INTRODUCTION OF MARKET RESEARCH

Marketing research is "the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications. Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior. The term is commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes. Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market:

Consumer marketing research, and Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

Qualitative marketing research, and Quantitative marketing research

Consumer marketing research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding the preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a market-based economy, and it aims to understand the effects and comparative success of marketing campaigns. The field of consumer marketing research as a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of the ACNielsen Company in 1923.

Market research for business/planning

Market research is for discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can also involve discovering how they act. Once that research is completed, it can be used to determine how to market your product. Questionnaires and focus group discussion surveys are some of the instruments for market research. For starting up a business, there are some important things:

Market information

Through Market information one can know the prices of the different commodities in the market, as well as the supply and demand situation. Information about the markets can be obtained from different sources, varieties and formats, as well as the sources and varieties that have to be obtained to make the business work.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar motivations. It is widely used for segmenting on geographic differences, personality differences, demographic differences, technographic differences, use of product differences, psychographic differences and gender differences. For B2B segmentation firmographics is commonly used.

Market trends

Market trends are the upward or downward movement of a market, during a period of time. The market size is more difficult to estimate if one is starting with something completely new. In this case, you will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers, or customer segments. [Ilar 1998]

Besides information about the target market, one also needs information about one's competitors, customers, products, etc. Lastly, you need to measure marketing effectiveness. A few techniques are:

Customer analysis Choice modelling Competitor analysis Risk analysis Product research Advertising the research Marketing mix modeling

Marketing research characteristics

First, marketing research is systematic. Thus systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are methodologically sound, well documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses the scientific method in that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses. Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the researcher's research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in predetermined findings. The objective nature of marketing research underscores the importance of ethical considerations

MARKETING RESEARCH METHODS

Methodologically, marketing research uses the following types of research designs: Based on questioning

Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes - small number of respondents - not generalizable to the whole population - statistical significance and confidence not calculated - examples include focus groups, indepth interviews, and projective techniques

Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions - tests a specific hypothesis - uses random sampling techniques so as to infer from the sample to the population - involves a large number of respondents - examples include surveys and questionnaires. Techniques include choice modelling, maximum difference preference scaling, and covariance analysis.

Based on observations

Ethnographic studies - by nature qualitative, the researcher observes social phenomena in their natural setting - observations can occur cross-sectionally (observations made at one time) or longitudinally (observations occur over several time-periods) - examples include product-use analysis and computer cookie traces. See also Ethnography and Observational techniques.

Experimental techniques - by nature quantitative, the researcher creates a quasiartificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates at least one of the variables - examples include purchase laboratories and test markets

Researchers often use more than one research design. They may start with secondary research to get background information, then conduct a focus group (qualitative research design) to explore the issues. Finally they might do a full nation-wide survey (quantitative research design) in order to devise specific recommendations for the client.

MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS The market research process follows a series of steps which include understanding the problem to be researched, creating a research design for the problem, designing data sources including designing the data collection methods, implementing the study, analyzing and processing the collected data, and developing the research report. Figure illustrates the market research process.Understanding the problem to be researched A marketing manager, normally working with a marketing research group, must examine a problem carefully to understand its nature and complexity. A careful definition of the problem`s parameters is crucial in developing the research project`s goals.

There are various types of research problems. Some research is merely exploratory in nature which allows management to develop a clearer conceptualization of a problem. A more indepth market study may be concerned with describing a particular problem in detail. A third type of research is interested in understanding the dynamics of a particular situation in terms of what causes it, or related issues, to occur. The objective of the research is the critical factor in determining the nature of the research design.

How is the research design created? After developing an understanding of the problem to be researched, the next question to be answered is what potential market value the research has when launching a new product. EXAMPLE 3.4 Management seeks to determine the market value when launching similar products in a market segment to form the basis for a research budget. It can be determined that other product launches had an average annual profit of $35 million when market research was conducted and only $15 million without market research. Market research value = average profits with market research- average profits without market research market research value =$35 million-$15 million=20 million In this example it would be possible to justify a $20 million-dollar research budget. Once a budget can be determined for the research project, it is then necessary to determine what types of data will be used. Two types of research data, primary and secondary, may be used in market research. Primary data such as census data collected by the government is original data which is either collected directly or is provided by a source who collects it directly. Secondary data is data reported on by a secondary source such as another market report or a periodical which provides results of primary data used in preparing the report. For the most part, market research uses primary data, although secondary data can be a useful theoretical source as well as validating results obtained from primary data collection studies. In the development stage, how is marketing research data collected? Marketing data is obtained using four basic research approaches: observational, focus group, survey and experimental. Observational. This is the most unstructured method of collecting data. The data collection method will depend on the context of the situation (for example, if one were to collect data regarding the cruise ship industry, one observational approach would be to book a cruise on one or several selected cruise ships and observe the activities on board, and the food being served, as well as to listen to passengers` before and after comments during embarkation and

disembarkation). Focus group. In the focus-group methodology, a small group of selected individuals are invited to discuss a certain topic. In the cruise ship example, questions would be focused on the group`s overall impressions regarding the cruise ship industry, with special attention given to particular cruise lines. Data obtained from a focus group session can be very useful when designing a more in-depth research study. Survey research. Surveys are the most commonly used form of marketing research. A survey is a systematic research tool used to obtain descriptive data. The three basic types of surveys are mail surveys to specified geographical areas, systematic telephone surveys within a calling area, and one-on-one personal interviews with a single individual or a group.

Experimental research. This type of research has the most methodological accuracy. In experimental research, measures of the affects of variation in independent variables on the subject dependent variable are taken. This is done using as controlled an environment as possible either in a laboratory or field setting. An example of experimental research is testing the impact of various types of advertising on resulting sales. Different types of advertising can be used in different regional markets for the same product to determine if there is any measurable difference in resulting sales. However, controls for inherent regional differences must be predetermined. How is a sampling plan developed? A sampling plan is developed for the purpose of ensuring that the data collected is valid and reliable for the selected population. A sampling plan addresses three issues: the sampling unit, the sampling method, and the sample size. Sampling unit. This is a definition of a particular target population. If a company wants to sample opinions of people using a particular product, then it is necessary to define who that target population actually is.

Sampling method. Researchers can use either a probability or non-probability sample of the target population. A probability sample is a statistical calculation of the sampling error of a target population. At the 1% level of confidence, there is a 99% probability of being a valid

and reliable sample of the target population, while 1% would be inaccurate. In a nonprobability sample, the researcher makes a judgment about what portion of a target population should be included in a sample. Sample size. Since it usually is impractical to sample opinions of an entire target population, it becomes necessary to develop a representative sample of the target population. Of course, the larger the sample, the more reliable and valid are the results. Sample sizes, either at the 5% or 1% level of confidence, are chosen according to the scope of the study, the resources available, and the criticality of the need for reliability. How is the market research study implemented? In the implementation stage, the researcher actually collects the required data. This is the most expensive and error-prone stage of the marketing research process. Data collection methods include mechanical means, computers including bar coding and interactive data input, questionnaires and interviewing. The major concern here is that data collection methods insure valid and reliable data. How is the data processed and analyzed? The data processing and analysis stage involves the processes of reviewing, categorizing, and analyzing. First the data must be reviewed for collection errors and omissions to insure that all areas have been completed accurately. Then the data has to be placed in categories where similar data can be compared with each other. The analysis step is crucial for the study`s final outcomes. Various statistical analysis methods are utilized for interpreting the results. This can involve using multivariate analysis and frequency distributions. How is the research report developed? Final reports should be succinctly written. Results should be interpreted and presented in an understandable format. Management requires report formats that are easily interpreted and conceptually coherent. The appropriate use of graphics can be helpful in explaining outcomes. Oral presentations by researchers often are used to further explain the study.

LIMITATIONS OF MARKET RESEARCH

Accurate, up-to-date information obtained by marketing research can be of enormous value to an organisation in gaining and/or maintaining its competitive edge. However, there are a number of reasons why, in reality, these potential benefits may not be realised: Budgetary constraints gathering and processing data can be very expensive. Many organisations may lack the expertise to conduct extensive surveys to gather primary data, whatever the potential benefits, and also lack the funds to pay specialist market research agencies to gather such data for them. In these cases, organisations may be forced to rely on data that is less than perfect but that can be accessed more cheaply, e.g., from secondary sources Time constraints organisations are often forced to balance the need to build up as detailed a picture as possible regarding customer needs etc. against the desire to make decisions as quickly as possible, in order to maintain or improve their position in the market Reliability of the data the value of any research findings depend critically on the accuracy of the data collected. Data quality can be compromised via a number of potential routes, e.g., leading questions, unrepresentative samples, biased interviewers etc. Efforts to ensure that data is accurate, samples are representative and interviewers are objective will all add to the costs of the research but such costs are necessary if poor decisions and expensive mistakes are to be avoided. Legal & ethical constraints the Data Protection Act (1998) is a good example of a law that has a number of implications for market researchers collecting and holding personal data. For instance, researchers must ensure that the data they obtain is kept secure, is only used for lawful purposes and is only kept for as long as it is necessary. It must be made clear as to why data is being collected and the consent of participants must be obtained. In addition to this, there are a number of guidelines, laid down by such organisations as the Market Research Society, that, although not legally binding, encourage organisations to behave ethically when dealing with members of the public.