S1/2 - Intro & Research Design and Data types

Question 1

Describe the marketing research process.

Answer 1

1. Formulate the Problem
   - Define the marketing problem
   - Define the options for the manager
   - Make a list of desired information
   - Formulate a research problem
2. Determine the Research Design
   - How much do we know about the problem?
   - Determine the research design: Exploratory, Descriptive, Causal
3. Design Data Collection
   - Data collection tools:
   What (Open ended? Structured? Unstructured?) ;
   How (Survey? Questionnaire? Focus group?) ;
   Where (Online? in-person? In the mall?)
4. Design the Sample and Collect Data
   - Sampling frame and selection process?
   - Who will we ask?
5. Analyze and Interpret the Data
   - Did we answer the objectives?
   - Do we need more data?
   - What went wrong?
6. Prepare the Research Report
   - Recommendation to solve the problem

Question 2

What is marketing research?

Answer 2

The process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data about a market, product, or service to support decision-making.

Question 3

What are the objectives of marketing research?

Answer 3

To identify customer needs, analyze market trends, evaluate competition, and support strategic planning.

Question 4

How do we use marketing research?

Answer 4

By informing product development, improving customer experiences, refining marketing strategies, and optimizing business decisions.

Question 5

What is the difference between a marketing problem and a research problem?

Answer 5

A marketing problem focuses on business challenges (e.g., low sales), while a research problem seeks data-driven solutions (e.g., identifying customer preferences).

Question 6

How to formulate research objectives?

Answer 6

Define the problem clearly, specify what needs to be learned, ensure objectives are measurable, and align them with decision-making goals.

Question 7

What are the three types of research design? Describe them.

Answer 7

1. Exploratory: Broad question, general idea/insights, try to understand as much as possible on a situation (exploring). Never close-ended questions (on a scale to 1-4). Looking for the WHY.
2. Descriptive: Describing trends changes over time (phenomenons), demographics, target segment, if we already have a little understanding about the market = descriptive. Observe if there is a relationship between 2 variables.
3. Causal: Cause-and-effect relationships between variables (ex. Age and adoption of new technologies). Most specific type. Manipulating independent variable that usually comes from consumers. You change something in your 4 ps (pricing, location, promotion), something in our control, and then we assess the impact on the dependant variable (consumers reactions)

Question 8

Why do we use exploratory research? What are the tools?

Answer 8

Usage:
- Formulate problems more precisely
- Develop Hypotheses
- Establish priorities for research
- Eliminate impractical ideas
- Clarify concepts

Types/Instruments:
- Focus groups
- Interviews
- Projective tests
- Ethnographies

Question 9

Why do we use descriptive research? What are the tools?

Answer 9

Usage
- Describe segment characteristics
- Estimate proportion of people who behave in a certain way
- Make specific predictions (might end up not finding solutions)

Types/Instruments
- Longitudinal study: On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you know today about mkt research. In a few sessions, asking the same question. The answer will change after time, understanding these changes over time.
- Cross sectional study: How many of you are HEC student; answer is not going to change, stable.

Question 10

Why do we use causal research? What are the tools?

Answer 10

Usage
- Provide evidence regarding causal relationships
- Impact of X on Y: (Price & Sales), (Advertising & Reminder)

Types/Instruments
- Laboratory experiment: If the research is emotion-based, best to do it in a lab because we can control other factors (ex.: if in the field, joy/frustration could be caused by the surroundings and the answers could be biased).
- Field experiment: by surprise (ex.: while shopping, someone comes talk to you to ask questions), a lot of things going on around so survey could be impacted (emotions, distractions, etc.), only ok if emotions don’t influence the answer, ok to do it in the field.

Question 11

What are the two types of data?

Answer 11

1. Primary: I do the research. Personalized to your specific problem.
2. Secondary: I use information that is already available. Has been done in the past and you can easily have access to it.

Question 12

What are the advantages/disadvantages of secondary data? Where can you get it?

Answer 12

+ : Saves money and time.
- : Is it reliable? Can be outdated. Not specific enough, can help but won’t give you all the answers.

Where can you get it?
External: Library, Statistic Canada, Forums, etc.
Internal: Sales report of your cie, product reviews, everything on your social media platforms.