Unit.1 MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing Research

marketing

S.T.PSegmentationTarget marketpositioning

Market mixProductPricePlacepromotion

Research

Basic research Applied research

Basic research- basic research addresses more the fundamental questions and not the problem with the quick solutions.

Applied research- solution of routine and immediate problems.

Marketing research- M.R. is the systematic and objective study of problems pertaining to the marketing of goods &services.

Tiil R Ted “ it is defined as the systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services under essentially non-recurring conditions”

Aim & Objective of Marketing Research-a)Understanding customers buying habits.b)Knowledge about marketing opportunities.c) Helpful in decision making.d)Helpful in market growth.Objective of Marketing Research-a)To define a business idea.b) To access the market condition.c)To determine the competitive strength of

various business policies.d) To know about customers preference for a

product.

Limitation of M.R

1)Not similar to science- no any particular rules will be follow in the marketing research.

2)Uncontrollable variable- all the external factors like- political, legal, technological, social. Will be uncontrollable. The result will be affected if these variables changes.

3)Human tendencies- consumers, dealers, wholesellers,retalers, etc are the basic constituents in marketing research.

4)Lack of technological innovation- paper work will take so much time.

Marketing information system

M.R.= Marketing information system.

MIS- it is follow of information and generate process such as information on a continuing basis.

Kotler’s define- marketing information system is more than a system of data collection of information technology.

(Diagram from notes )

1) Internal report system- each and every firm must adopt these type of information system. It is provide data on sales, cost, inventories, cash flow, and a/c receivable and payable etc, to mgt. it may be computerized and manual.

2) Marketing intelligence system- provide day to day information pertaining to the external marketing environment. Marketing manager generate the marketing intelligence by reading newspaper, and business magazines.

3) Analytical marketing system- in this case use of “statistical data”.

Evaluation &control of marketing research1- individual project- (any one dept.)2- total research activity with in a firm. (all dept.) a) check list- specific question and research design,Problem that are likely to come up the project and

solution of them. Most of time check list prepare by experience person.

2- flow chart- represent research by flow chart.(collection of data, analysis of data)

3- pert- (programme evaluation and review technique) .

It is use in administrative and production problems, it can also be applicable in every application of marketing research.

4) Advisory committee- it main task is to provide a broad direction to the marketing research programme. So that it is a problem oriented and helpful to the company.

5) Marketing research audit- a) a critical evaluation of the existing research programmes.

b) An appraisal of the research needs.

c) Programme of the organisation/ objective/ motive of the organisation.

(Decision tree diagram from notes)

Basis

Difference in approach

In side-out side information.

Qualitative or quantitative.

Marketing research

In marketing research needs qualified data related to products/services and current customers then M.R will apply.

Appropriate in inside information research. (company)

Quantitative research use in depth information about- the customers, interviews, taste offer with feed back, follow up the consumers and its behavior.

Market research

More information about the market situation, non-current customer, competitive or substitutes.

Appropriate in out side information research. (new market)

Qualitative information related to country specification, market potential, and accessibility.Overall customer information –( who, what, when, where, & how)

Difference with respect to:

Approach to inquiry

Main purpose of investigation.

Measurement of variables

Sample size

Dominant research value

Quantitative research

Structured / rigid/ predetermined methodology.

To explain of variation in a situation , issue etc.

Emphasis on some form of either measurement or classification of variables.

Emphasis on greater sample size.

Reliability and objectivity

Qualitative research

Unstructured/ flexible/ open methodology.

To describe variation in a situation , issue etc.

Emphasis on description of variables.

Fewer cases.

Authenticity but does not claim to be value free.

Dominant research topic

Analysis of data

Communication of findings

Incidence, extent, nature of issues, opinions and attitude, discover regularities and formulate theories.

Subject variables to frequency distributions, cross-tabulations or other statistical procedures.

Organisation more analytical in nature, testing magnitude and strength of a relationship.

Explore experiences, meanings, perception and feelings.

Subject responses, or observation of data to identification of theme and describes these.

Organisation more descriptive in nature.

Application of marketing research

1)Advertising testing research- it is evaluate the advertising concept, advertising themes etc.

2)Branding research- product information that helps client better understanding about brand. Enhance that brand position in the market place.

3)Customers satisfaction research-marketing research helps to company to identify its level of customers satisfaction and also the factors that will help them to achieve customers satisfaction.

4) Pricing research- it is involves pricing strategy assessment supported by strong pricing research capabilities, sound pricing market requires a broad strategic prospective together with a focus on company’s pricing options.

5) Product positioning research-it is involves new product design and validation research, or assessing existing products.

6) New product development research- product development, market research methods and tools used may vary according to the product type. The extent of incremental change from other products, the investment and risk factors, & the cost of new product in the market place.

Sources of experimental errors-

1)History- Q1= sales affected by salesman

Q2= sales affected by salesman

X= training prograsmme

Company providing training facilities for the Q2salesman.

Q2 higher sales in the post training programme.

Q1 less sales in the pre-training period.

2) Maturation- salesman become matured and more experienced due to the passage of time. Improvement in sales performance can not be attribute to the training alone.

3) Pre-measurement effect- before doing any work do complete pre-work.

Exp- questionnaire, before given any instruction, it will be complicated to fill by the customers. But if researcher give demo/sample now they fill the questionnaire very easy.

4) Interactive testing effect- try to find out the reaction/ observation of the treatment. Ask question from the people about a particular brand like-television, hair oil, mobile, etc.

5) Selection bias- when the researcher assign groups on the basis of his judgment.

6) Statistical regression- selected for exposure to the treatment on the basis of an extreme pre-treatment measure.

Exp- training only for poor performer.

Health or luck may contribute to the better performance of salesman.

Value information in decision making-

Manager need information in order to introduce product and services that create value in the minds of the consumer. In order to make the right kind of the product and to use the right strategy to place the product in the market, the marketer need information from the market. the perception of value in the mind of the consumer is a dynamic concept.

The goal of marketing research is to provide the facts and the direction that managers need to make their more important marketing decision-

Information is useful, but determines value to the organisation is determined by-

a)Ability and willingness to act on the information.

b)The accuracy of the information.

c) The amount of variation in the possible results.

d)The level of risk.

e)The cost of information in the terms of time and money.

(Steps/process of marketing research diagram from notes)

Formulating a research problem-

Research problem- any question that you want answered and any assumption that you want to challenge or investigate can become research problems or research topic for the study.

Sources of research problems- basically most of the research problems around four Ps.

1)People

2) Problems

3) Programs

4)Phenomena

‘P’ may vary from study to study but generally in practice, most of research studies are based upon at least a combination of 2 Ps.

You may select a group of individuals ( a group or a community as such- ‘people’), either to examine the existence of certain issues or problems relating to their lives, to ascertain attitude of a group of people towards an issue (‘problem’), to establish existence of a regularity (‘phenomenon’) or to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention (‘program’).

Exp- the relationship between unemployment and street crime, smoking and cancer or -

Fertility and mortality, which is done on the basis of information collected from individuals, groups, communities or organisation.

Your study population –individuals, groups, & communities- is the people from whom the information is collected. Your subject areas is a ‘problem’, ‘program’ or ‘phenomenon’ about which the information is collected.

Every research study has two aspect-

1- the study population

2- the subject area.

Aspect of study

Study population

Subject areas

About

People

problem

Study of

Individuals, org. groups, communities.

Issues, situations, associations, needs, populations composition profile, etc.

They provide you with the required information or you collect information from or about them.

Information that you-

aspect of study

Subject area

about

Program

Phenomenon

Study of

Content, structure , outcomes, tributes, satisfaction, consumers, etc.

Cause and effect relationship, study of phenomenon itself.

Need to collect to find answers to your research questions.

Consideration in selecting a research problem-

1)Interest- it is the most important consideration for selecting a research problem. Because we know very well that a research problem so much time consuming, involves hard work. So you should select topic according to your interest.

2)Magnitude- you should have proper knowledge about the research process. it is extremely important to select a topic that you can manage with in the time.

3)Measurement of concepts- if you are using a concepts in your study, make sure you are clear-

About its indicators and their measurement.

Exp- if you plan to measure the effectiveness of health promotion program, you must be clear as to what determines effectiveness and how it will be measured. Do not use concepts in your research problem that you are not sure how to measure.

4) Relevance- select a relevant topic according to problems. Make sure that your study will be playing a very vital role in planning formulation.

5) Availability of data- before selecting a topic you should sure that all data will be available.

6) Ethical issues- it is another important consideration in formulating a research problem. When conducting research study, the study population may be adversely affected by some of the questions (directly or indirectly). How it is affect the study and how it can be overcome .

Steps in the formulation of a research problem-

Steps-1) identify a broad field or subject area of interest to you- it is a good idea to think about the field in which you would like to work after graduation. this will help you to find an interesting topic, and one which may be of use to you in future.

Exp- if you are social work student, to work in the area of youth welfare, refugees, or domestic violence, after graduation you might take research in one of these areas.

If you are studying marketing you might be interested in researching consumer behavior.

If you are student of public health, intending to work with patients who have HIV/AIDS, you might like to conduct research on a subject area relating to these.

Step-2) Dissect the broad area in to subareas- you will realise that all the broad areas mentioned above- youth welfare, refugees, domestic violence, consumer behavior, & HIV/AIDS, have many aspects. Take domestic violence for examples. There are many aspects and issues in the area of domestic violence.

Dissecting the subject area of domestic violence in to subareas-

Subject area subareas

Domestic violence

(DV)

Profile of families in which DV occurs

Profile of the victims of DV.

Extent and types of DV.

Impact of DV on the family.

Impact of DV on children.

Service available to the victims of DV.Effectiveness of the services provided to the victims of DV.

Extent of DV in a community etc.

Similarly, you can select any subject area from other fields such as community health or consumer research and go through this dissection process. When you develop subareas from various sources you proceed to the next stage where you select what will become the basis of your inquiry.

Step-3)Select what is of most interest to you- in this case select issues or subareas about which you are passionate. This is because your interest should be the most important determinant for selection. if you decided what interest you must is to start with the process of elimination, go through your list and delete all those subareas in which you -

Are not very interested. once you are confident that what you have selected you are passionate about and can manage, you are ready to go to the next step.

step-4)Raise research question- at this step ask yourself, ‘what is it that I want to find out about in this subareas ‘? In this selected subareas, first list whatever questions you want to find answer to. if you find yourself in a situation where you can think of many questions, too many to be manageable, again go through of elimination, as you did in step3.

Step-5) Formulate objective- formulate your main objectives . Your objectives grow out of your research questions. Some researcher are satisfied only with research questions and do not formulate objective. If you prefer to have only research questions or only objectives, this is fine but keep in mind the requirements for research proposals.

Step-6) Assess your objectives- now examine your objectives to ascertain the feasibility of achieving them through your research Endeavour. Consider resources financial, human, & technical expertise at your disposal.

Step-7) Double-check- go back and give final consideration to whether or not you are sufficiently interested in the study, and have adequate resources to undertake it. Ask yourself, ‘Am I really reliable about this study, ‘ Do I really have enough resources to undertake it,? Answer these question thoughtfully and realistically. If your answer to one of them ‘no’ re-assess your objective.

Steps in formulating a research problem-Alcoholism

Suppose you want to conduct study in the area of alcoholism. In formulating your research problem take the following steps-

Step-1, identify (alcoholism)

Step-2,dissect1)profile of alcoholism, 2)the causes of alcoholism, 3)the process of becoming an alcoholic, 4)the effect of alcoholism on the family, 5)community attitudes towards alcoholism, 6)the effectiveness of a treatment model, etc.

Step-3, selectEffect of alcoholism on the society.

Step-4, raise questions1)What impact has alcoholism on marital relations?,2) how does it affect the various aspect of children’s live?, 3)what are the effects on the family’s finance?

Step-5, formulate objective1)to find out the effects of alcoholism on the family, 2)to ascertain the impact of alcoholism on marital relations. 3)To determine the ways in which alcoholism affects the different aspects of children’s live. 4)To find out the effects of alcoholism on the financial situation of the family,etc.

Step-6, make sure (assess these objectives)1)The work involved, 2)the time available to you , 3)the financial resources at your disposal, 4)your technical expertise in the area.

Step-7, double-check1)That you are really interested in the study, 2)that you agree with the objectives, 3)that you have adequate resources, 4)that you have the technical expertise to undertake the study.

Formulating a research problem-the relationship between fertility and mortality.

Exp- suppose you want to study the relationship between fertility and mortality. Follow these step-

Step-1, identify (fertility and mortality)

Step-2, dissect

(1.trends in fertility and mortality,2.determinanats of fertility behavior, 3.relationship between fertility and mortality,4.impact of health services on mortality.

Step-3, select

relationship between fertility and mortality.

Step-4,raise questions

1.What happen to fertility when mortality declines? 2.what is the time lag between the start of decline in mortality and the start of decline in fertility. 3.what are the factors that contribute to the decline in fertility? Etc.

Step-5, formulate objective

1.To find out the extent of the decline in fertility in relation to the decline in mortality. 2. to ascertain the time lag between the decline in mortality and the decline in fertility. 3. to identify the factors that affect the changes in fertility. 4. to explore the relationship between socioeconomic-demographic feature of the population and the extent of changes in fertility and mortality.

Step-6, make sure (assess the objectives)

1.The work involved, 2. the time available to you ,3. the financial resources at your disposal. 4. your technical expertise in the area.

step-7. double-check

1. That you are really interested in the study, 2. that you agree with the objective, 3. that you have adequate resources, 4. that you have the technical expertise to undertake the study.

Exp- suppose you want to conduct a study in the area of health.

Step-1, identify (health)

Step-2, dissect

1.Health services provided to the community, 2. effectiveness of the services, 3. cost of the services, 4. health insurance scheme available to people, 5. training of health professionals, 6. attitude of the consumers towards health services, 7. community responsiveness in the delivery of health services,etc.

Step-3, select

Community responsiveness in the delivery of health services.

Step,4- raise question

1.How do the health administratirs,planners, service providers and consumers define community responsiveness?.2. how can community responsiveness be achieved?.3.what indicators can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of community responsiveness strategies?

Step-5. formulate objective

(the effectiveness of community responsiveness strategies in the delivery of health services)

1.To find out understanding of the concept of community responsiveness, among health administrators, planners, service providers and service consumers. 2. to identify the strategies to implement the concept of community responsiveness in health services.3.to develop a set of indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used in implementation of community responsiveness.

Step-6,make sure (assess the objective)

1.Work involved, 2. time available to you ,3. financial resources at your disposal,4. your technical expertise in the area.

Step-7, double –check

Ask your self-

1. Are you really interested in the study?

2. Do you agree with the objectives?

3. Do you have adequate resources?

Research design

1. Exploratory research design

2. Descriptive/diagnostic research design

3. Experimental research design

1. Exploratory research design- it depend up on secondary data base. It is the discovery of ideas.

“exploratory design used to define research problems where as the descriptive and experimental design are used to find out solutions to these”

Methods of exploratory study

a. Literature surveys- published/ unpublished data from books, newspaper, govt. documents, trade journals, professional journals.

Exp- why sales of soft drinks declining?

b. Experience surveys- it is include top executives, sales managers, sales man, wholesalers, retailers, consumers, who have used product.

c. Analysis of selected cases- if the researcher goal is to determine the reason for varying sales productivity, in this case it would be determine its best and worst sales people. There were any variation in education or age between highly -

Productive and highly unproductive sales personnel.

d.Depth interview- ask question from consumers-

Why the are purchasing particular products/ services. And talk freely about interest of the subject etc.

e. Focus group- taking idea from the consumers . Combination of consumers.

F.projective technique- consumers have different option to buy products/ services. Responses depend upon the personality of the consumers. The person should be brand loyal and not interested to change their brand.

It is to difficult to predict any consumers behavior based on his personality.

2.Descriptive/diagnostic research design- descriptive research studies are studies which are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or group, etc. most of the social research comes under this category. In this research , the researcher must be able to define clearly, what he wants to measure and must find adequate methods for measuring it along with a clear cut definition of ‘population’ he wants to study.

This design in such studies must be rigid and not flexible and must focus attention on the following a. Formulating the objective of the study (what the study is about and why is it being made?)

b. Designing the methods of data collection (what techniques of gathering data will be adopted?)

c. Selecting the sample (how much material will be needed?)

d. Processing and analysis of data

e. Reporting the findings.

Exp- an investigation of the trends in consumption of soft drinks with respect to socio-economic characteristic such as- age, sex, occupation, family income, education, geographic location, etc.

3. Experimental/ casual research design-

This type of research design based on cause and effect. Make advertisement for increasing. Sales.

Use of experimental design-

a. Product design

b. Packaging design

c. Pricing policies

d. Promotion policies

e. Distribution policies.

1.Exp- market growth of sprite increasing by periodically demand.

2.Exp- which customers group most buy it.

3.Exp- what is the causes for increasing demand/buying in this age group.

Types of experimental research design-

Informal research designa.Before and after without control designb.Before and after with control. c.After only the control design.

Formal experimental designa.Completely randomized designb.Randomized block designc.Factorial designd.Latin square design

Informal experimental research design-

a. Before and after without control design- a single test area are selected and the dependent variable is measured before the introduction of the treatment.

D1 before treatment – 40 lakh unit produce

D2 after treatment - 90 lakh unit produce

30 workers in both condition

Effect of treatment (E)=D2-D1= 50 lakh

b. Before and After with control design- select two areas and the dependent variable is measured in both areas. For identical time period before the treatment .

Woolen textile during the end of winter season in malls-

malls

Experimental units sale before the treatment was rupees, 4 lakh per month. And after the treatment it was Rs. 7 lakh per month.

Discounted sale in some stores (experimental units)

Without discount sale in some stores

Without discount or control group the sale was Rs. 3 lakh, before the start of experiment and Rs. 4.5 lakh after the experiment .

Treatment effect-

experimented sale-before experimented sale

7-4=3Lakh

Sale before the experiment in the control sale after the experiment in the control-

4.5-3=1.5 lakh

3-1.5= 1.5 lakh

c.After only the control design- in this design two group selected – Test area(experimental group) & control area/ group. And the treatment is introduced in the test area only.

Group

No “before” measurement of the groups involved.

One is control group

Second is experimental group

Exp- a small sample of biscuits was mailed to a selected no. of customers in a locality. After one month 25 paisa off on one packet of biscuits, coupon was mailed to each of the customers to whom a free sampled was sent earlier. An equal no. of coupons were also mailed to another customers in similar locality. 400 coupons were redeemed in the experimental group and 250 were redeemed from the control group.

The difference 150 coupons is supposed to be the effect of the free sample.

Formal experimental design- a. Completely randomized design- treatments are

assigned to test units on a randomized basis. Analysis of variance is performed to determine whether these treatment caused significance difference in outcomes-

Exp- a supermarket chain selling washing powder in packets of 1 kg, each . But they don’t know that what price should be charged for a packet.

They test 3 different price per packet Rs,7, Rs, 6.5, Rs, 6

They record the sales by each prices, they randomly assign these prices to the 12 experimental stores 4 of which are using each price.

Week

1

2

3

4

Total

Rupees 7

500

450

300

350

1600

Rupees 6.5

400

450

350

350

1550

Rupees 6

300

350

450

550

1650

b.Randomised block design- in the randomised design the researcher is interested to isolate one of the major factors which influencing the experiment such as store size.

Exp- block first constitutes store having sales turnover in excess Rs, 1000.

Block second store having sales turnover ranging from Rs.600 to Rs. 1000,

Block third stores having sales turnover less than Rs, 600.

No. Of packets of washing powder sold at various prices.

Rs.6.00 Rs. 6.5 Rs. 7.00

Block-store size depending upon sales turnover

1. Rs, 1000 and above per month 500 550 450

2. Rs, 600 to Rs,1000 per month 600 300 250

3. Below Rs, 600 per month 400 350 150

total 1500 1200 850

c.Factorial design- the experimental attempts to measure the influence of interacting variables on the dependent variable. Exp- the increase in sales might be related to income of store buyer and display of washing powder at the store or the change in sales might be associated with improved package design and display at the store’s showroom.

d.Latin square design- the researcher isolate two major variations. It is more complex design it requires more effort, cost, time. It is assume that there is no interaction b/w the factors being measured. It is useful in retail studies, establish control for the effect of store size.(supermarket vs. general store)

Research design

Overall design

Statistical design

Exploratory

Flexible (design must provide opportunity for considering different aspect of the problem)

No-pre-planned design for analysis

Descriptive

Rigid design (design must make enough provision for protection against and must maximise reliability)

Pre-planned design for analysis

Sampling design

Observational design

Operational design

Non-probability sampling design. (judgment sampling)

Unstructured instruments for collection of data

No fixed design about the operational procedure

Probability sampling design. (random sampling)

Structured or well thought instrument for collection of data

Advance decision about operational procedure

Assignment -1

Q.1 define marketing research and distinguish between market research and marketing research.

Q.2 what are the different types of research design? Explain EXPERIMENTAL research design with an examples.

Q.3