CHAPTER 3 Market Research

CHAPTER 3
Market research
LEA RN IN G OBJE CTIVE S
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

3.1 discuss the importance of market research as a basis for marketing decision making
3.2 clearly define a research problem to guide a market research project, and prepare a research brief
3.3 outline the issues in research design, including the role of primary and secondary data, and the uses of
quantitative and qualitative research
3.4 understand the key principles of data collection and analysis, and the subsequent reporting of market
research findings to inform marketing decisions.
Copyright © 2017. Wiley. All rights reserved.
Elliott, Greg. Marketing, 4th Edition, Wiley, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mqu/detail.action?docID=5049568.
Created from mqu on 2018-03-04 14:26:10.
CASE STUDY
Big Brother is watching every dollar you spend

You are walking past a shop and your phone sends
you an alert. It’s a text message offering you a dis-
count if you buy something from that shop in the next
15 minutes. Does the offer appeal to you? Or is it an
unwelcome intrusion?
Consumers are creatures of habit. In fact, habits and
routines influence more than 45 per cent of our daily
lives. Marketers and researchers have the power to
capture these unconscious and habitual behaviours.
Advances in technology allow marketers to capture
data through scanners in retail stores, credit and debit
card taps and swipes, Facebook likes, every online
click, and through our mobile phones. Every time we
click, tap, swipe or move we create data that can be used by marketers and market researchers.
From consumers to manufacturers to retailers, market research is key in today’s marketplace. Market
insights can make or break a product, service or idea. To gain a competitive advantage, marketers rely on
purchasing information. Every day, the National Australia Bank (NAB) records details of 2 million electronic
transactions. The information — stripped of any material that would identify individuals — is passed to a
joint venture that NAB set up with Sydney‐based data analytics company Quantium. Quantium uses client
data that includes customer profiles, product holding and behaviour to provide insights into wider cus-
tomer behaviours, needs and wants. Companies like Social Karma sell tools such as Profiler, which use
Facebook interactions and consumers’ digital footprints to develop consumer profiles for brands.
Big Brother is watching your transactions and the information is being used to design marketing
offers that match your purchasing patterns to entice you to buy more products on more occasions.1
QUESTION
Go online and look at Profiler (see http://social‐karma.eu/profiler). Explain how marketers would use
Profiler information to design product offerings.
Introduction
So far we have learned that successful marketing requires the marketer to know their market. Successful
organisations put their customers’ wants and needs at the heart of marketing and business decisions.
To put it simply, in order to create, communicate, deliver and exchange offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners and society at large, marketers need to first understand what is of value.
Market research is an essential component of understanding the market. It can be used for many things,
including solving problems, identifying future opportunities and threats, generating ideas about how
greater value can be offered to customers, determining how to create offerings, understanding how to
communicate offerings and evaluating the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. Market research is used
by marketers to stay in tune with their customers, clients, partners and society at large.
We start the chapter by discussing how market research is used in marketing for decision making.
While there is no doubt that marketing managers make some decisions based on hunches or intuition,
these decisions usually come from knowledge of the market. One of the most important sources of infor-
mation is market research. We then consider how marketers define research problems. Clearly specified
problems are needed to guide specific market research projects.
CHAPTER 3 Market research 79
In practice, market research is often outsourced and undertaken by research specialists. Marketers
often need to provide a brief for market research agencies, and so we will provide an overview of the
briefing process. We then continue to examine the processes that occur in a typical market research
project.
Remember as you study the chapter that market research is only of value if the information it provides
can contribute to improved performance.
3.1 The role of market research in

marketing decisions
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.1 Discuss the importance of market research as a basis for marketing
decision making.
Every aspect of day‐to‐day marketing requires information. Market research generates much of the infor-
mation and knowledge to enable marketers to make marketing decisions and develop marketing strategy.
Formally defined, market research is a process that ‘links the consumer, customer, clients, partners and
public to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing oppor-
tunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance;
and improve understanding of marketing as a process’.2 In essence, market research is a business
activity that discovers information of use in making marketing decisions.
Market research informs many different types of decisions made by businesses, including decisions
about the following.
•• Market segmentation. What is the segment’s profile? What does each segment most value? Which seg-
ment should we target?
•• Sales performance. Why did we fail to meet our sales targets last financial year? How can we improve
sales?
•• Product. What features should be included in our products? How should we package our product?
How should we brand our product? How should we position our product?
•• Distribution. What type of retailer should be used? What geographic region should we sell in? Should
we sell directly to consumers online? How should we distribute products? What do our partners
require?
•• Promotion. How much should we spend on advertising? In which media should advertising be placed?
What advertising appeals should be used? Should we use sales promotions? If so, when should we use
sales promotions?
•• Pricing. What price should be charged? What response should be made to a competitor’s pricing?
•• Attitudes and behaviours. What do our customers and clients think? What do our customers and
clients know about our product? How do they feel about our competitors’ products? What do they
buy? When? Where? Who are our customers?3
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the types of issues that marketers face on a daily basis. In
practice there are many more decisions. As you work your way through this text, you will be exposed to
many of the issues that marketers must manage and it will become clear how important market research
can be to marketing decisions. Figure 3.1 shows where market research sits in the overall marketing model:
understand, create, communicate and deliver. Figure 3.24 shows a market research project from Virgin
Australia that discusses background information and research objectives for the company.
80 Marketing
FIGURE 3.1 Market research informs all aspects of the marketing process, with an organisation needing to
thoroughly understand the needs and wants of its target market.
Understand
Market Research Market Research

Market Research Market Research Market Research
Deliver Create
Communicate
Market Research Market Research Market Research

FIGURE 3.2 Example of a market research project from Virgin Australia
Background
Colmar Brunton had been conducting brand-tracking research with Virgin since 2006. Within a
few years, a significant quantitative knowledge bank about consumer perceptions of the Virgin
brand, the competitor brands and airline traveller behaviour in general was built. Virgin had evolved
from a budget leisure carrier to a carrier that caters for both business and leisure travellers. Virgin
had a need for greater flexibility in understanding market changes and influences. They wished to
explore communications and brand issues in more depth to gain a deeper understanding of the
changing market.
Research objectives
• Identify the impact of marketing activity of Virgin and its competitors.
• Evaluate Virgin’s advertising effectiveness.
• Understand the key impact of market events throughout the year.
• Identify broader market trends as they are happening.
Marketing information systems
In addition to specific market research projects, organisations continuously collect data as part of
everyday activities, such as sales, purchases, enquiries and accounting. Well‐organised marketing organ-
isations systematically collect and organise this information so that it can be used for future marketing
decisions. A marketing information system (MIS) is the structure put in place to manage information
gathered during the usual operations of the organisation. In large organisations, the MIS can comprise
considerable infrastructure and dedicated staff. Think about a major telecommunications company like
Telstra and the amount of information it has on the mobile phone transactions made by its customers.
Australia Post conducts the Australian Lifestyle Survey. The survey is distributed to households all over
Australia, and individuals who want to receive relevant offers and information provide their responses
on a voluntary basis.
Marketing information systems play a vital role in linking the customer to the marketer. For example,
Myer, a leading Australian department store, used its MIS to understand that for every $50 voucher
given, $125 of sales result.5 Armed with this knowledge, Myer could respond by promoting its gift
vouchers more, particularly around traditional gift‐giving times such as Christmas and Mothers’ Day,
in the expectation that gift recipients will then be drawn into the store and will make a substantial
purchase.
In small organisations, the MIS — to be generous in our definition — might just be a file or notepad
of observations. Regardless of the complexity or size of the MIS, it will feature information from internal
records, market intelligence and market research, and some way of accessing and structuring that infor-
mation so that it can be used to help make marketing decisions. Figure 3.3 shows the basic parts of
an MIS.
FIGURE 3.3 The components of a marketing information system
Market intelligence
● Sales representative reports
● Customer service reports
● Customer complaints/compliments
● Competitor actions
Query
● Environmental changes
Market research
Query Query
● Problem (opportunity/threat/issue) Decision Marketing
● Research design Outcomes
support system managers
● Data collection Plans
Information Information
● Data analysis Strategies
● Findings Decisions
Internal reports Information

● Accounting reports
● Sales reports
● Production reports
● Distribution reports
Of course, just as market research is not always necessary or appropriate, not every marketing decision
is made based on information stored in an MIS. Marketing managers also rely on intuition, insight and
‘gut feel’. It is not an approach that can be wholly recommended, but is an important part of the reality
of marketing. An MIS and market research can help support or invalidate such decisions.
82 Marketing
Overview of the market research process
Market research involves five major components:
1. defining the research problem
2. designing the research methodology
3. collecting data in accordance with the research design
4. analysing data and drawing conclusions
5. presenting the results and making recommendations.
The stages in the market research process are designed, of course, to lead to marketing decisions; that
is, market research should result in a course of action. In large organisations, a formal presentation of
the findings and recommendations to senior management for approval is likely to be necessary before
implementation. Upon implementation of any market research recommendations, careful monitoring is
necessary to ensure the organisation’s marketing goals are being achieved as a result.
Market research is an ongoing process and is constantly evolving. In practice, a market research pro-
ject does not always occur in a strict sequence. At any point, new ideas or insights can occur that require
a change in the project. For example, just the process of defining the purpose of the research can some-
times answer the question that is being asked; and in the data collection stage of the project, people
being surveyed might offer a response that opens up new avenues for investigation that require the
research to be redefined. It is important to understand the components of market research. However,
it is also important to understand that the sequence can vary in individual market research projects. At
every stage, the effectiveness of the market research process and how it is being conducted should be
monitored and assessed, not just at the end.
When market research is appropriate

The previous discussion makes it clear that market research is a valuable tool that is frequently used
in day‐to‐day marketing. Before a marketer decides to use market research, some decisions must be
made regarding the benefit of conducting the research. Marketers are faced with limited resources — a
budget — that governs all activities.
Before undertaking a market research project, the following should be considered.6
•• Relevance. Market research must be able to address the problem at hand. In 2012, George Patterson
Y&R won the Consumer Insight award for its work. Cadbury Favourites was a mature brand that was
relevant once a year at Christmas time. The ‘Thinking outside the box’ campaign offered a compelling
brand proposition for Cadbury Favourites by offering these goodies up as the perfect ‘thing to bring’
to casual social get‐togethers when you’ve been told ‘not to bring a thing’. This repositioned Cadbury
Favourites from a brand that was relevant once a year to one that has the potential to play a role in
people’s lives almost every weekend.
•• Timing. Market research is only of use if the information it generates can be analysed ahead of the
time at which the marketing decision needs to be made. There is no point conducting market research
if the information will not be used. Market research is often conducted under time pressure, arising
from the need to make a prompt marketing decision; for example, when confronted by competitive
pressures that require the marketing organisation to act quickly.
•• Availability of resources. Depending on the type of information needed, the market research pro-
cess can consume considerable time and money. Larger organisations track brand health via engaging
the services of professional market research companies. Virgin Australia, for example, commissioned
Colmar Brunton to monitor brand usage, loyalty and advocacy towards the Virgin Blue and Velocity
brands. Such brand-tracking studies cost approximately $250 000.7 Market research should only be
undertaken if it can provide reliable and valid results, which can occur only if adequate resources are
devoted to the process. Results from rushed, poorly planned and executed research or research under-
taken by people without the necessary skills will not truly reflect the market and will, in all likelihood,
lead to poor marketing decisions.
•• Need for new information. Market research should not be conducted if the information needed is
already available or the decision to be made does not require or will not benefit from the type of infor-
mation that market research can provide.
•• Cost–benefit analysis. As with many business decisions, the costs of market research should be
assessed against the resultant benefits. The decision to invest in market research can only be justified
if the potential outcomes are more valuable. In considering whether market research should be con-
ducted, the marketer must make a preliminary judgement about how valuable the research findings are
likely to be.
The brand proposition that Cadbury Favourites were the ‘thing to bring’ to social gatherings repositioned the brand
to be relevant almost every weekend, instead of once a year.
Ethics in market research

As we point out throughout this text, customers, clients, partners and society expect marketers to act
ethically. Market researchers have an ethical responsibility to their clients or employers and to those who
participate in the research (just as clients, employers and participants have an ethical responsibility to
researchers).
The market research industry attempts to self‐regulate its activities in Australia through the Australian
Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS). The AMSRS has a detailed code of practice in place to
govern the activities of market researchers. In New Zealand, the market research industry’s peak body
is called the Market Research Society of New Zealand (MRSNZ). The MRSNZ has a similar code of
practice. The main principles of the codes are common to both countries and are outlined in figure 3.4.
The full codes can be obtained from the AMSRS website at www.mrsa.com.au and the MRSNZ website
at www.mrsnz.org.au.
84 Marketing
FIGURE 3.4 Main principles of the AMSRS and MRSNZ codes of practice for market research
General rules
Research must be objective, based on scientific methods, and conducted in compliance with the law.
Responsibilities to respondents
• Respondents’ identities must not, without their consent, be revealed to anyone not directly involved in
the market research project or used for any non‐research purpose.
• Nobody shall be adversely affected or harmed as a direct result of participating in a market research
study.
• Respondents must be able to check without difficulty the identity and good faith of researchers.
• Respondents’ cooperation in a market research project is entirely voluntary at all stages; they must
not be misled when being asked for their cooperation.
• No child under 14 years shall be interviewed without parents’/guardians’/responsible adults’ consent.
Researchers’ professional responsibilities

• Researchers must not, whether knowingly or negligently, act in any way that could bring discredit on
the market research profession or lead to a loss of public confidence.
• Researchers must always strive to design research that is cost‐efficient and of adequate quality, and
then to carry this out.
• Researchers must not undertake non‐research activities (e.g. telemarketing or list building) and
research activities simultaneously.
The codes of practice are aimed at professional market researchers, but the principles apply to anyone
who conducts market research. You should, of course, observe your ethical responsibilities when con-
ducting market research in your future career, and this should start now as part of your marketing course.
You have a duty to conduct research for university projects in an ethical manner and need to inform
yourself about the requirements for conducting ethical market research.
Many countries have professional associations with codes of practice for their market research indus-
tries. Many of the codes, including the Australian and New Zealand codes, are derived from the code of
the World Association of Opinion and Marketing Research Professionals.8
So far we have looked at the use of market research in day‐to‐day marketing. In the next part of this
chapter, we consider how marketers define research problems. This is followed with an overview of the
briefing process, as marketers often need to provide a brief for market research agencies.
SPOTLIGHT
Identifying the ideal moment to dive in

In a highly awarded piece of work, marketing agency
Affinity provided Narellan Pools with enhanced
insights, resulting in additional enquiries and higher
conversion rates.
Narellan needed to determine when and where it

could best spend its media dollars across 49 regional
and metropolitan centres across Australia. Affinity’s
job was to determine the tipping point at which people
become a lead, and to identify why there were pro-
nounced increases in leads, and massive spikes in
conversion of those leads to a purchase, on certain
days in warmer months.
Home‐owning families on Australia’s east coast and in South Australia were targeted using data
insights. Narellan took first‐party data, including leads, sales, conversion rates, marketing and pro-
motional plans and website analytics, and overlaid this information with third party and other data.
By linking company data with other data sources, including consumer confidence, interest rates, CPI,
building approvals, search volumes for pool quotes and related key words and weather, Affinity was able
to identify a set of factors that led to pronounced increases in leads and spikes in purchases across
the 49 areas. Armed with this understanding, Affinity delivered a strategy that focused the majority of
Narellan’s media spend on the conditions identified in the research. By using real‐time media buying
tools, Narellan Pools was able to decrease its total media budget by 30 per cent by only messaging in
optimal periods and conditions.
The resulting campaign focused on the ‘dive in’ moment of owning your very own pool. By diving
deep into data, Affinity and Narellan Pools were able to ensure the right people were engaged with this
idea at exactly the right moment. Narellan’s total leads were up by 11 per cent, and total sales rose by
23 per cent. Affinity’s exhaustive interrogation of data meant it not only drove more leads for its client, it
also drove better quality leads that converted to increased sales.9
QUESTION
In your own words, explain how the research insights gained were used to deliver a sales increase for
Narellan Pools.
CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS CHECK
1. Define ‘market research’ in your own words and list the major steps in a market research project.
2. Give ten examples of marketing decisions for a hotel chain that are likely to require market
research.
3. Find one example of how marketers are using a marketing information system to guide brand
management.
4. Why is market research important?
5. Find one unethical example of market research in practice. Refer to the AMSRS or MRSNZ code of
ethics to identify how your example breached the code.
3.2 Defining a market research problem

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.2 Clearly define a research problem to guide a market research project, and
prepare a research brief.
Marketers need all sorts of information to understand how they can better meet customer, client and
society needs and wants to improve their marketing performance. Marketers use information to identify
and define marketing opportunities and threats; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor
marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.10
Before starting a market research project, it is crucial to know — and be able to communicate —
precisely what the purpose of the research is. The thing the market research is intended to address is
often referred to as the research problem. A poorly defined research problem will lead to research
that does not generate the information required to enable the marketing organisation to make marketing
decisions.
Usually there will be some trigger that prompts a market research project. For example, a home
builder might notice that increasing numbers of prospective customers are asking about the environ-
mental credentials of the builder’s home designs. The builder might want to know whether it would
be worthwhile to improve the environmental sustainability and performance of his or her houses.
86 Marketing
That seems a straightforward question, but it is important in the initial stage of the market research
process to properly define what the research project is meant to find out. For example, what does
‘worthwhile’ mean? Does it mean of benefit to society generally, that it will create more business for
the builder, that it will allow the builder to charge a higher margin, or that it will reduce or increase
enquiries from the public if the builder includes the environmental aspects of his or her houses in
advertising messages? The builder needs to know this and certainly needs to communicate it clearly
to the market researcher. This step is about ensuring the research has a clear purpose and that the pur-
pose is clearly defined. A clearly specified research problem will ensure that the research will actually
answer the question asked of it.
In practice, as the research proceeds, the original questions asked may be redefined as further infor-
mation comes to light or new questions or issues arise.
Once the purpose for the research is known, it is necessary to write a market research brief to specify
the information needed. The next section provides an overview of the requirements for a market research
brief.
Preparing a market research brief

A market research brief outlines the research problem and describes the specific information required
from the market research project. A market research brief generally states the research problem and the
information required, and specifies the timeframe, budget and other conditions of the project.
A typical market research brief will include the following.
•• Executive summary. An executive summary provides an overview of the market research brief. It
outlines the research requirements and includes sufficient information to enable the reader to have a
basic understanding of the proposed project. The executive summary is often the only part of a written
document that senior managers read. It is important in obtaining approval for the research project
from management and for enabling potential researchers to determine whether the project is a suitable
one for them (and hence that they should read and consider the brief in full).
•• Introduction. The introduction explains why the research needs to be conducted and who is proposing
the research.
•• Background. The background details the marketing problem that is currently faced, providing all
known facts and referencing related research projects that are known to the organisation.
•• Problem definition. Effective research briefs clearly state the question that is to be addressed, including
any objectives that have been set for the market research project. The information in the research brief
is used by market researchers to design the research project. Taken together, the introduction, back-
ground and problem definition sections need to provide sufficient information to inform the research
design.
•• Time and budget. The section on time and budget details the amount of money the marketer is able to
spend on the market research project and when the results are needed. For complex market research
projects, various milestones may be specified. It is also wise to include information on how con-
tingencies are to be handled (e.g. if an unforeseen issue arises during the research and needs further
investigation).
•• Reporting schedule. The reporting schedule specifies the precise dates on which preliminary, interim
and final reports are required. It may also include details about the format of the reports.
•• Appendices. Appendices may be included to provide additional detailed background information to
further assist the design stage for the market research project.
Some research briefs include further details, such as the appropriate format for the research proposal,
in‐house resources that the researcher may be able to draw on, what selection criteria the organisation
will use in choosing a market research provider and confidentiality requirements. Figure 3.5 shows an
example of a typical market research brief. (This brief is relatively simple and short. In practice, many
briefs are more detailed.)
FIGURE 3.5 A typical market research brief
Executive summary
1. Background
The XYZ cardiovascular business encompasses a broad range of medical devices used within health-
care specialties such as interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery. As the competitive environment
continues to tighten and product differentiation becomes more challenging, the organisation must
identify new areas of strategic advantage.
The consumers in these specialties in the Australian and New Zealand healthcare markets are mature,
sophisticated and well educated. Growth expectations will be delivered by market share gains, rather
than by an increase in clinical interventions. Within healthcare, both Australia and New Zealand are
recognised as global leaders in new technology adoptions and clinical research, resulting in sophisti-
cated and knowledgeable consumers in these markets. In addition, the competitive landscape is highly
evolved and is served by companies with significant human resources. Messaging thus tends to be
complex, in a space that is crowded and ultimately overloaded by information. These factors have con-
tributed to the differentiation challenges faced by suppliers.
XYZ recognises that in order to gain market share, it needs to gain a higher level of understanding
of its customers. To gain the necessary level of insight, XYZ will commission market research into the
Australian and New Zealand cardiovascular market. Research outcomes will assist in the shaping of
future sales and marketing initiatives, as well as messaging and customer activities. This will help XYZ
to gain market share and to take business away from its competitors. This information will be used by
the leadership group and the sales and marketing teams at the company.
2. Business and research objectives
The proposed research project can be categorised into three key areas: buyer behaviour; customer
perceptions; and other market‐influential factors. The research objectives have been identified as
follows:
• to determine the key decision criteria when an implanting physician is selecting a medical device and
the patient is ‘on the table’
• to determine the market’s perceptions of the major suppliers and rank the major suppliers against key
attributes
• to determine the influence of other market factors, such as clinical data sources, conferences, speaker
tours, training and education.
3. Target market
The research target audience has been defined by the following medical specialists:
• interventional cardiologists
• cardiothoracic surgeons.
A sample of customers from all three specialties should be gathered from a broad range of public
and private institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand. The institutions should also represent
the geographical (city and country) spread of these customers. XYZ will provide the names and email
addresses of customers in the target market.
4. Reporting requirements
The reporting requirements for the research project are threefold, and include a top‐line report, a
PowerPoint presentation of the research outcomes and a final written report.
5. Timing
The expected timeframe for the research is as follows:
• scoping and preparation of the online survey to be completed by 15 November 2018
• online survey to be completed by 5 December 2018
• top‐line report to be provided by 5 January 2019
• PowerPoint presentation and final written report to be delivered by 31 January 2019.
6. Available budget
We have allocated between $45 000 and $55 000 for the project.
88 Marketing
It is important to realise that the market research brief will not necessarily propose a methodology
or approach for the market research. Rather, it can communicate the marketer’s needs to the market
researcher, leaving the market researcher to bring their own expertise as to how to best obtain the
information needed by the marketer. The more complex the research project, the more important this
becomes. For example, international market research is often too complex and expensive to conduct
in‐house. International market research is research conducted in more than one country. The researcher
encounters issues such as ensuring equivalence across different cultures and languages.
We have already detailed how marketers need to clearly communicate the research problem to help
market research professionals design a market research project that can address the research problem at
hand. An answer is only as good as the question asked. The more specific the problem, the more specific
the answer will be.
SPOTLIGHT
Zeroing in on waste reduction

Household organic waste presents a worldwide
dilemma. Commonly, organic waste includes food
waste, fruit and vegetable peel, and garden waste. All
these items are biodegradable, so can be redirected
away from landfill. However, each year one third of
edible food is lost or wasted at a household level.11
A growing body of research shows that this increase
in edible food waste is a significant problem with
serious environmental and financial consequences.12
Redland City Council, located in Queensland,
operates eight waste transfer stations and col-
lects waste and recycling from more than 55 000 properties. In 2014–15 Redland City Council managed
108 853 tonnes of waste, 95 per cent of which was produced by households — and the rate is growing.13
Redland City Council is charged a kilogram‐per‐household fee for waste collection, and food waste
is the heaviest component in a wheelie bin. Reducing food waste in bins saves both the council and the
community money, as well as helping the council achieve its waste reduction targets.
Food waste is organic, putrescible and converts to methane, the worst form of greenhouse gas
emissions. Reducing food waste in bins has an environmental benefit, reducing the contribution of
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere from community sources. Food waste is a resource and can
become valuable compost material. With enough supply, food waste has the potential to be the basis of
small start‐up businesses and part of the low‐carbon, transition economy.
Redland City Council’s objectives are:
1. increase the rate of recycling to 55 per cent city‐wide by 2020
2. achieve an ongoing 1.5 per cent annual reduction in per capita of waste sent to landfill.
QUESTION
You are working on the project team that has been set the task of delivering a 1.5 per cent reduction per
household. Prepare an effective market research brief to guide the work needed to help you to understand
how you can meet this target.
1. Why should marketers use a market research brief for a market research project?
2. Read the Redland City Council Spotlight. Define the research problem for Redland.
3. Why do research problems need to be clearly defined?
4. Obtain a survey online. What research problem is likely to underpin this survey?
3.3 Key research design issues
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.3 Outline the issues in research design, including the role of primary and
secondary data, and the uses of quantitative and qualitative research.
Most of us are familiar with surveys. Market research has moved beyond surveys. There is a multitude
of market research methods, with many new and emerging technologies such as behavioural economics,
apps‐based research, virtual environments, research gamification and crowdsourcing.14
Today, the global market research industry is witnessing a decline in the use of traditional tech-
niques such as surveys and interviews. According to a Greenbook research industry trends report
(2016 Q1–Q2),15 which surveyed 1673 market research providers globally, online communities and
mobile surveys can be considered ‘mainstream’ methods currently in use. While market researchers
want to use social media, they feel they face challenges when using these techniques today. Thirty‐nine
respondents reported feeling constrained in using social media monitoring currently. The main issues
holding them back are a lack of knowledge about the technique (44 per cent) and lack of proof that
social media works (41 per cent).
The method to be used by a market researcher depends on the information required and the infor-
mation already contained within the organisation. Different problems require different methods. The way
that you frame your question will determine the type of method that will be needed to provide the infor-
mation that you require; for example, research into a highly sensitive topic seeking to understand why
consumers behave in the manner they do can only be obtained through interviews. In other instances,
though, more than one method may be used to answer the chosen question. Let’s consider a marketer
who wants to understand what people are saying about their brand. This marketer could use information
posted on the internet and/or on social media sites such as Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit and Facebook to
understand consumers’ sentiment towards their brand. Marketers need to understand which techniques
apply, and their strengths and limitations, in order to determine how best to design the research project
to address the research problem at hand.
The research design must include a research question or hypothesis for testing and a description of
the type(s) of research to be used.
Types of research
Market researchers conduct three different types of research.
1. Exploratory research. Exploratory research, as its name suggests, is research intended to gather
more information about a loosely defined problem.
2. Descriptive research. Descriptive research is used to solve a particular and well‐defined problem by
clarifying the characteristics of certain phenomena.
3. Causal research. Causal research assumes that a particular variable causes a specific outcome
and then, by holding everything else constant, tests whether the variable does indeed affect that
outcome.
The degree of knowledge about the research problem at hand affects the type and the amount of
research that is required. Exploratory research is required when management is uncertain about what
actions should be taken and has little knowledge about the research problem. Exploratory research
is used in these situations to generate ideas to help management decide on an appropriate form of
action and to increase management’s knowledge. When management is aware of the problem but
lacks some important piece of knowledge, descriptive research is undertaken. Causal research is used
for sharply defined problems. In causal research, a hypothesis is generated for testing. A hypothesis
is a tentative explanation that can be tested. The hypothesis is generated from existing knowledge
and from expectations about what the research project will discover; for example, a marketer expects
increased advertising expenditure to lead to greater brand awareness and conducts research to test
their hypothesis.
90 Marketing
More complex research projects may combine approaches. For example, a market research project
might start with exploratory research to identify reasons for a fall in sales that has occurred for no
apparent reason. After discovering possible reasons for the decline in sales, the market research project
may continue by undertaking descriptive research to confirm which factors have contributed towards the
decline in sales. An outcome may be that the packaging and advertising have contributed to the decrease
in sales. Finally, causal research may be used to test whether consumers will buy more if the packaging
is larger, and to determine which of two potential advertising campaigns will be more effective. The use
of combined approaches is represented in figure 3.6.
FIGURE 3.6 Using multiple research approaches for complex research problems
Descriptive
research
Possible
Exploratory Probable
Problem causes of
research cause
the problem
Causal
research
Types of data
Two main types of data are available for marketers. Insights can be gained from information that is
already available. This is termed secondary data. Where information is not already available or is not up
to date, marketers will need to turn to primary data. We will now briefly consider these two types of data.
Secondary data are data that already exist. Secondary data comprise information originally gathered
or recorded for some purpose other than to address the current market research problem. The information
may be held by the organisation (e.g. sales records or customer profiles generated from business docu-
ments) as part of its MIS (discussed earlier), or by some external organisation (e.g. a market research
company such as the Nielsen Company or a statistics organisation such as the Australian Bureau of
Statistics or Statistics New Zealand).
Primary data are data observed or collected directly from respondents as part of the current market
research project (e.g. responses given on a questionnaire). You may be wondering why we discussed
secondary data first and primary data second — because it already exists, secondary data is cheaper,
more quickly available and readily accessible, and often all that is required. Primary data only comes
about through a dedicated market research effort. Marketers should always assess whether their research
questions can use secondary data before embarking on primary data collection. With electronic records,
the existence of large market research companies and the opportunity to obtain and share data provided
by the internet, much contemporary market research now has the potential to come from secondary
sources. In drawing on a secondary source, the researcher must be able to assure themselves that the
source is trustworthy. This is particularly important in the online world, where published information
may not have been obtained using valid techniques. Figure 3.7 lists some of the most useful sources of
secondary data for the market researcher.
As discussed in relation to the MIS, the secondary data held needs to be structured and analysed if it is
to be of use in addressing the research problem at hand. While large corporations and governments have
long collected enormous amounts of data, it has only been in the past 20 years or so that technology has
allowed databases to be quickly and efficiently interrogated to provide useful information. A technique
known as ‘data mining’ involves processing large data sets to identify patterns and trends that would not
be obvious or even discernible upon observation.
FIGURE 3.7 Secondary data sources
Government agencies and international organisations

The governments of most countries have central statistics agencies that collect and analyse data for
the use of the public service in making decisions in the best interests of the governance of the country.
Much of the data collected by these agencies is available to the public, sometimes for free and some-
times at a cost. Examples include:
• Australian Bureau of Statistics, www.abs.gov.au
• Statistics New Zealand, www.stats.govt.nz
• Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, www.censtatd.gov.hk
• Malaysia Statistics Department, www.statistics.gov.my
• Statistics Singapore, www.singstat.gov.sg.
Most governments and many international organisations also have departments or agencies devoted
to promoting industry. They undertake research or data collection for the express purpose of providing
information to marketing and other organisations. Examples include:
• Austrade, www.austrade.gov.au
• New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, www.nzte.govt.nz
• MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation), www.matrade.gov.my
• SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board), www.spring.gov.sg.
A number of international bodies exist that collect enormous amounts of data as part of their activities.
Examples include:
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations, www.aseansec.org
• International Market Research Information, www.imriresearch.com
• Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD), www.oecd.org
• United Nations, www.un.org
• World Bank Group, www.worldbank.org
• World Trade Organization, www.wto.org.
Media
The mass media (television, radio, newspapers, magazines) provide a wealth of information about all
sorts of topics. Examples include:
• BRW, www.brw.com.au
• B&T Weekly, www.bandt.com.au
• The Australian, www.theaustralian.news.com.au
• New Zealand Herald, www.nzherald.co.nz
• NZ Business, www.nzbusiness.co.nz.
Market research providers
Market research is big business in itself. Australia’s first market research study was undertaken by the
J Walter Thompson advertising agency more than 80 years ago.
Today, more than 300 businesses in Australia provide market research services.16 Examples include:
• The Nielsen Company, http://au.acnielsen.com and http://nz.acnielsen.com
• Roy Morgan Research, www.roymorgan.com.au
• Euromonitor, www.euromonitor.com
• OzTAM, www.oztam.com.au
• BISWorld, www.ibisworld.com.au
• Hitwise, www.hitwise.com
• Colmar Brunton Research, www.colmarbrunton.com
• TNS, www.tnsglobal.com.
Marketing information systems
Efficient marketing organisations capture information from many sources within the organisation in order
to inform later marketing decisions:
• raw data from sales reports
• processed data from sales reports (e.g. data filtered by region, season, salesperson, product type,
customer characteristics, price)
92 Marketing
• accounting information
• written reports by sales representatives and customer service officers.
Databases
Most organisations, often as part of the MIS, have databases holding vast quantities of information
about their operations and market.
Industry bodies
Most industries have a peak body that works in the interests of the industry and pools resources from
members of the industry to conduct research and provide information for the benefit of the industry
overall. This can be provided via the internet, directly upon request or through regular industry publi-
cations. Examples include:
• Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia
• Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance
• Meat Industry Association of New Zealand
• Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association
• Internet Industry Association
• Seafood Services Australia
• Food Industry Asia
• Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.
Despite the exponentially increasing amounts of information available, secondary data cannot
always answer every marketing problem. In many cases it is necessary to collect primary data. Primary
data collection tends to be more time‐consuming, expensive and difficult than using secondary data.
Sometimes marketing organisations, depending on the skills and resources they have available and
the complexity of the market research project, undertake primary data collection themselves; others
contract specialist research organisations such as Roy Morgan, the Nielsen Company or CoreData to
undertake the research.
Quantitative and qualitative research methods

There are two main types of research methods: qualitative research and quantitative research.
According to the Greenbook research industry trends report (2016 Q1–Q2),17 which surveyed
1673 market research providers globally, market research recently has shifted towards quantitative
methods. For example, 5 per cent of respondents reported conducting ‘a lot more quant’, compared
to 1 per cent who reported conducting ‘a lot more qual’. Respondents were more likely to report a
decline in qualitative research in the past year when compared to quantitative research. Global trends
suggest there are opportunities for graduates with expertise in social media and emerging technologies.
If you are good with numbers, specialising as a quantitative market researcher may assist you to gain
employment on graduation.
Each methodological approach offers many alternatives for market researchers to use. Quantitative
research focuses on collecting data that can be represented numerically and analysed statistically. It
often collects data by asking questions about ‘how much’, ‘how many’ and ‘how often’, usually via
online, telephone, mail or in‐person surveys. Generally, if you respond to the researcher by providing
a number, ticking a box, or circling an option in a list or scale, you are participating in quantitative
research. The 2016 Greenbook research industry trends report outlines the popular quantitative methods
used by market researchers globally (see figure 3.8).18
Quantitative research is useful for:
•• assessing market size
•• identifying market segments
•• predicting the success of proposed marketing campaigns
•• finding out about customer perceptions of existing products.
FIGURE 3.8 Popular quantitative methods used by market researchers
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Computer-assisted
telephone interviews (CATI)
Computer-assisted
personal interviews (CAPI)
Online surveys
Interactive voice response

(e.g. call centre)
Mail
Face-to-face
Mobile surveys
Biometrics
Automated measures/
people metres
Source: Greenbook research industry trends report (2016).
Quantitative approaches are usually used for descriptive or causal research. As shown in figure 3.8,
surveys remain the most common quantitative research tool. Most survey techniques have similar charac-
teristics. Surveys rely on the researcher to formulate questions that can elicit a relatively closed answer.
One of the major distinguishing features between different survey approaches is whether the research par-
ticipant completes the survey themselves or whether it is administered by an interviewer (see table 3.1).
This difference has important consequences for the survey results. For example, interviewer‐led surveys
can probe the participants for more information on their responses, but at the same time, the presence of an
interviewer can influence the responses given and can make it difficult to get honest responses to questions
about sensitive topics such as sex. All surveys are more or less prone to distortion because most people’s
reported behaviour does not precisely match their actual behaviour. For example, a study designed
to compare the results of different research techniques found that consumers reported significantly dif-
ferent behaviour than their actual behaviour when it comes to buying alcoholic beverages. Among other
differences, consumers said in interviews that they would spend more than ten minutes deciding which
beverage to choose and reading labels and so on, whereas actual behaviour that was observed suggested
they took less than three minutes to enter the store, find a drink, go to the counter, pay for it and leave.19
The advantages and disadvantages of various survey methods are described in table 3.1.
94 Marketing
TABLE 3.1 Quantitative research methods: surveys
Method Description Major advantages Major disadvantages
Interviewer‐led survey
Computer‐assisted In‐person survey • Comparatively high • Lack of anonymity can

personal interviews administered by response rate distort responses, e.g.
(CAPI) an interviewer, • Interviewer can ask more respondents may be
e.g. door‐to‐door, questions based on the reluctant to honestly
shopping centre. responses given answer questions about
Computer‐assisted Administered by an • Props and visual aids can sensitive topics
telephone interviewer over the be used (when survey is • There is potential
interviews (CATI) telephone. conducted in‐person) for interviewer and
• May be the best option for respondent bias
long or detailed surveys • Comparatively
• Speed expensive
Self‐response survey
Mail surveys A survey form is • Comparatively cheap • Poor response rate —

mailed to potential • May provide a lot of easy for potential
respondents along information respondents to ignore
with instructions on • Suited to obtaining closed • Delay in receiving
how to complete responses, e.g. yes/no responses (for mail
and return the form. • Potential anonymity can surveys)
Online surveys Email or web‐based lead to less respondent bias • Email surveys may be
surveys, completed • Wide geographic reach intercepted by spam
and returned online. • Convenient for respondents filters
• Speed of response (for • Poor response
Mobile surveys Android, Blackberry online surveys and mobile rate can lead to an
or iPhone survey, surveys). A consumer can unrepresentative sample
completed and be sent a mobile survey as • Mobile surveys have to
returned on a they leave the bank. be short
handheld device.
Table 3.2 summarises some other quantitative market research approaches: experimentation, observ
ation (in person or automated response/people metrics) and biometrics. The chosen technique depends
on the nature of what is being studied. For example, observation is used to study television viewing
habits (a rating device in the person’s home reports what the household was watching and when — or
at least what the television was showing when it was on). Departments of main roads use observation to
determine how many vehicles use particular roads at specific times of the day, using either automated
counters or employing contractors to actually count if more specific details are required (such as the type
of vehicle or number of passengers).
TABLE 3.2 Other quantitative research methods

Experiments Manipulation of variables of • Allows researchers • The artificial setting may not truly
interest while holding everything to establish cause reflect real‐life settings
else constant in a bid to and effect • Variables other than the
determine just what and how • Tracks actual one being studied could be
particular things affect behaviour. behaviour (e.g. influencing the outcome
The variable of interest is known what people do)
as the independent variable and rather than relying
the variable it influences is known on consumers’
as the dependent variable. self‐reports
Observation Studying people’s behaviour and • Measures actual • Can be expensive

the circumstances surrounding it. behaviour as • Results can be significantly affected
opposed to by the subjectivity of the observer
intended or • May provide ‘shallow’ data (e.g.
reported behaviour it may reveal a lot of descriptive
information, but little about the
motivation or cause of observed
behaviours)
Biometrics Determining a participant’s • Measures • Cannot explain ‘how’ a consumer
physiological response to certain actual response thinks or what they remember
stimuli. Examples include heart as opposed • The science is still evolving
rate, respiration (breathing), to intended • Very expensive
muscle activity, brain activity (e.g. or reported • Can be uncomfortable for
neuromarketing), and oculometric behaviour. respondents
(e.g. eye tracking) activity.
Qualitative research focuses on obtaining rich, deep and detailed information through techniques
such as interviews and focus groups. The 2016 Greenbook research industry trends report outlines the
popular qualitative methods used by market researchers globally (see figure 3.9).20
FIGURE 3.9 Popular qualitative methods used by market researchers
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Traditional (in person) focus groups
Chat (text) based online focus groups
Online focus groups with webcams
Telephone focus groups
Traditional (in person) in-depth interviews
Chat (text-based) online in-depth interviews
Online in-depth interviews with webcams
Telephone in-depth interviews
Bulletin board studies
Interviews/groups using online

communities
Monitoring blogs
In-store/shopping observations
Mobile (diaries, image collection etc.)

Source: Greenbook research industry trends report (2016).
96 Marketing
Rather than identifying numerical patterns, qualitative research aims to get to the reasons behind
behaviour. It looks to identify the attitudes and emotions that underlie the behaviours that quantitative
research identifies. Qualitative research is particularly useful for investigating the reasons behind behav-
iours — it provides the ‘why’ that can be missing from the ‘how much, how many, how often’ questions
answered by quantitative methods. Qualitative research is useful for:
•• understanding customer needs
•• evaluating potential new products
•• testing promotional campaigns
•• understanding customers.
Qualitative research approaches are usually used for exploratory research. Because they involve in‐
depth discussion, a skilled researcher can elicit detailed responses from participants. Table 3.3 sum-
marises some qualitative market research approaches. The quality of data from the various approaches
depends on the skill of the researcher. Conducting research via depth interviews and focus groups, in
particular, is part art and part science. The best results are obtained by engaging highly skilled and
experienced people to lead qualitative research.
TABLE 3.3 Qualitative research methods
Depth interview Researcher-driven, • Elicits rich, deep and detailed • Expensive

with questions to information • Can be difficult to obtain
guide the interview. • The interviewer can explore participants
responses with further • Time‐consuming
questioning to ensure as much • Difficult to use for sensitive
information is gained from the topics
process as possible • Interviewer can bias results
• Cannot necessarily generalise
results to the wider population
Focus group A group of • Provides multiple perspectives • Expensive

respondents are • Elicits rich, deep and detailed • Can be difficult to obtain
brought together, information participants
introduced to an idea, • Focus groups often give rise • Time‐consuming
concept or product, to responses or issues not • Group setting makes it difficult
and their interactions foreseeable in survey design — to use for sensitive topics
observed. the researcher/mediator can • Researcher/moderator can bias
explore these issues by asking results
additional questions • Cannot necessarily generalise
results to the wider population
Observation Recorded notes • Potentially higher insight into • Expensive

describing actual actual behaviour patterns • Time‐consuming
events. • Can be unobtrusive • Can be difficult to implement
ethically (e.g. privacy concerns)
In addition to deciding the appropriate method for a research project, the market researcher must
decide on the participants. This is done through a process known as sampling.
Sampling
In market research the word population means all of the things (often people) of interest to the researcher
in the particular research project. It is rarely possible to conduct market research directly on the entire
population,21 so market researchers try to study a smaller number of representative members of the
population using a statistical principle known as sampling.
Sampling is the process of choosing members of the total population. The group chosen for the study
is known as the sample. There are various approaches to sampling. The aim is to achieve a sample that
will give results that closely match those that would be obtained were the entire population studied. The
approaches can be broadly classified as probability sampling or non‐probability sampling.
Probability sampling ensures that every member of the population has a known chance of being
selected in the sample that will be studied. Results obtained using probability sampling can be con-
sidered to represent the entire population. Non‐probability sampling provides no way of knowing the
chance of a particular member of the population being chosen as part of the sample. Samples obtained
using non‐probability samples are unlikely to be representative of the population. Non‐probability
samples can allow quicker data collection and hence lower costs. The main sample types are described
in table 3.4.
TABLE 3.4 Sampling methods
Sample method Type Description Example
Random sampling Probability Each member of the entire If the population of interest is
population to be studied has the members of your marketing
an equal opportunity of being course, then a random sample
selected for the sample. of every 10th student from an
alphabetical list of all students
enrolled in the course is needed.
Stratified sampling Probability The population is divided into If you were conducting research
different groups based on some on your marketing class to find out
characteristic (e.g. age, sex, whether tutorials should be held
home state) and then from each during the middle of the day or
of those groups a random sample in the evening, you might expect
is chosen. Stratified sampling is that opinions would differ between
used when you expect there to those members of the class that
be variations in characteristics have children and those that do
between groups within the not. Therefore you could divide
population. the class according to whether the
members have children and then
choose a sample from each group,
thus ensuring that the opinions of
population members with those
characteristics are included in the
sample.
Quota Non‐probability Divides the population into A study seeks 50 female and
groups based on a number of 50 male participants. People are

characteristics and then arbitrarily approached to participate in the
chooses participants from each study until the quota is reached.
group. The findings cannot be
generalised.
Convenience Non‐probability Participants are selected on Fans at a cricket game are

the basis of convenience. The surveyed on their beverage
simplicity of this approach makes preference.
it a tempting option, but the
findings cannot be generalised.
98 Marketing
It is important to note that all market research involves some degree of error. Some of these errors
arise from problems such as recording a response incorrectly or a poorly designed question. These
types of errors are known as non‐sampling errors. Sampling error is a measure of the extent to which
the results from the sample differ from the results that would be obtained from the entire population.
Because sampling error is directly related to the extent to which findings from a sample can be general-
ised to the population of interest, marketers must take steps to ensure that sampling error is minimised.
SPOTLIGHT
Know the target audience

BO PANG, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
Active school travel (AST) has been proven to help
children improve their physical and psychological
health.22,23 Children who actively travel to school can
concentrate better in the classroom. While benefits
of AST are widely known, the rates of AST have
declined over the last 40 years in countries such as
Australia.24,25 Fewer children are walking, cycling or
scooting to and from school.
How can we reverse this trend? In order to deter-
mine this, we need to ask some questions. Market
research is the best way to assist us to gain consumer
insights, delivering understanding of the barriers fam-
ilies face. Understanding the reasons why children aren’t actively travelling to and from school helps
marketers design programs that can be delivered in schools or local communities to increase AST.
In a recent study a social marketing team first conducted a systematic review to identify, analyse
and understand the effectiveness of AST interventions that had been reported in peer review literature
since 2010. This study found 18 interventions running from as brief as four weeks to as long as five
years. Insights from this study suggested that school policy can help to deliver increases in AST. Next,
a quantitative research study employing an online survey was implemented to investigate what factors
could explain AST behaviours. The results of the online survey found that social norms are the most
influential factor in facilitating AST. Finally, qualitative research methods were used to understand how
change may be achieved. The research team organised focus groups to talk with parents in order to fur-
ther investigate how social norms function as a driving factor. Simultaneously, another qualitative study
adopted co‐design groups to gain insights from parents regarding their preferred intervention strategies
and communications in order to design an effective and appealing AST intervention.
By treating children, parents and schools as consumers, market research can help gain an under-
standing of what the consumers need and want, in order to provide better and more effective programs
that not only satisfy their needs, but also improve their quality of their life.
QUESTION
How many market research methods were used in the example?

1. You have been asked to examine brand sentiment on Twitter. How might your results be biased?
2. Find one primary research method that interests you. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
this method?
3. Find two studies that describe their sampling method. Was a probability or non‐probability sample
drawn? Make sure that you think carefully about the population of interest and whether every person
had an equal chance of selection.
4. Biometrics are increasing in popularity in market research. Find an example of a biometric study and
prepare a summary of the study for class. Your summary should outline the research problem, the
research design, the research findings and the conclusions drawn by the authors.
3.4 Data collection, analysis and reporting
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3.4 Understand the key principles of data collection and analysis, and the
subsequent reporting of market research findings to inform marketing decisions.
Data must be collected according to the methods specified in the research design. The goal of this part
of the research process is to ensure the research design is properly followed, responses are recorded cor-
rectly and errors are not introduced.
The whole market research process needs to be managed according to project management princi-
ples to ensure the market research is delivered in accordance with the research brief, as well as on time
and on budget; and provides value to the marketing organisation. The data collection process can be
conducted in‐house or it can be outsourced, with a market research or advertising agency taking on the
responsibility of the data collection process (and often the analysis and reporting as well). A full dis-
cussion of project management is outside the scope of this text, but the basic principles are now briefly
outlined.
Managing data collection

Given that time and financial resources are limited, budgeting and scheduling need to be planned and
managed to ensure the most benefit is derived from the investment in market research. The market
research project should proceed efficiently and effectively.
Budgets can be determined by estimating the likely actual cost of each phase of the project or deter-
mining the amount of time that each phase is likely to take and then applying a standard cost estimate to
the hours. A market research project seeking to capture consumer preferences using an online question-
naire for a sample of 500 customers will cost around $20 000. A study involving 15 depth interviews and
a 20‐minute online questionnaire offering incentives for business professionals to participate will cost
around $50 000. It is clear a market research project is a substantial investment.
During a project, some phases must be completed before others can begin. For example, researchers
will often conduct depth interviews to generate items for a survey. The depth interview phase has to be
completed prior to the implementation of the survey phase. Careful coordination and management are
required to ensure each phase can proceed as planned.
It is important to note that the project must also be able to accommodate revisions as it proceeds. The
market research process is not always a straightforward, linear path from start to finish.
•• An initial survey of secondary data may prompt the marketing organisation to reassess the research
problem definition.
•• A focus group might similarly prompt a reassessment of the problem or suggest some other piece of
data to analyse what was not included in the original brief.
•• The initial data analysis might suggest some revision to the methodology for data collection, requiring
that part of the process to be reviewed.
All of this is part of the dynamic nature of market research. A research project that cannot or does not
take the opportunity to refine itself when it is in progress is almost certain to result in less than optimal
value.
A number of tools exist to help project managers maintain control of projects. The most commonly
used are Gantt charts and the critical path method. Gantt charts are a visual representation of who is
doing what and when. A simplified example is shown in figure 3.10. The critical path method involves
dividing the research process into parts, estimating the time to complete each and arranging them so that
a stage cannot proceed until all of the prerequisite parts are complete. This method is very useful for
seeing the effect of a delay in one part of the project on the overall progress of the project.
Project management also assigns accountabilities for the various aspects of the market research pro-
ject: who is responsible for what. If the market research project or part of it is outsourced, this aspect
takes on extra importance and should be included in the contract.
100 Marketing
FIGURE 3.10 A simplified Gantt chart (data collection, analysis, reporting)
Time
Task Start End (days) 22-Jan 29-Jan 5-Feb 12-Feb 19-Feb 26-Feb 5-Mar 12-Mar 19-Mar
Prepare survey 22-Jan 24-Jan 3
Determine sample 22-Jan 25-Jan 4
Distribute survey 29-Jan 31-Jan 3
Receive responses 5-Feb 23-Feb 19
Filter responses 12-Feb 2-Mar 19
Analyse responses 19-Feb 9-Mar 19
Prepare report 12-Mar 16-Mar 5
Report findings 19-Mar 19-Mar 1
Data analysis
Once data has been collected, it needs to be filtered and organised. Depending on how the data was
collected, it may be necessary to perform some quality control techniques to eliminate invalid data
(e.g. where the interviewer recorded a response incorrectly or a respondent gave a nonsensical answer).
Once cleaned up, the results need to be analysed. A wide range of analytical techniques are available
and marketers need to understand which analytical techniques are appropriate for the data they have.
They need to know how to condense a large pile of information into a more user‐friendly form. A sound
knowledge of data analysis is also essential if marketers are to properly evaluate and interpret the find-
ings presented in market research reports. Without a working knowledge of data analysis, a marketer
will not be capable of understanding if the analysis was appropriate and therefore if the findings and
recommendations are valid. Market research, data analysis and business statistics courses will all help
equip you with these essential skills.
The data analysis technique to be used will have been planned as part of the research design. For
example, some methods require minimum sample sizes and this must be planned prior to data collection.
As data is collected, a preliminary analysis can be conducted and the results of this analysis can be fed
back into the ongoing data collection process, particularly if an unexpected issue or finding emerges that
requires further probing.
Generally analysis will be quantitative or qualitative in nature. Both approaches can be applied to the
same data in some cases.
Quantitative analysis
Recall that quantitative research generates data that can be represented numerically. To be converted into
knowledge that can be used to inform decision making, the quantitative data that has been collected must
be analysed and understood.
Figure 3.11 is a chart created from analysis of stated choice preference data collected in a study for
nappies. This graph shows the number of time each product (in red) was chosen as best (>0<3) and
worst (>–3<0) by consumers participating in the study.

For example, product 8 (an endorsed product) was, on average, chosen as best on more than one
occasion, with some consumers choosing product 8 as best on all three occasions (SD>2.0). While some
consumers may always have chosen product 8 as best, others may have chosen product 8 as worst at
least once when the brand appeared in a choice set. In other words, some consumers may choose the
product as best, while others will choose the same product as worst. This graph was constructed from
a questionnaire in which respondents were asked to make a best and a worst choice for each of the
12 choice scenarios presented (each scenario offered respondents a choice of three products). A total of
12 different products were tested.
FIGURE 3.11 Consumer preference heterogeneity26
Standard deviation
2.500
P5 P8
2.000
P1 P4 P2 P11
P10
1.500
P3 P12
P6 P7
P9
1.000
0.500
−3.00 −2.00 −1.00 0 1.00 2.00 3.00
Quantitative data is typically fed into software designed specifically for statistical analysis, such
as SPSS,27 or into more general purpose software that has some statistical analysis features such as
Microsoft Excel. Software can analyse statistics based on one, two, or more variables (known respec-
tively as univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis), showing trends and patterns in the mass of data,
often presenting them in easy to understand graphs, charts or tables. The analysis will support or refute
the research hypothesis (or indeed it could be inconclusive). Even the most sophisticated statistical
software will not generally identify patterns automatically. A skilled analyst needs to use the original
research question to determine how to interrogate the data in order to identify patterns.
Qualitative analysis
Qualitative data is not usually represented numerically. Indeed, the whole purpose of qualitative research
is to gain richer and deeper information than can be obtained by quantitative techniques. Qualitative
data will usually be in the form of interview transcripts, video recordings, observation record sheets and
lengthy narrative responses to questions. Figure 3.12 shows qualitative data extracted from a transcript
of a focus group that was part of a study on drinking during pregnancy.
FIGURE 3.12 Sample data from a focus group
Interviewer: What about other people around you? Have you got friends who drank during pregnancy
and can you comment a little bit on that?
Participant 3: I’ve had a friend who drank very heavily and she was trying to get pregnant and did get
pregnant and that continued until she found out she was pregnant. And she did stop, or significantly
reduced drinking during pregnancy.
Interviewer: Anyone else?
Participant 4: I had a friend who had one drink a week the whole way through her pregnancy. She
decided she couldn’t give up drinking entirely and she just every Friday night had a fairly big glass of
wine, but she got a lot of flak from it from people who didn’t know her, you know if she wanted to have
her glass of wine while she was out with her friends at the pub, people would be fairly nasty to her.
Interviewer: What did they do?
Participant 1: They just sort of made snide comments, like they didn’t necessarily say anything to her
but they’d be sitting at the next table and commenting. But she decided to keep drinking and do it in
public so I suppose it’s going to happen.
102 Marketing
Participant 2: Yeah I’ve probably known people who have one say every now and again or one maybe
not even on special occasions, but people that would drink one or two every now and again, and I think
the reactions from other people are pretty judgemental about what are you doing. And so I suppose
it’s up to the person and they have obviously satisfied themselves that what they are doing, I hope, is
reasonable and not going to impact on the health of the child, but yeah I’ve noticed people are pretty
quick to jump in and say ‘What are you doing?’
Procedures such as reduction and coding are available to interpret and organise qualitative data to
allow meaningful conclusions to be drawn. Researchers reduce qualitative data by categorising concepts
and key variables in the study according to their properties or dimensions. Coding involves developing
a series of propositions about the relationships between key concepts identified in the study. Diagrams
are often used by researchers to illustrate relationships between key concepts in the study. It is important
to remember, though, that treating qualitative data too much like quantitative data will lose much of the
richness of information that makes qualitative data so valuable.
Drawing conclusions
Once the data has been analysed and patterns or trends identified, conclusions must be drawn and
recommendations made. The conclusions should state what the data has shown in terms of the original
research question. For example, if a supermarket conducted research into how customers were likely to
react to the introduction of a levy on plastic bags, the conclusion should state what the data suggests will
be the reaction, such as:
•• 40 per cent of customers will start bringing their own bags to use most or all of the time
•• 20 per cent of customers will happily pay the levy
•• 10 per cent of customers will switch to a supermarket that does not charge the levy
•• 30 per cent of customers already use their own bags.
The set of conclusions from the data will suggest one or more courses of action. The alternatives will
usually be formulated by drawing on more information than just that generated by the market research
process. In the previous scenario, the possible courses of action include introducing a levy or not intro-
ducing it; setting the levy at cost or higher or lower than cost; and perhaps not offering plastic bags at
all. The recommendations will need to draw on information about the cost of the bags, the existence of
nearby competitors, the possibility of government regulation, and so on.
Reporting the findings

Once data is analysed and conclusions drawn, the findings must be presented in a format that will enable the
marketing decision makers to use the information. In practice this involves a written report and/or a presen-
tation to the decision makers. Reporting should be concise and to the point. Market researchers often report
the key findings in PowerPoint or Prezi presentations, with more detail provided in a formal written document.
The executive summary in the written report may well be the only part of the report that executives
will read. A written report should include the detail of how the study was conducted and how the analysis
was performed. This detail will be required by the person commissioning the market research. Decision
makers might choose not to read that detail, but it must be available to them should they decide they want
more background or a deeper understanding of how the conclusions or recommendations were reached.
A written research report should include:
•• a cover page, noting the title of the study, the date the report was prepared, the marketing organisation
and the name of the researcher
•• an executive summary, noting the research objectives, findings, conclusions and recommendations (an
executive summary must summarise the entire report)
•• a table of contents, enabling readers to easily find areas of interest in the report
•• an introduction or background section, stating the marketing issue being studied and the research
problem addressed by the project
•• a methodology section, summarising the research plan, any variations from the plan in the implemen-
tation and the rationale for the approach taken (a copy of the actual surveys, interview questions and
so on should be included as an appendix)
•• findings, which make up the main body of the report, supported by tables and graphics as required,
and making clear how the research has answered the research questions
•• a statement of limitations, so that the research findings can be assessed in context of any limitations
that arose during the course of the research
•• conclusions and recommendations, concisely stating what has been concluded from the findings and
recommending possible courses of action
•• appendices, to present detailed, often technical information.
An oral presentation of the written research report needs to be planned and delivered carefully. It is
a mistake (and pointless) to simply read from the written research report. An oral presentation should
focus on the main findings and recommendations, and the use of audiovisual aids (e.g. PowerPoint slides
summarising key information and visuals) can help considerably in getting key messages across to the
target audience. Audiovisual aids can also enhance the chances of audience message recall at a later
date. Research has shown that audiences remember only about 30 per cent of what they hear and only
about 20 per cent of what they see. However, retention of information rises to approximately 50 per cent
of what they both hear and see.28
Care needs to be taken, though, that the use of audiovisual tools such as PowerPoint is not overdone in
an oral presentation. Such slides should be used for impact and the effective presentation of information,
not just for the sake of it. Figure 3.13 is a visual example that shows research about people’s intentions
towards different types of physical activity.29
FIGURE 3.13 Intentions towards physical activity participation30
60.0
Key
Decrease Increase
50.0 (n = 1413)
Percentage of respondents
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Walking
Aerobics/fitness
Swimming
Weight training
Cycling
Running
Yoga
Other
Golf
Tennis
Netball
Football (soccer)
Cricket
Basketball
Australian rules football
104 Marketing
Responding to the research problem
Earlier in the chapter, we noted that market research is usually undertaken to solve a problem — an
issue, opportunity or threat that demands a response that requires information. Our discussion of market
research would be incomplete if we did not consider the ultimate outcome of the market research pro-
cess: marketing decisions that lead to marketing outcomes. Look back to figure 3.3. An organisation that
is using information effectively draws on the results of market research and all other sources of relevant
information to make decisions that take the form of marketing plans and strategies. As discussed in
chapters 1 and 2, these plans are then implemented by the various parts of the organisation to achieve the
organisation’s goals. The results are represented in figure 3.3 as ‘outcomes’.
Ideally, of course, the marketing outcomes align with the marketing goals of the organisation. An
ideal market research project begins with an issue, discovers information about the issue, results in
decisions about how to respond to the issue, and ultimately results in outcomes that match the marketing
goals. For example, if the marketing ‘problem’ is ‘How can we increase revenue by 8 per cent next
financial year?’, the ideal market research will discover how the marketing outcome will indeed be
8 per cent revenue growth. Of course, the ‘real world’ issues facing organisations are far more complex
than this simple statement suggests, and marketing outcomes are the results of a multitude of decisions
taken within an organisation. High‐quality market research helps makes these decisions better informed.
Assessing the effectiveness of the market research

In order to create, communicate, deliver and exchange offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners and society at large, marketers need to understand their market. Without market research,
marketers would face crucial decisions without the necessary knowledge. Those decisions would be an
educated guess at best.
It is essential that marketers evaluate the effectiveness of each and every market research project that
is undertaken. As with all aspects of marketing, those marketers engaged in market research need to be
able to assess and demonstrate the effectiveness of their work in order to prove a return on investment.
The ultimate test is whether the research answers the research problem and leads to decisions that con-
tribute towards achieving the organisation’s marketing goals. This will be captured by marketing metrics
such as brand awareness, customer satisfaction and sales.
The market research process itself should also be measured for effectiveness. For example, as dis-
cussed in this chapter, market research projects have set objectives and specific resources allocated to
them based on a cost–benefit analysis. Suitable measures of the effectiveness of the market research pro-
cess include, therefore, whether the project was completed within the specified budgets and timelines,
the quality of the information generated, the depth of the analysis, and whether senior management felt
they could confidently make a decision based on the research findings.
SPOTLIGHT
What you say versus what you actually do

CUONG PHAM, PhD CANDIDATE, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
You’re at a party. You know your friend has been drinking, and they want to drive home. They say they
are fine to drive. Do you believe what they tell you? Or do you believe the empty bottles next to them?
Aside from caffeine, alcohol is the most widely used recreational drug in Australia and New Zealand.
Based upon national data, as much as 83 per cent of the New Zealand population aged 15 years and
over and 74 per cent of all 15 to 17 year olds have consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months.31
New Zealand and Australia, with their similar alcohol-drinking cultures, have each applied similar strat-
egies in an attempt to reduce alcohol‐related harms. One such strategy has been the introduction of
warning labels on alcohol beverage containers sold in both countries. While strategies such as these are
important, measuring the impact of their implementation is challenging.
For example, one study in 2015 used surveys to see if people looked at alcohol wine labels. In this
survey, 72 per cent of all respondents reported that they remembered seeing such a warning label.
Taking a different approach, a later 2016 study used eye‐tracking software to directly capture what
people look at when presented with the same label as shown in the 2015 online survey. The results
showed that only 59 per cent of all respondents looked at the warning label (see figure 3.14). If you were
asked to comment on the success of warning labels being noticed, which study would you rely on?
FIGURE 3.14 Eye tracking heat map for alcohol warning label study
While there are a variety of research methods that can be used in market research, careful consider-
ation should be given to the type of method chosen and the quality of the information delivered. In order
to get good answers, we need to ask the right question. Both marketers who rely on information and the
market researchers who deliver information to inform decision making need to be aware of the strengths
and weaknesses of the potential research tools available to them.
QUESTION
Go online and find two research techniques that could be applied to a research problem, but can produce
potentially different results.

1. Explain the key differences between quantitative data and qualitative research.
2. Find a market research report online. Evaluate this report using the explanation provided in the
‘Reporting the findings’ section.
3. Imagine you are a market researcher. Interpret the results of the study for figure 3.13.
4. It is essential that marketers evaluate the effectiveness of market research projects they undertake
or commission. Market research effectiveness awards are run annually by professional associations
such as the Australian Market and Social Research Society (www.mrsa.com.au) and the Market
Research Society of New Zealand (www.mrsnz.org.nz). Choose a winner from the most recent market
research awards in your city, state or country. Briefly outline the case (using the research components
presented in this chapter) and discuss why this is an example of effective market research.
106 Marketing
SUMMARY
3.1 Discuss the importance of market research as a basis for marketing decision making.
Market research links customers, clients, partners and society at large with the marketer through
information. Information obtained from market research — along with information from other
sources — is used to inform marketing decisions on a wide range of issues, including those that
are fundamental to the organisation’s marketing mix. The results of market research are fed into
a marketing information system, which holds and organises all of the organisation’s marketing
information.
In deciding to undertake a market research project, the organisation should first consider whether
the market research will be relevant, timely, feasible given available resources, necessary, and result
in sufficient benefits to justify the costs.
Market research must be conducted ethically, respecting the rights of clients, employers and
research participants.
3.2 Clearly define a research problem to guide a market research project, and prepare a research brief.
Before beginning a market research project, it is crucial to know precisely what the research is
intended to achieve. The question that the research is intended to answer is known as the ‘research
problem’. As the research project proceeds and more information is gathered, the research problem
may need to be redefined.
Whether the market research project is undertaken in‐house or outsourced to a specialist provider,
a market research brief should be prepared to guide the project. A market research brief specifies
the research problem, the information required, the timeframe, the budget, and any other conditions
relevant to the project.
3.3 Outline the issues in research design, including the role of primary and secondary data, and
the uses of quantitative and qualitative research.
The research problem needs to be analysed in order to create a methodology that will provide
an answer to the problem. This detailed methodology planned to answer the research problem is
known as the ‘research design’.
Depending on the nature of the research problem, market research usually takes the form of
exploratory research, descriptive research or causal research. Exploratory research is intended to
gather more information about a loosely defined problem. Descriptive research is used to solve a
well‐defined problem by discovering more about certain phenomena. Causal research tests whether
a particular variable affects a specific outcome.
Market research can draw on two types of data. Secondary data is data that already exists. Pri-
mary data is collected specifically for the purposes of the current research project.
Research methods can be broadly classified as quantitative research or qualitative research.
Quantitative research collects data that can be represented numerically and analysed using stat-
istical techniques. Experimentation, observation and biometrics are among the quantitative research
methods. The most commonly used quantitative research tool is the survey, with online being the
most popular current form.
Qualitative research obtains rich, deep and detailed information and is often used when the
market researcher needs to know about the beliefs and attitudes that underlie observable behaviour.
Interviews and focus groups are among the most commonly used qualitative research methods, but
they are time‐consuming and expensive. Both can be conducted in person, over the phone or online.
Market research tries to find out about the population by studying a small part of it and then gen-
eralising the results. The smaller part is known as a ‘sample’. Probability sampling ensures every
member of a population has a known chance of being selected in the sample that will be studied.
Non‐probability sampling provides no way of knowing the chance of a particular member of the
population being chosen as part of the sample.
3.4 Understand the key principles of data collection and analysis, and the subsequent reporting of
market research findings to inform marketing decisions.
Once a research project has been designed, it must be implemented in compliance with the design.
This requires careful project management. Data must be collected, filtered and organised so that it
can be efficiently analysed. Quantitative data can be statistically manipulated to identify trends and
patterns in the data. Qualitative data can be reduced to allow statistical analysis, but much of the
rich detail can be lost. Often qualitative data analysis leads to further research in the form of quanti-
tative research.
Data analysis allows conclusions to be drawn and recommendations formulated. The findings and
recommendations of the market research project should be presented in a concise and clear manner.
The underlying detail should also be provided to support the recommendations.
The recommendations ultimately lead to a marketing decision, which in turn will lead to
marketing outcomes. Ideally, the outcomes are a successful response to the research problem that
triggered the market research process.
KEY TERMS
causal research Research that assumes that a particular variable causes a specific outcome and
then, by holding everything else constant, tests whether the variable does indeed effect that
outcome.
descriptive research Research used to solve a particular and well‐defined problem by clarifying the
characteristics of certain phenomena.
exploratory research Research intended to gather more information about a loosely defined
problem.
hypothesis A tentative explanation that can be tested.
market research A business activity that discovers information of use in making marketing
decisions.
market research brief A set of instructions and requirements that generally states the research
problem and the information required, and specifies the timeframe, budget and other conditions of
the project.
marketing information system (MIS) The structure put in place to manage information gathered
during the usual operations of the organisation.
non‐probability sampling A sampling approach that provides no way of knowing the chance of a
particular member of the population being chosen as part of the sample that will be studied.
population All of the things (often people) of interest to the researcher in the particular research
project.
primary data Data collected specifically for the current market research project.
probability sampling A sampling approach in which every member of the population has a known
chance of being selected in the sample that will be studied.
qualitative research Research intended to obtain rich, deep and detailed information about the
attitudes and emotions that underlie the behaviours that quantitative research identifies.
quantitative research Research that collects information that can be represented numerically.
research design The detailed methodology created to guide the research project and answer the
research question.
research problem The question that the market research project is intended to answer.
sample The group chosen for the study.
sampling error A measure of the extent to which the results from the sample differ from the results
that would be obtained from the entire population.
secondary data Data originally gathered or recorded for some purpose other than to address the
current market research problem.
108 Marketing
CASE STUDY
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA
ABI BADEJO, SHARYN RUNDLE‐THIELE, KRZYSZTOF KUBACKI AND TIMO DIETRICH,
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that forced labour and other forms of human
trafficking in the private economy reap some US$150 billion in illicit profits each year, making human
trafficking the third-most lucrative illicit business in the world, after arms and drug trafficking. The
ILO further estimates that a cumulative 20.9 million people are trafficked for forced labour and sexual
exploitation globally32.
This case study presents a theory‐led multi‐method formative research study. Human trafficking in
Nigeria is a complex problem that requires a broad view. In Nigeria, human trafficking is driven by
a number of factors collectively referred to as ‘push and pull’ factors (see figure 3.15). Push factors
include poverty, unemployment, and economic inequalities, which are largely beyond the control of the
individual and contribute to the supply of trafficked persons. Pull factors such as low‐risk high profit,
demand for sex, low-skilled labour, and the individual desire for a higher quality of life contribute to the
demand for trafficked persons.33
FIGURE 3.15 Human trafficking push and pull factors
PERVERSION OF
CULTURAL TRADITIONS
POVERTY
HARMFUL CULTURAL & NEED FOR LOW-SKILLED LABOUR
MANIPULATIONS OF SOCIAL REALITIES
DESIRE TO
PUSH PULL
RELIGIOUS RITUALS HIGH PROFITS
PEER PRESSURE HAVE A BETTER
HIV/AIDS LOW RISK FUTURE
ORPHANS LACK OF INFORMATION
GENDER SUCCESS OF PEOPLE
RESTRICTIVE WHO HAVE BEEN
ECONOMIC HARDSHIP
MIGRATORY INEQUALITY/PATRIARCHY HOPE FOR A BETTER
LURED INTO
WEAK LEGAL POLICIES AND LOW STATUS LIFE GOOD PAY
FRAMEWORK OF WOMEN & LIVING CONDITIONS THE EXPLOITATIVE
PROCESS
INADEQUATE
HIGH FERTILITY EMPLOYMENT &
AND RAPID EDUCATIONAL
POPULATION OPPORTUNITIES
GROWTH
Human trafficking prevention efforts range from legislative measures to public awareness cam-
paigns, short‐term economic empowerment programs, and public health and social work initiatives.34
Yet human trafficking continues to increase,35 prompting calls for the issue to be tackled as a social
problem as well as a transnational crime,36 An audience‐oriented study was planned, implemented and
reported to gain insights into how human trafficking can be reduced (see formative research study out-
line in figure 3.16).
A three‐study design was used, with one study applied at each social marketing stream level (see the
chapter on social marketing for explanation of the three social marketing streams). Innovative market
research methodologies were applied.

Study 1: critical discourse analysis of crafted texts
In study 1 (upstream) critical discourse analysis was used to understand how human trafficking is repre-
sented across government‐sponsored anti‐human trafficking advertisements. Critical discourse analysis
examines the relationships between discourse, power and ideology.37,38
The study looked at 23 state‐sponsored anti‐human trafficking advertisements across print and tele-
vision (see figure 3.17), and transcripts of interviews with seven key state officials. The study sought to
understand how current human trafficking messages and education efforts may be reproducing existing
social inequalities39 and thereby further contributing to the problem.
FIGURE 3.16 Research design
Upstream Study 1 Method

How is the problem of Critical discourse
human trafficking in analysis
Nigeria represented
across government
sponsored anti-human
trafficking
advertisements?
Midstream Study 2 Method

How are socio cultural Auto-ethnography
influences (push/pull
factors) experienced Key informant
across human trafficking interviews
endemic states in
Nigeria?
Downstream Study 3 Method

What is the lived Existential
experience of Nigerian phenomenological
persons that have been interviews
trafficked within and
outside Nigeria?
FIGURE 3.17 Selected human trafficking messages critically analysed

110 Marketing
Anti‐human trafficking advertisements work to create mass awareness of human trafficking throughout
Nigeria.40,41 This study considers the relationship between the beliefs held in the Nigerian community
and existing prevention efforts. Analysis shows that the state’s moralising of human trafficking creates a
social identity of ‘deviant’ for voluntarily trafficked persons and a focus on sex trafficking at the expense
of bigger problems such as child trafficking.42,43 This reinforces existing socioeconomic and sociocul-
tural inequalities because it discourages citizen participation in the fight against human trafficking while
stigmatising trafficked persons.44,45 A further issue identified is that the advertisements are inadvertently
promoting human trafficking as a possible source of gaining wealth.
Study 2: key informant interviews and auto‐ethnography of midstream
In study 2 (midstream) key informant interviews (n=13) with socialisation agents (family members)
and auto‐ethnography guided by consumer socialisation theory46, the Marxist social theory of false con-
sciousness (Marx and Engels, 1845–46)47, and cultural hegemony48 were conducted to understand the
sociocultural influences experienced across human trafficking endemic states in Nigeria.
This study found that external influences, from the family unit to broader sociocultural factors, play
a role in the lives of the target Nigerian population. Some key informants endorsed human trafficking
because of the perceived opportunity to escape socioeconomic oppression. This explicit support of
human trafficking supports the theory that key informants could themselves become enablers of human
trafficking by negatively influencing members of their family or social unit. Voluntary participation
in human trafficking is motivated by economic hardships including poverty and unemployment. Key
informants have become hopeless about their own ability to change their socioeconomic situation. This
hopelessness is reflected in their distrust of the state to provide for them, and in their experiences of
systematic class oppression. Furthermore, popular culture glorifying overseas‐made wealth also appears
to contribute to an idealised view of migration, further fuelling the desperation to escape economic
oppression for greener pastures abroad.
Study 3: existential phenomenological interviews with trafficked Nigerian women
Study 3 was situated in the downstream social marketing space and used existential phenomenology49,50,51
to gain insights into the lived experience of ten Nigerian women who have been trafficked within and outside
Nigeria. Despite their varied experiences, the majority of trafficked participants viewed human trafficking
positively, and as an opportunity for freedom from unemployment, even if the costs of that freedom were
sometimes emotional and physical abuse. This study also found that the majority of trafficked women did not
feel exploited by their traffickers. Results also indicated that human trafficking favours the human traffickers
who profit from these women. Many cases of women being deported before they themselves had a chance to
profit were evident in study 3.
Formative research helps to develop and implement programs that are designed with and for the target
audience. This helps social marketers develop a comprehensive understanding of the needs, values,
motivations and surrounding environments that drive people.52 This application of marketing thinking to
human trafficking highlights how many prevention efforts may simply be adding to the problem rather
than offering a solution.
QUESTIONS
1 Think of a social or environmental issue that concerns you. Outline a formative research study plan
that could help you to understand both the individuals and the current system.
2 Marketers need to understand the individuals they are trying to target for change.
(a) What barriers are identified in the human trafficking case study?
(b) What benefits are identified in the human trafficking case study?
3 You have been invited by the United Nations to design a social marketing program to reduce the
incidence of human trafficking. Design your social marketing program using data from the case
study.
ADVANCED ACTIVITY
Review the opening chapter example of the NAB Quantium joint venture.
(a) Describe the research design for the type of data drawn from credit card purchases in as much detail
as possible, referring to concepts explained in the chapter.
(b) What are some data analysis, collection and reporting issues that NAB Quantium would need to be
aware of?
MARKETING PLAN ACTIVITY

Market research is an important basis for marketing decision making. For the organisation you have
chosen for your marketing plan (chapter 1), your SWOT, environmental and situational analyses
(chapter 2) may have identified market research information that needs to be obtained. Clearly define
your research problem(s) and prepare a simple market research brief(s) using figure 3.5 from the chapter
as a guide.
Next, propose a methodology or approach for the market research. In the coming weeks, you will
need to collect and analyse the information, making any necessary adjustments to your situation, envi-
ronmental and SWOT analyses from chapter 2. You should also regularly reassess your preliminary mar-
keting objectives and revise as required in light of the market research information you obtain.
This market research will be ongoing as you develop and refine your plan and progress on to target
market analysis, marketing mix decisions and strategies in later chapters.
A sample marketing plan has been included in the appendix to give you an idea where this informa-
tion fits in an overall marketing plan.
WEBSITES
The Australian Market & Social Research Society (AMRS) is the peak not‐for‐profit professional mem-
bership body. Serving as a focal point in the Australian market research industry, AMSRS provides
events, a member directory featuring more than 2000 market and social research professionals, and
resources including best practice guides: www.amsrs.com.au
If you want to stay in touch with trends in market research to understand the methods you should gain
experience in prior to graduation, this website is one to follow. The Greenbook Research Industry Trends
Report is designed to help you better understand where the market research industry is heading, keeping
you abreast of technologies/methods being adopted in the market research industry, opportunities and
threats in the industry, financial forecasting and identification of the 50 Most Innovative Suppliers and
Clients: www.greenbook.org/grit
This website can save thousands of dollars. A quick scan of the IBIS Industry Research Reports avail-
able in the IBIS database can save you collecting data that was already available: www.ibisworld.com.
au/industry/home.aspx
ENDNOTES
1. E. Sexton (2012), ‘Too much info? Big data or Big Brother’, Brisbane Times, 14 July, www.brisbanetimes.com.au; Quantium
website, www.quantium.com.au; W. Wood & D. Neal (2009), ‘The habitual consumer’, Journal of Consumer Psychology,
19(4), pp. 579–92; and Brian Fletcher (2013), ‘Marketing research trends to watch in 2013’, Quirk’s marketing research
media, 25 March, www.quirks.com.
2. This is the formal definition of the American Marketing Association, adopted in October 2004, www.marketingpower.com.
3. This list is derived from D.A. Aaker, V. Kumar, G.S. Day, M. Lawley and D. Stewart (2007), Marketing research, 2nd edn,
John Wiley & Sons Australia, Brisbane.
112 Marketing
4. K. Romanin and S. Cierpicki (2010), ‘Drawing insights from 2.0 & traditional market research approaches: how Virgin Blue
do it’, Australian Marketing Institute Annual Conference and Awards for Marketing Excellence, October, www.ami.org.au.
5. B&T website, www.bandt.com.au.
6. D.A. Aaker, V. Kumar and G.S. Day (2007), Marketing research, 9th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken.
7. Colmar Brunton, ‘Our brand tracking experience’, www.colmarbrunton.com; S. Cierpicki, personal communication,
22 October 2008.
8. The World Association of Opinion and Marketing Professionals’ code of conduct is commonly known as the ICC‐ESOMAR
code. It was formulated by the then-European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research in 1948, revised with the International
Chamber of Commerce in 1976, and has been revised since. The ICC‐ESOMAR code is available at www.esomar.org.
9. ‘Diving Into Data Makes Big Splash for Narellan Pools’, award application, www.mediafederation.org.au; AMI 2016
National Finalists, Consumer Insight category, AFFINITY: Diving into Data for Customer Acquisition for Narellan
Pools, www.ami.org.au.
10. This is part of the formal definition of the American Marketing Association, adopted in October 2004,
www.marketingpower.com.
11. J. Gustavsson, C. Cederberg, U. Sonesson, R. Van Otterdijk and A. Meybeck (2011), ‘Global food losses and food waste’,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rom, www.madr.ro; V. Smil (2004), ‘Improving efficiency and
reducing waste in our food system’, Environmental Sciences, 1(1), pp. 17–26, doi:10.1076/evms.1.1.17.23766.
12. J. Parfitt, M. Barthel and S. Macnaughton (2010), ‘Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential
for change to 2050’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 365(1554),
pp. 3065–3081. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0126; S.J. Vermeulen, B.M. Campbell and J.S. Ingram (2012), ‘Climate change and
food systems’, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 37(1), p. 195, doi: 10.1146/annurev‐environ‐020411‐130608.
13. Council’s Waste Strategy (2016), available online at www.redland.qld.gov.au/info/20154/waste_and_recycling/338/
councils_waste_strategy.
14. Greenbook research industry trends report (2016), Q1‐Q2, www.greenbook.org.
15. ibid.
16. M. Larbalestier, ‘The history of market research in Australia’, AMSRS, 2004, www.amsrs.com.au; ‘About the industry’,
www.amsrs.com.au; Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Market research services, Australia, cat. no. 8556.0, 2004,
www.abs.gov.au.
17. ibid.
18. ibid.
19. A. Sharp and M. Tustin, ‘Benefits of observational research’, Proceedings of ANZMAC, Adelaide, 1–3 December 2003,
pp. 2590–5.
20. ibid.
21. Such a study is known as a census.
22. J. Dollman and N.R. Lewis (2007), ‘Active transport to school as part of a broader habit of walking and cycling among
South Australian youth’, Pediatric Exercise Science, 19, no. (4), p. 436.
23. J.J. Reilly and J. Kelly (2011), ‘Long‐term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and
premature mortality in adulthood: systematic review’, International Journal of Obesity, 35(7), pp. 891–8.
24. G. Mammen, M.R. Stone, G. Faulkner, S. Ramanathan, R. Buliung, C. O’Brien and J. Kennedy (2014), ‘Active school travel:
an evaluation of the Canadian school travel planning intervention’, Preventive Medicine, (60), pp. 55–9.
25. S. Crawford and J. Garrard (2013), ‘A combined impact‐process evaluation of a program promoting active transport to school:
understanding the factors that shaped program effectiveness’, Journal of Environmental and Public Health, vol. 2013, pp. 1–14.
26. S.R. Rundle‐Thiele and V. Lahtinen, Social Marketing @ Griffith University.
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28. R. Arnold, B. Burke, C. James, B. Martin and D. Thomas (2001), Educating for a change, Doris Marshall Institute for
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4 June, Social Marketing @ Griffith University, www.griffith.edu.au.
30. ibid.
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Ministry of Health.
32. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2009). ‘Global report on trafficking in persons’, www.unodc.org.
33. Omoroguiwa (2012); Geshinde and Elegbeleye (2011); Ellis and Akpala (2011); Jegede et al. (2011); Akor (2011); Okojie
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Photo: © oliveromg / Shutterstock.com
Photo: © martin berry / Alamy Stock Photo
Photo: © Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com
Photo: © Boonchuay1970 / Shutterstock.com
Photo: © Jane Kelly / Shutterstock.com
Photo: © Griffith University Social Marketing
Figure 3.8: © Greenbook Industry Trends Report
Figure 3.9: © Greenbook Industry Trends Report
Figure 3.14: © Cuong Pham
Figure 3.15: © Abi Badejo
Figure 3.16: ©Abi Badejo
Figure 3.17: © National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
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CHAPTER 3 Market Research

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CHAPTER 3

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Big Brother is watching every dollar you spend

CHAPTER 3 Market research 79

3.1 The role of market research in

Market Research Market Research

Market Research Market Research Market Research

FIGURE 3.2 Example of a market research project from Virgin Australia

CHAPTER 3 Market research 81

FIGURE 3.3 The components of a marketing information system

Internal reports Information

When market research is appropriate

CHAPTER 3 Market research 83

Ethics in market research

Researchers’ professional responsibilities

Identifying the ideal moment to dive in

Narellan needed to determine when and where it

CHAPTER 3 Market research 85

CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS CHECK

3.2 Defining a market research problem

Preparing a market research brief

CHAPTER 3 Market research 87

Zeroing in on waste reduction

CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS CHECK

CHAPTER 3 Market research 89

FIGURE 3.6 Using multiple research approaches for complex research problems

CHAPTER 3 Market research 91

Government agencies and international organisations

Quantitative and qualitative research methods

CHAPTER 3 Market research 93

Interactive voice response

Method Description Major advantages Major disadvantages

Computer‐assisted In‐person survey • Comparatively high • Lack of anonymity can

Mail surveys A survey form is • Comparatively cheap • Poor response rate —

TABLE 3.2 Other quantitative research methods

Method Description Major advantages Major disadvantages

CHAPTER 3 Market research 95

Observation Studying people’s behaviour and • Measures actual • Can be expensive

FIGURE 3.9 Popular qualitative methods used by market researchers

Chat (text) based online focus groups

Online focus groups with webcams

Telephone focus groups

Traditional (in person) in-depth interviews

Chat (text-based) online in-depth interviews

Online in-depth interviews with webcams

Telephone in-depth interviews

Bulletin board studies

Interviews/groups using online

Mobile (diaries, image collection etc.)

Source: Greenbook research industry trends report (2016).

TABLE 3.3 Qualitative research methods

Method Description Major advantages Major disadvantages

Depth interview Researcher-driven, • Elicits rich, deep and detailed • Expensive

Focus group A group of • Provides multiple perspectives • Expensive

Observation Recorded notes • Potentially higher insight into • Expensive

CHAPTER 3 Market research 97

TABLE 3.4 Sampling methods

Sample method Type Description Example

groups based on a number of 50 male participants. People are