Market Research

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Market Research

• Professor Lawrence Feick
• University of Pittsburgh

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Outline

• Definition what is market research?
• Examples of market research problems
• Who does market research?
• Glossary types of data, studies, variables
• Focus on focus groups, surveys, observation,
  experiments
• Sampling
• Market research in 1998

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What is market research?

• Collection and organization of information to be
  used for marketing decision making

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Examples of market research problems

• Target market selection
• Product studies
• Pricing studies
• Distribution studies
• Promotion studies
• Sales research

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Who does market research?

• Managers or market researchers in the firm
  producing the product (clients)
• Market research firms (suppliers)
• Advertising agencies (agencies)
• Organizations that produce market research
  information as a byproduct of other activities

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The Largest Market Research Firms 1997
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Market research supplierstypes of services

• Custom research
• Syndicated research

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A glossary of research terms

• Types of data
• Types of studies
• Type of variables

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Types of data

• Secondary data
• collected for another purpose
• there is always relevant data available
• sources of secondary data
• Primary data
• collected to answer the current question

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Types of studies

• Quantitative
• quantity data amounts, means, percentages
• surveys, experiments, observation methods
• Qualitative
• richness, depth of understanding
• directional, not quantified results
• depth interviews, focus groups

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Types of variables

• Independent variable
• a variable that has an effect on another
• a predictor or explanatory variable
• Dependent variable
• a variable that is affected by another
• Examples
• purchase patterns and income

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Focus on Focus Groups
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Focus groups

• Most frequently used qualitative method
• Involves moderated group discussion
• Typically 1.5 hours
• Example usage product concept testing, name tests

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Focus on Surveys
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Surveys

• Data collected by asking questions
• Art and science of asking questions
• Descriptive technique that yields
• averages potato chip consumption
• relationships is potato chip consumption related
  to age? to income?

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Interviewer-administered questionnaires

• Personal interview surveys
• Telephone surveys

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Self-administered questionnaires

• Mail surveys
• Fax surveys
• Computer surveys

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Comparing methods of collecting survey data
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Radisson Hotels Customer Satisfaction Survey
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Radisson Hotels Customer Satisfaction Survey
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Architectural Digest 1998 Rate Card Survey First
page
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Architectural Digest 1998 Rate Card Survey Last
page
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Focus on Observation
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Observation

• Data collected by recording information
• Avoid bias from contact that influences responses
  
• UPC scanners, Nielson Medias black boxes, hidden
  cameras

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Focus on Experiments
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Experiments

• Involve manipulated independent variables
• provide insight into cause and effect
• Data collected with surveys and observation
• Package design tests, ad copy tests, test markets

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Sampling an aside

• Population
• Census versus sample
• Types of samples
• probability samples
• nonprobability samples
• Sampling and statistics

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Market research in the late 1990slinked data

• Supermarkets loyalty cards
• purchase data from scanners
• demographic data from membership
• tailored promotions to members, neighborhoods
• Readers Digest direct mail system
• tailored mailings based on expected response and
  expected profitability
• uses purchase data, survey data, purchased lists

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Market research in the late 1990s single source
data

• Uses a consumer panel
• Combines
• demographics from surveys
• observed black box data
• observed scanner data
• Provides linkages among
• customer demos, media habits, purchases
• Split cable experiments

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Market research in the late 1990s brand
anthropology

• Developing new ways to understand brand meaning
  in consumers
• collages
• thick description
• in-home observation

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Market research the bottom line

• Market research defined--reprise
• Collection and organization of information to be
  used for marketing decision making
• Market research, to be useful,
• focuses on managers problems
• answers the right questions
• affects decision making