Marketing Research Introduction Overview

The Knowledge Age Huge volumes of information now available Managers need to be selective and systematic As data is drawn from multiple sources, it needs to be combined and analysed for it to be of value

Decision levels in organisations Business direction Market decisions Investment decisions New product development Positioning Strategic Operational Marketing mix decisions Customer service levels Competitive responses Campaigns Tactical 3

Information processing - Adding Value Input Output/input Output DATA INFORMATION INTELLIGENCE Value added Value added Uninformed Minimum cost Total uncertainty Informed Maximum cost Less uncertainty Source: Hines 4

Typical applications for marketing research Market analysis New product/service development Selection of brand names and packaging Pricing decisions Advertising and promotion decisions Sales decisions Service support and complaint handling decisions 5

Typical data requirements: Market analysis Market size Market profitability Market growth trends Main products in the market Customer attitudes and buying behaviours Major competitors and market shares Distribution patterns Marketing strategies used in the market 6

Typical data requirements: Pricing decisions Competitor product prices Consumer attitudes to price what would they expect to pay? what would they be prepared to pay Cost/price/volume - what quantities are likely to sell at different price levels? 7

Typical data requirements: Advertising and promotion Size of potential market Demographic characteristics of users Demographic profiles of segments Behaviours and attitudes of different segments Language used by customers in talking about product Share of mind compared with competitors 8

Typical data requirements: Sales decisions Sales territories Sales personnel efficiency Sales statistics Sales forecasts Sales incentives Distributor policy 9

Summary Primary objective of researcher is to provide: Timely Accurate Relevant Data and analysis to Marketing Management Key word is ‘Robust”

Generating Data + / - Data is generated in 2 basic ways: Secondary data: Data already existing – may have been collected for other purposes Primary data: Original data – collected for a specific purpose + / -

Secondary Data Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research project

Uses of secondary data Helps to clarify research requirements Answers some of the research needs Enables more insightful interpretation of primary data Provides comparative data Provides information that cannot be obtained through primary research

Benefits of secondary data Faster Less expensive to collect Internet can be used, increasing speed further

Limitations of secondary data Availability Applicability Accuracy Comparability

Internal Secondary Research Sources Sales figures Operational data – stock levels, etc. Customer satisfaction results Advertising spend Customer complaints records Effectiveness data from promotional campaigns Marketing research reports from past studies

External Secondary Research Sources Internet – single search engines, and multiple search engines Directories Country information Published marketing research reports News sources Newsgroups and discussion lists

Types of Marketing Research Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research …relates to Uncertainty

Exploratory Research Initial research to clarify a problem or opportunity Basis for further research

Descriptive Research Describes the nature and characteristics of a market or situation e.g. much of Market Research is descriptive

Causal Research Describes the nature off variables and cause and effect relationships e.g. Market Modelling

The Research Process A logical set of stages that research goes through o produce ROBUST and RELEVANT Marketing Intelligence

Logical Process