1. Conducting Marketing Research & Forecasting Demand
Vishnu Parmar, IBA
University of Sindh, Jamshoro

2. The Marketing Research System
Marketing Research as the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.
Most large companies have their own Marketing Research Department
Normally companies allocated budget is 1% to 2% of their sales

3. The Marketing Research System
Categories of Marketing Research Firms
Syndicated Service Firms: Gather consumer and trade information and sell for a fee e.g. NCAER (National Council for Applied Economics Research)
Custom Marketing Research Firms: designed and carry out research studies for various clients based on specific briefs. E.g. LUMS, IBA, SZABIST

4. The Marketing Research System
3. Specialty Line Marketing Research Firm: Specialized research services they may hire academics and freelancers, collecting data field, and preparing data analyses and reports for other firms.
Companies can hire the services of a marketing research firm or conduct research in creative and affordable ways like Engaging Professors and MBA students or collecting secondary information by various mediums

5. Figure 4.1: The Marketing Research Process

6. The Marketing Research Process
Defining the Problem, the Decision Alternatives, and the Research Objectives
What is to be researched (the content, the scope)?
Why is it to be researched (the decision that are to be made)?

7. The Marketing Research Process
2. Develop the Research Plan
This step involves decisions on the data sources, research approaches, research instruments, sampling plan and contact method
Data Sources:
(a) Secondary Data
(b) Primary Data

8. The Marketing Research Process
(ii) Research Approaches: Primary data can be collected in five ways
a) Observational Research
b) Ethnographic Research (how people live & work, to uncover unarticulated desires that might not surface in other way)
c) Focus Group Research (6 or 10 people invited to spent few hours with a skilled moderator to discuss a product)

9. The Marketing Research Process
d) Survey Research (for descriptive research, to learn about people’s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction)
e) Behavioral Data (many high income group do not buy expensive brands)
f) Experimental Research (to capture cause and effect relationship by eliminating competing explanations of the observed findings)

10. The Marketing Research Process
Research Instruments
Questionnaires
Qualitative Measures (unstructured measurement approaches that permit a range of possible responses)
Technological Devices (occasionally use in marketing research. E.g. Galvanometer, Tachistoscope flashes etc)

11. A. Closed-end Questions
1_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Small airlines generally give better service than large ones.
Strongly Disagree Neither agree Agree Strongly
disagree nor disagree agree
A statement with which the respondent shows the amount of agreement/ disagreement.
Likert scale
An organized tour group
Spouse and children
Business associates/friends/relatives
Spouse
Children only
No one
With whom are you traveling on this flight?
A question with three or more answers.
Multiple Choice
In arranging this trip, did you personally phone American?
Yes No
A question with two possible answers.
Dichotomous
Example
Description
Name
A. Closed-end Questions

12. The Marketing Research Process
Sampling Plan
Sampling unit (who should be survey?)
Sample size (How many people should be survey?)
Sampling procedure (How should we choose the respondents?)

13. Table 5.3: Probability and Nonprobability Samples
Simple random sample
Every member of the population has an equal chance of selection
Stratified random sample
The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups (such as age groups), and random samples are drawn from each group
Cluster (area) sample
The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups (such as city blocks), and the researcher draws a sample of the groups to interview
Continued on next slide . . .

14. Table 5.3: Probability and Nonprobability Samples (Continued)
Convenience sample
The researcher selects the most accessible population members
Judgment sample
The researcher selects population members who are good prospects for accurate information
Quota sample
The researcher finds and interviews a prescribed number of people in each of several categories

15. The Marketing Research Process
Contact Methods
Mail questionnaire
Telephone interviewing
Personal interviewing
Arranged interviews
Intercept interviews
Online methods
Click-stream
Cookies
Automated
telephone surveys

16. The Marketing Research Process
Step 3: Collect the
Information
Step 4: Analyze the
Step 5: Present the
Findings
Step 6: Make the
Decision

17. The Seven Characteristics of Good Marketing Research
Scientific Method
Research Creativity
Multiple Methods Models
Interdependence
Value and Cost of Information
Healthy Skepticism
Ethical Marketing

18. The Seven Characteristics of Good Marketing Research
1. Scientific method
Effective marketing research uses the principles of the scientific method: careful observation, formulation of hypotheses, prediction, and testing.
2. Research creativity
At its best, marketing research develops innovative ways to solve a problem: a clothing company catering to teenagers gave several young men video cameras, then used the videos for focus groups held in restaurants and other places teens frequent.
3. Multiple methods
Marketing researchers shy away from overreliance on any one method. They also recognize the value of using two or three methods to increase confidence in the results.
See text for complete table

19. The Marketing Research Process
Overcoming Barriers to the Use of Marketing Research
A narrow conception of the research
Uneven caliber of researchers
Poor framing of the problem
Late and occasionally erroneous findings
Personality and presentational differences