Marketing Research Design

Overview

Learning Objectives

To understand what research design is and why it is significant.

To learn how exploratory research helps the researcher gain a feel for the problem.

To know the fundamental questions addressed by descriptive research and different types of descriptive research.

To explain what is meant by casual research and to describe four types of experimental research designs.

To know the different types of test marketing and how to select test market cities.

Research Design

Marketing research methods vary from focus groups to stimulated test markets to large, nationally representative sample surveys.

Research design is a set of advance decisions that make up the master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analysing data.

Each research problem is unique. However, There are similarities among research problems to allow

us to use the best plan to solve the problem.

There are basic research designs that can be successfully matched to a given research problem.

Three Types of Research Design

Research designs are classified into three categories: exploratory, descriptive, and causal. refer: Table 1.0

Choice depends largely on objectives of the research.

Research does not necessarily follow the order of exploratory, descriptive and casual designs.

Caution about thinking about research in a step-by-step process.

Three Types of Research Design

Research Objective Appropriate design

To gain background information, to define terms, EXPLORATORY

To clarify problems and hypotheses, to establish

Research priorities.

To describe and measure marketing phenomena at DESCRIPTIVE

A point in time.

To determine causality, to make “if-then” statements CAUSAL

Table 1.0

Three Types of Research Design

Exploratory Research: is most commonly unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to gain background information about the general nature of the research problem.

Exploratory research is systematic and flexible and allows the researcher to investigate whatever sources he or she desires.

Such research may consist of going to the library and reading published secondary data; of asking questions, salespersons acquaintances for their opinions about a company, its products and services, and prices; or of simply observing everyday company practices.

Three Types of Research Design

Exploratory Research is used in a number

of situations:

1. Gain background information- When very little is

known about the problem or when the problem has

not been clearly formulated.

Firms having an MIS in which a review of internal

information tracked over time can provide useful

insights into the background of the company, brand,

sales territories etc.

Three Types of Research Design

Exploratory Research is used in a number

of situations:

2. Define Terms – Exploratory research helps to

define terms and concepts.

What is 3M’s image? The researcher learns that

“image” is composed of several components –

innovative products, friendly sales/customer service,

good corporate citizen and so on.

Three Types of Research Design

Exploratory Research is used in a number

of situations:

3. Clarify Problems and Hypotheses – Exploratory

research allows the researcher to define the problem

more precisely and to generate a hypotheses for the

upcoming study.

i.e.: banks have three types of customers: retail

customers, commercial customers and other banks

for which services are performed for fees. Define

which group bank image should be measured.

Three Types of Research Design

Exploratory Research is used in a number of

situations:

4. Establish Research Priorities – Exploratory research can be

used to prioritise research topics in order of importance,

especially when it is faced with conducting several research

studies.

i.e.: customer complaint letters may indicate the product or

service that needs attention.

i.e.: Office furniture store owner decided to conduct research on

the feasibility of carrying overhead projectors after interviewing

his sales people revealed that customers were requesting

overhead projectors.

Three Types of Research Design

Methods of Conducting Exploratory

Research:

1. Secondary Data Analysis – refers to the process

of searching for and interpreting existing information

relevant to the research problem.

Sources of secondary data includes: information found in

books, journals, magazines, special reports, bulletins,

newsletters, and so on.

An analysis of secondary data is often the “core” of

exploratory research.

Three Types of Research Design

Methods of Conducting Exploratory Research:

2. Experience Surveys – refer to gathering information from those thought to be knowledgeable on the issues relevant to the research problem.

3. Case Analysis – we refer to a review of available information about a former situation(s) that has some similarities to the present research problem.

4. Focus Groups – bringing small groups of people together and guided by a moderator through an unstructured, spontaneous discussion for the purpose of gaining information relevant to a research problem.

Three Types of Research Design

Methods of Conducting Exploratory Research:

5. Projective Techniques – we refer to the process of

searching for and interpreting existing information

relevant to the research problem.

Sources of secondary data includes: information

found in books, journals, magazines, special reports,

bulletins, newsletters, and so on.

An analysis of secondary data is often the “core” of

exploratory research.

Three Types of Research Design

Descriptive Research: which provides answers to questions such as who, what, where, where and how, as they are related to the research problem.

Who- may be defined as a firms (competitors) customers.

What- defined as brands, brands, sizes that are being purchased.

Where- places where customers are purchasing products.

Why- we can not conclusively answer the question of why using descriptive research. Need to use causal research designs.

Three Types of Research Design

Classification of Descriptive Research Studies:1. Cross-sectional studies- are very prevalent in

market research, outnumbering longitudinal studies and casual studies.

Because cross-sectional studies are one time measurements.

Often described as “snapshots” of the population.

i.e. used to describe the readership of a magazine in terms of demographics.

Three Types of Research Design

Classification of Descriptive Research

Studies:

2. Longitudinal studies- repeatedly measure the

same population over a period of time.

Often described as “movies” of the population.

To be successful researchers must have access to

the same members of the sample, called a panel

Refer NFO(National Family Opinion)

Three Types of Research Design

Classification of Descriptive Research

Studies:

3. Causality- may be thought of as understanding a

phenomenon in terms of conditional statements of

the form “If x, then y.” These “if-then” statements

become our way of manipulating variables of

interest.

If I spend more on advertising will sales increase.

Casual is difficult in terms of if-then in

understanding business problems.

Experiments

An Experiment – is defined as manipulating an independent variable to see how it affects a dependent variable, while also controlling the effects of additional extraneous variables

Types of experiments: Laboratory experiments – are desirable when the intent of the

experiment is to achieve high levels of internal validity.

Field experiments – those in which independent variables are manipulated and the measurements of the dependent variable are made on test units in their natural setting.

Test Marketing

Test Marketing – is the phase commonly used to indicate an experiment, study, or test that is conducted in a field setting.

Companies may use one or several test market cities, which are geographical areas selected in which to conduct the test.

There are two broad classes of uses of test markets: To test the sales potential for a new product or service

To test variations in the marketing mix for a product or service.

Test Marketing

Types of Test Markets:1. Standard test market is one in which a firm tests the product

and/or marketing mix variables through the company’s normal

distribution channels.

2. Controlled test markets are conducted by outside research firms who guarantee distribution of the product through pre

specified types and numbers of distributors.

3. Electronic test markets in which a panel of consumers have agreed to carry an id card that they present when buying goods and services.

4. Simulated test markets (STMs) are those in which a limited amount of data on consumer response to a new model are fed into a model containing certain assumptions regarding planned marketing programs, which generates likely sales volumes.

Test Marketing

Consumer versus Industrial Test

Markets:

With industrial test markets, prototype

products are tested, revised, and

retested under actual conditions.

i.e. 3M are experimenting with this

concept

Test Marketing

“Lead Country” Test Markets:

Is test marketing conducted in specific foreign countries that seem to be good predictors for an entire continent.

i.e. Colgate Palmolive use lead country test marketing when it launched its Palmolive Optims shampoo and conditioner.

Test Marketing

Pros and Cons of Test Marketing:

Test markets are considered by some to be the “ultimate” way to test a new product.

Test markets are costly and subject to competitive sabotage.

Predicting changing consumer behavior is difficult.

Summary

Research design refers to a set of advance decisions made to develop the master plan to be used in the conduct of the market research.

If very little is known about the project exploratory research is appropriate.

Descriptive research measures market phenomena and answers questions such as who,what,where,when and how.

It can be cross sectional or longitudinal

If we know quite a bit about our research we can use causal relationships.

Summary

Laboratory experiments are used for achieving internal validity while field experiments suited for achieving external validity.

Test marketing is a form of experimentation and take various forms(standard, controlled, electronic, simulated, consumer, industrial and lead country.

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