Strategic Research

CHAPTER

6

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Strategic Research • Strategic research

– Information gathering process that enhances the design at a creative strategy level

– Covers the issues that lead to the creation of advertising

• Begins with secondary research

–Exploration of all available published information

–May lead to primary research, customized research conducted for the first time

• End users of secondary and primary research

–Writers, art directors, and producers

–Media planners and buyers

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Sources of Secondary Research

• Government organizations– Census

• Trade associations– American Association of Advertising

Agencies– Radio Advertising Bureau

• Secondary Research Sources– Lexis-Nexis, Dow Jones News/Retrieval

• Secondary information on the Internet– Company web sites

4

Primary Research

• “Primary” research suppliers

Firms that specialize in interviewing, observing, recording, and analyzing the behavior of those who purchase or influence the purchase of a good or service

– Well-known primary research suppliers• A.C. Nielsen• Simmons Market Research Bureau

(SMRB)• Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI)

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Research Methods for Primary Consumer Research

• Focus group research– getting insights on motivation and buying behaviors

• In-depth Interview – one-to-one interview, qualitative method, open-ended

questions to generate consumer’s own answers.

• Survey research– Use structured questionnaire to ask large numbers of

people the same questions– Phone survey, mail-in survey, mall intercept.

• Direct Observation research– Placing researchers in natural settings to record the

behavior of consumers

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Research Methods for Primary Consumer Research

• Content analysis– Systematic analysis and evaluation of different

messages and appeals

• Ethnographic Research– Involves the researcher in living the lives of the

people being studied– Has the advantage of or revealing what people

actually do, not what they say they do

• Diaries– Consumers record their activities– They tell media planners what programs and

ads the consumers watched

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Depending on the nature of data generated

Qualitative Research:

-- Provides insight into the underlying reasons for how consumers behave and why. -- Observation, Ethnographic Studies,

in-depth interviews, and case studies

Quantitative Research:

-- delivers numerical data based on large sample sizes and random sampling.

-- Surveys

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Choosing a research method

• Validity– The research actually measures what it says

it measures.

• Reliability– Researchers can run the same test again and

get the same answer.

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Uses for Research (p. 163)

1. Market information2. Consumer insight research3. Media research4. Message development research

Concept testing– Used in the development of the message

strategy to evaluate the relative power of various creative ideas

Copy testing– Used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of

various approaches to the sales message

5. Evaluation research

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Questions

• A new radio station is moving into your community. Management is not sure how to position the station in this market and has asked you to develop a study to help them make this decision.

• What key research questions must be asked?

• Which research methods would you use?