CONDUCTING
MARKETING RESEARCH
NADIA AFROZE DISHA (NAR) | Lecturer | BBS, BRAC University
MKT301 - Marketing Management
Topic 4 | Week 4
BBA Program | Summer 2026
TOPICS TO LEARN
❑ The Scope of Marketing Research
❑ The Marketing Research Process
❑ Measuring Marketing Productivity
01
THE SCOPE OF
MARKETING
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. Marketing research specifies the information
required to address these issues, designs the method for
collecting information, manages and implements the
data collection process, analyzes the results, and
communicates the findings and their implications.”
- The American Marketing Association
IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING INSIGHTS
IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING INSIGHTS
WHO DOES MARKETING RESEARCH?
Marketing
Everyone at Small Syndicated-Service
Departments in Big
Firms Research Firms
Firms
Specialty-Line
Custom Marketing
Marketing Research
Research Firms
Firms
OVERCOMING
BARRIERS TO THE USE
OF MARKETING
RESEARCH
In the 1970s, a marketing research executive from
General Foods ventured into Hollywood, tasked
with predicting the success of a science fiction
film proposal; his conclusion that the film would
fail, influenced by societal distrust post-Watergate
and the aftermath of Vietnam, overlooked the
human narrative at the heart of Star Wars, which
went on to gross over $4.3 billion in box office
revenue.
02
THE MARKETING
RESEARCH
PROECESS
THE MARKETING
RESEARCH PROCESS
Starbucks is considering new ways to enhance the customer experience in its
Reserve stores, catering to coffee enthusiasts who pay a premium for high-quality
offerings. Among the new ideas are:
Barista-Led Coffee Tastings: Offering exclusive coffee tasting sessions led by
expert baristas.
Comfortable Lounge Areas: Creating cozy lounge areas with plush seating and
ambient lighting.
Fast Mobile Ordering: Implementing an expedited mobile ordering system for
quicker service.
The marketing research team needs to investigate how Reserve store customers
would rate these services, particularly the barista-led coffee tastings, and how
much extra they would be willing to pay. An estimate suggests potential revenues
of $5 million from the coffee tastings over 10 years if customers pay an additional
$10 per session. Given that setting up these tasting sessions would cost $500 per
store, Starbucks could recover its costs in a reasonable timeframe.
STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM, THE
DECISION ALTERNATIVES, AND THE
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Problem
“Will offering barista-led coffee tastings create
enough incremental preference and profit to
justify its cost against other service
enhancements Starbucks might make?”
STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM, THE
DECISION ALTERNATIVES, AND THE
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Decisions
(1) Should Starbucks offer barista-led coffee
tastings?
(2) If so, should it offer them only in Reserve
stores or also in regular stores?
(3) What price(s) should be charged?
(4) On what types of days and times should the
service be offered?
STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM, THE
DECISION ALTERNATIVES, AND THE
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Research Objectives
(1) What types of customers would respond
most to barista-led coffee tastings?
(2) How many are likely to use it at different
price levels?
(3) How many might choose Starbucks because
of this new service?
STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM, THE
DECISION ALTERNATIVES, AND THE
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Research Objectives (contd.)
(4) How much long-term goodwill will this
service add to Starbucks' image?
(5) How important is barista-led coffee tasting
to customers relative to other services, such as
comfortable lounge areas or fast mobile
ordering?
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
To design a research plan, we need to make
decisions about the –
❑ data sources,
❑ research approaches,
❑ research instruments,
❑ sampling plan, and
❑ contact methods.
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Data Sources
The researcher can gather secondary data, primary data, or both.
Secondary data are data that were collected for another purpose
and already exist somewhere.
Primary data are data freshly gathered for a specific purpose or
project.
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Research Approaches
Observational Research
Focus Group Research
Survey Research
Behavioral Research
Experimental Research
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Research Instruments
Technological
Questionnaires Qualitative Measures
Devices
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Dichotomous
Would you attend a barista-led coffee tasting session at
Starbucks Reserve?
❑ Yes
❑ No
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Multiple Choice
Which factor would most likely influence your decision to attend a
barista-led coffee tasting session at Starbucks Reserve?
❑ Learning about different coffee blends and brewing techniques
❑ Socializing with other coffee enthusiasts
❑ Trying exclusive and premium coffee offerings
❑ Other (please specify)
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Likert Scale
Attending a barista-led coffee tasting session at Starbucks
Reserve would enhance my coffee knowledge.
❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree
Disagree Agree
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Semantic Differential
I find barista-led coffee tasting sessions at Starbucks Reserve …
Pleasant ___________________ Unpleasant
Educational ______________ Not Educational
Exciting _______________________ Boring
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Importance Scale
Barista-led coffee tasting sessions offered by Starbucks at its
Reserve stores are …
❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺
Not at all Slightly Moderately Very Extremely
important important important important important
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Rating Scale
Service provided by Starbucks is …
❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺
Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Closed-End
Intention-to-Buy Scale
If barista-led coffee tasting sessions are available at Starbucks
Reserve within the next month. I …
❶ ❷ ❸ ❹ ❺
Definitely Probably
Probably Definitely
will not will not Undecided
will attend will attend
attend attend
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Completely Unstructured
What is your opinion of Starbucks?
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Word Association
What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the
following?
Coffee _________________________________
Starbucks _______________________________
Caffeine ________________________________
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Sentence Completion
When I choose a coffee brand, the most important consideration
in my decision is _________________________________.
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Story Completion
“I visited Starbucks a few days ago. I noticed that the store had a
cozy and modern interior with vibrant colors and comfortable
seating. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings.…"
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Picture
A picture of two characters is presented, with one making a
statement. Respondents are asked to identify with the other and
fill in the empty balloon.
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Questionnaires | Types of Questions: Open-End
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Qualitative Measures
Word Associations
Projective Techniques
Visualization
Brand Personification
Laddering
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Technological Devices
❑ Galvanometer
❑ Tachistoscope
❑ Eye-tracking
❑ Facial detection
❑ Skin sensors
❑ Brain wave scanners
❑ Audiometer
❑ GPS
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Sampling Plan
Sampling Procedure
Sampling Unit Sample Size
How should we
Whom should we How many people
choose the
survey? should we survey?
respondents?
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Contact Methods
Mail Telephone Personal Online
STEP 2: DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
Online Research
Advantages Disadvantages
Inexpensive Small
Expansive Skewed
Fast Excessive turnover
Honest Technological problems
Thoughtful Technological inconsistencies
Versatile
STEP 3: COLLECT THE INFORMATION
The data collection phase of marketing research
is generally the most expensive and error-
prone.
Internationally, one of the biggest obstacles to
collecting information is the need to achieve
consistency.
Respondents in Asia, for example, may feel
more pressure to conform and may not be
as forthcoming in focus groups as online.
STEP 4: ANALYZE THE INFORMATION
The next-to-last step in the process is to extract
findings by tabulating the data and developing
summary measures.
STEP 5: PRESENT THE FINDINGS
For the Starbucks Reserve store case, the main survey
findings may show that:
At $10, about 5 out of 10 Reserve store customers
would attend a coffee tasting session; at $5, about 6
would. Thus, a fee of $5 would produce less revenue
($30 = 6 × $5) than $10 ($50 = 5 × $10). Assuming the
sessions are held 365 days a year, Starbucks could
collect $18,250 (= $50 × 365) annually per store. Given
an investment of $500 per store, it would take less
than one month to break even.
STEP 6: MAKE THE DECISION
Some organizations use marketing decision support
systems to help their marketing managers make better
decisions.
MIT’s John Little defined a marketing decision support
system (MDSS) as a coordinated collection of data,
systems, tools, and techniques, with supporting
software and hardware, by which an organization
gathers and interprets relevant information from
business and environment and turns it into a basis for
marketing action.
THE SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD
MARKETING RESEARCH
Interdependence of
Scientific method Research creativity Multiple methods
models and data
Value and cost of
Healthy skepticism Ethical marketing
information
03
MEASURING
MARKETING
PRODUCTIVITY
MEASURING MARKETING
PRODUCTIVITY
Marketing Metrix
Measures that help marketers quantify, compare, and
interpret performance
Marketing Mix Modeling
Analyzes data from a variety of sources, such as retailer
scanner data, company shipment data, pricing, media,
and promotion spending data, to understand more
precisely the effects of specific marketing activities
MEASURING MARKETING
PRODUCTIVITY
Table 4.3 Sample Marketing Metrics
I. External II. Internal
Awareness Awareness of goals
Market share (volume or value) Commitment of goals
Relative price (market share value/volume) Active innovation support
Number of complaints (level of dissatisfaction) Resource adequacy
Consumer satisfaction Staffing/skill levels
Distribution/availability Desire to learn
Total number of customers Willingness to change
Perceived quality/esteem Freedom to fail
Loyalty/retention Autonomy
Relative perceived quality Relative employee satisfaction
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