Pcms BBA 6th Sem Unit 1-3 kapil Sir

Unit one: Introduction

1.1 Meaning and importance of marketing research
All kinds of organizations need certain type of information in order to be able to satisfy their customers needs and
wants and to design effective marketing programs while still earning a profit. The type of information that ought to be
known by the managers to resolve the certain marketing issues can be grouped into five topics as follows.

Target market. What is the best target market for the products or services being offered by the organizations?
How large is the target market and how can it be described? What are the attitudes, opinions, preferences, and
life styles and so on of its customers?

Products or services. Regarding particular products and services, how satisfied or dissatisfied is the target
market with what is currently available? What product feature and benefit do those consumers desire? How do
they compare the organizations products with those of competitors?
Price. How much value does the target market place on the products in questions? What products are they
willing to substitute for the product in question? What prices are charged for those substitutes what advantages
does the organizations products have that might allow it to charge higher price? What price will consumers
pay? Will some segments be willing to pay more? What response should we make to a competitors price
change?

Distribution. What distribution channel is the target market most likely to use when purchasing the products in
question? Will the channel be able to provide the services or support needed for the product? In what type of
outlet would people expect to buy this product? Should we use a few or many outlets? Where should we locate
our outlets? To what elements of the marketing mix do our distributors respond?
Promotion. Through what medium should the organizations advertise? How often should the advertisements
appear? And how much money should the organizations spend on advertising? Should personnel selling be used
and if so, how? What kind of promotion would have a favorable effect on the target market? How well
remembered is our commercial? Which of the executions in our campaign pool pre-test best? How many times a
month does we need to run an ad for it to be remembered? What is the optimal mix of advertising, couponing
and end-aisle display?

Marketing managers need answers to some or all of these questions. Obtaining answer to many of these
questions require the contact with the final customers. Because most managers are separated from their final
consumers- and from the information they need- business and other organizations are increasingly turning to
marketing research to obtain the information they need for decision making

Therefore Gilbert defines Marketing Research as the function which links the consumer and the customer to
the organization through information -- information is used to identify and define marketing problems; generate,
refine and evaluate marketing performance, and improve our understanding of marketing as a process.
Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues; designs the methods for collecting
information; manages and implements the data collection process; analyzes the results; and communicates the
findings and their implications.
Kotler (1999) defines marketing research as systematic problem analysis, model-building and fact-finding for the
purpose of improved decision-making and control in the marketing of goods and services. The American Marketing
Association (AMA, 1961) defines it as the systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data relating to the
marketing of goods and services. The emphasis is clearly on the improvement in marketing decision making. Marketing
research is the scientific approach to building value in the eyes of the organisations target market. The aim of research
is to find, in a systematic way, reliable, unbiased answers to questions about the market for goods or services and to look
at ideas and intentions on many issues. Marketing research is often concerned with the process of collecting, analysing
and interpreting the facts to establish what it is that people want and why they want it.
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It is employed by marketing management in the planning, evaluation and control of marketing tactics and strategy, but it
is also of use in helping to make policy decisions in the non-commercial public sector. Research must be carefully
planned with a disciplined and systematic approach, and a series of steps should be taken in the development, planning
and execution of research. The aim is to give an adequate, but general view of a number of topics without going into
detailed methodological technicalities.
On a simple definitions point, there is often confusion about the term marketing research which is the overall
descriptor and market research which is a sub-set of marketing research and which concerns matters like on street
interviews.

Importance of marketing research

Helps firms stay in touch with customers changing attitudes and purchase patterns
Assists in better understanding market opportunities
Determine the feasibility of a particular marketing strategy
Aids in the development of marketing mixes to match the needs of customers
Improves marketers ability to make decisions

1.2 Kinds of marketing research

According to AMAs surveys of companies to identify the kinds marketing research they undertook, the following
findings were generated.
1. Particularly every company used marketing research to measure market potentials, characteristics of their
markets, and their share of markets.
2. Companies undertook marketing research to obtain information that could help them make short range and long-
range forecasts.
3. Companies used marketing research to evaluate new product opportunities and acceptance, and to test existing
products relative to competitors products.
4. Consumer product companies and industrial companies undertook some form of marketing research to help them
make better advertising decisions.

The following table shows the percentage of companies that reported using marketing research for nine different
applications
Table 1.1
Percentage of consumer companies using marketing research for various applications
Application % of companies using
marketing research
1 New product screening or new concept evaluation 95
2 Product optimization or product design studies 65
3 Consumer product testing 82
4 Test marketing of new products in laboratories 54
5 In store test marketing of new products 51
6 Tracking studies to measure brand acceptance 92
7 Advertising pre-testing or copy testing 83
8 Advertising campaign testing 61
9 Basic marketing strategy studies 82

1.3 Management and marketing research

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Marketing research plays a vital role in different stage of marketing decision. Basically managers use marketing
research during the following four phases of the management research.

Phase 1 setting goal and establishing strategy

While selecting a new strategy to pursue, marketing research provide useful information on different topic. Change
in size or trends of demand, or change in structure and composition of market, may suggest that a new strategy is
appropriate. Needs, wants, /dissatisfaction in market segment may suggest that a problem exist, waiting to be
solved. These and such other topics can be monitored through marketing research, and the findings of such research
often helps managers identify new strategies to pursue.

Phase 2 Developing a marketing plan

When developing marketing plans, the managers often use marketing research to identify key market segments. By
measuring their attitude and opinions towards the features of available products and how these products are used,
managers can identify important products and advertising considerations to include their plans. Marketing research
can also be used to test how appealing certain proposed product attributes and advertising are to the target markets.
Phase 3 putting the plan into action
When a plan is put into action, management must monitor the effect of the plan to see if it is achieving its
objectives. In this type of the application, the research is likely to measure I) if the plan is achieving the desired
level of retail availability ii) if the target market segments are seeing the advertisement iii) if the copy is
communicating the intending message iv) if the promotion are achieving desired trial rates etc. Hence, MR helps to
monitor and evaluate the plan in terms of its predetermined goal.
Phase 4 evaluating plans effectiveness

At the end of operating period management will want to reappraise the plans and compare results with the
objectives. Such a reappraisal will involve an aggregation and compilation of most of the information obtained
during the planning and action phases, with a special emphasis on sales, market share, cost of marketing and
contribution to profit. It also measures brand awareness, repeat purchase rates, preferred brands and other measures
of marketing results.

1.5 Marketing Research Process

The marketing research process has four steps: defining the problem and research objectives, developing the
research plan, implementing the research plan, and interpreting and reporting the findings.

Step 1 -Defining the Problem and Research Objectives

Defining the problem and research objectives is often the hardest step in the research process. The manager may
know that something is wrong, without knowing the specific causes.

For example, managers of a large discount retail store chain hastily decided that falling sales were caused by poor
advertising, and they ordered research to test the company's advertising. When this research showed that current
advertising was reaching the right people with the right message, the managers were puzzled. It turned out that the real
problem was that the chain was not delivering the prices, products, and service promised in the advertising. Careful
problem definition would have avoided the cost and delay of doing advertising research.

After the problem has been defined carefully, the manager and researcher must set the research objectives. A
marketing research project might have one of three types of objectives.

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The objective of exploratory research is to gather preliminary information that will help define the problem and
suggest hypotheses.
The objective of descriptive research is to describe things such as the market potential for a product or the
demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product.
The objective of causal research is to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships.

For example, would a 10 percent decrease in tuition at a private college result in an enrollment increase sufficient to
offset the reduced tuition? Managers often start with exploratory research and later follow with descriptive or causal
research.

Step 2 -Developing the Research Plan

The second step of the marketing research process calls for determining the information needed, developing a plan
for gathering it efficiently, and presenting the plan to marketing management. The plan outlines sources of existing data
and spells out the specific research approaches, contact methods, sampling plans, and instruments that researchers will
use to gather new data.

Determining Specific Information Needs

Research objectives must be translated into specific information needs. For example, suppose Campbell decides to
conduct research on how consumers would react to the company replacing its familiar red-and-white condensed soup
can with a container more relevant to today's consumer lifestyles. It's considering the introduction of new bowl-shaped
plastic containers that it has used successfully for a number of its other products. The containers would cost more but
would allow consumers to heat the soup in a microwave oven without adding water or milk and to eat it without using
dishes. This research might call for the following specific information:

The demographic, economic, and lifestyle characteristics of current soup users.

Consumer-usage patterns for soup: how much soup they eat, where, and when.
Retailer reactions to the new packaging.
Consumer attitudes toward the new packaging.
Forecasts of sales of both new and current packages.

Campbell managers will need these and many other types of information to decide whether to introduce the new
packaging.

Gathering Secondary Information

To meet the manager's information needs, the researcher can gather secondary data, primary data, or both. Secondary
data consist of information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Primary data
consist of information collected for the specific purpose at hand.

Researchers usually start by gathering secondary data. The company's internal database provides a good starting
point. However, the company can also tap a wide assortment of external information sources, ranging from company,
public, and university libraries to government and business publications.

Planning Primary Data Collection

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Good decisions require good data. Just as researchers must carefully evaluate the quality of secondary information,
they also must take great care when collecting primary data to make sure that it will be relevant, accurate, current, and
unbiased. It is essential that designing a plan for primary data collection calls for a number of decisions on research
approaches, contact methods, sampling plan, and research instruments.

Sampling Plan

Marketing researchers usually draw conclusions about large groups of consumers by studying a small sample of the
total consumer population. A sample is a segment of the population selected to represent the population as a whole.
Ideally, the sample should be representative so that the researcher can make accurate estimates of the thoughts and
behaviors of the larger population.

Designing the sample requires three decisions.

First, who is to be surveyed? The answer to this question is not always obvious. For example, to study the decision-
making process for a family automobile purchase, should the researcher interview the husband, wife, other family
members, dealership salespeople, or all of these? The researcher must determine what information is needed and who is
most likely to have it.

Second, how many people should be surveyed? Large samples give more reliable results than small samples. It is
not necessary to sample the entire target market or even a large portion to get reliable results, however. If well chosen,
samples of less than 1 percent of a population can often give good reliability.

Third, how should the people in the sample be chosen? The Table below describes different kinds of samples.
Using probability samples, each population member has a known chance of being included in the sample, and
researchers can calculate confidence limits for sampling error. But when probability sampling costs too much or takes
too much time, marketing researchers often take nonprobability samples, even though their sampling error cannot be
measured. These varied ways of drawing samples have different costs and time limitations as well as different accuracy
and statistical properties. Which method is best depends on the needs of the research project.

Research Instruments

In collecting primary data, marketing researchers have a choice of two main research instrumentsthe questionnaire
and mechanical devices. The questionnaire is by far the most common instrument, whether administered in person, by
phone, or online. Questionnaires are very flexiblethere are many ways to ask questions. However, they must be
developed carefully and tested before they can be used on a large scale. A carelessly prepared questionnaire usually
contains several errors.

In preparing a questionnaire, the marketing researcher must first decide what questions to ask. Questionnaires
frequently leave out questions that should be answered and include questions that cannot be answered, will not be
answered, or need not be answered. Each question should be checked to see that it contributes to the research objectives.

The form of each question can influence the response. Marketing researchers distinguish between closed-end
questions and open-end questions.

Closed-end questions include all the possible answers, and subjects make choices among them. Examples
include multiple-choice questions and scale questions. Closed-end questions provide answers that are easier to
interpret and tabulate.

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Open-end questions allow respondents to answer in their own words. In a survey of airline users, Delta might
simply ask, "What is your opinion of Delta Airlines?" Or it might ask people to complete a sentence: "When I
choose an airline, the most important consideration is. . . ." These and other kinds of open-end questions often
reveal more than closed-end questions because respondents are not limited in their answers. Open-end questions
are especially useful in exploratory research, when the researcher is trying to find out what people think but not
measuring how many people think in a certain way.

Researchers should also use carefully in the wording and ordering of questions. They should use simple, direct,
unbiased wording. Questions should be arranged in a logical order. The first question should create interest if possible,
and difficult or personal questions should be asked last so that respondents do not become defensive.

Presenting the Research Plan

At this stage, the marketing researcher should summarize the plan in a written proposal. A written proposal is
especially important when the research project is large and complex or when an outside firm carries it out. The proposal
should cover the management problems addressed and the research objectives, the information to be obtained, the
sources of secondary information or methods for collecting primary data, and the way the results will help management
decision making. The proposal also should include research costs. A written research plan or proposal ensures that the
marketing manager and researchers have considered all the important aspects of the research, and that they agree on
why and how the research will be done.

Step three - Implementing the Research Plan

The researcher next puts the marketing research plan into action. This involves collecting, processing, and analyzing
the information. Data collection can be carried out by the company's marketing research staff or by outside firms. The
company keeps more control over the collection process and data quality by using its own staff. However, outside firms
that specialize in data collection often can do the job more quickly and at a lower cost.

The data collection phase of the marketing research process is generally the most expensive and the most subject to
error. The researcher should watch fieldwork closely to make sure that the plan is implemented correctly and to guard
against problems with contacting respondents, with respondents who refuse to cooperate or who give biased or
dishonest answers, and with interviewers who make mistakes or take shortcuts.

Researchers must process and analyze the collected data to isolate important information and findings. They need to
check data from questionnaires for accuracy and completeness and code it for computer analysis. The researchers then
tabulate the results and compute averages and other statistical measures.

Step four- Interpreting and Reporting the Findings

The researcher must now interpret the findings, draw conclusions, and report them to management. The researcher
should not try to overwhelm managers with numbers and fancy statistical techniques. Rather, the researcher should
present important findings that are useful in the major decisions faced by management.

Interpretation is an important stage of the marketing process. The best research is meaningless if the manager blindly
accepts faulty interpretations from the researcher. Similarly, managers may be biasedthey might tend to accept
research results that show what they expected and to reject those that they did not expect or hope for. Thus, managers
and researchers must work together closely when interpreting research results, and both must share responsibility for the
research process and resulting decisions.

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Unit two-Research objectives

2.1-Problem and opportunity identification

Every research starts with problem identification and discussion. In many case it is not easy to envision all
factors that may have a bearing on an apparent problem. Suppose a company faced with a decline in its sales.
What researchers can list all possible causes of the decline in its sales and put them in the order of their probable
importance.
Any research taken in such situation must have as its objectives the discovery of the causes of the sales decline.
This may not be easy, because a sales decline may result from any number of factors including declining market
demand, increased competition, loss of cooperation from distributors and dealers, high prices, problem with
product quality, ineffective promotions and others.
Therefore what is the exact problem, to identify it the researchers proceed to collect information from primary
and secondary sources. The first thing the researchers might do is research among secondary sources including
all applicable company records.
They could also discuss the problem with knowledgeable person within company, and with long established
distributors and dealers to gather information about demand, competition, distribution, prices, and product
quality. They could use unstructured interview with customers and potential customers to identify what effect
product quality, prices and promotion have had on their recent purchase decision. When they have collected as
many tentative explanations of the sales decline as they can, the researchers are better able to set up hypothesis
that might be investigated further. At that point the researcher might undertake more structured data collection
project.
Identifying a potential opportunity
Opportunity identification is similar to the situation concerned with problem statement. When a research is being
carried out with the hope of identifying a potential opportunity, the researchers often have only some general
notions about what opportunity might be uncovered. Such notions are likely to be oriented towards finding new
uses for a product, finding new packaging or new product ideas, or finding ways of promoting products more
effectively. Thus the objective of the research may be no more specific than to identify new ideas that might be
applicable to product usage, product features, packaging and communicating about the product.
Ideas regarding potential opportunity are often solicited from consumers so the data collection projects that are
used typically involve some members of the consuming public. Because researcher would like to hear any and
all ideas that consumers might have, the data collection projects will not follow a structured format. More than
likely, the research will be very unstructured.
Research projects concerned with trying to identify potential opportunity, such as new ways to promote or use a
product, or ideas regarding possible new products are commonly called exploratory research. Such research
projects tends to be unstructured and usually do not involve a specific list of detailed questions.

2.2 Developing a marketing plan

The information needed to develop a marketing plan will reflect how the managers think the activity of marketing
actually works. For example; most managers of consumers products need following information to develop
marketing plan
Segmentation decision
Which segment should be the target? What benefits are most important for each segment? Which geographic areas
should be entered?
Product decisions
What product featured should be included? How should the product be positioned? What type of package do
consumers prefer?
Distribution decisions

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What type of retailer should be used? What should be the mark up policy? Should a few outlets be employed or
many?
Advertising and promotion decisions
What sales promotions should be used and when should it be scheduled? What should the budgets be? What appeal
should be used in the advertising?
Personal selling decisions
What customer types have the market potential? How many sales people are needed?
Price decisions
What price level should be changed? What sales should be offered during the year? What responses should be
made to a competitors price?
Branding decisions
What should be the name, symbol, logo, and slogan that will be associated with the product? What is the position
that the brand should adopt vis--vis the competition?
How can brand loyalty be increased?
Costumer satisfaction decision
How costumer satisfaction is measured?
How should consumer complain be handled?

When developing a plan for the product being marketed, the manager can use the conceptual framework to identify
the information that has to be gathered through research. Often two or more research projects will be used to collect the
information needed when developing a marketing plan. Such projects are likely to be more formal and structured and
more large scale- than projects used when defining a problem or identifying an opportunity. If it is necessary to have
information on sales and market share of all competing brands it is likely that commercial marketing research service
will be used. Most commercial marketing services collect data using survey structure research procedures.

2.3 Selecting among alternatives without research

All decisions are not carried on by the managers as the outcome of the research conclusions. Some of the decisions are
part of the managers personal experiences by which he undertakes to choose the best alternative over other possible
courses of action being considered. Although there are no decisions models that managers can use to help them choose
between alternatives, there is a method of analysis that might be useful to them in such situation. This is called decision
tree analysis method. It can be illustrated with the help of following diagram.
Decision tree for Acme Bakery promotion decision
Competitors react 0.8 -$100000

Use direct mail

Competitor does not react

Use 0.2 +$500000
Newspaper
Advertisements Competitors react
0.6 -$200000

Competitor does not react 0.4 +$400000

Decision fork outcome fork outcome probabilities outcome reward or penalty

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In a decision tree analysis there are four major components.

1. Decision fork- the decision fork covers all of the alternative courses of action being considered for target goal.
In the above diagram, there are considered two courses of action i.e. uses news paper adv. or use direct mail.
2. Outcome fork- an outcome fork represents all possible outcomes if the alternatives associated with that branch
is selected. In this case, the possible outcome of alternatives are the concerning competitive responses. For
example, if the decision is made to use newspaper advertisements- the figure shows the possible two outcomes-
the competing bakery reacts to all Acme bakery promotion or it does not.
3. Outcome probabilities- in each possible outcome, managers should estimate the probability of occurrences. In
the example, managers estimate that there is an o.8 probability that the competing bakery will offer counter
promotion and 0.20 probability of not response in case of newspaper advertisements.
4. Outcome reward or penalty-finally using best information available, the Acme bakery marketing mangers
estimate that acme will realize a profit of &500000 or a loss of $ 100000. if it uses news paper adv. depending
on whether or not the competing bakery reacts the promotion. There are rewards or penalties associated with the
different possible outcomes if newspaper adv. is used.
At last, calculate the expected values and make the decisions.

Unit Three- Types of Research

Types of Marketing Research

Marketing research activities can be classified by their purpose or general objective. Some marketing research exercises
are intended to produce results that are purely exploratory in nature. Such research is usually carried out at the
beginning of the overall research project. Other research may produce data that are descriptive, predictive or conclusive
in nature. These general classifications are now examined in more detail.

3. Exploratory Research
This is usually undertaken at the initial stages of the overall research process. Unless researchers have experience of a
particular industry or research area within a particular industry, then they will have to familiarise themselves with the
general dynamics of that industry or research area in order for them to make an effective job of carrying out the main
body of the research. Exploratory research is basically having a look type of activity. It is not designed to enable the
researcher to draw firm conclusions about the research situation rather to enable him or her to establish the general
parameters of the research situation. The use of secondary data i.e. those data that are already in existence usually in
printed for or on some kind of computerised data retrieval system, is an important part of the exploratory process. In
terms of primary data collection i.e. those data that are collected for the first time specifically for a particular research
exercise, then qualitative research method are more often employed than quantitative methods. Depth interviews and
group discussions allow the researcher to explore respondents opinions and attitudes on key issues. Both of these
interviewing techniques employ relatively small samples and hence by their very nature can only hope to provide
general exploratory information. Nonetheless information gained from qualitative exploratory research enables the
market researcher to plan a more effective research program than would be the case if the exploratory stage were
missing. Exploratory research lays down the foundations enabling the rest of the research exercise to be built soundly. It
has following characteristics.
Insights and understanding of the research problem
Loose definition of information needed
Flexible (unstructured) research process
Small and nonrepresentative samples
Qualitative analysis of primary data
Preliminary to further research

3.1 Design of exploratory studies

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The objective of exploratory studies is to generate new ideas and find new hypothesis. Therefore such study design is
loosely structured, more flexible and informal in nature. The focus of investigation in such studies is constantly
changing so that new possibilities come the attention. Study of secondary data, survey of individuals who have ideas on
the general subjects and analysis of the selected cases are the prime design techniques in exploratory studies.

3.1.1 Study of secondary data

Secondary data is data, which has been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other than
those of our particular research study. For example, if a government department has conducted a
survey of, say, family food expenditures, then a food manufacturer might use this data in the
organizations evaluations of the total potential market for a new product. Similarly, statistics
prepared by a ministry on agricultural production will prove useful to a whole host of people and
organizations, including those marketing agricultural supplies.

No marketing research study should be undertaken without a prior search of secondary sources (also
termed desk research). There are several grounds for making such a bold statement.

A search of secondary data sources should precede any primary research activity. Secondary data
may be sufficient to solve the problem, or at least it helps the reader better understand the problem
under study. Secondary data is cheaper and quicker to collect than primary data and can be more
accurate.

Before making use of secondary data there is need to evaluate both the data itself and its source.
Particular attention should be paid to definitions used, measurement error, source bias, reliability and
the time span of the secondary data. Where possible, multiple data sources should be used so that one
source can be crosschecked for consistency with another.

A great deal of potentially useful secondary information already exists within enterprises. Typically
useful information would be that relating to sales, finance, production, storage and transportation.

Where a serious search of secondary sources is undertaken then the marketing researcher often finds
an abundance of relevant material. Searches of printed secondary data should begin with a
consultation of referral sources such as directories, handbooks, indexes, and the like.

It will almost certainly become the case, in all parts of the world, that electronic information sources
will eventually supersede traditional printed sources. With the advent of Internet and CD-ROM,
searches of secondary sources are becoming more efficient and more effective. Computer-based
information systems give access to four different types of database bibliographic, numeric,
directories and full-text.

3.1.2 Survey of individuals with ideas;

It means a conversation between en expert and interviewer. It will let you clarify advantages and disadvantages of an
enterprise activity; determine target group, improve the politics of sales promotion devices on the market and so on.
It is an effective marketing technique, which gives comprehensive and unique data about market by talking to experts.
This method may let you formulate tasks in a more detailed way for focus-groups, further marketing research, program
construction on sales promotion devices. Received information is recorded with audio and video equipment according to
expert's permission. As usual the length of an expert interview exceeds 30 minutes and can even reach 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

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3.1.3 In-depth interview means a conversation between an interviewee and interviewer.
In-depth interview is effective when the subject of research is sensitive, the theme of discussion deals with the
peculiarities of making individual decisions (for example, about acquisition of goods) and other ways.

The basic idea of this method is to get respondent talking about certain topics, which are closed under the presence of
other people. That is detailed and unstructured personal interview. Well-qualified interviewer asks questions to
respondent. Received information is recorded with audio and video equipment according to interviewee's permission. As
usual the length of an in-depth interview exceeds 30 minutes and can even reach 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

3.1.4 A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people is asked about their attitude towards a
product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where
participants are free to talk with other group members.Focus Groups are usually made up of 8 to 12 targeted
respondents, a moderator whose role is to ask the required questions, draw out answers, and encourage discussion.
Focus groups are more useful as idea-generation tool, for the analysis of associations, in-depth studying of selected
themes. This method is effective for the following tasks:
Verbal, visual and color attributes of a trade mark;
Image evaluation;
New image design;
Testing of visual and audio representation of brands, packaging, slogan, advertising appeal;
Reactions to new advertising campaigns or specific advertisements, or consumer perceptions of a whole
product class and etc.

Usually focus groups last two hours. Participants are screened according to homogeneity of social and demographic
characteristics. Typically it is recommended to conduct from 2 to 6 focus groups in the framework of research.

Focus groups are usually conducted in a special group facility equipped with a separate one-way mirror viewing
area. This enables clients to personally observe group dynamics: members stimulating other members in their
own environment.

Sessions are tape-recorded (audio/video) to facilitate an accurate and comprehensive analysis of the proceedings.
Qualified individuals are normally offered a cash incentive to guarantee attendance.

The group approach is ideal for ascertaining interest in and acceptance of new products. A major benefit is that
analysis of the discussions allows for enhancement of product offerings so they more accurately match customer
needs.

Homogeneous groups, composed of decision-makers - or those who at least contribute to the purchasing decision
- in the same target market, with similar needs and interests, work best. Customers and non-customers are always
put in separate groups. Groups typically number 8 to 10 persons; working with more participants can easily
become unwieldy.

Participants are encouraged to talk freely without any fear of disapproval, but with the moderator maintaining
control. The objective is to look for consistencies in, for example, behavior, perceptions or purchase intent.

Focus groups are particularly suited to motivational research: examining the influences of attitudes and
perceptions on buying behavior ... and interpreting the responses from members when they are presented with
new information or products.

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So as not to lead group members, a non-structured approach is taken at the beginning of the session: e.g. "Tell me about
the last time.... Later, to solicit their reactions, specific alternatives are presented in order to have individuals trade-off,
for example, features versus benefits, versus value.

3.1.5 Projective Techniques

o these are unstructured prompts or stimulus that encourage the respondent to project their underlying
motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings onto an ambiguous situation
o they are all indirect techniques that attempt to disguise the purpose of the research
o examples of projective techniques include:
word association - say the first word that comes to mind after hearing a word - only some of the
words in the list are test words that the researcher is interested in, the rest are fillers - is useful in
testing brand names - variants include chain word association and controlled word association
sentence completion - respondents are given incomplete sentences and asked to complete them
story completion - respondents are given part of a story and are asked to complete it
cartoon tests - pictures of cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation and with dialogue
balloons - one of the dialogue balloons is empty and the respondent is asked to fill it in
thematic apperception tests - respondents are shown a picture (or series of pictures) and asked to
make up a story about the picture(s)
role playing - respondents are asked to play the role of someone else - researchers assume that
subjects will project their own feelings or behaviours into the role
third-person technique - a verbal or visual representation of an individual and his/her situation is
presented to the respondent - the respondent is asked to relate the attitudes or feelings of that
person - researchers assume that talking in the third person will minimize the social pressure to
give standard or politically correct responses

3.2 Descriptive Research

This is intended to describe certain factors that marketing management is likely to be interested in such as market
conditions, customers feelings or opinions toward a particular company, purchasing behaviour as so forth. Such
research is not intended to allow the researcher to establish causal relationships between marketing variables and sales
or consumer behaviour, or to enable the researcher to predict likely future conditions. Descriptive research merely
examines what is. Such research, just like exploratory research, usually forms part of an on going research
programme. Once the researcher has established the present situation in terms of market size, main segments, main
competitors, etc., they may then proceed to types of research of a more predictive and/or conclusive nature. Descriptive
research usually makes use of descriptive statistics to help the user understand the structure of the data and any
significant patterns that may be found in the data. All measures of central tendency such as the mean, median and mode
are often used along with measures of dispersion such as the variance and standard deviation. Descriptive research
results are often presented using pictorial methods such as graphs, pie charts, histograms, etc. descriptive studies can
be classified into two types;

3.2.1 Case method refers to the collection and presentation of detailed information about a particular participant or
small group, frequently including the accounts of subjects themselves. A form of qualitative descriptive research, the
case study looks intensely at an individual or small participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or
group and only in that specific context. Researchers do not focus on the discovery of a universal, generalizable truth, nor
do they typically look for cause-effect relationships; instead, emphasis is placed on exploration and description.

Case studies typically examine the interplay of all variables in order to provide as complete an understanding of an
event or situation as possible. This type of comprehensive understanding is arrived at through a process known as thick
description, which involves an in-depth description of the entity being evaluated, the circumstances under which it is
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used, the characteristics of the people involved in it, and the nature of the community in which it is located. Thick
description also involves interpreting the meaning of demographic and descriptive data such as cultural norms and
mores, community values, ingrained attitudes, and motives.

Unlike quantitative methods of research, like the survey, which focus on the questions of who, what, where, how much,
and how many, and archival analysis, which often situates the participant in some form of historical context, case studies
are the preferred strategy when how or why questions are asked. Likewise, they are the preferred method when the
researcher has little control over the events, and when there is a contemporary focus within a real life context. In
addition, unlike more specifically directed experiments, case studies require a problem that seeks a holistic
understanding of the event or situation in question using inductive logic--reasoning from specific to more general terms.

In scholarly circles, case studies are frequently discussed within the context of qualitative research and naturalistic
inquiry. Case studies are often referred to interchangeably with ethnography, field study, and participant observation.
The underlying philosophical assumptions in the case are similar to these types of qualitative research because each
takes place in a natural setting (such as a classroom, neighborhood, or private home), and strives for a more holistic
interpretation of the event or situation under study.

Unlike more statistically based studies which search for quantifiable data, the goal of a case study is to offer new
variables and questions for further research. F.H. Giddings, a sociologist in the early part of the century, compares
statistical methods to the case study "on the basis that the former are concerned with the distribution of a particular trait,
or a small number of traits, in a population, whereas the case study is concerned with the whole variety of traits to be
found in a particular instance" (Hammersley 95).

3.2.2 Statistical methods (survey) ask large numbers of people questions about their behaviors, attitudes, and
opinions. It is named as statistical method because it employs a number of statistical tools to describe and analyze the
data. Statistical techniques that are used in analyzing the data collected vary from the simple means and percentage to
very sophisticated techniques that require computers to manipulate the data.

Some surveys merely describe what people say they think and do. Other survey studies attempt to find relationships
between the characteristics of the respondents and their reported behaviors and opinions. For example, is there a
relationship between gender and people's attitudes about some social issue? When surveys have this second purpose we
refer to them as correlational studies. Surveys represent one of the most common types of quantitative, social science
research.

In survey research, the researcher selects a sample of respondents from a population and administers a standardized
questionnaire to them. The questionnaire, or survey, can be a written document that is completed by the person being
surveyed, an online questionnaire, a face-to-face interview, or a telephone interview. Using surveys, it is possible to
collect data from large or small populations (sometimes referred to as the universe of a study).

Survey research does not belong to any one field and it can be employed by almost any discipline. According to Angus
and Katona, "It is this capacity for wide application and broad coverage which gives the survey technique its great
usefulness..."

3.3 Experimentation refers to a research project constructed such that the researcher (experimenter) changes one
element (an explanatory or independent variable) to observe the effect of that change on another element (the dependent
variable). An experiment is manipulating an independent variable to see how it affects a dependent variable while
controlling the effects of extraneous variables. An experimental design is a procedure for devising an experimental
setting such that a change in a dependent variable may be attributed solely to the change in an independent variable.

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An experiment measures the change in the dependent variable created by a specific, controlled change in another
variable(s), which is called the independent variable(s). This is done by controlling or holding constant the other
independent variables while manipulating the independent variable(s) of interest, and measuring the change created in
the dependent variable. Thus, the researcher is an active participant in the research process instead of a passive collector
of data as with the survey or observation methods of research.

Experimental Settings - are of two types:

3.3.1 Laboratory Experiments - The independent variable is manipulated and measures of the dependent variable are
taken in an artificial setting contrived to control extraneous variables.

Tests done in a sterile environment in which the researcher can control almost all possible causal factors. However,
while the laboratory allows the researcher to control the variables involved, the lab may not accurately represent the real
marketplace. Thus, the research results my not hold up when transferred to (generalized to) the actual marketplace.
Thus, lab results are said to have good internal validity, but often lack external validity. This suggests that lab results are
more likely to be statistically correct than results from field experiments, but less likely to be generalizable to the
population of interest, which is always located outside of the laboratory.

3.3.2 Field Experiments - Tests conducted outside the laboratory in an actual market environment. A test market is a
good example. This solves the problem of realism of the test environment, but factors other than the independent
variable(s) of interest may influence the observed changes in the dependent variable of interest because the researcher
cannot control all other independent variables that may affect the dependent variable. For instance, the researcher cannot
control nor even precisely measure the effects of competitive actions, the weather, the economy, societal trends, the
political climate, nor other elements of the uncontrollable environment. Thus, field experiments often lack internal
validity, while having better external validity. This suggests that the results have a better chance of being statistically
wrong, but they are more likely generalizable to other similar market situations, if they are statistically correct.

3.3.3 Selected experimental design

Before going to describe the types of experimental designs, we need to know the meanings of the following terms;

Experimental Design - A test in which the researcher has control over one or more independent variables and
manipulates them. Non-experimental designs - involve NO manipulation. They are called ex post facto (after the fact)
Research, where an effect is observed and then some attempt is made to attribute that effect to some causal factor.

Treatment - the independent variable that is manipulated in an experiment.Let's use price as an example of the variable
to be treated (or manipulated). An example would be changing prices to see how much the subjects would increase or
decrease their number of items purchased based upon, say, 3 levels of prices (called 3 treatment conditions).

The variable (sometimes called the single treatment factor) is price, and the treatments on that variable are changing the
price to three new levels to see how many items respondents would purchase at each price.

Subjects - are the people that participate in the experiment. Subjects are grouped for the experiment as follows: a) A test
group will receive the treatment. These individuals will be exposed to the treatments (three treatment conditions) of the
independent variable of interest -- price; and b) the control group will not receive the treatment. This is the group for
whom the independent variable (price) will not be changed during the course of the experiment.

Dependent Variable - The element of an experiment that is theorized to be affected by changes in the independent
variable(s) (such as price).
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The Plan (or the Procedure) Deals With - controlling extraneous (or other) causal factors, which are independent
variables, other than the treatment variable, that can affect the dependent variable.The goal is to control the non-treated
variables so that we can clearly see and measure the effect on the dependent variable of our treatments (treatment
conditions) to the treatment variable.

Experimental Effect - is the effect of the manipulations (treatment conditions) of the treatment variable (the
independent variable that is manipulated) on the dependent variable. It is also called the treatment effect - the specific
impact of the treatment variable (x) on the dependent variable (y). The goal is to determine the specific effect of each
treatment condition on the dependent variable.

Randomization (R) - is the random assignment of subjects to treatment conditions so that we can ensure an even
representation of subjects' characteristics in all groups (test and control groups).This only suggests that, given sufficient
size (which takes advantage of the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem), each group will tend to be
similar on important characteristics.Thus, the groups are not likely to contain systematic biases just because of their
possessing an uneven or dissimilar makeup.

Physical Control (of extraneous causal factors) - refers to holding the value or level of extraneous variables constant
throughout the experiment. This allows us to say that the changes we made to the treatment variable caused the changes
we observed in the dependent variable. Matching - is another method of physical control. Under this approach,
respondents are matched in regard to important personal characteristics (e.g., age, income, life-style, etc.) before being
assigned to different treatment conditions.This makes each group homogeneous with all other groups, but only with
regard to the matched variables. Thus, there are no important differences between test and control groups on the
matched variable(s).Randomization is somewhat different because it controls for all variables, not just matched ones.
However, randomization ensures only that the groups will "tend" to be similar, not exactly the same as is attempted by
matching.

Types of Experimental Designs - refers to designing the experiment to control extraneous factors. Experimental Design
- a test in which the researcher has control over one or more independent variables and manipulates them. Notations
Used In Experimental Designs are:

1. X - TREATMENT -- The independent variable (the treatment variable) that is manipulated in an experiment.

2. O - OBSERVATION -- The observed values of each subject's score (e.g., response or test score) for each variable.

3. R - indicates the groups were randomly selected.

After only designs -- As the name suggests, with after-only experimental designs measures of the independent variable
are only taken after the experimental subjects have been exposed to the independent variable. This is a common
approach in advertising research where a sample of target customers is interviewed following exposure to an
advertisement and their recall of the product, brand, or sales features is measured. The advertisement could be one
appearing on national television and/or radio or may appear in magazines, newspapers or some other publication. The
amount of information recalled by the sample is taken as an indication of the effectiveness of the advertisement.

Research in which all test units (people or test markets) (O) are exposed to the treatment (X) for some period, and then
the dependent variable is measured. There is no control group and only one test is administered after the change
(treatment). There is no measurement before the treatment.Change the independent variable and, after some period of
time, measure the dependent variable

X O1
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The chief problem with after-only designs is that they do not afford any control over extraneous factors that could have
influenced the post-exposure measurements. For example, marketing extension personnel might have completed a trial
campaign to persuade small-scale poultry producers, in a localised area, to make use of better quality feeds in order to
improve the marketability and price of the end product. The decision to extend the campaign to other districts will
depend on the results of this trial. After-only measures are taken; following the campaign, by checking poultry feed sales
with merchants operating within the area. Suppose a rise in sales of good quality poultry feed mixes occurs four weeks
after the campaign ends. It would be dangerous to assume that this sales increase is wholly due to the work of the
marketing extension officers. A large part of the increase may be due to other factors such as promotional activity on the
part of feed manufacturers and merchants who took advantage of the campaign, of which they were forewarned, and
timed their marketing programme to coincide with the extension campaign. If the extension service erroneously drew
the conclusion that the sales increase was entirely due to their own promotional activity, then they might be misled into
repeating the same campaign in other areas where there would not necessarily be the same response from feed
manufacturers and merchants.

After-only designs are not true experiments since little or no control is exercised over any of the variables by the
researcher. However its inclusion here serves to underline the need for more complex designs.

Before after designs -- research (usually done on changes in an established product or marketing strategy) in which the
prevailing condition is considered the pretest measurement, and the observations measured after the change (treatment)
is the posttest, with no control group .First measure the dependent variable, then change the independent variable, and
finally, take a second measurement of the dependent variable

O1 X O2

A before-after design involves the researcher in measuring the dependent variable both before and after the participants
have been exposed to the independent variables.

The before-after design is an improvement upon the after-only design, in that the effect of the independent variable, if
any, is established by observing differences between the value of the dependent variable before and after the experiment.
Nonetheless, before-after designs still have a number of weaknesses.

Consider the case of the vegetable packer who is thinking about sending his/her produce to the wholesale market in
more expensive, but more protective, plastic crates, instead of cardboard boxes. The packer is considering doing so in
response to complaints from commissioning agents that the present packaging affords little protection to produce from
handling damage. The packer wants to be sure that the economics of switching to plastic crates makes sense. Therefore,
the packer introduces the plastic crates for a trial period. Before introducing these crates, the packer records the prices
received for his/her top grade produce. Unless prices increase by more than the additional cost of plastic crates then
there is no economic advantage to using the more expensive packaging.

Before and After with Control Group -- research using both an experimental and a control group, assignment to which
is randomized, but only the experimental group receives the treatment. Observations are measured both before and after
the treatment(s).

Experimental group (R) O1 X O2

Control group (R) O3 X O4

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Where E = (O2 - O1) - (O4 - O3)

Changes in the control group are due to all extraneous variables but not the independent variables

This design involves establishing two samples or groups of respondents: an experimental group that would be exposed
to the marketing variable and a control group which would not be subjected to the marketing variable under study. The
two groups would be matched. That is, the two samples would be identical in all important respects. The idea is that any
confounding factors would impact equally on both groups and therefore any differences in the data drawn from the two
groups can be attributed to the experimental variable.
Study figure 1 which depicts how an experiment involving the measurement of the impact of a sugar beet seed
promotional campaign on brand awareness might be configured with a control group.

Figure 1 An example of a before-after with control group design

Experimental Group Control Group
Before1 measure: % recalling Brand X sugar beet seed 25.5% 25.5%
Exposed to promotional campaign Yes No
'After' measure: % recalling Brand X sugar beet seed 34.5% 24,5%

First, the two groups would be matched: attributes such as age distribution of group members, spread of sizes of farms
operated, types of farms operated, ratio of dependence on hand tools, animal drawn tools and tractor mounted
equipment, etc. would be matched within each group so that the groups are interchangeable for the purposes of the test.
As figure 6.4 conveys, the initial level of awareness of the sugar beet brand would be recorded within each group. Only
the experimental group would see the test promotional campaign. After the campaign, a second measure of brand
awareness would be taken from each group. Any difference between the 'after' and 'before' measurements of the control
group (C2 - C1) would be due to uncontrolled variables. Differences between the 'after' and 'before' measurements in the
experimental group (E2 - E1) would be the result of the experimental variable plus the same uncontrolled variables
affecting the control group. Isolating the effect of the experimental variable is simply a matter of subtracting the
difference in the two measurements of the control group from the difference in the two measures taken from the
experimental group. To illustrate the computation consider the following hypothetical figures.
Awareness of the brand within the experimental group has increased by 9 percent. At the same time, the awareness level,
within the control group, appears to have fallen by 1 percent. This could be due to random fluctuations or a real
lowering of awareness due to some respondents forgetting the brand in the absence of any supporting
advertisements/promotions. Thus the effects of the test campaign would seem to have been:

Effect of experimental variable = (34.5 - 25.5) - (24.5 - 25.5)

= (9%) - (-1%) = 10%

If a "before and after with control group" experiment is properly designed and executed then the effects of maturation,
pretesting and measurement variability should be the same for the experimental group as for the control group. In this
case. these factors appear to have had a negative effect on awareness of one percent. Had it not been for the
experimental variable, the experimental group would have shown a similar fall in awareness over the period of the test.
Instead of recording a fall in the level of awareness of the sugar beet brand, the experimental group actually showed a
nine percent increase in brand awareness. However, the design is not guaranteed to be unflawed. The accurate matching
of the two groups is a difficult, some would say impossible, task. Moreover, over time the rate and extent of mortality,
or drop out, is likely to vary between the groups and create additional problems in maintaining a close match between
groups.

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After-Only with Control Group - A research design using randomized assignment to the experimental and control
groups that measure observations only after the treatment, rather than before and after.
Experimental group (R) X O1
Control group (R) O2

Where E = O1 - O2

Use after-only design when a precise measure of the effects of extraneous factors is not necessary. We
are only concerned about the experimental effect.

Again, this design involves establishing two matched samples or groups of respondents. There is no measurement taken
from either group before the experimental variable is introduced and the control group is not subsequently subjected to
the experimental variable. Afterwards measures are taken from both groups and the effect of the experimental variable
is established by deducting the control group measure from the experimental group measure. An illustrative example
will help clarify the procedures followed.

A Sri Lankan food technology research institute was trying to convince small-scale food processors to adopt solar
dryers to produce dried plantain and other dehydrated vegetables. Much of the initial resistance to the adoption of this
technology was due to the belief that the taste characteristics of this snack food would be altered from those of
traditional sun-dried plantain. The research institute was able to convince the food manufacturers that there would be no
perceptible changes in the taste characteristics by carrying out an "after-only with control group" experiment. Sensory
analysis experiments conclusively showed that almost none of the participants was able to discriminate between
plantain dehydrated by means of the solar powered dryer and that which was sun-dried.

Many product tests are of the "after-only with control group" type. This design escapes the problems of pre-testing,
history and maturation. However, this form of "after-only design" does not facilitate an analysis of the process of
change, whereas a comparable "before-after design" would. The attitudes, opinions and/or behavior of individual
participants can be recorded both before and afterwards and changes noted. For instance, the effect of the experimental
variable on those participants who held unfavorable attitudes can be compared with those they held in the "before"
measurement. Changes in those that held favorable attitudes in the "before" measurement can also be assessed after
exposure to the experimental variable.

Four-group six study- In this study two additional groups are added in experimental and control group categories. The
following diagram shows the experimentation and measurement methods.

Experimental group one (R) O1 X O2

Experimental group two (R) O3
Control group one (R) O4 X O5
Control group two (R) O6
Take experimental group 1 and control group 1 from the before after with control group design
and then an additional two groups, one experimental and control group are added. Neither is measured
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before the experimental variable is introduced. The variable is introduced in the two experimental
groups only, and all four groups are measured after. Such strategy makes the four-group six-study
design.

Ex-post Facto design. One variation of the after only design is called the expost facto design. This
differs from the after only design because the experimental and control groups are selected after the experimental
variable is introduced instead of before. It involves no manipulation. They are called ex post facto (after the fact)
research, where an effect is observed and then some attempt is made to attribute that effect to some causal factor.

The ex post facto design is a variation of the "after-only with control group" experimental design. The chief difference is
that both the experimental and control groups are selected after the experimental variable is introduced rather than
before. This approach eliminates the possibility that participants will be influenced by an awareness that they are being
tested.
Following market liberalisation in Zimbabwe a number of maize meal producers, using hammer mill technology, came
into the industry to compete against millers using roller mill technology. The hammer milled product was much coarser
than the highly refined roller milled maize meal to which most urban consumers had grown accustomed. The hammer
milled product, however, had superior nutritional benefits since meal produced in this way retained a much larger
amount of the germ, bran and endosperm. One production miller sought to communicate the nutritional advantages of
hammer milled meal through point-of-sale material in stores and provisions merchants. A sample of consumers who
claimed to have seen the point-of-sale material was subsequently assigned to an experimental group and a matching
selection of consumers who denied having seen the point-of-sale material comprised the control group. It was
hypothesised that those who had seen the point-of-sale material would suggest that hammer milled maize meal had
superior nutritional properties to that of roller meal to a far greater extent than would those who had not seen the point-
of-sale aids.
The results supported the hypothesis in as much as 68 percent of those recalling having seen the point-of-sale
promotional aids reported hammer milled meal as nutritionally superior whilst only 43 percent of those unaware of the
point-of-sale aids said that hammer mill was more nutritious than roller meal. However, some care has to be taken in
making the conclusion that the point-of-sale campaign was an unqualified success. It is to be remembered that
participants were assigned to the two groups on the basis of self-selection. Those reporting having seen the promotional
material were probably those on whom the campaign had made most impression. It is quite likely that some of those in
the control group also saw the material but do not recall having done so.
Where exposure to the experimental variable can be determined objectively, on an ex post facto basis, the bias
introduced by self-selection can be eliminated and the design, in essence, becomes identical to the "after-only with
control group" design. In these circumstances, the ex post facto design is an improvement upon the "after-only with
control group" design since the experimental variable would have its impact in a natural situation. Suppose, for
example, that government has been using radio to communicate thy benefits of giving vitamin supplements to children
under two years of age and that these are available in tablet form, free-of-charge, in local clinics. Ownership, and access,
to a radio can be established objectively.

Continuous Diary Panel design-if a series of experimentation in a panel data (i.e. same sample over the long period of
time) is introduced and measurement is taken at intervals (e.g. weekly, monthly etc.) then it is called
continuous diary panel design. The result is a design similar to a series of before- after experiments. Better
experimental design is achieved with panel data if the data are looked at as time series- numerous
measurements are made both before and the after the introduction of the experimental variable. Trends can
then be established as abase from which to measure the effect of the experimental variable.

End of unit three

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