Marketing Research and Information Systems

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Marketing Research and Information Systems
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Marketing Concept

• Achieving organizational goals depends on
  determining the needs and wants of target markets
  and delivering the desired satisfactions more
  effectively and efficiently than competitors do.

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The Marketing Information System
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INTERNAL DATABASES

• Types
• financial statements, sales records,
  manufacturing reports, field service personnel
  reports, customer complaints, research studies,
  databases, etc.
• Note Must be available and in an appropriate
  form for marketing decisions

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MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

• INFORMAL Reading newspapers/trade journals,
  living
• FORMAL News clipping, internet news services,
  etc.
• COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
• See www.scip.org

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INFORMATION ANALYSIS

• Information analysis is concerned with turning
  data into information. Components include
• Statistical software (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Excel)
• Models
• CRM

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THE MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

• 1. Problem Definition/Research Objectives
• 2. Developing Research Plan
• 3. Collect the Information
• 4. Analyze the Information/ Reporting

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1. Problem Def./Res. Objectives

• Most problematic part of Marketing Research
• Types of Objectives
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal

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2. Developing Research Plan

• Determine Information Needs
• Examine Secondary Data
• Plan Primary Data Collection
• Research Approach
• observation
• survey
• experimental
• Contact Methods
• Sampling Plan

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2. Continued

• Plan Primary Data Colln (continued)
• Research Instruments
• Questionnaire
• Mechanical

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3. Collect the Information

• NOTE Most costly and subject to error

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A Note on Surveys
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SURVEY TYPES

• Direct - Structured
• Get the facts in an orderly fashion
• Questionnaires appropriate
• EX Are you afraid to fly?
• Direct - Unstructured
• Used heavily in exploratory research
• Interviewer given general instructions Free to
  ask necessary direct questions

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• Indirect
• Employs projection
• EX Is your neighbor is afraid to fly?
• May be structured or unstructured
• Example techniques
• word association, sentence completion
• Thematic Apperception Tests

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NESCAFE INSTANT COFFEE STUDY

• DIRECT Do you use instant coffee?
• Results No, because of flavor
• INDIRECT Constructed 2 shopping lists. Identical
  except for one item
• Nescafe instant coffee VS Maxwell House coffee
  (drip grind)

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RESULTS

• INSTANT Versus DRIP GRIND
• 48 Lazy 4
• 48 Poor planner 12
• 4 Thrifty 16
• 12 Spendthrift 0
• 16 Poor wife 0
• 4 Good wife 16

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REQUIREMENTS FOR GETTING GOOD DATA
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Respondents Must...

• UNDERSTAND question
• Ambiguity is a big problem
• Long questions
• Unfamiliar words
• Unanchored adjectives (big, fast, quick, etc.)
• be ABLE to answer
• Memory
• Two questions in one
• be WILLING to answer
• Costly??

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Interviewer Must...

• UNDERSTAND response

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

• Do you like tomato juice?
• When flying, how important is the ETA of flights?
• INTERVIEWER Should the government regulate
  profits?
• INTERVIEWER How often do you read foreign news?

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• How courteous and efficient was your waitress?
• What magazines do you subscribe to?

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4. Interpreting and Reporting the Findings