,CHAPTER 3: THE MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS
Researchers contribute to decision making in several key ways:
1. Helping to better define current situation
2. Defining the firm – determining how consumers, competitors & employees view firm
3. Providing ideas for product improvements or new product development (NPD)
4. Testing ideas that assist implementing marketing mix strategy for firm
5. Examining how correct certain marketing theory is in a given situation
DECISION MAKING & MARKETING RESEARCH
Decision making – process of developing & deciding among alternative ways of resolving a
problem or choosing from among alternative opportunities
Market opportunity – a situation that makes some potential competitive advantage possible
Market problem – a situation that makes some significant negative consequence more likely – is
due to some force acting in/on the firm
Symptoms – observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that
problem (example: a drop in market share is a symptom of a market problem & not the problem
itself)
CERTAINTY
Complete certainty – researcher has all the information to make an optimal decision
Uncertainty – grasp general nature of desired objectives, but information about alternatives is
incomplete
AMBIGUITY
The nature of the problem itself is unclear – objectives are vague & decision alternatives are
difficult to define most difficult & most common decision situation
Classifying decision-making situations
1
, TYPES OF MARKETING RESEARCH
1. EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
Conducted to clarify ambiguity situations or discover ideas for potential business opportunities
NOT intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine course of action
Useful in new product development
2. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
Describes characteristic of objects, people, groups, organisations, or environments
“paints a picture” of a given situation
addresses the who, what, when, where, why & how questions
helps describe market segments
Diagnostic analysis – seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes & focuses specifically on
the beliefs & feelings consumers have about & toward competing products
3. CAUSAL RESEARCH
Allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships
Exploratory & descriptive research usually precedes causal research
Causal inference – a conclusion that when one thing happens, another thing will follow
3 critical pieces of causal evidence are:
1. Temporal Sequence
o Deals with the time order of events (appropriate causal order of events) – the cause must
occur before the effect if advertising causes sales, the advertising must appear before
the change in sales
2. Concomitant Variation
o Occurs when two events ‘covary’ – they vary systematically when a change in cause
occurs, a change in the outcome is also observed
3. Nonspurious Association
o Any covariation between a cause and an effect is true & not simply due to some other
variable
In summary, causal research should do the following:
1. Establish appropriate causal order or sequence of events
2. Measure the concomitant variation (relationship) between the presumed cause & effect
3. Examine possibility of spuriousness by considering presence of other plausible causal factors
Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research
Amount of uncertainty Highly ambiguous Partially defined Clearly defined
of decision situation
Key research statement Research question Research question Research hypothesis
When conducted? Early stages of decision Later stages of decision Later stages of decision
making making making
Usual research approach Unstructured Structured Highly structured
Examples “Our sales are declining “What kind of people “Will consumers buy
& we don’t know why” are buying our more of our products in
“Who would be product? Who buys our a new package?”
interested in our new competitor’s product?” “Which of the 2
product idea?” “What product features advertising campaigns
are most important to will be more
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