8. B2B research

Question 1

What does B2B Mrs cover?

Answer 1

A vast range of economic and social activities
covers products/services supplied to or bought by firms & organisations in
-industrial sector
-commercial sector
-technical sector
-public sector
-professional enterprises

Question 2

B2B characteristics (3)

Answer 2

1. Nature of supplies
   - in many cases similar good/services as in consumer markets - but reasons for purchase are different (not just for consumption)
2. Complex decision-making
   - generally more complex than consumers’ buying decisions
   - five roles: gatekeeper (control inflow of info into org e.g. PA telephone answerer), user, influencer, buyer (is it credit how long have I got to pay etc cost), decider (head of IT)
3. Concentrated Buying Power
   - “pareto effect” operates in several sectors
4. Derived Demand: (trends) what we might expect sales to be. if theres 50 cars we will need 50 lightbulbs
   - industrial demand largely dependent on trends in end-use markets
5. Vertical Demand: Xbox game can’t be used on ps4
   - some products have distinctly limited market opportunities
6. Horizontal Demand: you can use sellotape to fix multiple things
   some products have a wide range of customers across many industries

Question 3

Stages of B2B MRs

Answer 3

1. Research brief
   
   2. Research proposal
   3. Data collection
   4. Data analysis & evaluation
   5. Preparation and presentation of
      survey research report

Question 4

Secondary sources

Answer 4

1. ## Census of Production2.Business Monitor:
   -detailed info about UK industrial production
   -published regularly - more up to date info
2. Trade Associations ( including chamber of commerce)
   - limited outlook to specific sectors - but detailed information
   - membership is voluntary - issues of sample validity (not everyone gets involved)
   - the collection of information within associations depends largely on goodwill (may not always be avaliable
3. Trade directories/ yearbooks:
   - of variable quality
   - also, very many specialists journals

5.Stock Exchange yearbook:

6. Exhibition Catalogues:
   - can be used to enhance knowledge of particular industries
   - some companies, however, prefer not to use exhibitions
7. Research Associations:
   - some industries have research associations which publish market data, eg. The Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA)

Question 5

Aspects of Primary Data Collection

Answer 5

• Sampling & Sampling frames
• Expert informants (key experts on particular area e.g. sales)
• Questionnaires and Interviewing
• Observational techniques (the hatch at the boat example)
• Telephone surveys
• Mail surveys
• Qualitative techniques
• Group discussions
• User panels & Omnibus surveys

Question 6

Finacial service

Answer 6

• traditionally, slow to adopt marketing orientation
• financial services now use marketing research widely
• notable innovation:
• telephone banking
• cash point
• more competitive behaviour
• “direct line” insurance
• TV banking service “OPEN”
• Internet banking/ insurance “EGG bank”`

Question 7

Public Sector Services

Answer 7

Marketing research into community needs gives objective information to guide policy making:
-education
-health
-social services
-planning/ recreation
information sources include:
-government Social Survey
-departmental surveys
-royal commission