Market ResearchMBA 53-113-01Course 1

Market research What the pupose Major applications Major forms How is it managed

1- What is the purpose of market research

It helps in reducing commercial risks Delays a decision Protect managers Comfort managers in their own decisions

2- Major usages

Measures the size of a market Identifies the structure of a market Benchmarking (on going and ad hoc)

Market size SWOT analysis Product positioning

2- Major usages (cont.) Positioning on each of the four P

Attitudes Perceptions Preferences Intentions

Examples: advertising pre-test, satisfaction,, price sensitivity

Market tests and experimentation

An example: Webperform

3- The major forms

Exploratory Secondary data Qualitative research

Descriptive Surveys Electronic data

Causal Experimentation

The type of data

Primary data refers to information that is developed or gathered by the

researcher specifically for the research project at hand.

Secondary data has previously been gathered by someone other than the

Researcher and/or for some other purpose than the research project at hand.

Internal data refers to data that has been collected within the firm.

External data is obtained from outside the firm.

The sources we have

PRIMARY SECONDARY

INTERNAL

Employees. internal database different types of documents and reports.

EXTERNAL

Market; External public categories; Competitors.

Published materials; Syndicated materials; External database

The most delicate phase: Problem definition

Problem Definition Stating the objectives Decision Rules (Statistical and

managerial) Methodologies Diffusing the process and the results

© Jacques Nantel et HEC Montréal Hiver 2005

Milestones in defining the problem

Asses the background of the company, product,

market

Understand the decision maker’s circumstances,

objectives, and resources

Clarify the symptoms of the problem

Pinpoint suspected causes of the problem

Specify actions that may alleviate the problem

Speculate on anticipated consequences of these

actions

Identify the manager’s assumptions about the

consequences

Assess the adequacy of information on hand

4- Managing the research process

Internal vs. external Ad Hoc or on going Who is in command? What does it cost?

Inside the Marketing Information System

Marketing Mangement

Process

Analysis

Planning

Implementing

Control

Need for information evaluation

Marketing Research

Marketing Decision

Support System

Internal Report System

Marketing Intelligence

Information dissemination

ENVIRONMENT

Where does it fits

Vice-présidence ventes et marketing

Direction ventesDirection gestion

de produitsDirectionpublicité

DirectionRecherche

Région (produit)1

Région (produit)2

Région (produit)3

Produit(s) X

Produit(s) Y

Produit(s) Z

Publicité

Promotion

Marketing direct

SIM

Chef de projets

Chef de projets

An idea of the industry

The growth

21.5

18.9

6.37.0

8.710.2

11.9

15.3 15.9 16.6

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Major players worldwideRank Companies Ownership Revenue

(Million US$)

2004

1 VNU N.V. / AC Nielsen Holland 4,702

2 Taylor Nelson Sofres England 1,733

3 IMS Health Inc. United States 1,569

4 Kantar Group England 1,365

5 GfK AG Germany 835

6 Ipsos Group S.A. France 753

7 Information Resources Inc. United States 573

8 Synovate England 499

9 NOP World England 409

10 Arbitron Inc. United States 297

11 INTAGE Japan 206

12 Opinion Research Corp. United States 196

13 Harris Interactive Inc. United States 172

14 NetRatings Inc. - 59

15 Greenfield Online Inc. - 44

US Players

Research versus advertising