4
Conducting Marketing Research and Forecasting Demand
Marketing Management, 13th ed
Chapter Questions
What makes up good marketing research? What are good metrics for measuring marketing productivity? How can marketers assess their return on investment of marketing expenditures? How can companies more accurately measure and forecast demand?
What is Marketing Research?
Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.
Types of Marketing Research Firms
Syndicated service Custom Specialty-line
The Marketing Research Process
Define the problem Develop research plan Collect information Analyze information Present findings Make decision
Step 1: Define the Problem
Define the problem Specify decision alternatives State research objectives
Step 2: Develop the Research Plan
Data sources Research approach Research instruments Sampling plan Contact methods
Research Approaches
Observation Focus group Survey Behavioral data Experimentation
Research Instruments
Questionnaires Qualitative Measures Technological Devices
Questionnaire Dos and Donts
Ensure questions are free of bias Make questions simple Make questions specific Avoid slang Avoid sophisticated words Avoid unclear words Avoid negatives Avoid imaginary Avoid words that could be misheard Use response bands Use mutually exclusive categories Allow for other in fixed response questions
Question Types - Dichotomous
In arranging this trip, did you contact American Airlines?
Yes No
Question Types Multiple Choice
With whom are you traveling on this trip?
No one
Spouse Spouse and children Children only Business associates/friends/relatives An organized tour group
Question Types Liker Scale
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: Small airlines generally give better service than large ones. Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree
Question Types Semantic Differential
American Airlines Large ....Small Experienced..Inexperienced
Modern...Old-fashioned
Question Types Importance Scale
Airline food service is _____ to me. Extremely important Very important Somewhat important Not very important Not at all important
Question Types Rating Scale
American Airlines food service is _____. Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor
Question Types Intention to Buy Scale
How likely are you to purchase tickets on American Airlines if in-flight Internet access were available? Definitely buy
Probably buy
Not sure
Probably not buy
Definitely not buy
Question Types Completely Unstructured
What is your opinion of American Airlines?
Question Types Word Association
What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the following? Airline ________________________ American _____________________
Travel ________________________
Question Types Sentence Completion
When I choose an airline, the most important consideration in my decision is: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ __________________.
Question Types Story Completion
I flew American a few days ago. I noticed that the exterior and interior of the plane had very bright colors. This aroused in me the following thoughts and feelings. Now complete the story. _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
Question Types Picture (Empty Balloons)
Qualitative Measures
Word association Projective techniques Visualization Brand representation Laddering (hierarchy )
Technological Devices
Galvanometers Eye cameras Audiometers GPS
Sampling Plan
Sampling unit: Who is to be surveyed? Sample size: How many people should be surveyed? Sampling procedure: How should the respondents be chosen?
Table 4.2 Types of Samples
Probability Samples Simple random Cluster Nonprobability Samples Convenience Judgment Quota
Contact Methods
Mail questionnaire Telephone interview Personal interview Online interview
Pros and Cons of Online Research
Advantages Inexpensive Fast Accuracy of data, even for sensitive questions Versatility Disadvantages Small samples Skewed samples Technological problems Inconsistencies
What is a Marketing Decision Support System (MDSS)?
A marketing decision support system is a coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting hardware and software by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information from business and environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action.
Barriers Limiting the Use of Marketing Research
A narrow conception of the research Uneven caliber of researchers Poor framing of the problem Late and occasionally erroneous findings Personality and presentational differences
Table 4.3 Characteristics of Good Marketing Research
Scientific method Research creativity Multiple methods Interdependence Value and cost of information Healthy uncertainty Ethical marketing
What are Marketing Metrics?
Marketing metrics are the set of measures that helps marketers quantify, compare, and interpret marketing performance.
Table 4.4 Marketing Metrics
External
Awareness Market share Relative price Number of complaints Customer satisfaction Distribution Total number of customers Loyalty
Internal
Awareness of goals Commitment to goals Active support Resource adequacy Staffing levels Desire to learn Willingness to change Freedom to fail independence
What is Marketing-Mix Modeling?
Marketing-mix models analyze 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.
Marketing Dashboards
A customer-performance scorecard records how well the company is doing year after year on customer-based measures. A stakeholder-performance scorecard tracks the satisfaction of various constituencies who have a critical interest in and impact on the companys performance including employees, suppliers, banks, distributors, retailers, and stockholders.
Table 4.5 Sample Customer-Performance Scorecard Measures
% of new customers to average # % of lost customers to average # % of win-back customers to average # % of customers in various levels of satisfaction % of customers who would repurchase % of target market members with brand recall % of customers who say brand is most preferred
Common Measurement Paths
Customer metrics pathway Unit metrics pathway Cash-flow metrics pathway Brand metrics pathway
The Measures of Market Demand
Potential market Available market Target market Penetrated market
Vocabulary for Demand Measurement
Market demand Market forecast Market potential Company demand Company sales forecast Company sales potential
How Can We Estimate Current Demand?
Total market potential
Area market potential
Market buildup method Multiple-factor index method
Estimating Future Demand
Survey of Buyers Intentions Composite of Sales Force Opinions Expert Opinion Past-Sales Analysis Market-Test Method