The Human Side of Marketing Research
Stage of developmentStage of intuitivedecision making
Stage ofsophistication
Intuition-Centered Decision Making
Research-CenteredDecision Making
Continuum of Marketing Research Sophistication
Managers Researchers1) Decision-oriented
2) Intuitive
3) Like to confirm
4) Time orientation -- Proactive1) Project immediacy
2) Results about future behavior
5) Frugal1) keep costs down
6) Results orientation1) Do not like surprises – tend to
reject the results
2) Concern 1) Aren’t we #1 yet?
3) Certainty1) Is it or isn’t it?
1) Technique-oriented
2) Analytical
3) Like to explore
4) Time orientation -- Reactive1) Project prolongment
2) Results about past behavior
5) Not cost conscious1) You get what you pay for
6) Results orientation1) Love surprises – like finding
out new info about the world
2) Abstraction1) Our exponential gain ….
3) Probability1) May be …..
Who Should Do the Research?• Outside Agency (Research supplier)
– An independent research firm contracted by the company that actually will benefit from the research.
• Can provide a fresh perspective
• Often can be more objective
• May have special expertise
• Often has local expertise
• In-house Research– Research performed by employees of the company that will
benefit from the research.• Can complete the research quickly
• Allows close collaboration with other employees
• Economy
• Secrecy
Organizational Structure of Marketing Research: Mid-Sized Firms
• Director of marketing research– Provides leadership in research efforts & integrates all staff-
level research activities into one effort.
– Plans, executes, & controls the firm’s marketing research function.
• Research analyst– Responsible for
• client contact,
• project design,
• preparation of proposals,
• selection of research suppliers
• supervision of data collection, analysis , & reporting activities.
Organizational Structure of Marketing Research (cont’d)
• Research assistants (or associates)– Provide technical assistance with questionnaire design, data
analyses, &similar activities.
– Also called junior analysts
• Manager of decision support systems– Supervises the collection and analysis of sales, inventory, and
other periodic customer relationship management (CRM) data.
• Forecast analyst– Provides technical assistance, such as running computer
programs and manipulating data to forecast sales.
Director of marketing researchand sales forecasting
Manager ofsales research
Forecastanalysts
Research analyst(project director)
Research assistant(entry-level trainee)
Medium-Sized Research Department
The Director of Marketing Research:Problems in Directing Research
• Skilled research professionals like conducting research better than managing people.
• The research management role often is not formally recognized.
• Outstanding research professionals often have trouble delegating responsibility.
• Research is often seen as a hodgepodge of techniques available to answer individual, unrelated questions.
Marketing Research Pays
• Research analysts’ salaries are $45,000 - $85,000, but some make over $100,000
• Entry level is lower: $22,500 - $55,000
Research Supplier
• A commercial marketing research service that conducts marketing research activities for clients
• Syndicated service– Can provide standardized service
– Can provide customized research
World’s Largest Research Firms (2010)
Choosing Research Suppliers
Evaluative Criteria Description
Technical Competency Possesses necessary functional requirements to conduct project. Expertise, practical skills, confidence
Marketing Knowledge Ability to assimilate diverse marketing environments and situations very rapidly. Quickly link client’s business with valid project.
Reliability of Service Ability to be consistent and responsive to client’s needs.
Conformance to Standards
Ability to be accurate and on time. “Never promise what you can’t deliver.”
Reputation Aggregate of the 4 criteria above.
Evaluating Research Suppliers
Evaluative Criteria Description
Marketing Knowledge Translates objectives into marketing perspective; recommends marketing program action.
Technical Skills Design, questionnaire, sample, measures, analysis
Reliability Consistent performance over entire project duration
Responsiveness Willingness/readiness to provide designated tasks as indicated in research proposal
Access Prompt replies to questions; easily approachable
Evaluating Research Suppliers
Evaluative Criteria Description
Communication Keeps client informed throughout entire project
Credibility Exhibits expertise; trustworthy; performs in professional manner
Understanding Tries to keep project costs low; understands true nature of client’s problems, business, daily activities
Quality of report Well-planned, concise, accurate report; no wasted information in presentation
Cost Justifies/itemizes costs based on all necessary tasks to complete project
Timing Completes project as promised within reasonable time frame
Ethical Issues in Marketing Research
• Marketing ethics– The application of morals to behavior related to the
exchange environment.
• Moral standards– Principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical
and what is unethical.
• Ethical dilemma– A situation in which one chooses from alternative
courses of actions, each with different ethical implications.
Ethical Issues in Marketing Research (cont’d)
• Relativism– Degree to which one rejects moral standards in
favor of the acceptability of some action.
– Rejects absolute principles in favor of situation-based evaluations.
• Idealism– Degree to which one bases one’s morality on
moral standards.• example: the Golden Rule
General Rights and Obligations of Concerned Parties
• Everyone involved in marketing research can face an ethical dilemma:– The people actually performing the research—the
“doers.”– The research client, sponsor, or the management
team requesting the research—the “users.”– The research participants—the actual research
respondents or subjects.– Society at large — forms governments that oversee
all aspects of commerce & benefits from effective research.
Rights & Obligations of Marketing Research
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Rights & Obligations:Research Participant
• Informed Consent– The individual understands what the researcher
wants him/her to do and consents to the research study.
• Implicit Consent– Behaviors that are performed in public, implies that
one is willing to have others observe them.
• Confidentiality– The information involved in the research will not be
shared with others.
• Be Truthful
Deception in Research Designs And the Right To Be Informed
• Experimental Designs– Placebo
• False experimental effect used to create perception of a true effect.
– Debriefing• Research subjects are fully informed & provided with
a chance to ask any questions they may have about the experiment.
– Mystery shoppers• Employees of a research firm that are paid to pretend
to be actual shoppers.
Protection from Harm• Questions to ask to help avoid harming a research subject:
– Has the research subject provided consent to participate in an experiment?
– Is the research subject subjected to substantial physical or psychological trauma?
– Can the research subject be easily returned to his or her initial state?
• Human Subjects Review Committee– Reviews proposed research designs to ensure that no harm can
come to any research participant.
– Also called Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Rights and Obligations of the Client Sponsor (User)
• The Right to Privacy (confidentiality)
• Commitment to the research
• Theft of creative ideas– Get ideas from researchers & conduct study
themselves, or
– Use the ideas they got as a bargaining tool with other suppliers
• Use of pseudo-pilot studies– Researcher is told study is 1st of many in a
comprehensive study (when it’s actually only the 1)
Rights of the Researcher
• Fair compensation for efforts
• Properly cited as research provider
Obligations of the Researcher
Objectivity
Understand that the purpose of research is research -- no sales pitch to research participants
Do not misrepresent research
Be honest in reporting errors & limitations
Protect the confidentiality of both subjects & clients
Appropriately price the research
Data Validation Attempt to ensure data collected & recorded accurately
Typically 20% of total responses
Researcher Unethical Behaviors
Falsifying data Rocking chair interviewing
Duplicating actual response data Phantom respondents
Consciously manipulating data structures inappropriately
Inflation of research price with “soft” costs – travel expenses, monetary response incentives, etc
Selling unnecessary / unwarranted research services i.e., sells 2 or 3 data collection forms while only 1 is necessary to
achieve the research objectives
Researcher Unethical Behaviors
Fulfilling promises to respondents and/or field workers Incentives usually not given until project is over
Recipients thus lose leverage
Respondent abuse Misrepresent interview length
Selling PII without approval
Tracing individual respondents for sales call purposes
Covertly recording audio / visual without permission
When Nobody Is Looking?
• Sometimes the stakeholders involved in research are presented with subtle or perhaps even invisible ways to influence the research process in potentially unethical ways.
How Results Can Be Misrepresented in a Report or Presentation
Research That Isn’t Research
• Pseudo-research– Conducted not to gather information for
marketing decisions but to bolster a point of view & satisfy other needs.
• Push poll– Telemarketing under guise of research.
• Service monitoring– Contacting customers about their experience
with a product, there is no selling attempt.
The Researcher & Conflicts of Interest
• Conflict of interest–Occurs when one researcher works
for two competing companies
Suggestions
• Develop & enforce a Code of Ethics
• Develop & publish a Privacy Policy
• Maintain an opt-out list for all survey methods– Phone
– Electronic