The Marketing Research Process an Overview

7/27/2019 The Marketing Research Process an Overview

1/34

Welcome to Powerpoint slides

for

Chapter 2

The Marketing

Research Process:

An Overview

Marketing ResearchText and Cases

by

Rajendra Nargundkar


2/34

Slide 1

A marketing research project starts with an information

need. It ends with an actionable report or presentation or

both. In between are various steps to ensure that the

marketing research project achieves what it set out to do.

A diagrammatic representation of the Marketing

Research Process is shown in the figure below

1. Information 4. Plan and do

Need Felt Secondary Research

2. Define the 5. Plan and do

Research Primary Research

Objective

3. Design the 6. Tabulation

Research and Analysis

Methodology

7. Report Writing

and Presentation

8. Marketing Action

We will now consider each of these steps in detail


3/34

Slide 2 Information Need

Consider, for example, an expensive advertising campaign

which has been running on television for 3 weeks. It may

not have produced the expected jump in sales in some of

the major sales territories. The client, let us assume, is a

shaving blades manufacturer.

The marketing manager has to decide whether to

discontinue the campaign, or change it, or reconfirm that the

ad campaign is good. If the ad campaign is good, it may be

some other marketing variables such as the price or

distribution, or strong competitive promotions that are the

reasons for sales not being upto expectations.

One way to find out is to do marketing research. Therefore,

the marketing manager has identified an information need ,and it could be fulfilled by a marketing research study.

There could be a second marketing manager who is

considering the launch of a new brand of deodorant in the

market. He wants to know how to position the brand in the

market, and get a rough estimate of what the market sizewould be in the chosen segments. He has an information

need, which could be filled by doing a consumer survey.


4/34

The risk involved in taking a marketing decision withinadequate information, should be weighed against the

cost of getting the information, and, taking a better-

informed decision. Success depends on many factors, and

information is only one of them.

Of course, any need for information must be examined

in terms of the cost of obtaining the required

information. Also, the cost of not having this

information should be estimated.

A third marketing manager heads a popular music

channel on T.V. He wants to know which of his video

disc jockeys is the most popular, and which show is the

most watched. He could commission a study by an

independent marketing research agency to do just that.

Slide 2contd...

The risk involved in taking a marketing decision withinadequate information, should be weighed against the

cost of getting the information, and, taking a better-

informed decision. Success depends on many factors,

and information is only one of them.


5/34

Slide 3 Defining The Research Objective

If we do have an information need that can be met by doing

marketing research, the next step would be to define the

Research Objective in terms of that information need.

For example, a study could have as its objective, the

determination of customer satisfaction with a brand of new

frost-free refrigerator launched by ourcompany.

A research objective can be specified broadly, or narrowly.

One common pitfall in the field of marketing research is to

specify too many objectives for a single marketing research

project. It produces a mass of data that is not really needed

at that point of time.

In most cases, about four or five objectives are adequate todo a useful marketing research study.

Every objective translates into a few questions on aquestionnaire, and there is a limit to how many questions a

respondent can honestly answer before his interest level

goes down.

Sometimes, we call the research objective by another name

the research problem. Broadly, these two terms can beused interchangeably.

Whatever the terminology used, the research should end up

with useful information that enables a marketing manager or

entrepreneur to make a better decision. If a report is meant

to lie on a shelf, it is not really marketing research, but a

waste of resources.


6/34

Research Designs: Exploratory, Descriptive and Causal

A research design provides the framework to be used as aguide in collecting and analysing data. But it is not necessary

that a particular research design is always the best. Experiencewith different research designs will generally provide theresearcher with the capability to match a research problem withan appropriate design.

For example, in a study for a new English daily newspaper

launched in Bangalore in the eighties, it was found that thesales were much below expectations. A survey was proposedBut as a complement to the survey, the author's team at aresearch agency proposed a Content Analysis of all the majordailies in Bangalore.

This method analysed the coverage of various categories ofnews such as politics, sports, regional, national, city-basednews etc. by the client's newspaper and the competitors.

This gave vital insights to the publishers of the paper, and overa period, it became successful. This is just an example to show

that sometimes unusual research designs do pay off.

Broadly speaking, we can classify research designs into thefollowing three kinds -

.Exploratory Research

.Descriptive Research

.Causal Research

Slide 4


7/34

Exploratory Research

It is generally used to clarify thoughts and opinions about the

research problem or the respondent population, or to provide

insights on how to do more conclusive (causal) research.

An example could be a chocolate manufacturer wanting to

identify the ten most important variables his consumers use to

decide on whether to buy a chocolate brand.

The results of this exploratory study could provide him withinputs for a second study using Factor Analysis techniques(discussed in Part 2 of this book) to reduce the ten variablesinto a smaller set of FACTORS.

Another example of exploratory research is a focus group

discussion among housewives to debate the future ofconvenience foods in India. It may be used to throw up ideasabout new products, or suggest modifications to existingproducts through a free-wheeling discussion.One major application of exploratory research is to generatehypotheses for further studies.

The methods used in exploratory studies can range from theusual surveys, to focus groups, to consultations with experts inthe field, to analysis of selected cases. An example of the lastmay be to study three of a company's best salespeople, andthree of the worst, to try and figure out what drives the salesof the products, and their motivations. This could help indesigning a study of customers to find out more from them.

Slide 5


8/34

Descriptive Research

Most marketing research is of this type. Typically, descriptive

tudies are either (1) longitudinal or (2) cross-sectional.

Longitudinal studies

These generally take the form of a sample which is studied

over a period of time - from a few months to a few years. An

example is a panel. A Panel is a sample of respondents chosen

from the defined target population for the study. This sample

could be of consumers, retailers or of any other type.

A consumer panel could be used to study consumption of

products/brands over a period of time. It could also be used to

measure viewership of T.V. shows, or readership of magazines.

A retail store audit is a variation of the panel, with data beingcollected from retail stores on the products/brands being

tocked, shelf space allotted, sales and promotions etc.

Panel data has the advantage of enabling comparisons at

different points of time For example, the effect of a change in

price, pack design, or other elements of the marketing mix canbe easily measured by comparing the sales or market share

before and after the change.

This is not so easy to do in typical survey data, because it is

cross-sectional in nature, for only one point in time.

Slide 6


9/34

One other advantage of panels is that if a quick check

on something is needed, sample selection time can besaved by approaching panel members. In these days of

the internet it may be possible to get a quick response

to a short survey of panel members in a matter of a

couple of days.

There is of course a disadvantage to panel data. Panels

suffer from a selection bias. Some people are more

likely to agree to be on a panel than others, because it

needs a commitment in terms of time and effort to

regularly record and report data. This selection bias

may make panels non-representative of the targetpopulation.

In some data mining applications, the analysis may

resemble longitudinal studies, because data from the

same customers or retailers over a period of time may

be analysed for patterns of behaviour etc.

Slide 6contd...


10/34

Cross-sectional design

t is the most commonly used in marketing research. This is aone-shot research study at a given point of time, and consistsof a sample (cross-section) of the population of interest. The

ypical market survey is of this type.

Its advantages are that it gives a good overall picture of theposition at a given time

t can cover many variables of interest, and is not affected by

he movement of elements in the sample, because otherelements can be substituted for them (at least in consumeresearch).

The disadvantages could be that a cross-sectional study tendso rely too much on numbers, can be affected by poor quality

of interviewers or supervisors, and tends to view thepopulation in terms of too many generalisations - the "average"consumer's views about anything, which may cloud thendividuals or segments among the population.

To some extent, the last mentioned problem can be overcomewith certain techniques of analysis. For example, we can

analyse data by town or region or by other segments to preventunnecessary aggregation which is misleading.

On the whole, though, cross-sectional research appears to bemost preferred by market researchers and their clients onaccount of its simplicity and understandability. It is also quiteflexible in nature, and can take care of simple analysis as well

as complex statistical methods.

Slide 7


11/34

Causal Research Designs

In research, we can never be completely sure that a

particular variable (say X) influences another (say

Y). But a causal design seeks to establish causation

as far as possible, by employing controls and

conditions under which we can state with reasonable

confidence whether or not Y is affected by X.

In addition to X and Y, of course, there may be other

variables which could affect the relationship

between X and Y. How to treat the other variables

during the analysis of the effect of X on Y alsoforms part of the causal designs.

Causal designs differ from descriptive designs in

their greater probability of establishing causality.

The reason for this is that causal designs are similar

to experiments done in a lab, where we know whatgoes in, what changes are made, and what results

from the changes. Causal designs are also known as

Experimental Designs, for this reason.

Slide 8


12/34

Designing The Research Methodology

Every research study starts with some information

need. Sometimes, the information required can be

collected entirely from published sources or internal

records. This is called secondary research.

It is more usual, however, that we will need tocollect data from primary sources customers,

buyers, users, dealers or some other respondents.

The major parts of the research methodology that

need designing are

.Research MethodSecondary and Primary

.Sampling Plan

.Questionnaire Design (if applicable)

.Field Work Plan

.Analysis Plan

Usually, the first thing one has to decide is the

method to be used for data collection.

Slide 9


13/34

Data Collection Methods

It is possible to collect data from respondents by many

different methods. The major methods commonly used

are

.Survey

.Observation.Experimentation

.Qualitative Techniques

.Other specialised techniques

Quantitative methods are generally more popular than

qualitative techniques in marketing research studies.Also, the survey technique is more popular than other

techniques.

Slide 10


14/34

Survey

There are different ways a survey can be carried out. It

can be done by telephone, by mail, or in person. In

present times, it can even be done by email using theinternet. Each of these has its own merits and demerits.

For example, personal interviews have the advantage

that questions can be explained to respondents, and

facial reactions or body language can be observed.

Telephonic surveys have the advantage of low cost. But

facial reactions cannot be observed.

Internet surveys are quite new, but may have the same

disadvantages that telephonic surveys have. It isdifficult to ensure that all target respondents have an

opportunity for selection in the sample.

For example, every potential respondent for the survey

may not be using the e-mail, or even a computer.

Therefore, the e-mail survey does not represent a truesample of the target population for many products or

services. To that extent, the results may be wrong,

compared to the errors in a door-to-door personal

interview done with scientific probability sampling.

Slide 11


15/34

But if some amount of error is acceptable and

speed is of the essence, an e-mail survey or a

telephone survey would be excellent methods. Atraditional mail survey would be much slower, by

comparison.

At present, personal interviews are the preferred

method for doing surveys in India. Telephone

and mail surveys are used in a minority of caseswhere they are justified by the target population

and the objective of the research.

Slide 11 contd...


16/34

Observation

Sometimes, Observation, or Experimentation could be the

method of choice. Observation is a technique where the

consumers behaviour is recorded, usually without his

knowledge.

For example, a video camera in a retail store can be used to

record a customers behaviour while she buys a garment.

If it is a full service store, like many Indian stores, she couldask for a particular brand or brands, look for specific colours,

or fabric, or prices etc. in a particular sequence. Her facial

reactions or eagerness or lack of interest when a piece is

displayed to her can be recorded along with the garment.

Viewed later, this video tape can be interpreted for thepurchase factors, purchase behaviour, brand preference, price

and colour preference, and matched with the ladys age and

complexionif she bought for herself.

The obvious advantage of this technique is that it is actual

consumer behaviour that gets recorded, rather than their

statements of purchase intention. Therefore, we get more

accurate information.

If a video recording is too expensive, an audio recording is

possible, or even a data collector in person can observe andrecord his findings on paper.

Slide 12


17/34

Experimentation

This is the third major technique in quantitative

research. This involves more control over the cause

and effect, when compared to a survey.

In experiments, we try to measure the effect of one or

more variables by changing the level of some variables,

and measuring the effects. For example, if an

advertisement is released, and we measured the Brand

Awareness of the advertised brand among a sample oftarget respondents, we would be doing an experiment.

In the same way, a product test could be designed as an

experiment, with three different variants of the product

being tested on three randomly chosen sets of

respondents from a target population. The modern

method of Simulated Test Marketing (STM) is usually a

design which can be termed an experiment.

A detailed discussion of experimental techniques with

numerical examples appears in the Chapter titledANOVA.

Slide 13


18/34

Qualitative Techniques

Sometimes, the research objective calls for more indirectmethods of questioning, either because normalquantitative surveys are inadequate, or inappropriate.

In such cases, qualitative methods, which probe the mindsof respondents may be used. Here, the emphasis may beon free-wheeling interviews with open-ended,unstructured questions such as What do you expect froma refrigerator?,What needs does it fulfill? orWhat do

you feel when a friend shoots an envious glance at yourcar?

Other methods of qualitative research include the WordAssociations where a respondent is asked to think of aword which comes to mind when he thinks of a brand.Other variations include associating each brand with a

person or celebrity, or an animal, etc.

The major requirement for using qualitative techniques isthat we require a behavioural specialist such as a

psychologist or sociologist to analyse the findings. Thesample sizes in qualitative studies are usually small, and

analysis and interpretation is not as easy as it is inquantitative studies. If done by non-experts, qualitativeresearch can be completely misleading.

Qualitative techniques can also be used in combinationwith quantitative techniques to gain better insights into

consumer mindsets.

Slide 14


19/34

Slide 15

An example of qualitative research is a study done

by TVS Suzuki, among scooter and moped users in

1989. (cited in The Catalyst, Business Line, July 10,1989).

The research objective was to assess the impact of a

newly launched scooterette from Bajaj on the market

for TVS mopeds, and to try and find out what people

expected TVS to do in response.

The method used was focus groups, who discussed

on motivations behind purchase of mopeds and

scooters.

Projective techniques were also used with

respondents being asked to put themselves in place of

existing moped brands and talk about themselves as

if they were the brands.

The concept of a low cost scooterette was thenexposed to the participants, and their interest levels

appeared high. This research formed one of the bases

for TVS to design and launch the SCOOTY.


20/34

Specialised Techniques

There are three specialised techniques, used commonly b

marketing researchers

.A Consumer Panel is a sample of consumers chosen fo

keeping a record of what they buy in a given period or wha

T.V. shows they watch in a given periodThe special feature o

this is that the sample remains the same for a year or si

months

.Retail Audit : Many companies routinely do a retail aud

and publish the results (at least partially). Detailed reports ar

available for anyone to buy and use. A retail audit measure

what brands are sold and their quantity sold in a particula

period. It could be done weekly. In India, ORG is a compan

which routinely performs retail audits.

Both regional and national audits can be done. Usually, suc

audits are best done by a third party (independent agency), t

reduce chances of bias, rather than the marketing company.

Sometimes, similar studies are undertaken by the company foits own brands at either consumer level or retail level.

.T.V. Audience Measurements : These days, millions o

rupees are spent in ads on T.V. It is important for the markete

to know who is watching the T.V. shows on which he ha

advertised. Or, to plan for a particular audience profile.

Slide 16


21/34

There are now commonly used technologies which

record who is watching a given channel and show at

any given time, for upto a week. These are called

Peoplemeters, and are available in India for about

Rs. 40,000/- a piece. Indian Market Research

companies such as IMRB and ORG-MARG/A.C.Nielsen have already started using them, and their

use is likely to grow. The branded names for the

peoplemeters in India are TAM and INTAM.

The new meters have changed the advertising

patterns of many T.V. channels and individualshows after they were introduced in India.

Slide 16contd...


22/34

The next stage in a marketing research study, after the

primary research method has been decided upon, is the plan

for

.Sampling

.Field Work

.Analysis

These are probably the most important in a study involvingprimary research, as the credibility and the accuracy of a

study is dependent on these stages.

Sampling Plan

This is the statement of what will be the sample composition

and size. This is the most critical of all decisions in the

marketing research process, because we are usually trying to

make a statement about the target population based on our

study of the sample.

For instance, if we find that 50% of our sample is favourably

disposed towards Brand A, we are likely to use it as a

benchmark for the entire target market, give or take a few

percentage points (due to errors). But in order to make the

sample representative of the population, a lot of care has to be

taken by the researcher.

Slide 17


23/34

In general, two precautions should be taken to ensure a

good sample (good means representative).

.Use a probabilistic sampling technique which is not

biased.

.Try and divide the population to be sampled into

segments or strata based on relevant parameters such

as users/non-users, or classes based on age, income,etc. Then, ensure that each segment gets represented

adequately in the final sample. This also applies to

studies that are done in multiple cities. If a study is

done in twenty cities, and if analysis is required by city

(i.e. for each city separately), then the sample size for

each city must be adequate for such analysis.

Generally, formulas can be used to determine sample

sizes, but they suffer from some limitations. For a more

detailed discussion, please refer to the chapter titled

Sampling MethodsTheory and Practice.

It is usually a blend of theory, practical limitations and

experience which generates the best sampling plan in any

given research situation.

Slide 18


24/34

Field Work Plan

This is clearly linked to the sampling plan. Once

the sampling centres (cities, towns, etc.) are

decided on, and the sample sizes are determined

for each, the next step is to plan on the

following

.Who

.When

The first question is who will do the field work

for collecting data. Field work assumes that we

are collecting data from respondents by going to

the field that is, homes, offices, shops,

dealerships, etc.

Slide 19


25/34

Slide 20

Before doing field work, whoever is going out in the

field needs to have an idea of what is to be collectedand its format of recording. In the traditional format of

personal interviews (which is still the most popular

format in India), a questionnaire is used by the field

workers in most cases.

Sometimes, a checklist is used instead, if the situationdemands it. We will assume here that the

questionnaire has been developed. A detailed

discussion of how to develop a good questionnaire

appears in the chapter titled Questionnaire Design a

Customer-centric Approach.

The second question is when. In many studies

carried out nationally, it is not possible always to

simultaneously cover all centres, on the same days.

There could be logistical problems for supervisors, or

there may be difficulties in recruiting adequate fieldworkers etc. But it is desirable to have a well-planned

schedule so that all field work is completed in an

orderly fashion, and cross-checks can be established.


26/34

Briefing

For all important studies, the research executive in

charge should personally brief the field supervisor (the

person who will actually supervise the team of field

workers during the data collection).

This briefing session is conducted after recruiting field

workers, and ends with a practice round of mock

interviews and questions from field workers on any

special difficulties they may encounter in locatingrespondents, asking certain questions, etc.

The mock interviews and the briefing session is

designed to explain and clarify to the field workers

how to go about their data collection task. In most

studies, temporary field workers are recruited on adaily wage basis and paid on the basis of a minimum

number of complete, usable questionnaires filled up.

The number of field workers required in each centre is

usually estimated based on the sample size required,

the locations where the sample can be found, the

number of supervisors available, and the time limit for

completion of field work. These are communicated by

the research executive in charge to the field

supervisors in his branch offices, who generally recruit

the field workers.

Slide 21


27/34

Debriefing

It is important that any problems on the field get

reported to the field supervisor or the research

executive, and solutions found quickly. These problemsmay include difficulty in locating target sample units, or

non-cooperation in answering some questions, or

difficulties in comprehension.

To minimise any problems the field staff may encounter,

a debriefing session is usually held at the end of the firstdays field work in each new centre (location). The field

staff reports on the work progress, and problems faced

in the field, if any. Solutions are thought of by the

research executive or field supervisor, and implemented

for the remaining part of the study.

Some of these problems are recognised even earlier if a

pilot study of a small sample is performed, before

starting regular field work. Alternatively, the first days

or half days field work could be considered as a pilot

study, and not included in the survey results.

Slide 22


28/34

Analysis Plan and Expected Outcome

Analysis is based on the answers given to questions. It

is important to have an analysis plan in mind even

before going to the field with a questionnaire.

Regrettably, this is not always given the attention it

deserves by the researcher. It is sometimes assumed that

it can be done later, or that all possible analyses can be

done anyway, so why bother to plan the analysis inadvance. But for many reasons, it is vital to do so.

A very powerful reason is that the sample size gets

reduced, if the analysis is done on parts of the sample.

For instance, in a sample of 200 respondents, there

could be 16 combinations of income (4 groups) and age

(4 age groups). If analysis is performed for a

combination of age and income, we get a 16- celled

output matrix. Even assuming a uniform distribution of

the sample into these 16 cells, each cell only gets a

sample size of 100 / 16 or 12.5 persons. This may notbe good enough to draw conclusions about the given

Age-Income combination.

Slide 23


29/34

But if it is known in advance that we will analyse the

data by this combination, we can increase the sample

sizes in each cell to say, 20 or 30 by incurring marginaladditional cost. This cannot be done easily at the

analysis stage, after all data has been collected and

tabulated.

In certain cases, special statistical procedures or tests

have to be performed. For example, in a procedurecalled multidimensional scaling (covered in a later

chapter), the questionnaire has to be constructed in a

particular way. Otherwise, it is not possible to do the

required analysis.

For these reasons, we must know in advance, at least the

types of analyses we want to perform.

Slide 23 contd...


30/34

There are normally two very basic kinds of analyses in a

marketing research study. These are

.Simple Tabulation

.Cross Tabulation

Simple Tabulation involves counting the number of

esponses in each category for a question, and putting it in a

frequency table form. This can be used to computepercentages, by dividing the number of responses by the

ample size. This is done for each question in the

questionnaire.

Cross Tabulation: This is the result of counting

imultaneously, answers to two or more different questions ona questionnaire. For example, one question may ask howfrequently respondents buy a soap brand. Answers may varyfrom Once a Month to Thrice a Month.

Another question on the same questionnaire may ask for their

eaction to the fragrance of the soap. We may want to crossabulate the responses to these two questions. How many ofhe people who liked the fragrance bought once a month, and

how many of them bought twice or thrice a month? Similarly,how many who did not like the fragrance bought it once, twiceor thrice a month?

Slide 24


31/34

While doing cross-tabulation, it is also necessary that

the two questions (variables) that we are cross-

tabulating must be related to each other. For example,

in the above example, it is possible that the frequency

of soap purchase is a function of family size, rather

than the liking for its fragrance.

It is possible to compute cross tabulation data for any

two questions on a questionnairebut all of these maynot be meaningful.

Expected Outcome

One good way to think about expected outcome is to

prepare a blank table of output, particularly for anycross tabulations we may be interested in.

This can be done after the questionnaire is designed,

but before the field work is done. This helps to

anticipate some of the problems in sampling and

corrective action can be taken easily to adjust sample

sizes on the field.

Slide 25


32/34

Budget and Cost Estimation

There are two or three basic parameters which provide an

estimate of how much a study is going to cost.

Sample sizeHow difficult to find the sampling units (respondents) are, and

heir geographical dispersion.

Who will do the field work

For example, if hired field workers are doing the field work, a

tudy costs much less per respondent, than if a researchexecutive conducts the interviews. In some industriamarketing research, a qualified research executive may in facdo the field work himself. But in most consumer product oervice studies, it is hired temporary field workers who do it. Inuch cases, sample size is multiplied by the estimated cost per

espondent to arrive at a total cost estimate.

This estimate is modified by the number of centregeographical dispersion) for the study, and the difficulty inocating required respondents.

For example, locating a 2-wheeler owner for a given brand of 2wheeler (say, a Suzuki or Honda), is much easier than locatingan owner of a luxury carsay, a Mercedes. Additional cities fohe survey may entail travel and communication cost for theesearch executive and supervisory staff in addition to norma

cost of field work.

Slide 26


33/34

Presentation, Report and Marketing Action

After the tabulation and analysis is completed, the

next step is usually a presentation to the sponsor of

the study. This includes frequency tables and cross

tabulations in percentage terms, and special analyses

if any. It also includes a summary of major findings,

and some recommendations. If any additional cross

tabulations are required, the client or sponsor usuallyrequests them at this stage.

A formal report usually follows the presentation.

This should normally contain the following :

.Executive Summary

.Table of Contents

.Introduction

.Research Objectives

.Research Methodology-Sample Design

Field Work Plan and Dates

-Analysis / Expected Outcome Plan

-Questionnaire Copy (as Annexure)

Slide 27


34/34

.Analysis

-Simple Tabulation-Cross Tabulation

-Any Special Analysis

.Findings

.Limitations

.Recommendations for Action.Bibliography / List of References

Based on the report, the client

normally will take some marketing

actions. This is the expected outcomeof any marketing research study.

Slide 27 contd...

Documents

The Marketing Research Process an Overview