CHAPTER EIGHT

© 2000 South-Western College Publishing 1

CHAPTER EIGHT

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND

MARKETING RESEARCH

Prepared by Jack GiffordMiami University (Ohio)


MARKETING DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Accurate and timely information is the lifeblood of marketing decision making.

Good information can help maximize an organization’s sales and efficiently use scarce company resources


DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS)

A marketing DSS is an interactive, flexible computerized information systems that enables managers to obtain and manipulate information as they are making decisions Interactive Flexible Discovery-oriented Accessible From data to

information, knowledge and wisdom


DATA-BASED MARKETING

The fastest-growing use of DSS is for database marketing The creation of large data files related to

specific existing or potential customers These relational data bases can be

combined with other internal or external data sources to allow data mining from data warehouses


THE ROLE OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Any discussion of the importance of information to the marketer must include a discussion of marketing research.

Marketing research allows managers to make decisions based on objective, systematically gathered data rather than on intuition.

Marketing research is the process of planning, collecting and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision


THE THREE ROLES OF MARKETING RESEARCH


DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MARKETING RESEARCH AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

MARKETING RESEARCH DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

Problem-oriented Continuously channels information about environmental changes into the organization

MR is part of a DSS


MANAGEMENT USES OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Improving the quality of decision-making Tracing problems Keeping existing customers Understanding the ever-changing marketplace


WHAT IS GOOD MARKETING RESEARCH

What is marketing research? Systematic and objective

process Generation of new information For use in making marketing

decisions


MARKETING RESEARCH

STAGES IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Problem/ Opportunity Identification

Planning Research Design Selecting a Sample

Collecting DataAnalyzing Data

Conclusions and Report Following Up /Feedback


THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP ONEProblem/Opportunity Identification and Formulation

Usually occur due to internal or external changes in a companies environment

Problems are often carefully disguised opportunities

The marketing research problem is information-oriented

The marketing research objective is to provide insightful decision-making information


THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP ONEProblem/Opportunity Identification and Formulation

A valuable resource throughout the research process, but particularly in the problem/opportunity identification stage is secondary data Secondary data are data previously collected for any purpose

other than the one at hand. Secondary data saves time and money Help formulate problem statement


TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA

Internal company information

Market research firms Trade associations Commercial publications National research

bureaus, professional associations, foundations

Government


THE NEW AGE OF SECONDARY INFORMATION - THE INTERNET AND

WORLD WIDE WEB Browsers World Wide Web Search engines Newsgroups Bulletin boards Smart agents Databases on CD-ROMs


THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP TWOResearch Design and Gathering Primary Data

Research design Which research questions must be

answered? How and when the data will be gathered? How the data will be analyzed?

Primary data: information collected for the first time Expensive and time consuming


Primary DataSurvey research

Telephone interviews Central-location phone In-bound telephone surveys

Computer disk by mail survey

Computer assisted... Personal-interviewing Self-interviewing

Mall intercept interview In-home interview





(continued) Internet surveys

•Advantages•Speed & low cost•Creation of panels for efficiency•Good for asking only a few questions•Reach large numbers of people•Graphic & audio capabilities

•Disadvantages•Non-representativeness•Security issues•Unrestricted sampling

•Screened vs recruited samples




(continued) Cyber focus

groups

•Advantages•Speed•Cost effectiveness•Broad geographic scope•Accessibility•Screen names (anonymity)

•Disadvantages•Non-representativeness•Group dynamics may not work•Unable to observe & hear participants



Questionnaire design

Open-ended questions

Closed-ended questions

Scaled response questions

Do you eat bagels at least once a week?

Describe what you like about bagels.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the bagel you just ate?



Observation research Mystery shoppers One-way mirror

observations Traffic counters Passive people meters

Experiments Marketplace / Field Laboratory


What is a sample? What is a census? Who should be sampled? Size of sample? How is sample selected?

Probability or non probability sampling method?

Measurement error?

THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP THREESelecting a Sample


THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEPS FOUR AND FIVECollecting and Analyzing Data

Stage Four: Collecting Data Minimize errors The pretest Use of field service firms

Stage Five: Analyzing the Data Editing ---> Coding Statistical and qualitative

analysis Cross-tabulation

© 2000 South-Western College Publishing 23Chapter 9

THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP SIXPreparing and Presenting the Report

Stage Six: Drawing conclusions and Preparing the Report Written and oral Executive summary Presentation quality Did it…

Meet the objectives established in the proposal?

Was the correct methodology followed?

Are the conclusions and recommendations logical

© 2000 South-Western College Publishing 24Chapter 9

THE RESEARCH PROCESS: STEP SEVENFollowing up and feedback

Were the recommendations followed? Why or why not?

Did the research finding suggest additional areas to explore?

Were there weaknesses in the research that can be avoided next time?


WHEN SHOULD MARKETING RESEARCH BE CONDUCTED?

Value of research information exceeds the cost of generating the information

When time permits conducting quality research

Where there is a high level of uncertainty

CHAPTER EIGHT

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