Chapters 3 & 4

The Marketing Research

Process
Problem Formulation
Formulate Problem
Determine Research Design
Determine Data Collection Method
Design Data Collection Forms
Design Sample and Collect Data
Analyze and Interpret Data
Prepare the Research Report
Sources Marketing Problems
Sources of
Marketing Problems
Purpose of
Marketing Research
Unanticipated Change Find out what is
happening and why.
Planned Change How to bring about the
desired change.
Serendipity in the Form
of New Ideas
How to capture and
evaluate the promise of
the new idea.
The Problem Definition Process
Diagnosis of the Situation
Identifying the Marketing Problem
Deriving the Research Problem
Case 1.1: Big Brothers of Fairfax
County
What is (are) the marketing decision
problem(s)?
What is (are) the marketing research
problem(s)?
What types of information would be useful
to answer the questions?
How would you go about securing this
information?
Marketing Research Process
Using the steps in the research process to
structure your thinking evaluate the
following marketing research effort.
See Question 3, Page 53 for scenario.
Which type of research design is
most appropriate?
Franks flies is a fishing lure manufacturer.
Franks management has decided to enter
the lucrative market for trout flies, an area
in which the company has little experience.
The fly development department has
decided that it needs more information
concerning trout fishing in general before it
can begin designing the new product line.
Which type of research design is
most appropriate?
The management team at Aardvark Audio
strongly suspects that the companys current
advertising campaign is not achieving its stated
goal of raising consumer awareness of the
companys name to a 75 percent recognition level
in the target market. The team has decided to
commission a research project to test the
effectiveness of the various ads in the current
campaign.
Which type of research design is
most appropriate?
Ace Fertilizer company is trying to decide where
advertisements for its vegetable garden fertilizers
should be placed. Management is contemplating
a research project to determine which
publications home gardeners read on a regular
basis.
Problem Definition Areas Questions
Symptoms What has changed that is causing
you concern?
Background What is the recent history of the
brand, service, company, or
market involved?
Decision Maker's Situation How are these changes
impacting your objectives?
What resources do you have at
your disposal? What is the time
frame for required action?
Information What do you know about the
circumstances of these changes?
Problem Definition Areas Questions
Suspected Causes Why do you think these changes
have come about?
Possible Solutions What do you have the power to
do about these changes?
Anticipated Consequences If you do things in your power,
what are the most likely results?
Assumptions Why do you anticipate these
responses to your actions to
resolve the problem?
Constructs Often Investigated by
Marketing Research
Construct Operational Def.
Brand awareness Percent of respondents having
heard of brand
Recall, recognition of
advertising
The number who remember
seeing a specific ad
Knowledge of product,
features
What can they tell about the
product
Brand familiarity Those who have seen the
brand or tried it
Constructs Often Investigated by
Marketing Research
Construct Operational Def.
Comprehension of product
benefits
What respondents think the
product does for them
Attitudes, feelings toward
brand
The number who feel positive,
negative or neutral
Intentions to purchase The number that are planning
to buy it
Past purchase or use The percent that bought it
Constructs Often Investigated by
Marketing Research
Construct Operational Def.
Satisfaction How they evaluate its
performance
Importance of some factor What factors determine their
purchase choice
Demographics How old, what gender, etc.
Brand loyalty How many times they bought
the brand in the last 6 mos.
Problem Definition Process Examples
General
Situation
Diagnosis Marketing
Problem
Research
Problem
Market share is
declining
Customers are
switching to
brand A
Reinforce
brand loyalty
Find out why
brand A is
preferred
Sales are down Store traffic is
down
Build store
traffic
Find out why
fewer people
are visiting
store
Profit decline Big advertising
campaign failed
Design new ad
campaign
Evaluate
alternative ads
and media
Problem Definition Process Examples
General
Situation
Diagnosis Marketing
Problem
Research
Problem
Product line is
growing
obsolete
New product is
needed
Select new
product to
market
Evaluate
alternative
product designs
Distribution is
weak
More stores are
needed
Insert new
stores
Evaluate
prospective
store locations
New product
line is being
introduced
Promotional
resources must
be allocated to
geographic
markets
Assign sales
force and
distribute local
advertising
budget
Identify and
array high
sales-potential
markets