Marketing Research Approaches

Research Approaches

• Observational Research

• Ethnographic Research

• Survey Research

• Experimental Research

Observational Research • Involves gathering primary data by

observing relevant people, actions & situations

• Can obtain info that people are unwilling or unable to provide

• Feelings, attitudes, private behavior, & motives cant be observed – Long-term or infrequent behavior also

difficult to observe• Example: – a bank evaluating new locations by

checking neighborhood locations & the location of other banks

Ethnographic Research

• Form of observational research that involves sending trained observers to watch and interact with consumers in their “natural habitat”

• Yields details that don’t emerge from tradition research questionnaires or focus groups

Survey Research • The most widely used method

for primary data collection, is the approach best suited for gathering descriptive info

• Major advantage is flexibility – Can be used to obtain different

kinds of info in many different situations

• Example: – Restaurants asking customers

about their service

Experimental Research • Gathering primary data by

selecting match groups of subjects, giving them different treatments, controlling related factors, & checking for differences in group responses

• Tries to explain cause-and-effect relationships

• Example: – Starbucks launching a new

beverage in 2 different cities at 2 different prices to determine the best price to sell it at

Contact Methods•Mail• Telephone• Personal

Interviewing• Online Marketing

Research

Mail• Mail questionnaires can be used to

collect large amounts of info at a low-cost per respondent – Advantages

• More honest answers to personal questions• No interviewer involved to bias the

respondent’s answers

– Disadvantages • Not very flexible • Take longer to complete –

often very low response rate • Researcher has little control over the mail

questionnaire sample

Telephone• Telephone interviewing is one of the

best methods for gathering info quickly – Advantages:

• It provides greater flexibility than mail questionnaires

• Higher response rates • Interviewers can ask to speak to respondents

with the characteristics they want or by name

– Disadvantages: • The cost per respondent is higher • People may not want to discuss personal

questions with interviewer• Introduces interviewer bias • More hang-ups on telephone interviewer

Personal Interviewing• Personal interviewing takes 2 forms: – Individual: talks with people in their

homes, offices, on the street, or shopping malls• Flexible • More costly than telephone interviews (3

to 4 times more)

– Group: consists of inviting 6 to 10 people to meet with a trained moderator to talk about a product, service, or organization • Focus group interviewing • Hard to generalize from results

Online Marketing Research • Online marketing research: collecting

primary data online through Internet surveys, online focus groups, Web-based experiments, or tracking consumers online behavior

• Online research can take many forms: – Web surveys – Web experiments

• Quantitative research: conducting marketing surveys and collecting online data

Online Marketing Research–Advantages: • Speed • Low costs • More interacting & engaging • Easier to complete • Less intrusive • Higher response rate

–Disadvantages• Some forms prone to interviewer effects

Online Focus Groups• Gathering a small group of people online with a trained

moderator to chat about a product, service, or organization and gain qualitative insights about consumer attitudes and behavior

• Chat room discussions • Online message boards

– Advantages • Can bring a wider range of people together

faster • Eliminates travel, lodging, & facility costs

– Disadvantages • Lack real world dynamics of personal

approaches• Typed commentary & online “emoticons”(ex: )

restrict respondent expressiveness

Sampling Plan• Sample: a segment of the population

selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole

• Designing the sample requires 3 decisions1. Who is to be surveyed? (What

sampling unit?)2. How many people should be

surveyed? (What sample size)3. How should the people in the

sample be chosen? (What sampling procedures)

Sampling Plan– Who is to be surveyed? (What sampling unit?)• Make sure you are interviewing the decision maker

– How many people should be surveyed? (What sample size?)• Large samples (cost more) give more reliable results than

small samples –May be unnecessary to sample entire target market

to get reliable results – How should the people in the sample be chosen? (What

sampling procedure?)• Probability samples: costly (confidence limits could be

measured for sampling error) • Nonprobability samples (sampling error can’t be

measured)

• By person, phone or Online• Closed End Question - include all the

possible answers; subjects make choices among them– Ex: multiple choice or scale questions– Easier to interpret

• Open End Question - allow respondents to answer in their own words– Reveal more than close-ended questions

(respondents aren't limited to answers)– 1st question should create interest – Last question could be difficult or personal

Research Instruments - Questionnaire

Research Instruments – Mechanical DevicesMonitors consumer’s behavior –Examples:»People put electronic devices in

their TVs to record certain programs»Checkout scanners record

shopper’s purchases»Advertisers use eye cameras to

study viewers’ eye movements while watching ads »Neuromarketing measures brain

activity to learn how consumers feel and respond

Implementing The Research Plan• Researcher puts the research plan into action

– Involves collecting, processing, & analyzing the info

1. Watch closely to make sure plan is followed correctly

2. Process & analyze the data to isolate important info & findings

3. Check data for accuracy and completeness 4. Compile results & compute statistical

measures • Data collection:

– Can be carried out by marketing research staff or outside firms

– Disadvantages:• Collection phase is expensive• Usually has errors

Interpreting & Reporting The Findings • Steps the researcher must do:

1. Interpret the findings2. Draw conclusions 3. Report them to management

• Present important findings & insights (useful in important decisions made by management)

• Interpretation not left only to researchers– Managers know more about the problems and decisions that must

be made – But managers may be biased

• Managers & researchers must work together closely when interpreting research results – Both must share responsibility for the research process & resulting

decisions