Market Research Flashcards
market research
composed of: problem identification + problem solving
problem identification
research on:
market potential + share + characteristics + sales analysis + forecasting + business trends
problem solving
research on:
segmentation + product + pricing + promotion + distribution
the research process
- problem definition
- approach to the problem
- research design
- fieldwork
- data analysis
- present the report
problem definition
tasks: discussion w/ decision makers, interview industry experts, secondary data analysis + qualitative research
consider: past info, resources, objectives, buyer behavior, legal + economic environment…
- management decision problem vs research problem
approach to the problem
need to consider internal + external factors
components:
- theoretical foundations
- analytical model (verbal, graphical, or mathematical)
- research questions
- hypotheses
- specification of info needed
research design
framework/blueprint for conducting the research project
- define the info needed
- design exploratory/descriptive/causal phases
- specify measurement + scaling
- construct a form of data collection
- specify sample process + size
- develop a plan for data analysis
classification of research design
- exploratory research design
- conclusive research design
- causal research
- descriptive research- longitudinal design
- cross-sectional design (single vs multiple)
exploratory research vs conclusive research
objective: to provide insights vs to test hypotheses
characteristics: info needed is defined loosely vs info needed is clearly defined; flexible vs formal; non-representative sample vs representative sample; qualitative vs quantitative data analysis
findings: tentative vs conclusive
outcome: followed by further exploratory research or conclusive vs using findings for decision making
exploratory research
used to: define problem precisely + develop hypotheses + isolate key variables + establish priorities
methods: survey of experts + secondary data analysis (qualitative) + qualitative research
descriptive research
to describe market characteristics + functions (determine perceptions + make predictions)
methods: surveys + panels + observational data + secondary data analysis (quantitative)
causal research
determine cause + effect relationships
- manipulation of independent variables + effect of dependent variables
methods: experiments
cross-sectional design
collection of info from a population only once
- single cross-sectional: one sample of respondents
- multiple cross-sectional: two or more samples of respondents
cohort: group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval
longitudinal design
fixed sample/s of population elements is measured repeatedly on the same variables
- differs from cross-sectional design in that the sample remains the same over time
types of error in research design
- random sampling error
- non-sampling error
- response error (researcher, interviewer, respondent error)
- non-response error
random sampling error
occurs because the sample is an imperfect representation of the population of interest
non-sampling error
errors attributed to sources other than sampling
- non-response errors: respondents do not respond
- response errors: inaccurate answers or answers are mis-recorded/mis-analyzed (researcher, interviewer, respondent)
types of response errors by researcher
surrogate information error
measurement error
population definition error
sampling frame error
data analysis error
types of response errors by interviewer
respondent selection errors
questioning errors
recording error
cheating error
types of response errors by respondent
inability error
unwillingness error
