MKT2MRE and MKT3MRE

Marketing Research
Revision and Exam Information
 Outline
1) Exam Structure

2) Exam Review

- What Should I Focus On?

 Exam Structure
• The exam is two (2) hours with 15 minutes
of reading time
• The MKT2MRE and MKT3MRE Exam will
be composed of two sections:
• Section 1 contains ten (10) questions of which you must
answer only six (6).
• Section 2 contains 4 questions relating to a case study. You
must answer all of them.

Questions based on lectures/seminars and

workshop content and your text book.
 Allowable Materials

• non-programmable calculator permitted - 2

• Unmarked non-electronic translation dictionaries
permitted (non-subject specific) - 18
• Students may make notes during reading time (not
on scriptbooks) - 92
 Answering the questions…

• Read the question carefully…

• Identify what is being asked (verbs)…
• Answer the question. Do not write irrelevant
information and extra words) e.g., if the question
asks you to provide the advantages and
disadvantages of a research method, do not
begin the answer by explaining how important
strategy is or defining methods. If the question
asks you to analyze data, then ensure that you
analyze, rather than providing definitions or
conceptual explanations.
 EXAM TIMETABLE FOR
MKT2MRE and MKT3MRE
Friday, 21 June 2019, 9:00 AM
•MKT2MRE at Bus 2.28
•MKT3MRE at Bus 2.28
•Reading Time: 15 minutes
•Writing Time: 2 hours
 EXAM
REVIEW
 What Should I Focus On?

• Be sure you are familiar with key concepts

discussed in the seminar, LMS, from your
textbook, from your SPSS workshops and from
your assignments, proposal and final report.
Lecture 1 What Is Marketing
Research?

Marketing research is the process of designing, gathering, analyzing, and

reporting information that may be used to solve a specific marketing
problem.

1-9
 Market Research Methods
• Secondary Data Collection (e.g’s: web
search, books, newspapers, business reports, journal
articles)
• Primary Data Collection
• Qualitative data collection (e.g.’s: in-
depth interviews, focus groups, ethnography,
netnography, detailed observation)
• Quantitative data collection (e.g.’s:
surveys, experiments, observation counts, test
markets)

10
 Lecture 2 Industry Performance
and Contemporary Issues:
Industry Revenues and Profits
• ESOMAR (formerly known as The European Society for Opinion and Market Research)
estimates worldwide revenues for the marketing
research industry at $31.2 billion.
• Revenues vary around the world.
https://www.esomar.org/

2-11
 Industry Performance:
Qualitative Evaluation
• Questions about what constitutes marketing research
• New methods to collect and analyze consumer
information (primarily from social media) and
challenges traditional marketing research information-
gathering techniques

2-12
 Industry Performance:
Qualitative Evaluation

• Mistreatment of respondents
• Too many requests for research, overly long surveys,
and breaches of promised anonymity have led to a
decrease in the number of respondents willing to
take part in research.
• Marketing research is too focused on techniques
• Clients may steer clear of companies that promote
their standardized technique, preferring to work with
firms over a longer time to develop an understanding
of their business.

2-13
 Industry Performance:
Qualitative Evaluation
• Marketing research viewed as a commodity
• Too many executives view marketing research as
providing a commodity to be outsourced to
“research brokers,” who are hired to conduct a
component of the research process when they
should be involved in the entire process.

2-14
 Industry Initiatives
Best practices
Maintaining public credibility of research
Monitoring industry trends
Improving ethical conduct
Fair dealings with respondents
Fair dealings with clients and subcontractors
Maintaining research integrity
Concern for society
Certification of qualified research professionals
Continuing education

2-15
Lecture 3 The Marketing
Research Process
 Caveats to a Step-by-Step
Process
• Not always presented as an 11-step process.
• Not all studies use all 11 steps.
• You may be able to solve the problem with
secondary data (a visit to the library or Google™).
• Few studies follow the steps in order.
 Step 1: Establish the Need for
Marketing Research
• Is there a real need for marketing research?
• We often have the information
• Is it a market research problem?
• Research takes time and costs money.
• Value of information versus cost of information?
• Funds are not available for marketing research.
• The timing is wrong to conduct marketing research.

Symptom: Sales are down.

Probable non-market related reasons:
•Factory production is down
•Worker strike
•Supply problem
 Step 2: Define the Problem –
Stating the Decision Alternatives
This is the most important of the 11 steps (assuming we’ve
decided to do marketing research!).
If the problem is incorrectly defined, all else is wasted effort.
The need to make a decision requires decision alternatives. If
there are no alternatives, no decision is necessary.

Research Problem: What color should the new raspberry Coke can be?
Alternative 1: It could be purple
Alternative 2: It could be blue
 Step 3: Establish Objectives
• Research objectives, when achieved, provide the
information necessary to solve the problem
identified in step 2.
• Research objectives state what the researchers
must do. The objectives determine the research
design.

Objective 1: To determine whether different colors of berry Coke cans will lead
to higher awareness.
Objective 2: To determine whether different colors of berry Coke cans will lead
to a more positive attitude.
Objective 3: To determine whether consumers will buy more cans of berry Coke
depending upon the color
 Step 4: Determine Research
Design
• Descriptive research: a set of methods and
procedures describing marketing variables e.g.
Consumers like the color red best.
• Diagnostic research: designed to determine sources
of satisfaction and dissatisfaction e.g. The reason why
consumers are not buying the cola is that they don’t
like the flavor.
• Prescriptive research: provides information that
allows the manager to best remedy the dissatisfaction
e.g. If the flavor was less sweet, consumers would buy
more.
 Step 4: Determine Research
Design
• Exploratory research: collecting information in an
unstructured and informal manner e.g. casual
phone calls to obtain general information about the
topic
• Descriptive research: research that describes the
phenomena of interest e.g. surveys to determine
how much people on average spend on drinks each
day.
• Causal studies: attempt to uncover what factor or
factors cause some event e.g. experiment to
discover how a drink label affects consumption
 Step 5: Identify Information
Types and Sources
• Secondary information: information already collected
• Primary information: information collected
specifically for the problem at hand
• Qualitative
• Quantitative

Qualitative
Research:
Focus
Group
 Step 6: Determine Methods of
Accessing Data
• Secondary data is relatively easy to access; primary data is
more complex.
• The most popular form of accessing data is online surveys.
Traditional modes of data collection, such as telephone, mail,
and face-to-face intercepts, still have a place in marketing
research.
 Step 7: Design Data
Collection Forms
The questionnaire must be worded objectively, clearly, and
without bias in order to communicate with respondents.
If we observe respondents, the form is called an observation
form.
Software programs are available to assist marketing
researchers in preparing forms.

http://www.qualtrics.com/
 Step 8: Determine Sample
Plan and Size
• First define the population
• Then determine the sample of the population.
• The sample plan describes how each sample element, or unit, is
to be drawn from the total population. Gives you
representativeness!
• Sample size refers to determining how many elements of the
population should be included in the sample. Higher sample
gives you accuracy
 Step 9: Collect Data

• Nonsampling errors in data collection will occur, so

researchers must know the sources of these errors
and implement controls to minimize them.
• Researchers aim to minimize this possibility by
undertaking a control referred to as validation.
• Companies that specialize in data collection are
referred to as field service firms.

Error example: The population average income is $35,000, but the

sample average is $41,000
(The lower the sample size, the higher the chance of error)
 Step 10: Analyze Data

• Data analysis involves entering data into computer

files, inspecting data for errors, and running
tabulations and various statistical tests.
SPSS®
 Step 11: Prepare and Present the
Final Research Report
Reporting, the last step, is one of the most
important phases of marketing research.
Its importance cannot be overstated because it is the
report, or its presentation, that properly
communicates the results to the client.
 The Importance of Properly
Defining the Problem
• When you define a problem incorrectly, there is
nothing you can do in the research process to
overcome this error. This makes defining the problem
and research objectives the most important step in
the marketing research process.

E.g. Research Problem? Why do international students not want to stay in student
accommodation. After months of focus groups and surveys, no reason is found.
Then it is learned that the university has very few international students.
 The Market Research Proposal
• The marketing research proposal serves as the basis
of a contract as it documents what the marketing
researcher proposes to deliver to the client for some
consideration, typically a fee.
• Components include the following:
• Statement of the problem
• The research objectives
• The research method
• Statement of deliverables
• Costs
• Timetable
 Lecture 4 Research Design

• Research design is a set of advance decisions that

make up the master plan specifying the methods
and procedures for collecting and analyzing the
needed information.

4-32
 Why Is Research Design Important?
• Good research design is the “first rule of good
research.”
• Knowledge of the needed research design allows
advance planning so that the project may be
conducted in less time and typically at a cost savings
due to efficiencies gained in preplanning.

4-33
 Research Design: A Caution
• In many cases, research is an iterative process.
• By conducting one research project, we learn that we may need
additional research, which may result in using multiple research designs.
• E.g.
Step 1: Exploratory research
Step 2: Problem Definition and Hypotheses
Step 3: Design In-Depth Interviews
Step 4: Conduct Interviews
Step 5: Analyze Data
Step 6: New problem definition is formed as new problem found
Step 7: Design next type of research……

4-34
 Uses of Exploratory Research

• Gain background information

• Define terms
• Clarify problems and hypothesis
• Establish research priorities

4-35
 Descriptive Research

• Descriptive research is undertaken to describe

answers to questions of who, what, where, when,
and how.
• It is desirable when we wish to project a study’s
findings to a larger population, if the study’s sample
is representative.

4-36
 Causal Research
Causality may be thought of as
understanding a phenomenon in
terms of conditional statements of the
form “If x, then y.”
Causal relationships are often
determined by the use of
experiments.

4-37
 Lecture 5 Secondary Research
Primary Versus Secondary Data
• Primary data: information that is
developed or gathered by the researcher
specifically for the research project at
hand
• Secondary data (also called “Desk
research” in industry): information that
has previously been gathered by
someone other than the researcher
and/or for some other purpose than the
research project at hand
Classification of Secondary Data

• Internal secondary data are data that have been

collected within the firm, such as sales records,
purchase requisitions, and invoices.
• Internal secondary data is used for database
marketing. Database marketing is the process of
building and maintaining customer (internal)
databases and other (internal) databases for the
purpose of contacting, transacting, and building
relationships. Examples: CRM and data mining.
 Lecture 6 Qualitative Research
Definition
Qualitative research: research involving collecting,
analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what
people do and say

Play
 Observation Techniques

• Observation methods: techniques in which the

researcher relies on his or her powers of observation
rather than communicating with a person in order to
obtain information

Play
 Focus Groups
• Focus groups are small groups of people brought
together and guided by a moderator through an
unstructured, spontaneous discussion for the purpose
of gaining information relevant to the research
problem.
 Other Qualitative Techniques
In-depth interview (IDI) is a set of probing questions
posed one-on-one to a subject by a trained
interviewer so as to gain an idea of what the subject
thinks about something or why he or she behaves a
certain way.
Laddering attempts to discover how product
attributes are associated with consumer values.

Play
 Lecture 7 Surveys

A survey involves interviews with a large number

of respondents using a predesigned questionnaire.
 Advantages of Surveys

• Standardization
• Ease of administration
• Ability to tap the “unseen”
• Suitability to tabulation and statistical analysis
• Sensitivity to subgroup differences
 Disadvantages of Surveys
• Respondents not providing accurate or honest answers
• Surveys with close-ended questions if not created
accurately, may have validity problems
• Doesn’t explain why a respondent chose an answer (not
deep information like qualitative)
• Data errors due to question non-responses
• Different interpretation of degree of answer, e.g.
“somewhat agree” may be seen differently
• Measurement reliability if not created carefully
• Non-flexible design (cannot change once respondents
start completing the survey)
 Four Alternative
Data Collection Modes
Person administered: an interviewer reads questions, either
face-to-face or over the telephone, to the respondent and
records his or her answers.
Computer administered: the interviewer basically verbalizes
the questions while relying to some degree on computer
technology to facilitate the interview work.
• Self-administered: the respondent completes the survey on
his or her own.
• Mixed mode: a combination of two or more methods
 Choice of Survey Method

• In selecting a data collection mode, the researcher

balances quality against the following:
• Time available for data collection
• Money available for data collection
• Type of respondent interaction required (such as
sampling a product, viewing an ad, etc.)
Basic Concepts in Measurement

• Measurement: determining how much of a

property is possessed by an object
 Types of Measures

• Nominal scales: those that use only labels

• Ordinal scales: those with which the researcher can
rank-order the respondents or responses
• Scale measures: those in which the distance
between each level is known
• Interval scales: those in which the distance between each
descriptor is equal
• Ratio scales: ones in which a true zero exists
 Interval Scales Commonly Used
in Marketing Research

• Likert scale
• Lifestyle inventory
• Semantic differential scale
• Stapel scale
 Reliability and Validity of
Measurement
• Reliability: respondent responds in the same or a
similar manner to an identical or nearly identical
measure.
• Validity: accuracy of the measurement
 Designing A Questionnaire

• A questionnaire is the vehicle used to present the

questions the researcher desires respondents to
answer.
 A Questionnaire

• Translates the research objectives into specific questions

asked of respondents
• Standardizes those questions and the response categories so
every participant responds to identical stimuli
• Serves as an enduring record of the research
• Depending on the data collection mode used, such as online,
can speed up the process of data analysis
• Contains the information on which reliability and validity
assessments may be made
 Questionnaire Design Process

• Questionnaire design is a systematic process in

which the researcher contemplates various
question formats, considers a number of factors
characterizing the survey at hand, ultimately words
the various questions carefully, and organizes the
questionnaire’s layout.
Steps in Making a Questionnaire
 Developing Questions

• Questionnaire development is the practice of

selecting appropriate response formats and
wording questions that are understandable,
unambiguous, and unbiased.
• Marketing researchers take great care in developing
research questions that measure the following:
• Attitudes
• Beliefs
• Behaviors
• Demographics
 Lecture 8 Sampling
Basic Concepts in Sampling
Population: the entire group under study as
defined by research objectives
 Basic Concepts in Sampling

Sample: a subset of the population that should

represent the entire group
Sample unit: the basic level of investigation
 Basic Concepts in Sampling

• Sampling error: any error in a survey that occurs

because a sample is used
 Basic Sampling Methods

• Probability samples: ones in which members of the

population have a known chance (probability) of
being selected into the sample
• Nonprobability samples: instances in which the
chances (probability) of selecting members from
the population into the sample are unknown
 Probability Sampling Methods

• Simple random sampling

• Systematic sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
 Nonprobability Sampling

• With nonprobability sampling methods selection is

not based on fairness, equity, or equal chance.
• Convenience sampling
• Purposive sampling
• Referral sampling
• Quota sampling

Convenience sampling
 Lecture 9 Data Collection
Dealing with Field Work
• There are two main types of errors in
survey research:
• Sampling error
• Nonsampling error
• Nonsampling error includes all errors in
a survey except those due to the
sampling plan or sample size.
 Data Collection

• Data collection is the phase of the

marketing research process during
which respondents provide their answers
or information to inquiries posed to them
by the researcher.
 Possible Errors in
Field Data Collection
• Fieldworker error: errors committed by
the persons who administer the
questionnaires
• Respondent error: errors committed on
the part of the respondent
• Errors may be either intentional or
E.g. Do you have children?
unintentional.
Yes No

How old is your oldest child?

Less than 1 year 1-5 years old
6-10 years old 11-15 years old
16-18 years old
 How to Control Data Collection
Errors: Fieldworkers

Table 11.2 How to Control Data-Collection Errors

 How to Control Data Collection
Errors: Respondents

Table 11.2, cont. How to Control Data-Collection Errors

 Lecture 10
Types of Statistical Analyses Used in
Marketing Research

• Descriptive analysis
• Inferential analysis
• Differences analysis
• Associative analysis
• Predictive analysis
 Descriptive Analysis
• Used by marketing researchers to describe the
sample dataset in such a way as to portray the
“typical” respondent and to reveal the general
pattern of responses

Inference Analysis
Used when marketing researchers use statistical
procedures to generalize the results of the sample to
the target population it represents
Difference Analysis
• Used to determine the degree to which real and
generalizable differences exist in the population to
help the manager make an enlightened decision on
which advertising theme to use

Investigates if and how two variables are related

Predictive Analysis
• Statistical procedures and models to help make
forecasts about future events
 Testing the Difference
Between Means

• Differences between two means from independent

samples (T-Test -- Independent)
• Differences between three or more means from
independent samples (ANOVA)
• Differences between paired means (T-Test paired)
Differences Between Means
with Two Groups
(Independent Samples) T-
• The procedure forTest
testing the significance
of difference between two means from two
different groups is identical to the
procedure for testing two percentages.
• Equations differ due to the use of a metric
(interval or ratio) scale.
Sign. less than .05 means that there
is a significant difference between
the means of the two groups
 Analysis of Variance
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA): used
when comparing the means of three or
more groups
• ANOVA is an investigation of the
differences between the group means to
ascertain whether sampling errors or
true population differences explain their
failure to be equal.
Sign. less than .05 means that there
is a significant difference between
the means of the two groups
 Post Hoc Tests: Detect
Statistically Significant
Differences Among Group
Means
• Post hoc tests: options that are available to determine
where the pair(s) of statistically significant differences
between the means exist(s)
• Duncan’s multiple range test: provides output that is mostly
a “picture” of what means are significantly different
• The Duncan multiple range test’s output is much less
statistical than most other post hoc tests and is easy to
interpret.
 Lecture 11 Relationships
Between
Two Variables
• Relationship: a consistent, systematic linkage
between the levels or labels for two variables
• “Levels” refers to the characteristics of description for
interval or ratio scales. E.g. “Strongly Agree” and “Agree’
• “Labels” refers to the characteristics of description for
nominal or ordinal scales. E.g. “Male” and “Female”
 Relationships Between
Two Variables

• Linear relationship: “straight-linear association”

between two variables
 Characterizing Relationships
Between Variables
• Presence: whether any systematic (statistical)
relationship exists between two variables
• Direction or pattern: whether the relationship is
positive or negative
• Strength of association: whether the relationship is
consistent
 Cross-Tabulations – Chi Squared
Test (X2)
• Cross-tabulation: rows and columns defined by the
categories classifying each variable; used for
nonmonotonic relationships
• Cross-tabulation cell: the intersection of a row and a
column
 Chi-Square Analysis

• Chi-square analysis: the examination of frequencies

for two nominal-scaled variables in a cross-
tabulation table to determine whether the variables
have a significant relationship

• Eg. “Women who live alone are more likely to own

a house than men who live alone.”

• The nominal variables are “gender” and “home-

ownership”
 How to Interpret a Chi-square
Result
• The calculated (computed) value of Chi-square is
compared to table value to determine significance.
• SPSS and other statistical analysis programs compare
calculated to table values and show the probability for
support of the null hypothesis. At a 95% confidence
interval, we look for less than .05
• A significant Chi-square means the researcher should
look at the cross-tabulation row and column
percentages to “see” the association pattern.
 Pearson Product Moment
Correlation Coefficient (r)
• Pearson product moment correlation: measures
the degree of linear association between the two
variables
Source: Reprint courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation,©SPSS, Inc., an IBM Company.
 Basic Regression Analysis
Concepts
• Independent variable (IV): used to predict the
independent variable (x in the regression straight-line
equation)
• Dependent variable (DV): that which is predicted (y in
the regression straight-line equation)

E.g. Does the number of hours reading the subject

textbook affect the final examination score?
Number of hours reading the textbook is the IV
Final Examination score is the DV
 Multiple Regression Analysis

• Multiple regression analysis uses the same

concepts as bivariate regression analysis but uses
more than one independent variable.
• A general conceptual model identifies independent
and dependent variables and shows their basic
relationships to one another.
Figure 15.4
SPSS Output for
Multiple Regression
Analysis
Source: Reprint courtesy
of International Business
Machines Corporation,
©SPSS, Inc., an IBM
Company.
Sign. less than .05 means that there
is a significant difference between
the means of the two groups
Reporting Example
 Lecture 11 The
Research Report

Discussion
 Sample questions

• What are the components of the marketing

research report?
• What is a research proposal? Explain.
• Why ethics is important in Marketing Research?
• What is the role of Marketing Research?
• Go through all the tutorial exercises and pay
attention on how you would interpret the results of
different statistical tools used, including, Crosstab,
Regression, Correlation, Independent sample t-test
and Anova.