chapter 6 (2) Flashcards
ethnography
this set of approaches allows researchers to observe conumption behavior in natural setting
netography
sometimes known as online ethnography is the ethnographic study of online communities. it generally involves a researcher participating fully as a member of the community. Customers speak more freely within their online community than when they are taking part in traditional marketing as they perhaps feel they are not under as much scrutiny
Mystery shoppig
a form of research which is unique to services, companies employ outside research organizations to send people into service establishments and experience the service as if they were customers. These mystery shoppers are trained in the criteria important to customers of the establishment,. They deliver objective assessments about service perofrmance by completing questionaires about service standards
In europe mystery shopping is
used quite extensively by organizations in financial services, retailing, motore dealerships, hotels and catering
mystery shopping studies are used for three main purposes
To act as a diagnostic tool, identifying failings and weak pointsin a norganizations service delivery
To encourage, develop and motivate service personnel by linking with appraisal traning and reward mechanisms
To assess the competitiveness of an organizations service provisions by benchmarking it against the offerings of others in an industry
Customer panels
are ongoing groups of customers assembled to provide attitudes and perceptions about a service over time. They offer companies regular and timely custoemr information - virtually a pulse on the market
Customer panels are used in the
entertainment industry to screen movies before they are released to the public. In the most basic of theese panels, consumers participate in psot screening interviews or focus groups in which they report on their repsonses to the movie. They may be asked questions as general as their reacitons to the ending of the movie and as specific as whether they understood ddifferent aspects of the plot line
Lost custoer research
This type of research involvesd deliberately seeking out custoers who have dropped the companys service to inquire about their reasoning for leaving
One benefit of lost customer search
It identifies failure points and common problems in the service, and can hep establish an early warning system for future defectors. ANother benefit is that the research can be used to calculate the cost of lost customers
lead user research
brings in customers who are opinion leaders/innovators and asks them what requirements are not being met by existing products or services
synectics approach
defines lead users more breadly than in standard lead user research
feature reserach
involves environmental scanning and querying of customers about desirable features of possible services
Tracking performance gap scores and competition
A simple way of tracking performance is plotting expectations and perceptions and the gap between them shows the service quality shortfall
goodwill:
(Ethics in marketing)
The goodwill of the individual respondents is t heir willingness to volunteer information on their awareness, attitudes and behaviors
Trust (Ethics in marketing)
Marketing decisions makers trust researchers to provide accurate information that has been collected in a professional manner. Researchers also trust decision makers to divulge all infromation that may have an impact on the completion of a marketing reserach study
professionalism (Ethics in marketing)
If respondents are to answer questionnaires in a serious and thoughtful manner, they have to feel that the research is going to be used in a professional manner
Confidentiality (Ethics in marketing)
respondents are more willing to express their views and optinons if they know what the information is going to be used in a confidential manner (in otehr words, taking part in marketing research will not result in the respondent becoming subject to follow up sales calls)
user generated content
Material such as personal opinions, news ideas photos and videos published on the internet by users of social networks
Upward communication
The larger a company is the more difficult it will be for manager sto interact directly with the customer, and the less first hand information they will have baout customer expectations.
Improving upward communication in an organization means gaining first hand knowledgea bout customers, improving internal service quality, gaining first hand knowledge of employees and obtaining ideas for service improvement.
(research for upward communication)
Executive or management listening to customers
This approach is frequently used in business to business ervices marketing. In some visists executives of the company make sales or service calls with customer contact personnel.
Research on intermediate customers (research for upward communication)
Intermediate customers (such as contact employees, dealers, distributors and brokers) are people the company serves and who, in turn, serve the end customer. Researching the needs and expectations of these customers in serving the end customer can be a usefula nd efficient way to both improve service to and obtain information about end users
Research on internal customers
(research for upward communication)
employees who perform services themselves customers of internal service on which they depend heavily to do their jobs well. There is a strong and diret link between the quality of internal service that emplyoees receive and the quality of service they provide to their own customers For this reason to their own conduct employee research that focuses on the service that internal customers give and receive
Executive or management listening approaches to employees
(research for upward communication)
Employees who actually perform the service have the best possible vantag point for observing the service and identifying impendiments to its quality. Customer contact personnel are in regular touch with customers and thereby come to understand a great deal about customer expectations and perceptions
Employee suggestion
(research for upward communication)
Most companies have some form of employee suggestion programme whereby contact personnel can communicate to management their ideas for improving work. Suggestion systems have come a long way from the traditional suggestions box. Effective suggestion systems are those in which employees are empowered to see their suggestions through and are active particiapnts in continuous improvement for their jobs, where supervisors can respond quickly to ideas and implement proposals immediately, adn where coaching is provided in ways to handle suggestions.
