Consumer Research

Paradigms
Quantitative Research
 Descriptivein nature.
 Enables marketers to “predict” consumer
behavior (positivism).
 Research methods include experiments,
survey techniques, and observation.
 Findings are descriptive, empirical, and
can be generalized to larger populations.
Qualitative Research
 Suitable to examine attitude,feelings and
motivations in depth
 Consists of depth interviews, focus
groups, metaphor analysis, collage
research, and projective techniques.
 Administered by highly trained interviewer-
analysts.
 Findings tend to be subjective.
 Small sample sizes.
Continued…
 Usage
 prolem formulation
 justification
 Combining Quantitative and
Qualitative Research Findings

 Quantitativeresearch + Qualitative research =

Strategic Marketing Decisions
 Difference between Qualitative and
Quantitative
Quantitative
Qualitative Research
Research
Study Provide insights about Describe target
Purpose ideas market
Exploratory research Results for
before quantitative strategic marketing
study decisions

Types of Open-ended Close-ended

Questions Unstructured Attitude
scales
Data Projectivetechniques Observation
Collection Depth interviews Experimentation
Methods Focus groups Questionnaires
(continued)
Quantitative
Qualitative Research
Research
Sampling Small Large
Methods Nonprobability Probability
samples samples

Data Analyzed by Coded, tabulated,

Analysis researchers who and entered into
collected data database
Look for “key words” Use of statistical
Subjective methods
Marketing Research Vs Market Research

Market research - Gathering of Information about a

markets’ size and trend

Marketing research

 Covers a wider range of activities

 Systematic than market research
 Applied to variety of marketing problems
The Consumer Research Process
 Developing Research Objectives

 Defining purposes and objectives helps

ensure an appropriate research design.
 A statement of objectives helps to define
the type and level of information needed.
 Secondary Data
 Data that has been collected for reasons other than the specific research
project at hand

 Includes internal and external data

 Secondary research Vs Primary research

 Advantages
 Saving time, reducing data gathering costs

 Disadvantages
 Data may not fit the problem perfectly
 Accuracy may be more difficult to verify

 Eg : Govt agencies,marketing research companies,advertising

agencies,private population data firms
 Types of Secondary Data
Internal Data
 Data generated in-house
 May include analysis of
customer files
 Useful for calculating
customer lifetime value
External Data
 Data collected by an
outside organization
 Includes federal
government, periodicals,
newspapers, books,
search engines
 Commercial data is also
available from market
research firms
 How CLV is computed?
 customer acquisition cost

 Profit generated from individual sales to each

customer

 Costs of handling customers and their orders

 Expected duration of relationship

 Designing Primary Research
 Quantitative Research Designs
 Includeresearch design, data collection
methods, instruments to be used, and the
sample design
 Qualitative Research Designs
 Include depth interviews, focus groups,
projective techniques, and metaphor analysis
 Data Collection Methods
Observational Research
 Helps marketers gain an in-depth understanding of the
relationship between people and products by watching
them buying and using products

 Helps researchers gain a better understanding of what

the product symbolizes

 More accurate than survey

 Longer time

 Less versatile than survey

Observational
research is
often used to
design products
to meet needs.
Data Collection Methods Mechanical
Observational Research
 Uses mechanical or electronic device to
record consumer behavior or response
 Consumers’ increased use of highly
convenient technologies will create more
records for marketers
 Product audits which monitor sales are
heavily used by companies
Data Collection Methods Experimentation
 Causal research - Can be used to test the
relative sales appeal of many types of variables

 An experiment is usually controlled with only

some variables manipulated at a time while the
others are constant

 Application of causal research

 Test marketing

 Can be conducted in laboratories or in the field

Surveys
 Involves questioning respondents either
verbally or in writing

 very much versatile

 Quicker and cheaper than observation

Surveys
Data Collection Methods

Personal Interview

Mail

Telephone

Online
Online Surveys Are Growing in Popularity

weblink
 Comparative Advantages

PERSONAL
MAIL TELEPHONE ONLINE
INTERVIEW
Cost Low Moderate High Low
Speed Slow Immediate Slow Fast
Quality of
Limited Limited Excellent Excellent
response
Geographic
Excellent Good Difficult Excellent
flexibility
Interviewer
N/A Moderate Problematic N/A
bias
Interviewer
N/A Easy Difficult N/A
supervision
Validity and Reliability
 Ifa study has validity it collects the
appropriate data for the study.
 A study has reliability if the same
questions, asked of a similar sample,
produce the same findings.
 Split-half reliability
Attitude Scales
 Likert scales: easy for researchers to prepare
and interpret, and simple for consumers to
answer
 Semantic differential scales: relatively easy to
construct and administer
 Behavior intention scales: also easy to construct
and administer
 Rank-order scales: subjects rank items in order
of preference in terms of some criteria
Qualitative Collection Method
Depth Interview
 Usually 30 minutes to 1 hour
 Nonstructured
 Interpreted by trained researcher
 Listen to words as well as “body language”
Qualitative Collection Method Focus
Group
 8-10 participants
 Lasts about 2 hours
 Always taped or videotaped to assist
analysis
 Often held in front of two-way mirrors
Qualitative Collection Method Projective
Techniques
 Research procedures designed to identify
consumers’ subconscious feelings and
motivations
 Consist of a variety of disguised “tests”
 Eg : word association tests,sentence
completion tests,untitled pictures or
cartoons,ink blots etc
Qualitative Collection Method Metaphor
Analysis
 Based on belief that metaphors are the
most basic method of thought and
communication
 Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique
(ZMET) combines collage research and
metaphor analysis to bring to the surface
the mental models and the major themes
or constructs that drive consumer thinking
and behavior.
Sampling and Data Collection
 Samples are a subset of the population
used to estimate characteristics of the
entire population.
 A sampling plan addresses:
 Whom to survey
 How many to survey
 How to select them

 Researcher must choose probability or

nonprobabililty sample.
 Probability Sampling Designs

Simple random Every member of the population has a known and

sample equal chance of being selected.
Systematic random A member of the population is selected at random
sample and then every “nth” person is selected.
Stratified random The population is divided into mutually exclusive
sample groups (such as age groups), and random samples
are drawn from each group.
Cluster (area) The population is divided into mutually exclusive
sample groups (such as blocks), and the researcher draws
a sample of the groups to interview.
Data Analysis and Reporting Findings

 Qualitative
research – The moderator/test
administrator usually analyzes the
responses received

 Quantitative
research – The researcher
supervises the analysis

 Open-ended questions are coded and

quantified
Continued…
 All responses are tabulated and analyzed.

 Final report includes executive summary

of the findings

 Reportmay/may not include

recommendations for marketing action
Continued…
 The body of the report consists of
 Full description of the methodology
 Tables,graphs to support findings

 A sample questionaire is usually included

in the appendix for future references
THANK YOU