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
