Mktg 301 1st Edition Lecture 14 Current Lecture Define marketing research and explain its importance to marketing decision making Marketing research is a process of collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of solving specific marketing problems They can examine why particular strategies failed and analyze characteristics of specific market segments Moreover marketing research allows management to behave proactively rather than reactively by identifying newly emerging patterns in society and the economy Describe the steps involved in conducting a marketing research project First the researcher and the decision maker must agree on a problem statement or set of research objectives The researcher then creates an overall research design to specify how primary data will be gathered and analyzed Before collecting data the researcher decides whether the group to be interviewed will be a probability or nonprobability sample Field service firms are often hired to carry out data collection Once data have been collected the researcher analyzes them using statistical analysis The researcher then prepares and presents oral and written reports with conclusions and recommendations to management As a final step the researcher determines whether the recommendations were implemented and what could have been done to make the project more successful Discuss the profound impact of the Internet on marketing research These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute The Internet has simplified the secondary data search process Internet survey research is surging in popularity Internet surveys can be created rapidly are reported in real time are relatively inexpensive and are easily personalized Often researchers use the Internet to contact respondents who are difficult to reach by other means The Internet can also be used to conduct focus groups to dispute research proposals and reports and to facilitate collaboration between the client and the research supplier Discuss the growing importance of scanner based research A scanner based research system enables marketers to monitor a market panel s exposure and reaction to such variables as advertising coupons store displays packaging and price By analyzing these variables in relation to the panel s subsequent buying behavior marketers gain useful insight into sales and marketing strategies Explain when marketing research should be conducted Because acquiring marketing information can be time consuming and costly to acquire additional decision making information depends on managers perceptions of its quality price and timing Research therefore should be undertaken only when the expected value of the information is greater than the cost of obtaining it Implementing a Customer Relationship Management system is integral to deciding if marketing research should be conducted Explain the concept of competitive intelligence Intelligence is analyzed information and it becomes decision making intelligence when it has implications for hte organization By helping managers assess their competition and vendors competitive intelligence CI leads to fewer surprises CI is part of a sound marketing strategy helps companies respond to competitive threats and helps reduce unnecessary costs