Session 9 Marketing Management

Learning from the session  Marketing Research

What is Marketing Research?  Systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company

Various areas of Marketing research   Research on consumer   Research on product or brand   Research on competition   Research on distribution   Research on price   Research on advertising and promotion   Research on sales methods

Steps involved in Marketing Research Defining the problem and research objectives Defining the problem and research objectives Developing the research plan Developing the research plan Collect the information Collect the information Analyze the information Analyze the information Present the findings Present the findings Make the decision Make the decision  Interpreting and reporting the findings

Defining the problem and research objectives  Problem definition should not be too narrow or too broad  What is to be researched?  Why is it to be researched? eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new product? eg. What pricing strategy is to be adopted for a new product?  Set up research objectives, which could be  Exploratory research --- Gather preliminary information, which would help to identify the problem and suggest hypotheses  Descriptive research --- Description of things, such as consumer attitudes towards a product  Causal research --- Test hypothesis about cause and effect relationships eg. Would 5% reduction in price lead to increase in sales?

Develop the research plan  Data sources --- primary or secondary data or both  Collection of secondary data --- through online databases  Secondary data could be easily got at a lower cost, but may not be comprehensive enough  Secondary data should be relevant, accurate, current and impartial

Primary data collection  Research approaches  Research instruments  Sampling plan  Contact methods

Various kinds of research approaches  Observational research --- Gain primary data by observation of relevant people, actions, situations  Ethnographic research --- Kind of observational research by sending trained observers to gain an in depth understanding about day to day activities of consumers  Provides information which customers are unwilling or unable to provide, hence suited for exploratory research  Helpful in developing markets, where companies are not very knowledgeable about consumers eg. ITC’s e-choupal and Choupal sagar

Focus group research   Gathering data out of a moderated group discussion among 6-10 people, about a product, service, organization   Moderator focuses the discussion on the core issue   Gift/ incentive for attending it   Recordings of the discussion helpful in understanding consumer beliefs, attitudes and behaviour

Survey research   Best for descriptive research   Surveys to understand about customer preferences, buying behaviour, customer satisfaction etc   Flexible, useful to gain data in a variety of situations   Online or Internet marketing research--- Primary data collection through online surveys and focus groups   Biased and ignorant answers   Some consumers dislike the intrusion to their privacy

Research using behavioural data   Research based on actual purchases eg. Data from check out scanners   More reliable than surveys

Experimental research   Most scientifically valid   Involves selection of similar groups, give them differential treatment, control all factors except the one under research and evaluate the differences in group responses eg. Different prices for a product in 2 cities

Various research instruments   Questionnaires --- closed end or open end   Qualitative measures   Technological devices

Various kinds of closed end questions Dichotomous questions Questions with 2 possible answers Eg. In arranging this trip, did you contact Kingfisher Airlines?  Yes  No

Multiple Choice Questions A question with 3 or more answers Eg. With whom are you traveling on this trip?  No one  Spouse  Spouse and children  Children only  Business associates/friends/relatives  An organized tour group

Likert Scale A statement with which the respondent shows the amount of agreement/ disagreement Eg. Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Small airlines generally give better service than large ones.  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree

Semantic Differential Scale connecting 2 bipolar words Respondent selects the point that represents his or her opinion Kingfisher Airlines Large ………………………………...…………….Small Experienced………………….………….Inexperienced Modern………………………..………….Old-fashioned

Importance Scale Scale which rates importance of an attribute Eg. Airline food service is _____ to me  Extremely important  Very important  Somewhat important  Not very important  Not at all important

Rating Scale Scale to rate an attribute from poor to excellent Eg. Kingfisher Airlines’ food service is _____  Excellent  Very good  Good  Fair  Poor

Intention- to-buy- scale A scale which would describe the respondent’s intention to buy Eg. How likely are you to purchase tickets on Kingfisher Airlines if in-flight Internet access is available?  Definitely buy  Probably buy  Not sure  Probably not buy  Definitely not buy

Various kinds of open end questions Completely unstructured A question which could be answered in unlimited number of ways Eg. What is your opinion of Kingfisher Airlines?

Word Association Certain words are presented, one by one Respondents mention the first word which come to mind What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following? Airline _____________________ Kingfisher _____________________ Travel _____________________

Sentence Completion An incomplete sentence to be filled up Eg. When I choose an airline, the most important consideration in my decision is: _______________________________________

Story Completion An incomplete story to be completed Eg. “I flew Kingfisher Airlines a few days ago. I noticed that the exterior and interior of the plane had very bright colors. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings.” Now complete the story. _______________________________________ ______________________________________

Picture (Empty Balloons) The respondent need to empathise with the customer and fill in the probable conversation in the empty balloon

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) A picture is presented to the respondents, who in turn need to make a story of what they think is happening or may happen in the picture

Don’ts   Avoid negatives   Avoid words that could be misheard   Use response bands (eg. Age range)   Avoid overlap between questions Questionnaire Do’s and Don’ts Do’s   Ensure questions are free of bias   Make questions simple & specific   Avoid jargons (eg. same store sales) and sophisticated words   Avoid ambiguous words (usually, frequently)   Provision for “other” in fixed response questions