Lecture 6 Flashcards
Marketing Research Defined
The process of systematically collecting and analyzing
information to address a marketing research question, and
recommending actions.
Marketing Research reduces
the risk and uncertainty of marketing decision making
Marketing research links
the consumer, customer, and public to
the marketer through information—information 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.
The Marketing Research Process
- Define the problem and research objectives
- Develop the research plan
- Collect the information
- Analyze the information
- Present the findings
- Make the decision
Secondary Data Defined
Information that has been collected by others for a
purpose other than specifically responding to a current informational need.
Secondary Data Contrasts with primary data that is collected by
information user to
satisfy a specific informational
need
Uses of Secondary Research
Directly answer a marketer’s informational needs
Provide important insights prior to primary research
Contribute to questionnaire development
Evaluating Secondary Information
“Goodness”
Author and source
Unbiased, qualified individuals
Accuracy
Currency
ObjectivitySocial media mining seeks to
“exact meaningful
information from social media data that is not readily
apparent the process of representing, analyzing, and
extracting actionable patterns from social media data.”
Social Media Mining is used by
companies, organizations, researchers, and
government
Social Media Mining Legality
Little historical precedent regarding laws on social media mining
Facebook settled FTC charges about user privacy
Google paid FTC $22.5 million for a loophole to track user cookies
For reflection: Is it ethical to mine social media conversations?
The issue:
• Traditionally, researchers conducting primary research with human subjects
follow a policy of informed consent.
• But when scraping social channels for data, the data mined are residual traces
of online behavior.
• The result? People unwillingly and unknowingly may become subjects in a
research study
Advantages of Social Media Data
Cheaper - You do not pay participants
Continuity - Social media users never stop talking
Invisibility - Most consumers are not even aware their online conversations
are getting analyzed and dissected for insights
Social Data for Marketing Research
Measuring brand sentiment and comparing it with
competitors
How is sentiment measured?
Measuring campaign outcomes
Identifying key advantages and weaknesses of company,
brand, product etc.
Crowdsourcing suggestions and ideas from customers
“Social listening is when you track your
social media
platforms for mentions and conversations related to your
brand. Then you analyze them for insights to discover
opportunities to act”. - Hootsuite
Qualitative advertising research entails
the intensive
interviewing of a small number of individuals to acquire
detailed, in-depth insights into their attitudes, beliefs, motivations,
and lifestyles.
Qualitative advertising research seeks to provide a better understanding of
why people act
as they do rather than numeric descriptions of what
people do and think.
Quantitative research is best used when
generalizability to a larger population is important, when the determination of
statistically reliable, quantifiable differences between groups
is important, and when statistical analysis of the data is required.
Qualitative Research: Uses
To obtain information in areas where little is currently
known
To hear consumers express ideas in their own words
To compliment quantitative research
To move beyond information obtained through
direct, structured, closed-ended questions
Get closer to the data
Get the story behind the data
Pros and Cons of Qualitative Research
vs. Quantitative Research
Pros
Quicker
Less costly
More flexible
Cons
Allows only limited generalization
Does not permit numeric descriptions
Is more subjective
Do not work well to make “go – no go” decisions with
regard to copy testing and execution evaluation
Focus Groups and Minigroups
A group of eight to twelve individuals who:
Take part in carefully planned series of discussions that last 90-120 minutes
long
Held in a permissive, non-threatening environment
Led by a trained moderator
Focus groups are larger than minigroups
6 to 10 people versus 3 to 6
When to use Focus Groups and Minigroups
New product idea generation Product positioning Product perceptions Creative explorations In-depth exploration of consumer attitudes, beliefs and behaviors
Pros and Cons of Focus Group (Versus
Personal Interviews)
Pros Interactive discussion More stimulating for respondents More spontaneous Quicker to conduct and analyze Generally lower cost
Cons
Single respondent may dominate discussion
Group pressures can distort opinions
Data and insights represent group, not individual, data
Potential for moderator-introduced bias
The interviewer/moderator creates an __ __
before conducting the interview/focus group.
interview guide
The interview guide provides
an ordered list of the questions to be asked
reminders for any required probes or follow-up questions
General guidelines for the question wording
Keep questions short and precise
Ask only one question at a time
Avoid questions in which the answer is either given or implied
Avoid “why” questions
Focus Group Planning: Moderator Selection
Personality characteristics
Demographic characteristics
Good advertising and business sense
Focus Group Planning: Moderator Briefing
Research problem Research goals Informational needs Timing Study parameters Manipulatives
Focus Group Characteristics
Compatibility is the key
Generally recommended to conduct at least two groups per location
Number of different locations reflects extent to which it is
believed that
differences in geography will cause differences in key
attitudes or behaviors
Focus Group Planning: Conduct the Groups
Prefatory remarks Introduce the moderator Explain focus group setting Explain moderator’s role Specify topic for discussion Rules for participants Monitoring Reporting
Viewing Focus Groups
Come prepared Start watching from the beginning Focus on the big picture Listen to everyone Don’t be biased by dominant personalities Listen to all comments Don’t jump to premature conclusions Don’t let character judgments interfere with validity of comments
Online Focus Groups Characteristics
Synchronous
Closest to traditional focus groups
Everyone participates at the same time
Asynchronous
Builds the discussion over time
Not everyone needs to participate at the same time
Hybrid
Combines synchronous and asynchronous approaches
Begins with asynchronous communication, followed by a synchronous focus group.
Online groups work well when
Required respondents are geographically dispersed Travel to central location is difficult High need for anonymity Need for respondents to overcome inhibitions or social role constraints
Qualitative Analysis: the GOAL
Qualitative analysis attempts to reduce the vast
amount of verbal or observational data to a set
of well-defined and clearly explained patterns
and themes
Qualitative Analysis complication:
no absolute rules to guide a
qualitative analysis
Activities Prior to Data Examination
Review research problem and informational needs
Evaluation of study sample
Note any limitations or deviations from initial plan
Data Examination Process
Review of the raw data: audio or video tapes, transcripts,
notes, …
Goal is not to determine what the data means
Goal is become more familiar with the data, to experience Texture Tone Mood Range Content
Approaching Data Examination
Review with open-mind
Understand reasons underlying attitudes and behaviors
Understand intensity of feeling and points of view
Understand respondent and not individual responses
Review with critical eye and ear
Keep an eye and ear open for what is not said
Reflection
Time of quiet contemplation
Impressions “incubate” without structure or
guidance
Prelude period prior to formal data analysis
A theme is
a consistent and recurring idea found
either explicitly or implicitly in the data
Themes help us understand
trends and patterns
suggested by the data
Steps Underlying Theme Development
Identify tentative themes
Code data
Evaluate themes
Develop metathemes
Data is coded to indicate comments which are:
Supportive of a particular theme
Contrary to or disconfirming for a particular
theme
Themes examined in light of coded data to
determine
extent to which theme should or should
not be accepted given pattern of underlying data
Acceptable themes accurately reflect
content
Unacceptable themes are
not supported and must
be revised
Theme Revision typically takes one of two forms
Elaborated with additional detail and specificity
Narrowed or restricted applicability
A metatheme is
a broader theme that shows the interrelationships among individual themes
A metatheme summarizes
similarities and differences
among individual themes
Types of Direct Questions
Specification Structural Grand tour Idealization Hypothetical Interaction Third-Person
Specification Questions
An explicit request for rational or emotional information
Most useful for providing back-ground information or for laying foundation for more extensive discussion
Normally ask “how” or “what” – not “why”
Structural Questions
A step beyond specification questions to help identify the
range of feelings and/or knowledge within a specific
area
These are the starting point for the enumeration of a long list of thoughts or feelings
Grand Tour Questions
Ask respondent to reconstruct a routine, procedure,
activity, or event that took place at a particular time in his or her life
Respondent as the “tour guide”
Provides an understanding of both what a person did, as
well as
why they made certain decisions, and
the feelings associated with those decisions.
Idealization Questions
Ask a respondent to speculate about “the ideal”
Once the ideal is described, then specific, existing
instances are discussed within the context of (or
compared to) the ideal
Hypothetical- Interaction Questions
Present a plausible situation and ask the respondent to
verbalize how he or she would respond in that situation
The situation can describe a respondent’s interaction with
other individuals or products
Third-Person Questions
Used to follow-up on from the prior questions with
nonthreatening challenges couched in the form of detached questions
Asks for elaboration within the context of an anonymous,
absent person
When are Projective Techniques used?
when verbal, direct questions fail to get beneath the surface or when respondents are unable or unwilling to
verbalize their thoughts and feelings
How are Projective Techniques used?
Get participants’ true opinion by getting them commenting on something indirectly, thus relieving inhibitions
When using Projective Techniques, responses are
not taken at face value but are interpreted in terms of underlying meanings
Challenge: to discover these meanings
Advertising research uses three types of projective
techniques:
Techniques that use verbal stimuli and responses
Techniques that require the use of imagination or
scenarios
Techniques that use pictures as stimuli.
Word Association
Asks an individual to quickly respond to the presentation
of words or phrases with the first thing or things that
come to mind
Sentence Completion
Requires a respondent to draw on his or her own attitudes
and beliefs in order to complete an incomplete sentence or
story
Because of emphasis on speed of response internal defenses and
self-editing tends to be greatly reduced
Story Completion
An expanded version of sentence completion
Begins with interviewer reading part of a story to
respondent. At some point the narrative ends and the
respondent is then asked to provide the end of the story.
Personification and Anthropomorphism
The attribution of human nature to animals, inanimate
objects, or abstract notions.
Ask individuals to take a leap in imagination in order to
relate a brand or company to a well-known person,
fictional character or even an animal
Used to uncover subtle image characteristics that might
otherwise require unusual high verbal facility to
communicate
Role-Playing
Rather than directly asking a person what he or
she thinks, the probe is couched in terms of
“What would your neighbor think?”
Works well when the area under exploration is
sensitive or responses may run counter to social
or other norms
Picture Projection
Use visual rather than verbal stimuli
Respondent is shown a picture and is then asked
to provide the dialogue, thoughts, or feelings of
other individuals in the drawing
Picture Sorts
Help to obtain insights into how consumers
distinguish between brands based on brand
image.
Ask respondents to sort pictures of individuals
based on the brands they think the pictured
individuals are most likely to use
Requires a wide range of pictured individuals
