2 The Marketing Research Process and Proposals ESSENTIALS

2: The Marketing Research Process and Proposals ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING RESEARCH Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush

Education philosophy You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him to find it within himself. Galileo Galilei Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -2

Information Research Process Information research process is the systematic task steps in the gathering, analyzing, interpreting, and transforming of data structures and results into decision-making information Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -3

Determining the Need for Research Process “Can the decisionmaking problem or question be solved based on past experience and managerial judgment? ” Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -4

Situations when research might not be needed £Information already available £Insufficient time frames £Inadequate resources £Costs outweigh value Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -5

Exhibit 2. 2 Phases of the Information Research Process Phase I Determine the Research Problem Phase II Select Appropriate Research Design Phase III Execute the Research Design Phase IV Communicate the Research Results Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -6

Scientific Method Logical Ongoing Objective Valid Systematic Reliable Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -7

Phase I. Determine the Research Problem Step 1. Identify and clarify information needs Step 2. Define the research problem and questions Step 3. Specify research objectives and confirm information value Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -8

Step 1: Identify and clarify information needs £Purpose of the research request £Understand the complete problem situation £Identify and separate out symptoms £Determine the unit of analysis £Determine the relevant variables Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -9

Exhibit 2. 5 The Iceberg Principle Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -10

Step 2: Define the Research Problem and Questions Initial research question Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Redefined research questions Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -11

Step 3: Specify Research Objectives and Confirm Information Value £ Can the information be collected at all? £ Can the information tell the decision maker something not already known? £ Will the information provide significant insights? £ What benefits will be delivered by this information? Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -12

Phase II. Select the Research Design Step 4. Determine the research design and data sources Step 5. Develop the sampling design and sample size Step 6. Examine measurement issues and scales Step 7. Design and pretest the questionnaire Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -13

Step 4: Determine the Research Design Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -14

Step 5: Develop the Sampling Design and Sample Size £ Identify the relevant defined target population by either: £ conducting a census of all members, or £ selecting a subgroup £ Develop a probability or non-probability sampling plan £ Determine how many people need to be investigated Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -15

Step 6. Examine Measurement Issues and Scales £ Level of information needed £ Reliability and validity of information £ Development of reliable and valid scale measurement £ Dimensions underlining critical factors £ Single or multi-item measures used to collect data Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -16

Step 7: Design and Pretest Questionnaires can be pretested in a usability lab like this one Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -17

Phase III. Execute the Research Design Step 8. Collect and prepare data Step 9. Analyze data Step 10. Interpret data to create knowledge Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -18

Phase IV. Communicate the Research Results Step 11. Prepare and present final report Executive Summary Introduction Problem Definition & Objectives Methodology Results, Findings, Limitations of Study Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -19

Research proposal outline £ Purpose of proposed research project £ Type of study £ Definition of target population and sample size £ Sample design and data collection method £ Specific research instruments £ Potential managerial benefits £ Proposed cost for total project £ Profile of research company £ Optional dummy tables of projected results Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -20

Next week’s assignment £Validity-reliability issues in research methodology £Exploratory-descriptive & casual research designs Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research 1 e © Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin 2008 Copyright © 2008 by the Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 -21