Course: MBASubject: Research Methodology

Unit-1.2

RESEARCH PROCESS

• Nature of Research

• Basic Terminologies of Research

• The research Process

• Research Plan and

• Problem

Research Process

• A marketing research project starts with an information need.

• It ends with an actionable report or presentation or both.

• In between are various steps to ensure that the marketing research project achieves what it set out to do.

A diagrammatic representation of the Marketing Research Process

1. Information 4. Plan and do

Need Felt Secondary Research

2. Define the 5. Plan and do

Research Primary Research

Objective

3. Design the 6. Tabulation

Research and Analysis

Methodology

7. Report Writing

and Presentation

8. Marketing Action

We will now consider each of these steps in detail

Information Need

• Consider, for example, an expensive advertising campaign which has been running on television for 3 weeks. It may not have produced the expected jump in sales in some of the major sales territories. The client, let us assume, is a shaving blades manufacturer.

• The marketing manager has to decide on following things.

1. Whether to continue the campaign or change it?

2. Reconfirm that the ad campaign is good,

3. If the campaign is good, it may be other variables such as price or distribution or strong competitive promotion that are reasons for sales not being up to expectation.

• There could be a second marketing manager who is considering the launch of a new brand of deodorant in the market. He wants to know how to position the brand in the market, and get a rough estimate of what the market size would be in the chosen segments. He has an information need, which could be filled by doing a consumer survey.

• One way to find out is to do marketing research. Therefore, the marketing

manager has identified an information need , and it could be fulfilled by a marketing research study.

Points should be checked before taking decision for Market research

• The risk involved in taking a marketing decision with inadequate information, should be weighed against the cost of getting the information, and, taking a better-informed decision.

• Any need for information must be examined in terms of the cost of obtaining the required information.

• The cost of not having this information should be estimated.

Note: Success depends on many factors, and information is only one of them.

Define the Research Objective in terms of that information need

• For example, a study could have as its objective, “the determination of customer satisfaction with a brand of new frost-free refrigerator launched by our company”.

• A research objective can be specified broadly, or narrowly.• In most cases, about four or five objectives are adequate to do a useful

marketing research study.• Every objective translates into a few questions on a questionnaire, and

there is a limit to how many questions a respondent can honestly answer before his interest level goes down.

• Sometimes, we call the research objective by another name – the research problem. Broadly, these two terms can be used interchangeably.

Note: Whatever the terminology used, the research should end up with useful information that enables a marketing manager or entrepreneur to make a better decision. If a report is meant to lie on a shelf, it is not really marketing research, but a waste of resources.

Research design

• A research design provides the framework to be used as a guide in collecting and analyzing data. But it is not necessary that a particular research design is always the best.

• Research designs can be classified into the following threekinds -

1. Exploratory Research

2. Descriptive Research

3. Causal Research

Exploratory Research

• Generally used to clarify thoughts and opinions about:1. The research problem2. The respondent population3. To provide insights on how to do more conclusive (causal)

research.

An example: A chocolate manufacturer wanting to identify the ten most important variables his consumers use to decide on whether to buy a chocolate brand.

The results of this exploratory study could provide him with inputs for a second study using Factor Analysis techniques to reduce the ten variables into a smaller set of FACTORS.

One major application of exploratory research is to generate hypotheses for further studies.

Methods used in Exploratory studies

• Usual surveys• To focus groups• To consultations with experts in the field• To analysis of selected cases.• An example of the last may be to study three of a

company's best salespeople, and three of the worst, to try and figure out what drives the sales of the products, and their motivations. This could help in designing a study of customers to find out more from them.

Descriptive Research

• Most widely used method in market research

• Descriptive studies are of two types

1. Longitudinal

2.Cross-sectional

Longitudinal

• Takes the form of sample which studied over a period of time from a few months to a few years

• An example is panel.

• A panel is a sample of respondents chosen from the defined target population for the study.

• This sample could be of consumers, retailers or any other type.

Cont…

• A consumer panel could be used to study consumption of products/brands over a period of time.

• It could also be used to measure viewership of T.V. shows, or readership of magazines.

• A retail store audit is a variation of the panel, with data being collected from retail stores on the products/brands being stocked, shelf space allotted, sales and promotions etc.

• Advantage: enabling comparisons at different points of time For example, the effect of a change in price, pack design, or other elements of the marketing mix can be easily measured by comparing the sales or market share before and after the change.

Cross-sectional design

• Most commonly used in Marketing Research• One short research study at a given point of time• Consists of a sample (cross-section) of population of interest.• Advantage: gives good overall picture of the position at a given

time• Flexible in nature• Can take care of simple as well as complex statistical methods• Can cover many variables of interest• Disadvantage: rely too much on numbersGives the average view Can be affected by poor quality of interviewers or supervisors

Casual research Design

• In research, one can never be completely sure that a particular variable (say X) influences another (say Y).

• a causal design seeks to establish causation as far as possible, by employing controls and conditions under which one can state with reasonable confidence whether or not Y is affected by X.

In addition to X and Y, of course, there may be other variables which could affect the relationship between X and Y. How to treat the other variables during the analysis of the effect of X on Y also forms part of the causal designs.

Design the Research Methodology

• The major parts of the research methodology thatneed designing are –

• Research Method – Secondary and Primary• Sampling Plan• Questionnaire Design (if applicable)• Field Work Plan• Analysis Plan

• Usually, the first thing one has to decide is the methodto be used for data collection.

Data Collection Method

It is possible to collect data from respondents by many different methods.

The major methods commonly used are –

• Survey

• Observation

• Experimentation

• Qualitative Techniques

• Other specialized techniques

The next stage in a marketing research study, after the primary research method has been decided upon, is the plan for …

Cont…

• Sampling: sample composition and size

• Field Work Who When

• Analysis Analysis is based on the answers given to questions. It is important to have an analysis

plan in mind even before going to the field with a questionnaire.

Simple Tabulation Cross Tabulation

• These are the most important in a study involving primary research, as the credibilityand the accuracy of a study is dependent on these stages.

Budget and cost estimation

• There are two or three basic parameterswhich provide an estimate of how much astudy is going to cost.

• Sample size

• How difficult to find the sampling units(respondents) are, and their geographicaldispersion.

• Who will do the field work

Presentation, Report and Marketing Action

• A formal report usually follows the presentation. This should normally contain the following :

• Executive Summary

• Table of Contents

• Introduction

• Research Objectives

• Research Methodology

- Sample Design

• Field Work Plan and Dates

- Analysis / Expected Outcome Plan

- Questionnaire Copy (as Annexure)

Reference

• Marketing Research –text and cases by Rajendra Nargundkar