MEDIA MARKETING COMMUNICATION

UNIT IV

❖ Marketing Research;
❖ Scope of Marketing Research;
❖ Process of Marketing Research;
❖ Research Methods;
❖ Research Design;
❖ Data collection & Data Analysis;
❖ Report & Presentation.
4.1. Marketing Research:

Marketing research is the intelligence service of a business enterprise that is used for the
gathering, recording and analyzing of all data about problems relating to the transfer and sale
of goods and services from producer to consumer.

Nature of Marketing Research:

Marketing research is the systematic and objective collection of data, its analysis and
evaluation, and decision making in respect of specific aspects of a marketing problem.
The nature of marketing research cannot be properly understood without knowing the
meaning of market research.

Market research is the gathering, recording and

analyzing of market data to identify the present
and potential customers and their motives and
buying habits. Market research may be
conducted for the following reasons:
1. To identify the present and potential customers
and their needs.
2. To forecast the demand of a product.
3. To determine customer’s preferences with
regard to packaging, design, size, price and other
features of a product.
4. To locate the demand for products with regard
to time and place, such as festival demand.
5. To explore new markets for existing products.

4.2. Scope of Marketing Research:

Marketing research covers different aspects of marketing of goods, services and ideas.
There are many areas of marketing management where marketing research has special
branches.

• Product Research:
Product research is associated with the conversion of customer needs into tangible
product offer. This includes development and testing of new products, improving the
existing products, and a tab on the changing customer preferences, habits, tastes, etc.
Packaging design, branding, and labeling decisions are also included here.
• Customer Research:
This research type includes investigation into the customer buying behavior; the
economic, social, cultural, personal and psychological influences.

• Sales Research:
Sales research involves decisions concerning selection of store location, channels,
territories, sales force motivation and compensation, etc. The purpose is to reach the
target customer more effectively, efficiently and timely.

• Promotion Research:
Promotion research encompasses all efforts by the marketers to communicate the
company’s offer. This includes advertising, publicity, public relations, sales
promotion and etc.
4.3 Process of Marketing Research:
Marketing research is a key to the evolution of successful marketing strategies and
programmes. It is an important tool to study buyer behaviour, changes in consumer
lifestyles and consumption patterns, brand loyalty and forecast market changes.
Research is also used to study competition and analyze the competitor product’s
positioning and how to gain competitive advantage. Recently, marketing research is
being used to help create and enhance brand equity. The marketing research process
is a seven-stage process.
The various stages in this process are:
• Problem Definition:
This is the starting point in the marketing research exercise. Invariably, in any
enterprise, there are several marketing issues that may require examination, and
invariably every decision maker perceives his information need as being the most
important. In problem definition it is important to be specific, avoiding ambiguities
and generalities. Care should also be taken, not to define problems into narrow a field
as that may distract the researcher’s perspective. This may even affect creativity in the
research.

• Research Objectives:
Once the problem is defined, the next logical step is to state what the researcher wants
to achieve. This statement is called objectives. To be meaningful and help focus the
researcher’s attention, these objectives should be specific, attainable & measurable.
The purpose of these objectives is to act as a guide to the researcher and help him in
maintaining a focus all through the research.
• Research Design:
The third stage in the marketing research process is deciding on the research design.
There are three types of research designs, namely:
o Exploratory:
This kind of research is conducted when the researcher does not know how
& why a certain phenomenon occurs, for example, how does the consumer
evaluate the quality of a bank or a hotel or an airline? Since the prime goal
of an exploratory research is to know the unknown, this research is
unstructured. Focus groups, interviewing key customer groups, experts and
even search for printed or published information are some common
techniques.
o Descriptive:
This research is carried out to describe a phenomenon or market
characteristics. For example, a study to understand buyer behavior &
describe the characteristics of the target market is a descriptive research.
Continuing the above example of service quality, a research done on how
consumers evaluate the quality of competing service institutions can be
considered as an example of descriptive research.
o Causative:
This kind of research is done to establish a cause and effect relationship, for
example the influence of income & lifestyle on purchase decision. Here the
researcher may like to see the effect of rising income & changing lifestyles
on the consumption of select products.

• Source of Data:
Once the research design has been decided upon, the next
stage is that of selecting the sources of data. Essentially there
are two sources of data or information- primary &
secondary.

o Primary Data:
To overcome the limitations of incompatibility,
obsolescence and bias, the researcher turns to the primary
data. This is also resorted to when the secondary data is
incomplete. Primary sources refer to data collected directly
from the market place - customers, traders & suppliers often
are the major sources. They are often reliable data sources
and help in overcoming the limitations of secondary data.
The problem in primary data is its cost, both In terms of money & time, and often a
researcher bias also creeps in.
o Secondary Data:
This refers to the information that has been collected earlier by someone else.
Often this includes printed or published reports, news items, industry or trade statistics
etc. this also includes internal documents like invoices, sales reports, payment history
of customers etc. these are important to the researcher as they provide an insight to
the problem. Often the preliminary investigation is restricted to secondary data.
• Data Collection:
The researcher is now ready to take the plunge. But still he or she needs to be clear
about the following.
o Procedure for data collection:
Data can be collected through any combination of the following techniques.
 Observation:
This technique involves observing how a customer behaves in the shopping area,
how he or she dresses up & what does the customer says when he or she sees the
product.
 Experimentation:
This is a technique that involves experimenting new product ideas, advertising copies
& campaigns, sales promotion ideas & even pricing & distribution strategies with the
target customer group. These experiments can be conducted in an uncontrolled
environment or in a controlled & simulated market environment.
o Tools for data collection:
The researcher has to decide on the appropriate tool for data collection. These tools
are;
 Questionnaire- used for the survey method
 Interview schedule- used mainly for exploratory research
 Association test- primarily used in qualitative research, also called as TAT
(Thematic Apperception Test)

• Data Analysis:
The next stage is that of data analysis. It is important
to understand raw data has no usage in marketing
research hence appropriate analytical tools must be
used. The most elementary is the arithmetic analysis
using percentile and ratios. Statistical analysis like
mean, median, mode, percentages, standard deviation
and coefficient of correlations should be used
wherever applicable.
• Report & Presentation:
The last stage is that of writing out a report and making a presentation to the Decision-
maker. It is important that the report has a summary, called the executive summary,
giving a bird’s-eye view of the research. This is because most senior managers have
little time for going through the entire report in depth. The report should be structured
and pages chronologically numbered generally, the structure of a good report is
somewhat like the following:
o Introduction to the problem
o Marketing research findings or survey findings
o Interpretation of research finding
o Policy implications

4.4 Research Methods:

A research method refers to the various specific tools or ways data can be collected
and analyzed, they are;
4.4.1 Questionnaire:
A questionnaire is a written or printed form
used in gathering information from a subject
consisting of a list of questions to be
submitted to one or more persons. The
questionnaire is most frequently a very
summarized and preplanned set of questions
designed to yield specific information for
research information on a particular topic. In
research, a questionnaire is a ‘tool’ used for
collecting and recording information about a
particular issue of interest.
Questionnaires should always have a definite
purpose that is related to the objectives of the
research and it needs to be clear in how the
findings will be used. Respondents also need
to be made aware of the purpose of the research wherever possible and should be told
how and when they will receive feedback on the findings.
Questionnaire as a data collecting instrument can be categorized into structured or
unstructured.
• Structured Questionnaires:
A structured questionnaire is one in which the questions asked are precisely decided
in advance. When used as an interviewing method, the questions are asked exactly as
they are written, in the same sequence, using the same style, for all interviews.
• Unstructured Questionnaires:
An unstructured questionnaire is an instrument or guide used by an interviewer who
asks questions about a particular topic or issue. Although a question guide is provided
for the interviewer to direct the interview, the specific questions and the sequence in
which they are asked are not precisely determined in advance.

4.4.2 Focus Group:

Focus group interviews are survey research tools that can be used in addition to the
personal interview approach. Focus groups are useful in obtaining a particular kind of
information that would be difficult to obtain using other methods. A focus group
typically can be defined as a group of people who enjoy certain characteristics and
provide information in a focused discussion. Focus groups are generally composed of
six to twelve people.
The size of the group is based on two factors: the group must be small enough for
everyone to participate and yet large enough to provide information. This group is
special in terms of purpose, size, work and actions. Participants are selected because
they have certain characteristics in common that relate to the topic.
Normally, more than one focus group should be organized, since a group of seven to
twelve people could be too different to offer any general insights on the group
problem. The moderator performs almost like a psycho-therapist who directs the group
towards the focus of the researcher, who speaks very little and encourages the group
to generate the information through discussion.

• Advantages of Focus groups:

o Flexibility allows the moderator to probe for more in-depth analysis and ask
participants to elaborate on their responses.
o Outcomes are quickly known.
o They may cost less in terms of planning and conducting than large surveys and
personal interviews.
• Disadvantages of Focused groups:
o A skilled moderator is essential.
o Differences between groups can be difficult to analyze.
 o Groups are difficult to assemble at the time to come to a designated place at a
particular time.
o Participants may be less truthful in their responses in front of peers.

4.5 Data collection & Data Analysis:

The purpose of the data analysis and interpretation phase is to transform the data
collected into credible evidence about the development of the intervention and its
performance. Analysis can help answer some key questions:
• Has the program made a difference?
• How big is this difference or change in knowledge, attitudes or behavior?
The process of evaluating data using analytical and logical reasoning to examine each
component of the data provided. This form of analysis is just one of the many steps
that must be completed when conducting a research experiment. Data from various
sources is gathered, reviewed and then analyzed to form some sort of finding or
conclusion.
There is a variety of specific data analysis method, some of which include data
mining, text analytics, business intelligence and data visualizations. Data
interpretation refers to the process of critiquing and determining the significance of
important information, such as survey results, experimental findings, observations or
narrative reports. Interpreting data is an important critical thinking skill that helps to
comprehend textbooks, graphs and tables. Researchers use a similar but more
meticulous process to gather, analyze and interpret data.

4.6 Marketing Report:

Marketing reports serve an important purpose. They’re critical tools in communicating

and validating the work of the department. But typically, these reports miss the mark,
providing little value and not enough guidance for future investments to the entire
enterprise. It’s no wonder marketing is often undervalued. There are different ways to
ensure the marketing reporting matters that prove the value of the work and investment
to the entire enterprise.

• Speak the same language:

Marketers tend to use a lot of fuzzy vagaries such as impressions, opens and clicks
when reporting their results. So speak the same language as the people who read the
reports.
• Real-time reporting:
Marketing reports can also be slow. That is the focus on information from the past.
But the industry changes a lot from year to year. Business today happens in real time
and it’s essential that marketing reports are up-to-the-minute.
• Look forward:
When watching the evening news, the weather report is focused on what temperatures
will be tomorrow not on last week. So focus on forecasting the future. Marketing
forecasting allows solving problems upfront and in advance, rather than failing and
fixing them later.
• Focus on the numbers:
Marketing reports commonly provide details on how much money was spent on
media, trade shows and other line items. For marketing to remain relevant and valued,
it must give ever greater details of its financial contribution to the enterprise.
• Value for investment:
Businesses exist to generate a profit and money is the metric of business success. But
marketing is often viewed as just an expense. Provide details on how marketing
contributed to the enterprise’s bottom line.
• Integrate the enterprise:
The new era of better marketing reporting will involve many areas of the enterprise.
These include marketing, finance, sales, analytics and more. It’s essential to gather
data from these disparate areas and collate them into an executive level view.

4.7 Marketing Presentation:

The basic factors followed to have an effective marketing presentation are;

• Deliver great content:
This is the most important presentation skill. In the marketing, promised were going
to solve a problem for the customers. Deliver exactly what was promised and maybe
even a little bit more. The key factors in marketing presentation content are;
o Focus on specifics:
The goal is to provide very clear, specific tactics and information that folks can
immediately implement.
o Keep it relevant:
Focus the attention and the guest’s attention on exactly what is promised and will
be delivered.
o Make it easy to apply:
Make the content easy to implement so the attendees get the results that were
promised.
o Be practical:
Keep the information as simple to learn and as easy for them to implement as
possible.
o Make it memorable:
One of the best ways to make a lasting impression is through storytelling.

• Grab the attention:

Use something dramatic that starts with a bang. The goal is to grip the audience
immediately, capture their attention and get them focused on what has to deliver.
• Illustrate the points:
Try to illustrate the points with stories and examples. As you go through the teaching
elements, whenever possible, use case stories to explain them.
• Use teasers:
Finally, should have teasers for the next program. Not only need to deliver excellent
content but also need to deliver it in a way that is compelling and fun.