MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION
TO GAIN CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
IM1019 Principles of Marketing
Sem 2, 2023-2024
Adapted from Kotler P. T. & Amstrong G. 2018, Principles of Marketing (17th Global Edition), Pearson.
Learning objectives
1. Explain the importance of information in gaining insights about the marketplace
and customers.
2. Define the marketing information system and discuss its parts.
3. Outline the steps in the marketing research process.
4. Explain how companies analyze and use marketing information.
5. Discuss the special issues some marketing researchers face, including public policy
and ethics issues.
Discussion question
What types of information do marketers need?
Marketing information and customer insights
Customer insights are fresh marketing information-based understandings of
customers and the marketplace that become the basis for creating customer
value, engagement, and relationships.
Marketing information and customer insights
Fresh and deep insights into customer needs and
wants
Important but difficult to obtain
• Needs and buying motives not obvious
• Customers usually can’t tell you what and why
Better information and more effective use of
existing information
Marketing information and customer insights
Companies are forming
customer insights teams.
Include all company functional
areas
Collect information from a
wide variety of sources
Use insights to create more
value for their customers
Marketing information and customer insights
Marketing information system
(MIS) refers to the people and
procedures dedicated to
assessing information needs,
developing the needed
information, and helping
decision makers to use the
information to generate and
validate actionable customer
and market insights.
Marketing information and customer insights
Assessing marketing information needs
MIS provides information to the company’s marketing and other
managers and external partners such as suppliers, resellers, and
marketing service agencies.
Balancing the information users would like to have against what they
need and what is feasible to offer
User’s
Needs
MIS
Offerings
Developing marketing information
Sources of data
Internal data
Marketing intelligence
Marketing research
Developing marketing information
Internal databases are collections of
consumer and market information
obtained from data sources within the
company network.
Problems with internal data:
Incomplete; wrong form
Data ages quickly.
Requires highly sophisticated equipment and
techniques
Developing marketing information
Competitive marketing
intelligence is the systematic
collection and analysis of
publicly available information
about consumers,
competitors, and
developments in the
marketing environment.
Marketing research
Marketing research is
the systematic design,
collection, analysis,
and reporting of data
relevant to a specific
marketing situation
facing an organization.
Marketing research
Marketing research
Developing the research plan
Management problem
Research objectives
Information needed
How results help management decision
Budget
Marketing research
Developing the research plan
Secondary data is information that already exists somewhere, having been
collected for another purpose.
Primary data is information collected for the specific purpose at hand
Marketing research
Gathering secondary data
Advantages:
Lower cost
Obtained quickly
Cannot collect otherwise
Disadvantage: data may not be
Relevant
Accurate
Current
Impartial
Marketing research
Primary data collection
Research approaches
Contact methods
Sampling plan
Research instruments
Marketing research
Marketing research
Research approaches
Observational research involves
gathering primary data by
observing relevant people,
actions, and situations.
Ethnographic research involves
sending trained observers to
watch and interact with
consumers in their “natural
environments.”
Marketing research
Research approaches
Survey research involves gathering primary data by asking people questions
about their knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and buying behavior.
Experimental research involves gathering primary data by selecting matched
groups of subjects, giving them different treatments, controlling related factors,
and checking for differences in group responses.
Marketing research
Contact method
Mail questionnaires
Telephone interviewing
Personal interviewing
Individual interviewing
Group interviewing
Marketing research
Contact method
Focus group
Six to 10 people
Trained moderator
Challenges
Expensive
Difficult to generalize from small group
Consumers not always open and honest
Marketing research
Online contact method
Advantages:
Low cost
Speed
Higher response rates
Good for hard to reach groups
Marketing research
Sampling plan
A sample is a segment of the
population selected for marketing
research to represent the population
as a whole.
Who is to be studied?
How many people should be studied?
How should the people be chosen?
Marketing research
Marketing research
Research instrument -
Questionnaires
Most common
In person/ by phone/ online
Flexible
Types of questions
Closed-ended
Open-ended
Useful in exploratory research
Marketing research
Mechanical research instrument
Mechanical devices
People meters
Checkout scanners
Neuro-marketing
Marketing research
Implementing the research plan
Collecting the information
Processing the information
Analyzing the information
Interpreting and reporting findings
Interpret findings
Draw conclusions
Report to management
Analyzing and using marketing information
Customer relationship
management (CRM) involves
managing detailed information
about individual customers and
carefully managing customer
touch points to maximize
customer loyalty.
Analyzing and using marketing information
CRM touchpoints
Customer Sales force Service and Web and social
purchases contacts support calls media sites
Credit and Marketing
Satisfaction
payment research
surveys
interactions studies
Analyzing and using marketing information
CRM touchpoints
Analyzing and using marketing information
Distributing and using marketing information
Information distribution involves making information available in a timely, user-
friendly way.
Intranet
Extranet
Other marketing information considerations
Marketing research in small businesses and nonprofit organizations
International market research
Public policy and ethics
Customer privacy
Misuse of research findings
