Chapter 4

Secondary Data

Focus

• definition, pluses and minuses• internal and external sources• syndicated sources• application

Definition

• data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand

• store patronage project--criteria used for selecting stores– Journal of Retailing– Journal of Marketing– Journal of Marketing Research

• primary data: data originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the research problem

Advantages

• easily accessible• relatively inexpensive• quickly obtained• can provide valuable insights and lay the

foundation for designing studies to collect primary data

Disadvantages

• usefulness to the current problem may be limited– relevance– accuracy (CPI Index)

• currency (Census data)

Internal Secondary Data

• lots of data inside the organization• some ready to use, while others require

processing• e.g., sales, service, warranty, complaints,

letters• not fully exploited by companies• how to exploit: e.g. data base marketing

Data Base Marketing

• capture and track customer profiles and purchase details• use in designing marketing programs• start by transferring raw sales information

– customer name, address, product bought, quantity, price, etc

• overlay with demographic and psychographic data on the customer

• internally generated or bought from external sources• update this information and use over the lifetime of the

relationship• example

External Secondary Sources

• General Business Data– Guides– Directories– Indexes– Nongovernment statistical data

• Government Sources– Census data– other government publications

Computerized Databases

• Online• Internet• Off-line

– Bibliographic databases– Numeric databases– Full-text databases– Directory databases

Syndicated Sources of Data

• collect and sell common pools of data designed to serve information needs shared by a number of clients

• e.g. Nielsen TV Audience information• can be personalized to fit customer needs

Types of Syndicated Data

• Households– Surveys– Mail Diary Panels– Electronic Scanner Services

• Institutions– Retailer and Wholesaler audits– Industrial Firms

• direct inquiries• clipping services• corporate reports

Surveys

• interviews with a large number of respondents using a predesigned questionnaire

• Psychographics and Lifestyles– Yankelovich Monitor– Stanford Research Institute (VALS)– Audits and Surveys - leisure/travel/recreation businesses

• Advertising Evaluation– Starch Readership Survey– TV effectiveness studies

• General Surveys

Uses of Surveys

• market segmentation• establishing consumer profiles• evaluating advertising effectiveness• identifying ad themes

Pluses and Minuses

• primary means of collecting data on motives, attitudes, and preferences

• variety of data can be collected• from specific to general audiences• however, may be subject to response errors• samples may be biased• interviewers/designers have to be well-trained

Diary Panels

• samples of respondents who provide specified information at regular intervals

• respondents record specific behaviors as they occur in a diary

• compensation - gifts, cash, coupons, information

• two types-purchase and media panels

Purchase Panels

• respondents record their purchases• NPD, MRCA, NFO• can be done on the Internet

Media Panels

• electronic devices automatically record viewing behavior • Nielsen Television index• n = 5000 households• supplemented with audilogs (who was watching)• number and % of all TV households viewing a given

show• disaggregated by 10 demographic and socioeconomic

characteristics• useful for media selection

Uses of Diary Panels

• purchase panels– estimate market share– forecast sales– assess brand loyalty– establish profiles– measuring promotional effectiveness

• media panels– establishing advertising rates– selecting appropriate programming– profiling viewers

Pluses/ Minuses

• can provide longitudinal data• more and higher quality data• eliminates recall/human errors• however, lack of representativeness• maturation bias• high rate of attrition

Electronic Scanner Services

• Data obtained by passing merchandise over a laser scanner, which reads the UPC code from the packages

• linked to current price of the merchandise stored in the computer

• Volume Tracking Data• Scanner Diary Panels• Scanner Diary Panels with Cable TV

Uses

• tracking sales, price, distribution and promotion data

• testing new products, repositioning existing ones• making advertising and pricing decisions

Pluses/Minuses

• not subject to any biases• in-store variables are part of the data set• current and obtained quickly• provide a highly controlled test environment• however, may not be representative• quality may be suspect• no data on underlying motives and attitudes

Retailer and Wholesaler Audit

• Audit - a formal examination and verification of product movement carried out by examining physical records or analyzing inventory

• compensation- reports, cash• Nielsen Retail Index

– biweekly audit of supermarkets, drugstores, and mass merchandisers

– 11350 retail stores• Wholesale audits monitor warehouse withdrawals

Uses

• size of the total market and distribution by geographical unit

• brand shares and competitive activity• identifying shelf space allocation and inventory

problems• analyzing distribution problems• developing sales potential and forecasts• promotional strategy tracking

Pluses/Minuses

• provide accurate data on movement at both retail and wholesale levels

• by brand, geographical area, and type of outlet• however, their coverage is limited• data may not be timely (lag of 8 weeks)• data cannot be linked to consumer characteristics,

advertising expenditures and other marketing efforts

Industry Services

• provide syndicated data on companies• on the basis of data gathered from direct inquiries,

clipping services and corporate reports• Dun and Bradstreet Market Identifiers• Fortune’s Input-Output Matrix reports• McGraw Hill’s Dodge Reports

Uses

• Sales management– identifying prospects– defining territories– setting sales quotas

• Advertising Strategy• Market segmentation

Pluses/Minuses

• only source for industrial products• however, limited in content and quality

Single-Source Data

• Combining data from several sources can add to the usefulness of secondary data

• Single source research follows a person’s TV, reading and shopping habits

• V8 example

Computer Mapping

• combines geography, demography with a company’s sales or other data

• color-coded maps• where are customers for product XYZ located? • Useful in rollout of a new product