Marketing Research Resume

Chapter1: Done.

Chapter2: CLASSIFICATION AND PROCESS

Definition of Marketing research by AMA (American Marketing

Association): The function which links the consumer, the customer, and
public to the marketer through INFORMATION.

Information:

 Used to identify and define market opportunities and problems.

 Generate, refine, and evaluate marketing performance.
 Monitor marketing performance.
 Improve understanding of marketing as a process.

Definition 2:

Marketing research is the systematic and objective:

 identification
 collection
 analysis
 dissemination
 and use of information

for the purpose of improving decision making related to the identification

and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.

Different between Marketing and Market Research?

Marketing research: a process used by businesses to collect, analyse, and

interpret information used to make sound business decisions and
successfully manage the business.

Market research: a process used to define the size, location, and/or

makeup of the market for a product or service.
Classification of Marketing Research:

- Problem Identification Research

Research undertaken to help identify problems which are not necessarily

apparent on the surface and yet exist or are likely to arise in the future.
Examples: market potential, market share, image, market characteristics,
sales analysis, forecasting, and trends research.

- Problem Solving Research

Research undertaken to help solve specific marketing problems. Examples:

segmentation, product, pricing, promotion, and distribution research.

Segmentation Research:

- Determine the basis of segmentation.

- Establish market potential and responsiveness for various segments.
- Select target markets.
- Create lifestyle profiles: demography, media, and product image
characteristics.

PRODUCT RESEARCH:

- Test concept.
- Determine optimal product design.
- Package tests.
- Product modification.
- Brand positioning and repositioning.
- Test marketing.
- Control score tests.

PROMOTIONAL RESEARCH

- Optimal promotional budget

- Sales promotion relationship
- Optimal promotional mix
- Copy decisions.
- Media decisions
- Creative advertising testing
- Evaluation of advertising effectiveness
- Claim substantiation.

PRICING RESEARCH

- Pricing policies
 - Importance of price in brand selection
- Product line pricing
- Price elasticity of demand
- Initiating and responding to price changes.

PROMOTIONAL RESEARCH

- Optimal promotional budget

- Sales promotion relationship
- Optimal promotional mix
- Copy decisions.
- Media decisions
- Creative advertising testing
- Evaluation of advertising effectiveness
- Claim substantiation.

DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH

Determine:

- Types of distribution
- Attitudes of channel members
- intensity of wholesale & resale coverage
- Channel margins.
- Location of retail and wholesale outlets

Marketing Research Process:

Step 1: Problem Definition

Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem

Step 3: Research Design Formulation

Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection

Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis

Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation

Role of Marketing Research:

CHAPTER 3: Defining The Marketing Research Problem and

Developing An Approach.

The Management Problem VS the Marketing Research Problem:

The Problem Definition Process:

1. Tasks Involved in Problem Definition
- Discussions with Decision Makers (by the problem audit, is a
comprehensive examination of a marketing problem with the goal of
understanding its origin and nature. The interaction between the
DM (Decision maker) and the researcher should be characterized by
the seven Cs:
o Communication (free exchange ideas)
o Cooperation (marketing research is a team project)
o Confidence (mutual trust)
o Candor (an attitude of openness, no hidden agenda)
o Closeness (feeling of warmth and closeness, between the DM
and the researcher)
o Continuity (must interact continually)
o Creativity (the interaction between the DM and the researcher
should be creative rather than formulaic)
- Interviews with Industry Experts.
- Secondary Data Analysis (1-Primary data, are collected or
produced by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing
the research problem. 2-Secondary data are data collected for
some purpose other than the problem at hand.)
- Qualitative Research: (must be undertaken to gain an
understanding of the problem and its underlying factors, it is
unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small samples, and
may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as:
 o focus group.
o word association (asking respondents to indicate their first
response to stimulus words).
o Depth interviews (one-on-one interviews that probe the
respondents’ thought in detail).
2. Environmental Context of the Problem (To understand the
background to a marketing research problem, the researcher must
understand the client’s firm and industry).
3. Problem Definition: The management decision problem asks what
the DM needs to do and how to do, then he management decision
problem needs to be action oriented, then determine what information
needed so it can be obtained effectively and efficiently.
Two common errors in problem definition: Too broadly definition and
too narrowly.
- The Broad Statement provides perspective on the problem and act
as a safeguard.
- The Specific component focus on the key aspects of the problem
and provide clear guidelines on how to proceed further.
4. Approach to the problem: components:
a. Objective/Theoretical Foundations
b. Analytical Model
c. Research Questions
d. Hypotheses
e. Specification of the Information Needed

The Role of Theory in Applied Marketing Research:

Analytical model: An explicit specification of a set of variables and their
relationships designed to represent some real system or process in whole or
in part. It can be forms such as:

- Verbal model: a written representation.

- Graphical model: a visual picture.
- Mathematical model: in equation form.

Research questions: ask what specific information is required with respect

to the problem components which define the problem in specific terms. It
was further refined by precisely defining the variables and determining how
they were to be operationalized.

A hypothesis (H) is an unproven statement or proposition, Often, a

hypothesis is a possible answer to the research question. An important role
of a hypothesis is to suggest variables to be included in the research design.
Hypotheses Vs Research Question:

A hypothesis is a statement that expresses a possible relationship between

variables or phenomena, based on existing knowledge, theory, or
observation.

A research question, on the other hand, is a question that seeks to explore or

explain an aspect of your topic, without making any assumptions or claims.

Models:

- analytical model is a set of variables and their interrelationships designed

to represent, in whole or in part, some real system or process.

- verbal models, the variables and their relationships are stated in prose
form.

- Mathematical Models, explicitly specify the relationships among

variables, usually in equation form.

Chapter 4: RESEARCH DESIGN.

Definition: is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing

research project, It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the
information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems.

Classification of Marketing Research Design:

1-Exploratory research design (Qualitative) is used in situations where
the problem may have to be defined more precisely, relevant courses of
action identified, hypotheses formulated, or additional insights gained before
an approach can be developed.

Methods of Exploratory Research:

- Survey of experts (interviews)

- Pilot surveys
- Secondary data analysed in a qualitative way.
- Qualitative research

Uses of Exploratory Research:

- Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely.

- Identify alternative courses of action.
- Develop hypotheses.
- Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination
- Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem.
- Establish priorities for further research.

2-Conclusive research design (Quantitative) used to test specific

hypotheses, examine specific relationships, or make predictions, more formal
and structured than exploratory research, based on large and representative
samples.

2.1- Descriptive research: used to describe characteristics or

functions. requires a clear specification of the six W’s of the research.

Used to:

- Describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as

consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas.

- estimate the percentage of units in a specified population

exhibiting a certain behavior.

- determine the perceptions of product characteristics

- determine the degree to which marketing variables are

associated

- make specific predictions

Methods:

- Secondary data analysis

 - Primary data: Surveys,

- Observations

2.2- Causal research: used to obtain evidence regarding cause-and-

effect relationships.
When to use?
- to understand which variables are the cause (independent) and
which are the effect (dependent).
- determine the nature of the relationship between the causal
variables and the effect to be predicted.
- test hypotheses.
Difference between Exploratory & Conclusive research:
Difference between Exploratory, Descriptive & Causal research:

In single cross-sectional designs: there is only one sample of

respondents and information is obtained from this sample only once.

In multiple cross-sectional designs: there are two or more samples of

respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once.

Cohort analysis: consists of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate

time intervals, where the cohort serves as the basic unit of analysis. A cohort
is a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same
time interval.

Cohort analysis is used to predict changes in consumers' behaviour or

attitudes over a period of time.

Longitudinal Designs: A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements

is measured repeatedly on the same variables A longitudinal design differs
from a cross-sectional design in that the sample or samples remain the same
over time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional

Designs:
Potential Sources of Error in Research Designs: