Marketing Research Approaches Research Approaches Observational Research Ethnographic
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 lowcost 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, Webbased 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 decisions 1. 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)
Research Instruments - Questionnaire • 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) – 1 st question should create interest – Last question could be difficult or personal
Research Instruments – Mechanical Devices Monitors 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 findings 2. 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
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