Introduction to

Marketing
research

Introduction to
Marketing
research
Because Marketing Research is part of Marketing
we should understand :

• What is Marketing?
• What is the Marketing Concept?
• What is Marketing Strategy?
 What is Marketing?
Marketing has been defined by AMA as an organizational function and
a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that
benefit the organization and its stakeholders.
 What is the Marketing concept?
Marketing concept is a business philosophy that holds that the key to
achieving organizational goals consists of the company’s being more
effective than competitors in creating, delivering & communicating
customer value to its chosen markets (production, product, selling,
marketing, societal marketing)
 What is marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy consists of a selecting a segment of the market
as the company’s target market & designing the proper “mix” of the
product/service, price, promotion & distribution system to meet the
wants & needs of the consumers within the target market.
 Key point
• To practice marketing; to implement marketing concepts;
to implement marketing strategy, managers must make
decisions.
• Many decisions require additional information and
marketing research is needed in order to supply that
information.
 Classic cases : Failure
• New Coke 1985 $35
• Arch Delux MacDonalds 1996 $100
• Yogurt shampoo P&G 1980 $50
• 3D Television Vizio
• Apple Lisa B2B Consumers
 Classic cases : Success
• Youtube
• Instagram
• Nano (Product Development)
 What is Research?

• A systematic inquiry whose objective is to provide

information to solve problems

Why Study Research?

• Research provides you with the knowledge and skills
needed for the fast-paced decision-making environment
 Different Styles of Research

• Applied Research

• Pure Research/Basic Research

 Applied Research Example

• Should McDonalds add Italian pasta dinners to its menu?

o Marketing research told McDonald’s it should not

• Should Procter & Gamble add a high-priced home teeth

bleaching kit to its product line?
o Research showed Crest Whitestrips would sell well at a retail
price of $44
 The Manager-Researcher Relationship
• Manager’s obligations
– Specify problems
– Provide adequate background information
– Access to company information gatekeepers
• Researcher’s obligations
– Develop a creative research design
– Provide answers to important business questions
 Def. of Market Research
• Marketing research is the function that links the consumer,
customer and public to the marketer through information –
– Information used to identify and define marketing opportunities
and problems; generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions;
monitor marketing performance and improve understanding of
marketing as a process.
 Def. of Marketing Research

“The systematic and objective identification, collection,

analysis, dissemination and use of information for the
purpose of assisting management in decision making related
to the identification and solution of problems (and
opportunities) in marketing.”
 Marketing research - uses of research

A wide variety of information used to support marketing decisions can be obtained from market
research. A selection of such uses are summarised below:

• Information about the market:: Analysis of the market potential for existing products (e.g. market
size, growth, changing sales trends) • Forecasting future demand for existing products • Assessing
the potential for new products • Study of market trends • Analysis of competitor behaviour and
performance • Analysis of market shares

• Information about Products:: Likely customer acceptance (or rejection) of new products •
Comparison of existing products in the market (e.g. price, features, costs, distribution) • Forecasting
new uses for existing products • Technologies that may threaten existing products • New product
development
• Information about Pricing in the Market:: Estimates and testing of price elasticity •
Analysis of revenues, margins and profits • Customer perceptions of “just or fair”
pricing • Competitor pricing strategies

• Information about Promotion in the Market:: Effectiveness of advertising •

Effectiveness of sales force (personal selling) • Extent and effectiveness of sales
promotional activities • Competitor promotional strategies

• Information about Distribution in the Market:: Use and effectiveness of distribution

channels • Opportunities to sell direct • Cost of transporting and warehousing
products • Level and quality of after-sales service
 Marketing
research

Problem
Problem solving
Identification
research
research

-Marketing potential research -Segmentation research

-Marketing Share research -Product research
-Image research -Pricing research
-sales analysis research -Promotion research
-Forecasting research -Distribution research
-Business trends research
 Active research
Visit www.nfl.com and obtain info. On women’s
attitude towards NFL.

As the marketing director of the NFL, what marketing

strategies would you formulate to target female fans?

The NFL would like to appeal to more female fans.

What kind of marketing research would you
recommend?
 Exercise 1.1
1. Look through recent issues of newspapers & magazines
to identify five examples of problem identification
research and five examples of problem-solving research.
2. List one kind of Market research that would be useful to
each of the following organizations:
1. A book store in the campus or nearby
2. Public transportation authority in your city
3. A major department store in your area
4. A restaurant located near your campus
5. A zoo in a city
 Market research vs. Marketing research

• Market Research is a more • Marketing Research,

narrow concept because it is however, scales on a much
research focused on a broader level.
specific market. It encompasses areas such as:
– Research into new products
– Modes of distribution
– Product development
– It can also include promotion
research, pricing, advertising
and public relations.
 Marketing research techniques
1. National readership survey
2. Retail store audit
3. Consumer panels
4. Test marketing
5. Research in advertising decisions
6. Marketing audit
7. Data base marketing
8. Focus group interviews
9. Opinion polls
 Market research Process

Step 1 • Problem definition

Step 2 • Development of an approach to the problem

Step 3 • Research design formulation

Step 4 • Data Collection

Step 5 • Data preparation and analysis

Step 6 • Report preparation and presentation

 Fig: 1.2: The role of marketing
research in marketing decision making
Customer groups

-consumers
-employees
-shareholders
-suppliers

Uncontrollable envi. factors

Controllable marketing
variables Marketing Research -economy
-Product -technology
-pricing -competition
-Promotion -laws & regulations
-Distribution -social & cultural factors
Assessing info. Providing Marketing -political factors
needs Information decision Making

Marketing Managers
-Market segmentation
-target market selection
-marketing programs
-performance & control
 Power decision’s [PD] example
• A private labeled food processing company approached for opportunity
scanning and brand development
• Profit began to erode as a result of competitive pricing
• Requirement is high profits through restored margins
• PD was to guide 18-month multistage effort to discover appropriate
product categories to pursue.
• They undertook a major consumer research product concept testing
study
• Scanned & evaluated more than 40 product groups, recommending a
shortlist of product category candidates
• Conducted a consumer research study to find a set of canned food
products with low consumer satisfaction and high interest in a new brand
• Made a trade-off analysis to calculate the price-quality blends that had the
best chance of success
• Work closely with the client product development team as they formulated
test runs of the final food product chosen to ensure that the best
formulations held true to the product attributes formula derived from
consumer research.
• The final stage was to manage the brand name development, package
design, initial ad campaign, and test market plan.
• As a result, the new brand was successfully introduced at a premium price
level. The brand fast gained both trade and consumer acceptance and
was later expanded to other products and institutional markets.
 The marketing research industry
Executive Board

Corporate staff

Media
Business
Marketing info. measurement &
information
Information

-ACNielsen Retail Measurement -media research

Services -film entertainment -Business publications
-consumer panel services -music -e media & info. Marketing
-analytic consulting -Books -Exhibitions Europe & Asia
-Net Ratings
 Research
suppliers

Internal External

Full Limited
service service

Branded
Syndicated Internet products &
services Field services Analytical
services services

Customized Coding & data

Standardized services Data analysis
services entry
• Syndicated Services collect information of
known commercial value that they provide to
multiple clients on a subscription basis.

– Surveys, panels, scanners and audits are the main

means by which these data are collected.
– Eg. The Nielsen Television Index by Nielsen Media
Research provides information on audience size and
demographic characteristics of households watching
specific television programs
• Standardized Services are research studies
conducted for different client firms but in a
standard way.

– Eg.. Procedures for measuring advertising

effectiveness have been standardize so that the
results can be compared across studies and
evaluative norms can be established
– The Starch readership Survey conducted by NOP
World is the most widely used service for evaluating
print advertisements
• Customized services offer a wide variety of marketing
research services customized to suit a client’s specific
needs
– Eg… projects of new product development, new campaign,
problem specific project.

• Internet services….. Greenfield online Research Center

offers a broad range of customized qualitative and
quantitative marketing research for consumer, B2B, and
professional markets
– Firm uses large, proprietary databases
– Studies are conducted within the company’s secure website.
 Exercise 1.2

Visit the websites of the top three marketing research firms.

Discuss the services offered by these firms. Use the
framework of fig:1.4 What statements can you make about
the structure of the market research industry?
 Exercise 1.3
• Visit www.flipkart.com and search the internet to
identify relevant information. Answer the following
questions
1. What are the marketing opportunities and problems
confronting flipkart?
2. What role can marketing research play in helping flipkart
address these marketing opportunities and problems
3. What type of marketing research would be needed to help
flipkart decide whether it should aggressively expand in
rural areas in India or in neighboring countries?
 Limitations of market research

 Market research Measure the past not the future.

 Report findings does not makes decisions. Market research
provides information upon which decisions are made.
 Inappropriate training to researchers can lead to
misapprehension of questions to be asked for data collection
 Marketing Research faces time constraint.
 Huge cost is involved in Marketing Research as collection and
processing of data can be costly
 Is the Does the
Information Decision of information
Is sufficient yes yes yes
already Strategic or value
time no
On hand Tactical Exceed the
available?
adequate? Importance? Research cost?

no no yes
no

CONDUCT
DO NOT CONDUCT MARKETING RESEARCH MARKETING
RESEARCH
 Careers In Marketing Research
• Promising career opportunities are available with
marketing research firms for ex.. VNU, Bruke, Hansa
Research, iResearch Services etc.

• Equally appealing are careers in business & non-business

firms and agencies with in-house marketing research
departments e.g. P&G, Coca-Cola, GM etc. advertising
agencies e.g. JWT, BBDO international etc. also conduct
substantial marketing research & employ professionals
in this field.
Fig: 1.5 List of job titles in marketing research & describes their
accompanying responsibilities
1. Vice President of Marketing Research: This is the senior position in marketing
research. The VP is responsible for the entire marketing research operation of
the company and serves on the top management team. The VP sets the
objectives and goals of the marketing research department.
2. Research Director: also a senior position, the director has the overall
responsibility for the development and execution of all the marketing research
projects.
3. Assistant director of research: serves as an administrative assistant to the
director and supervises marketing research projects.
4. Project Manager: has overall responsibility for the design, implementation,
and management of research projects
5. Statistician/data processing specialist: expert on theory and application of
statistical techniques. Data processing and analysis.
6. Senior Analyst: directs the operational executional of assigned projects.
7. Analyst : designs and pretests the questionnaires and conducts a
preliminary analysis of the data.
8. Junior Analyst : handles routine assignments such as secondary
data analysis, editing and coding of questionnaire and simple
statistical analysis.
9. Fieldwork Director: responsible for the selection, training,
supervision and evaluation of interviewers and other fieldworkers
10. Operational supervisor: responsible for supervising operations
such as data editing & coding fieldwork and may be involved in
data analysis & programming
 Eric Kim at Samsung and Intel

• Graduated in Physics
• Masters in engineering at UCLA and MBA at Harvard.
• CEOs remember Kim as the rare executive who knows
software and electronics and also skilled in Marketing &
Marketing research and in closing tough deals.
• Problem: brand image [as an intuition]
In 1999, Samsung brand was perceived to be inferior to
other brands with comparable products.
• To confirm his intuition and dig out specific actionable issues, he
conducted MR involving focus groups, depth interviews and
surveys of channel partners & customers
• The research revealed that brand image was fuzzy &
inconsistent from market to market
• One reason was that it employed a gaggle of 55 ad agencies.
• Kim consolidated advertising, assigning Madison avenue’s Foote,
cone & Blending Worldwide to coordinate Samsung’s global
marketing.
• Kim made another smart move by sponsoring big-ticket events
like Salt lake City Olympics in 2002, gaining quick, cost effective
global exposure.
• When Kim left Samsung in 2004, the company earned $12.04
billion in net profits that year while many retail-tech stars
fizzled, and business in the US had more than tripled since 1999.
• In Nov 2004, Intel poached him and used him to invigorate its
advertising and inject more consumer values into chip giant’s
brand.