Marketing research to gain consumer insights

Question 1

Purpose of marketing research

Answer 1

To support the marketing manager by providing information and insights that can be used in making marketing decisions.

• Identifying marketing opportunities and problems.
• Generate, refine, and evaluate potential marketing actions.
• Monitor marketing performance
• Improve marketing as a process

Question 2

Name and explain the key stages in the marketing research process

Answer 2

1. Define the problem and research objectives
2. Developing the research plan for collecting information
3. Implementing the research plan - collecting and analysing the data
4. Interpreting and reporting the findings

Question 3

How to develop marketing information

Answer 3

Internal data may already exist in internal databases, and thus be accessed more quickly and cheaply

Marketing intelligence: the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about consumers, competitors and developments in the marketplace

Marketing research: the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data relevant to specific marketing situations.

Question 4

Explain marketing information

Answer 4

• Primary goal: to gain customer insights and improve marketing decisions.
• Competitors can copy processes and products, but they can’t replicate the company’s information.
• Marketing information system: people and procedures

Question 5

Data in marketing research

Answer 5

• Primary information/research: information collected specifically for the problem at hand
• Secondary information/research: information that has previously been gathered by someone other for some other purpose

Question 6

Time frame in marketing research

Answer 6

• Cross-sectional studies takes “snapshots” of the population (-collect data) at one point in time.
• Longitudinal studies repeatedly measure the same sample units of a population over time.
• Longitudinal studies often make use of a panel which represents sample units who have agreed to answer questions at periodic intervals

Question 7

Categories of marketing research

Answer 7

• Qualitative research
• Quantitive research
• Other types of marketing research (ex. experiments)

Question 8

Explain qualitative research

Answer 8

• Research involving collecting, analysing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say.
• Qualitative research is useful for generating in-depth knowledge about how consumers think, terminology they use, gaining some insights into their basic needs and attitudes.
• We can learn more about a research problem or phenomenon, but we cannot generalize the findings.

Question 9

Explain different types of qualitative research

Answer 9

• Depth interviews: the interviewing of consumers
  individually, a set of probing questions posed one-on-one to a subject by a trained interviewer, so as to gain an idea of what the subject thinks about something or why he or she behaves a certain way.
• Focus groups: small groups of people brought together and guided by a moderator through an unstructured, spontaneous discussion for the purpose of gaining information relevant to the research problem.
• Observation methods: techniques in which the
  researcher relies on his or her powers of observation
  rather than communicating with a person in order to
  obtain information

Question 10

Explain Quantitative research

Answer 10

• Research involving the use of structured
  questions in which response options have been
  predetermined and a large number of respondents
  involved
• Quantitative research is desirable when
  we wish to generalize the findings to a larger population, if the study’s sample is representative.
• Decisions about contact methods, sampling
  plan, survey design, analytical techniques

Question 11

What is “ethical” research?

Answer 11

➢No harm should come to research participants
➢They should agree to participate and know what the research is about (informed consent)
➢Their privacy should not be invaded (anonymity -
confidentiality)
➢They should not be lied to or cheated (no deception)