Subject Code: IMT-03

Subject Name : Marketing Research

Objective: 1. Understanding the scope of business research and entire business research process. 2. Providing a fundamental treatment of business research that stresses the importance of research methods in business. 3. Imbibing the knowledge of the changing research methodologies and information technologies which have dramatically changed the nature of business research Contents : NATURE AND SCOPE OF MARKETING RESEARCH Need to know the Customer, Definition and Meaning of Marketing Research, Applications of Marketing Research, Marketing Research Suppliers and Services THE MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS Research Brief, Research Proposal, Types of Research Methods, The Main Data Collection Stage, Survey Methods, Questionnaire Design, Pilot Stage, Data Analysis and Interpretation, Report Writing and Presentation, Scientific Method TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGNS Exploratory Research, Descriptive Research, Experimental Research VALUE OF INFORMATION Secondary Data, Primary Data, Questionnaire Construction, Types of Questionnaires SAMPLING Sampling Design Process, Types of Sampling PROCESSING OF DATA Tabulation of Data, Analysis of Data, Univariate Analysis, Multivariate Analysis ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT Attitudes as Evaluations, Methods of Measuring Attitudes, Scales of Measuring Attitudes, Multidimensional Scaling SEGMENTING THE MARKET Customer Value Proposition, Non Segmented Markets, Purpose of Segmentation, Segmentation and Market Entry, Process of Market Segmentation: Target Marketing, Segmenting Consumer Markets, Combining Segmentation Variables, Segmenting Organizational Markets, Evaluating Market Segments and Target Market Selection PRODUCT RESEARCH Concept Testing, Test Marketing, Real-time Product Research, New Product Research. ADVERTISING RESEARCH What should be Measured?, When and how to Measure? SALES ANALYSIS AND FORECASTING Potential Market, Available Market, Served Market and Penetrated Market, Company Sales Forecasts, Sales Budgets, Sales Quota and Sales Control, Sales Forecasting Methods APPLICATION OF MARKETING RESEARCH IN INDIA Market Research Society of India (MRSI), Television Ratings, Indian Insights.

Marketing Research.................................................. Page 1 of 4 ............................................................................... IMT-03

Notes:
a. b. c. d. Write answers in your own words as far as possible and refrain from copying from the text books/handouts. Answers of Ist Set (Part-A), IInd Set (Part-B), IIIrd Set (Part C) and Set-IV (Case Study) must be sent together. Mail the answer sheets alongwith the copy of assignments for evaluation & return. Only hand written assignments shall be accepted. 5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. 5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. 5 Questions, each question carries 1 marks. Confine your answers to 150 to 200 Words. Two Case Studies : 5 Marks. Each case study carries 2.5 marks.

A. First Set of Assignments: B. Second Set of Assignments: C. Third Set of Assignments: D. Forth Set of Assignments:

ASSIGNMENTS
FIRST SET OF ASSIGNMENTS Marks Assignment-I = 5

PART A
1. Discuss the nature and scope of Marketing Research. Identify some problems in different areas of Marketing where Marketing Research can be helpful. 2. Is a research design always necessary before a research study can be conducted? In what may do exploratory, descriptive and causal research design differ? Explain with the help of an example.

3. A marketing manager needs to find the causes for the decline in market share of his company. The manager decides to conduct marketing research. How should he go about finding a supplier of research services? 4. a) Distinguish between a Focus Group Interviews and an in-depth interview. b) In which cases would an In-depth Interview be more applicable than a Focus Group Interview? 5. a) What do you understand by selecting samples from the universe? b) Discuss the various methods of probability sampling. Use examples to illustrate cases in which each of the methods would be most applicable.
SECOND SET OF ASSIGNMENTS Assignment-II = 5 Marks

PART B
1. State whether you agree or disagree with the statement Correct identification and clear definition of the research problem are more crucial to the success of a market research study than sophisticated research techniques . Justify your answer with suitable examples. 2. Discuss the various steps in Questionnaire design. 3. What sampling scheme you will muse in following situations? a. A study to find out preference and people for shampoos in urban market. b. A survey to study the potential users of microwave oven in Delhi. c. A survey to study the usage of laptops in the small office segment-All India Level.

Marketing Research.................................................. Page 2 of 4 ............................................................................... IMT-03

4. Explain the process of new product development and highlight the role of marketing research in developing a product. 5. Write short note on the following : a. Data Gathering techniques. b. Product Research.
THIRD SET OF ASSIGNMENTS Assignment-III = 5 Marks

PART C
1. Amul is planning to launch a new flavour of ice cream and wants to get a snapshot of the potential market. The ice cream has coconut-white chocolate flavour and is aimed at the premium market. What type of research design is appropriate? Develop the research questions and hypothesis. 2. Discuss in detail various methods by which sales forecasting can be done. 3. Distinguish between Semantic Differential scale and Liker scale. Give examples. 4. Discuss the methods of pre-testing and post-testing of advertisements. 5. Write short on the following. Advantages and disadvantages of open ended and closed ended questions. T-test and z-test. Null hypothesis.

FOURTH SET OF ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment-IV = 2.5 Each Case Study

CASE STUDY - I
Rex Contact Lens Company
Contact lenses are a modern way of correcting vision. The market has grown rapidly and changed tin character in recent years. Prices have remained high, but Rex Contact Lens company came up with a plan for selling contact lenses by mail, a system that would permit it to sell at a much lower price than was currently available. Before making the investment necessary to develop this new channel of distribution, Rex wanted to make a better forecast of possible sales than it had made up to date, and it chose to use the survey method for the forecast. Two thirds of the total retail market was estimated to be replacement sales. The average life of a contact lens was thought to be about one year. If 20 million wore contacts and replaced each lens once a year the total replacement market was 40 million lenses a year. Rexs concept was for a mail-order replacement service for contact lenses. Catalog sales wore booming in many product areas. And the proposed plan would fit with this national development. A catalog would be prepared with pictures and descriptions of contact lenses and their advantages. A toll free number would be provided for quick service. Lenses would be shipped in sealed bottles within 24 hours of receipt of order and overnight delivery would be available at extra charge. Customers would mail in orders with payment or provide credit card identification for phone orders. Customers for a single contact lens were projected much lower than the current market level 0 and in addition, this low cost would reduce or perhaps eliminate customer need for insurance.

Marketing Research.................................................. Page 3 of 4 ............................................................................... IMT-03

Before going further, Rex set about to make an improved forecast for sales. They conducted a survey among wearer of both regular glasses and contact lenses to determine their attitudes towards the proposed mail order sales; the services they would want, the different kinds of contacts they were interested in (hard, soft, extended wear, gas permeable, tinted, bifocals); and the probability they would order lenses by mail. Questions: 1. Which data collection method would you prefer? Why? 2. How would you analyze the data gathered from this study? 3. Design a suitable questionnaire.

CASE STUDY-II
JINGLE BELLS Coca-Cola
Drink Coca-Cola was the first theme out of the gate. Delicious and Refreshing came along in the late 1880s, most likely appearing on an oilcloth sign attached to a soda fountain awning. Since then, those two words have worked hard for Coca-Cola in about a trillion different ways. Before long, theme lines began to make definite statement about the product. In the early 1920s, Thirst Knows No Season helped consumers think of Coca-Cola as more than a summertime drink. Later that decade, It Had To Be good To Get Where It Is added prestige. And Just Around The Corner From Everywhere emphasized widespread availability. In 1929, the most famous commercial slogan of its time The Pause That Refreshes marked a return to promoting coke simply as the quintessential quencher, Into the Age of Aquarius, when Things Go Better With Coke captured the lively spirit of the times. By then, the world had become much more sophisticated dining on frozen dinners and dressing modern. This was reflected by Cokes breakthrough TV commercials in colour. Have a Coke And A Smile was unleashed in 1979 among a flurry of disco music (which only made it sound better), More recently, Coke had to have twice the themes since there was twice the Coke. In 1985, one campaign had to position Coke (previously known as New Coke), and another had to differentiate Coca-Cola classic from its sister product and competitive brands. The big winners? Catch The Wave for the junior model, and for the original formula. Red, White and You conjured images of Americana. After All, Coca-Cola classic had just established itself as a national treasure on par with the entire state of Florida. These days, its Always Coca-Cola. With so many different themes, jingles and slogans added to its name over the decades, Coke was utterly confused as to which theme strikes the right chord with Cokes audience (basically everyone over the age of 12 who drinks liquid). Coke primarily wanted to identify if at all there lies any difference among the appeals rendered by the jingles- Market research thousands of people surveyed, poked and prodded questioned How does this jingle appeal to you? 1. Some marketers are of the belief that advertising Coke through Aguilera has shown much larger sales of Coke as compared to cities which believe and practice endorsing Coke via nonAguilera advertisements. Write a research proposal for conducting a research to verify this statement.

Marketing Research.................................................. Page 4 of 4 ............................................................................... IMT-03