers Some consumers dislike the intrusion to their

privacy

Research using behavioural data

Research based on actual purchases eg. Data from check out scanners More reliable than surveys

Experimental research

Most scientifically valid Involves selection of similar groups, give them

differential treatment, control all factors except the one under research and evaluate the differences in group responses

eg. Different prices for a product in 2 cities

Various research instruments

Questionnaires --- closed end or open end Qualitative measures Technological devices

Various kinds of closed end questions

Dichotomous questions

Questions with 2 possible answers

Eg. In arranging this trip, did you contact Kingfisher

Airlines?

Yes No

Multiple Choice Questions

A question with 3 or more answers

Eg. With whom are you traveling on this trip?

No one

Spouse

Spouse and children

Children only

Business associates/friends/relatives

An organized tour group

Likert ScaleA statement with which the respondent shows the amount of agreement/ disagreement

Eg . Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Small airlines generally give better service than large ones.

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

Semantic Differential

Scale connecting 2 bipolar words

Respondent selects the point that represents his or her

opinion

Kingfisher Airlines

Large ………………………………...…………….Small

Experienced………………….………….Inexperienced

Modern………………………..………….Old-fashioned

Importance Scale

Scale which rates importance of an attribute

Eg. Airline food service is _____ to me

Extremely important

Very important

Somewhat important

Not very important

Not at all important

Rating Scale

Scale to rate an attribute from poor to excellent

Eg. Kingfisher Airlines’ food service is _____

Excellent

Very good

Good

Fair

Poor

Intention- to-buy- scale

A scale which would describe the respondent’s intention to buy

Eg. How likely are you to purchase tickets on Kingfisher Airlines if in-flight Internet access is available?

Definitely buy

Probably buy

Not sure

Probably not buy

Definitely not buy

Various kinds of open end questions

Completely unstructured

A question which could be answered in unlimited number of ways

Eg. What is your opinion of Kingfisher Airlines?

Word Association

Certain words are presented, one by one

Respondents mention the first word which come to

mind

What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following?

Airline _____________________

Kingfisher _____________________

Travel _____________________

Sentence Completion

An incomplete sentence to be filled up

Eg. When I choose an airline, the most important consideration in my decision is: _______________________________________

Story Completion

An incomplete story to be completed

Eg. “I flew Kingfisher Airlines a few days ago. I noticed that the exterior and interior of the plane had very bright colors. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings.” Now complete the story. _____________________________________________________________________________

Picture (Empty Balloons)

The respondent need to empathise with the customer and fill in the probable conversation in the empty balloon

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A picture is presented to the respondents, who in turn need to make a story of what they think is happening or may happen in the picture

Don’ts Avoid negatives Avoid words that could

be misheard Use response bands (eg. Age range) Avoid overlap

between questions

Questionnaire Do’s and Don’ts Do’s Ensure questions are free of

biasMake questions simple &

specificAvoid jargons (eg. same

store sales) and sophisticated words

Avoid ambiguous words (usually, frequently) Provision for “other” in

fixed response questions