MKT611 Official Handouts

Table of Contents

Lesson

No.

Title / Topic

Page No.

3 Defining marketing research problem and developing an approach 4 Searching secondary data and their citation 5 Research Design and its classification 6 Research Design and its classification –contd. 7 Exploratory Research Design: qualitative marketing research 8 Exploratory Research Design: qualitative marketing research…contd 9 Descriptive (Survey) Research Design 10 Descriptive (Survey) Research Design… Contd. 11 Descriptive (Survey) Research Design… Contd. 12 Causal Research Design: Experimentation 13 Measurement and Scaling 14 Measurement and Scaling...contd 15 Sampling procedures 16 Sampling procedures…contd 17 Designing a good research questionnaire 18 Designing a good research questionnaire…contd. 19 Data collection and fieldwork 20 Data Analysis: Data preparation and data cleaning 21 Data Analysis: Data preparation and data cleaning…contd 22 Descriptive and inferential statistics 23 Descriptive and inferential statistics…contd 24 Data analysis 25 Data analysis 26 Data analysis 27 Data analysis 28 Data analysis 29 Data analysis 30 Data analysis 31 Data analysis 32 Correlation and Regression 33 Testing the Difference between Means 34 Testing the Difference between Means….Contd 35 Analysis of Variance 36 ANOVA and Post Hoc Analysis 37 Regression Analysis 38 Report Writing

LECTURE # 01

Marketing starts with marketing research and ends at marketing research. Before we start our discussion about marketing research, let us see what marketing is.

Marketing

Marketing includes all activities necessary for the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods, services and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives (needs). Why are some companies more successful than others? It is mainly because these companies correctly “hear” the consumers wants and needs and produce a product service, price, distribute and promote it so that it satisfies those needs and wants. Marketing concept is the core of marketing and marketing managers must practice this concept by developing marketing strategies using information from the customers. If you want to describe marketing in one sentence it is

“customer satisfaction”

The marketing concept is a way of thinking that holds the organization can best achieve its goals (profit etc.) by determining the needs and wants of target market (customers) and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors do. The bottom line of marketing is that the focus of entire firm is on satisfying consumer needs and wants. But how does a company know what customer’s needs and wants are? Obviously marketer must have appropriate information about customer’s needs and wants if they are to truly apply the marketing concept. However, having the right concept is one part of the battle; but developing and implementing marketing strategies that actually satisfy the consumer’s needs and wants is another. Let us see what marketing strategy is.

Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy consists of selecting a marketing segment as a company’s target market and designing a proper marketing mix i.e. four Ps of the marketing program i.e. product/ service, price, promotion and distribution system to satisfy the needs and wants of the target market. Marketing managers needs some pertinent information to develop a good marketing strategy. The needed information may include:

 What is the market?

 How do we segment the market?

 What are needs and wants of each segment?

 How do we measure the size of each segment?

 Who are our competitors?

 What is the marketing strategy of our competitors?

 Which segment/s should we select for targeting?

 Which size, model and quality of product should we produce that best suits our target market?

 What is the best price?

 Which method shall we use to distribute our product/ service?

•  What kind of advertisement, publicity should we use? etc

These questions among others must be answered. As such, marketing managers need objective, accurate and up-to-date information to develop workable marketing strategies. Environments also influence the marketing strategy. Environments include social, cultural, political, economic and technological conditions prevailing and marketing programs prepared by the managers. As environments are constantly changing, marketer’s need for up-to-date information is never ending. Collection, analysis and use of such marketing information in decision making by marketing managers is within the scope of marketing research. Marketing Research - Definition The American Marketing Association (AMA) has defined marketing research as the: “Function that links the customer, customer and public to the marketer through informationinformation 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”. This definition is a bit longer but spells out the basis function as well as uses of marketing research. For the purpose of this course, we adopt a short definition of marketing research: “Marketing Research is a systematic and objective process of designing, gathering, analyzing and reporting information that may be used to solve specific marketing problems and assisting the management to improve their decision relating to marketing”. This definition is short and focuses on the steps involved in the process of marketing research and its assistance in decision making in the area of marketing management.

Role of Marketing Research

The major role of marketing research is to provide information that facilitates marketing decisions. In the absence of relevant information, the marketing manager may be making decisions on the basis of his experience or guesswork. For example, when launching a new product, if the demand of that product is not known, the company may be undertaking a risk; and in case of failure of the product, the investment and marketing efforts etc may sink. But if before launching, feasibility made on the basis of scientific research, the product may capture the market and will be a success. Marketing Research provides substantial support in strategy development by providing the marketing managers an in depth understanding of situation and then assisting them in choosing appropriate strategy alternatives.

Situation Analysis

Understanding the markets and the customers-who they are, how they behave, why and what do they buy and how they are likely to respond in future-is the heart of marketing research. Understanding of marketing environment and the specific characteristics of market are equally essential while developing a marketing strategy. Marketing research helps in acquiring an in depth understanding of both environment and the markets. The following list indicates some representative’s information that the marketing research provides on the situation assessment of major consumer goods. Such information is effectively used in strategy formulation.

A. Market Environment

1. Economic trends
2. Social trends
3. Technology trends
4. Legal requirements on quality, labeling and safety