Unit 1 CB & MR BDU

Unit 1 Consumer Behavior &Marketing Research

Consumer Behavior-http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/influences-on-consumer-buying-decisions-cultures-values-more.html#lesson http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/consumer-psychology-cognitive-dissonance-post-purchase-process.html#lesson

Marketing Research- Unit 1http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2004-08-12/news/27384832_1_market-research-tns-india-outsourcing-hubhttp://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/marketing-research-definition-purpose-and-role-in-marketing-strategy.html#lesson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-q2vwa_n2I

In 2003, the biscuit market in India was estimated to be about 0.8 million tons, with a value of about Rs.45 billion. The share of the organized sector in the biscuit market was estimated to be about 50%.Britannia and Parle held more than 80% of the organized sector share in value terms. The market was growing at a rate of 5% to 8%.This was the scenario, when ITC decided to enter with its Sunfeast range of Glucose, Marie and cream biscuits. ITCs market research team had shown that urban India which comprised about 27% of the population, accounted for almost 44% of the biscuit consumption. Market Research also revealed that consumers were looking for innovation, variety and fun in all the biscuit categories.

ITC therefore decided to enter the branded biscuit market with products that would reinforce the gratifying aspects of the brands as well as to offer the great taste and quality to customers.A mascot Sunny was chosen to convey these aspects of ITCs biscuit brands. Initial offerings were Sunfeast glucose biscuits targeting children and their mothers, Sunfeast Orange Marie targeting housewives and families, Sunfeast butterscotch cream and bourbon cream targeting the children in the age group between 4 and 14 years. In addition, ITC entered the nutritional biscuit segment with launch of Sunfeast Sachins fit kit- a range of healthy products co created with the cricket icon, Sachin Tendulkar. By 2007, Sunfeast had become an Rs 5 million brand and was growing at about 15% per year.

Marketing Research- It is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis ofqualitativeandquantitativedata about issues relating tomarketingproducts and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of themarketing miximpactscustomer behavior.It is an organized effort to gather information abouttarget marketsor customers.

The Marketing Research ProcessStep 1.Define the Problem, the Decision Alternatives, and the Research Objectives- Problem should not be defined too broadly or too narrowly. Clarity on the following helps define the problem appropriately :What is to be researched ( the content, the scope)?Why is it to be researched Step 2: Develop the Research Plan- this stage requires developing the most efficient plan for gathering the required information. This involves decisions on data sources, research approaches, research instruments, sampling plans and contact methods.

Data Sources- the researcher can gather secondary data, primary data or both. Secondary. Primary researchconsists of a collection of original primary data collected by the researcher. It can be accomplished throughvarious methods, includingquestionnairesand telephone interviews inmarket research, orexperimentsand directobservations.Secondary research(also known asdesk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather thanprimary research, where data is collected from, for example, research subjects or experiments

Research Approaches- primary data can be collected in five ways: through observation, focus groups, surveys, behavioral data and experiments.Ethnographic Research - Ethnographic research usually involves observing target users in their natural, real-world setting, rather than in the artificial environment of a lab or focus group. The aim is to gather insight into how people live; what they do; how they use things; or what they need in their everyday or professional lives.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tHgNXzS2EYAfter observing that older female siblings and/ or grandmothers looked after infants and small kids in migrant construction worker families in South Asia, researchers on child health and nutrition included these groups as respondents.

Focus Group Research- is a gathering of six to ten people who are invited to spend few hours with a skilled moderator in order to discuss a product or service, organization or any other marketing entity. Participants are offered incentives/ gifts for attending the meeting.Survey Research-Companies undertake surveys to learn about peoples knowledge, beliefs, preferences and satisfaction.Behavioral data- Customers actual purchases reflect preferences and are normally more reliable than memory based statements in surveys. Observations have shown that many high income group customers do not buy expensive consumer goods, while some low income consumers end up buying expensive products, contrary to their stated preferences in their surveys.

Step 3 Collect the information- the data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and prone to errors. Four major problems arises in surveys, some respondents will not be at home and must be contacted again or replaced. Other respondents will refuse to cooperate.Still others will give biased or dishonest answers. Finally some interviewers will be biased or dishonest. Data Collection methods are rapidly improving thanks to computers and telecommunication.Some research firms have set up interactive terminals in shopping centers, where respondents sit at a terminal, read questions from the monitor and type in their answers.

Step 4 Analyze the information- the researchers now compute averages and measures of dispersion for the major variables, apply some statistical techniques. They may test different hypothesis and theory.Step 5 Present the Findings- as the last step, the researcher presents findings relevant to the major marketing decisions facing management. The researchers are asked to play a more proactive role, consulting role in translating into insights and recommendations. Researchers should also consider ways to present research findings in an understandable way.Step 6- Make the decision- research findings only provide additional information and insight to the managers. Depending on their confidence in the findings, managers decide to use it, discard it or carry out more research.

Barriers to Marketing ResearchA narrow conception of research- many managers see marketing research as a fact finding operations. They expect the researcher to design a questionnaire, choose a sample, conduct interviews and report results without carefully defining the problem.Uneven caliber of researchers- Managers hire less competent marketing researchers whose weak training and low creativity lead to unimpressive results.Poor framing of the problemManagers are disappointed when marketing research costs too much or takes too much time.Differences between the styles of the line managers and the marketing researchers often got in the way of productive relationships.

Marketing Information SystemAn MIS may be defined as a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis, and presentation of information for use in makingmarketingdecisions.Marketing Information System, abbreviated asMIS, means to collect, analyze and supply marketing information to the marketing managers. The marketing managers use this information to take marketing decisions. MIS is a continuous process.

Components of Marketing Information SystemThe role of MIS is to identify (find out) what sort of information is required by the marketing managers. It then collects and analyzes the information. It supplies this information to the marketing manager at the right time. MIS collects the information through its subsystems. These subsystems are calledcomponents.The four main components of Marketing Information System (MIS) are:Internal Records,Marketing Intelligence,Marketing Research(MR), andMarketing Decision Support System.

Main Components of Marketing Information System

Internal records: The first component of MIS is Internal Record. Marketing managers get lots of information from the internal-records of the company. These records provide current information about sales, costs, inventories, cash flows and account receivable and payable. Many companies maintain their computerized internal records. Inside records help marketing managers to gain faster access to reliable information.Marketing intelligence:The second component of MIS is Marketing Intelligence. It collects information from external sources. It provides information about current marketing-environment and changing conditions in themarket. This information can be easily gathered from external sources like; magazines,tradejournals, commercial press, so on.

The information which is collected from the external sources cannot be used directly. It must be first evaluated and arranged in a proper order. It can be then used by the marketing manager for taking decisions and making policies about marketing.

Marketing research: The third important component of MIS is Marketing Research. MR is conducted to solve specific marketing problems of the company. It collects data about the problem. This data is tabulated, analyzed and conclusions are drawn. Then the recommendations are given for solving the problem. Marketing research also provides information to the marketing managers. However, this information is specific information. It can be used only for a particular purpose. MIS and MR are not substitutes of each other. The scope of MIS is very wide. It includes MR. However, the scope of MR is very narrow.

Marketing decision support system: The fourth component of MIS is Marketing Decision Support System. These are the tools which help the marketing managers to analyze data and to take better marketing decisions. They include hardware, i.e. computer and software programs. Computer helps the marketing manager to analyze the marketing information. It also helps them to take better decisions. In fact, today marketing managers cannot work without computers. There are many software programs, which help the marketing manager to do market segmentation, price fixing,advertisingbudgets, etc.

The essentials of a good Marketing Information System (MIS)MIS must be unified and centralized.It must facilitatedecision making.It must provide quick and accurate information.It must be economical.It must be selective.It must be future oriented.It must supply information regularly.It must use new techniques.

Marketing Information SystemA Marketing Information System- consists of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers.A Marketing Information System relies on internal company records, marketing intelligence activities and marketing research.