Defining MR problem

Recap What is Marketing Research? Why Organizations Need Market Research? What sort of information is needed – generally? Why and When does Marketing Research Work? The Marketing Research Process Step 1: Identify and define the Problem or Opportunity Step 2: Define the Marketing Research Problem Step 3: Specify the Research Design Step 4: Develop the Data Collection Procedure Step 5: Design the Sampling Procedure Step 6: Collect the Data Step 7: Process and Analyze the Data Step 8: Present the Results Step 1: Identify the Problem or Opportunity Management decision Problem asks what the decision maker needs to do? What should/can Subaru to expand its share of the Automobile market? What we need to know to identify or define the problem? •History of the problem •Environment in which it is being made (eg legal, competitive, economic, financial, social) •What alternative courses of action are there? •What criteria should we use to decide between alternatives (e.g sales targets, market share, profitability, ROI) •What is the timing of the decision? •Who are the decision makers and what are their purposes? Why is it important to clearly define the management decision problem?  Because problem definition sets the course of the entire project  Because the client is paying for the research so both need to know what to expect  Because mistakes made at this level grow into larger, more expensive mistakes later on  The problem definition process provides guidelines on how to correctly define the marketing research problem  All the effort, time and money spent from this point on will be wasted if the problem is not properly defined Step 2: Define the Marketing Research Problem A statement of the information needed to make a sound decision What’s wrong with these statements? Develop a marketing strategy for the brand Improve the competitive position of the firm Improve the company’s image What’s wrong with this statement? How should the company adjust its pricing given that a major competitor has initiated price changes? What are the various needs of automobile users and to what extent current product offerings satisfy those needs? What information is needed to answer this question? What needs buyers of passenger cars, stations wagons, and SUV’s seek to satisfy Hypotheses? How well existing automobile product offerings meet these needs? Hypotheses? Is there a segment of the automobile market whose needs are not being met? Hypotheses? What automobile features does this segment in question desire Hypotheses? What is the demographic and psychographics profile of the identified segment? Hypotheses? Research Q: Is there an overlap between the features sought by station wagon buyers and buyers of sports utility vehicles Hypothesis 1: The buyers of station wagons rate certain features of SUVs as important Hypothesis 2: The buyers of SUVs rate certain features of station wagons as important Component Analysis – specific information needed make a list of the information that should be collected for each research question and hypothesis E.g Component needs of buyers of passenger cars operationalized in terms of the attributes or features desired in an automobile Component needs of buyers of SUVs operationalized in terms of the attributes or features desired in an automobile Component 2: Evaluation of passenger cars on desired attributes Evaluation of station wagons on desired attributes Evaluation of SUVs1` on desired attributes The Marketing Problem versus the Marketing Research Problem A distinction must be made between the management problem and the marketing research problem Management Problem Marketing Research Problems • Focus on symptoms • Focus on causes • Action oriented • Data oriented Examples of the Relationship between Decision Problems and Research Problems Decision Problems Research Problems How should we develop a package for a new product Evaluate effectiveness of alternative package designs Increase market penetration through the opening of new stores Evaluate prospective locations Increase store traffic Measure current image of the store Increase amount of repeat purchasing behavior Assess current amount of repeat purchasing behavior What should be done to increase market share of product Determine the relative strengths and weakness of the product with respect to competitors Allocate advertising budget geographically Determine current level of market penetration in the respective areas Introduce new product Test likely acceptance of the new product Assess probable market size and share Defining the marketing/management problem Step 3: Specify the Research Design  This step involves deciding the type of research that is going to be used and the source of the data  For example, deciding between exploratory, experimental, or descriptive research Exploratory Research When is it used? •When looking for insights into the problem •To help define hypotheses and key variables •Information needs vague How is it characterized •Research is flexible and unstructured •Findings tentative •Used as building block for more research •e.g pilot surveys, secondary data, focus groups Descriptive Research What is the Objective? To describe something, e.g market characteristics What characterizes descriptive research •Problem well understood •Tests specific hypotheses •Formal and structured •e.g surveys •Large representative samples •Provides a snapshot of the market environment Causal Research What is the objective of causal research? To obtain information regarding cause and effect relationships Characteristics? •Independent variable manipulated in a relatively controlled environment •Main method is experiment •Used to understand which variables are causes (independent variables), and which variables are the effects (dependent variables) Understanding of problem? Problem? Poor EXPLORATORY or SECONDARY RESEARCH Good Need to establish causality? No Yes Objective answers by asking? Yes No OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIMENT Need estimates of prevalence? No FOCUS GROUPS Yes SURVEY Step 4: Develop the Data Collection Procedure • Decide whether the data will be collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc Step 5: Design the Sampling Procedure • Decide who will be in the sample, how those people are selected, and the size of the sample Step 6: Collect the Data • In this step, the researcher goes out and collects the data or a research supplier collects the data Step 6: Process and Analyze the Data • After collection, the data must be analyzed to see which is appropriate for the problem Step 7: Present the Results • Create an oral or written presentation of the results of the study Project Teams Team One Gene Nic Lisa L Rochelle Denise A Team Five BJ Katrina Kelly Lyle Chad Team Two Travis Diana Sharon Michael H Team Five Chris M Julie Jeff Alison Team Three Colin Louis Lindsay Andrew Team Six Greg Duncan Christine Thomas ... Marketing Problem versus the Marketing Research Problem A distinction must be made between the management problem and the marketing research problem Management Problem Marketing Research Problems... oriented • Data oriented Examples of the Relationship between Decision Problems and Research Problems Decision Problems Research Problems How should we develop a package for a new product Evaluate... The problem definition process provides guidelines on how to correctly define the marketing research problem  All the effort, time and money spent from this point on will be wasted if the problem