MKT-470, MARKETING RESEARCH

Course instructorDr. Tamgid Ahmed ChowdhuryAssistant ProfessorSchool of Business

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

About the course Class schedule and attendance Required text and materials: Marketing

Research – An Applied Orientation by Naresh K Malhotra and Satyabhushan Dash, 6th Edition, Pearson Publications.

Syllabus Assessment

CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING RESEARCH

Chapter objectives: We will discuss about:a. Definition of marketing researchb. Types of marketing researchc. Marketing research processd. Roles of marketing research in decision

makinge. Ethics in research

WHAT IS MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of information for the purpose of improving decision making process in marketing.

It is important because now a company can make more informed decision about its offerings.

Example: Toyota Saturn found that they could not sell their cars because of language difference.

Example: SMC, Bangladesh found that their contraceptive pills were less effective because of the lack of knowledge of users.

WHY AND WHERE MARKETING RESEARCH

CLASSIFICATION OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Two categories:1. Problem identification research: Finding

problem not the symptom. Examples are, market share research (Case of GP and Robi; BAT and AKIJ), image research (Case of Rolls Royce), sales analysis research, forecasting research (airlines examples), market potential research (Case of Agora as super market).

2. Problem solving research: Only if you know (or identified) the problem. Example, product research (Case of B & H), Pricing Research (B & H and Meena Bazar), Promotional Research, Distribution research (SMC, Bangladesh).

MORE EMPHASIS ON PROBLEM-SOLVING RESEARCH

Product research: test concept (Toyota), optical product design (Mach-3), package test (Wheel soap, Tetra pack), product modification (KFC), test marketing (2 minute Maggi noodles)

Pricing research: Pricing policies (Ollo internet), product line pricing, price elasticity of demand, response to price change.

Promotional research: Media decision, creative advertising testing, evaluation of advertising effectiveness (Webcam for eye response test)

Distribution research: Attitudes of channel members, channel margin, location decision.

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

There are six steps to follow:1. Problem definition: First, one needs to define the

problem of the research. Discussion with decision makers, interview with experts, analysis of secondary data etc. Do the following:

Ascertain the decision maker’s objectives Understand the background of the problem Isolate and identify the problem rather than its

symptom Determine the units of analysis

Symptom: Sales of the organization is going down.

Probable problem statement: Sales declining because of poor marketing effort.

PROBLEM DEFINITION: EXAMPLE

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS (CONT…)

2. Development of an approach to the problem: Includes formulating objectives, analytical models, research question, hypothesis generation and identifying the information needed.

Identification of variables: Sales declining because of poor quality, poor packaging, high pricing, poor distribution channel, poor image etc.

AN EXAMPLE ON FIRST FEW STEPS Symptom: Consumers prefer competitor’s products Problem statement: Should we have a change in our

product? Broad objective: Check the quality (quality is the

combination of many other factors) of the product. Specific objective-1: Justify the brand image of the

product in the target marketSpecific objective-2: Identify the taste, style or design of the productSpecific objective-3: Check the package and ingredients of the product

Research design: Collect data about brand image, taste, style, package and ingredients from the users of the product.

HYPOTHESIS TO THE PROBLEM

Hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable. A hypothesis is a conjectural statement regarding the relation between two or more variables

Think about the following example: A tube light producer claims that there lights have an average life of 1600 hours. But a person has taken 150 samples to judge the truth and on an average it was found that the sample mean of the life of the light is 1570 hours. Now the question is whether a manager should buy tube lights from that company or not? So that is a problematic situation. Whether the claim of the tube light producer is true or false can be a research project. This problem can be define in both the way as given below:

Problem statement: Do the tube lights have a life of 1600 hours?

But this statement can be easily tested with a hypothesis in the following way:

Ho : µ = 1600 Hours

Ha : µ ≠ 1600 Hours

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS (CONT…)

3. Research design formulation: After defining the problem and the hypothesis, following decisions need to be taken:

- Definition of the information needed (variable selection)

- Secondary data analysis- Qualitative research (if required)- Method of quantitative data collection (survey,

observation, FGD, experiment etc.)- Measurement or scaling process (Close or open or

likert type)- Questionnaire design- Sampling procedure and sample size- Plan of data analysis (use of software)

MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS (CONT…)

4. Field work or data collection: Select the respondents area, respondent selection process (random or purposive). Data collection methods are face to face or telephone interview, mall intercept, computer assisted questionnaire, mail survey (use color envelopes), e-mail survey. Provide training, supervise, and evaluate the process.

5. Data preparation and analysis: Questionnaire selection, data coding, data entry, analysis to fulfill the objectives.

6. Report preparation and presentation

NEED FOR MARKETING RESEARCH

ROLE OF MARKETING RESEARCHCustomer Groups

Marketing Managers

•

• Consumers• Employees• Shareholders

Suppliers

ControllableMarketingVariables

UncontrollableEnvironmentalFactors

MarketingDecisionMaking

ProvidingInformation

AssessingInformationNeeds

Marketing Research

• Market Segmentation• Target Market Selection• Marketing Programs• Performance & Control

•Economy•Technology•Laws & Regulation•Social & Cultural Factors•Political Factors

•Product•Pricing•Promotion•Distribution

RESEARCH SUPPLIERS

Internal suppliers: Departments within the organizations helping the research process

External suppliers: Outside research companies helping to conduct the research. Such as, ACNielsen, Bangladesh. These are categorized as:

1. Full service supplier: Companies that offer full range of research services.

1. A. Syndicated services: Companies that collect and sell common pools of data. Example, BBS, Brand Power.

1.B. Customized services: Tailored services according to the need of the customers.

1.C. Internet services: Companies that offer research services over internet. Such as, Survey Monkey.

RESEARCH SUPPLIERS

2. Limited services: Companies that specialize in one or few phases of research.

2.A. Field services: Companies that are specialized in collecting data from the field.

2.B. Focus Group and qualitative research: Companies that arrange focus group discussion session or one to one interview.

2.C. Technical and analytical services: Mainly those who provide quantitative data analysis supports.

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Ethical behavior is required in every step of marketing research

1. Problem definition: Do not use survey for fundraising, do not incorporate your personal agenda in the problem definition, do not waste money on unnecessary research

2. Developing an approach: Do not use findings of another project, acknowledge or pay if you used a source

3. Research design: Do not formulate a design that is desired by the researcher rather have one for client, using outdated secondary data, maintain secrecy of respondents, do not mislead respondents, not checking the reliability or validity of the model

ETHICS IN RESEARCH (CONT…)

4. Fieldwork: Not collecting data and filling the questionnaire by own self, putting pressure on respondents

5. Data preparation and analysis: Using a statistical process even though the assumption are violated, fabrication of results, misinterpretations

6. Report preparation: Biased reporting, in accurate reporting etc.

ROLES OF MARKETING RESEARCH

1. The task of marketing research (MR) is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information.

2. Helping a better decision making3. Helps to make decisions about potential

opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control.

4. To understand the behaviour of the external factors such as competitors, suppliers, distributors and government.