Marketing

• a process that first determines what information marketing managers need and then gathers, sorts, analyzes, stores, and distributes relevant and timely marketing information to system users
• 1. internal company data
• 2. marketing intelligence
• 3. marketing research
• 4. acquired databases

an internal corporate communication network that uses internet technology to link company departments, employees, and databases

• a method by which marketers get information about everyday happenings in the marketing environment
• ex. mystery shoppers, speaking with org buyers about competing products, attending trade shows, buying competitors product
• futurists: marketing researchers specialize in predicting consumer trends

• process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data about customers, competitors, and the business environment in order to improve marketing effectiveness
• syndicated research
• custom research

research by firms that collect data on a regular basis and sell the reports to multiple firms, gives good insights about general trends

research conducted for a single firm to provide specific information its managers need

• external databases with a large amount of information
• sources such as the government, US Census Bureau, State and local governments

includes analysis and interactive software that allows marketing managers, even those who are not computer experts, to access MIS data and conduct own analyses, often over the company intranet

sophisticated analysis techniques to take advantage of the massive amount of transaction information available

practice of using data to track a user's on-line travels in order to show (immediately or later on) an ad for a product to someone who has visited a related Web site

• 1. customer acquisition: include demographics/ other info about customers in their database -> determines which of its current customers respond best to specific offers then sends some offer to non customers who share the same demographic characteristics
• 2. customer retention/ loyalty: firm identifies big spending customers and targets them for special offers
• 3. customer abandonment: customers to take their business elsewhere/ servicing them actually costs the firm more
• 4. market basket analysis: develops focused promotional strategies based on the records of which customers have bought certain products

• 1. Define the Research Problem
• 2. Determine the Research Design
• 3. Choose the Method to Collect Primary Data
• 4. Design Sample
• 5. Collect the Data
• 6. Analyze and Interpret the Data
• 7. Prepare Research Report

• clearly understand what information managers need
• Specify the research objective (questions to attempt to answer
• Identify the consumer population of interest
• Place the problem in an environmental context
• helps to structure the research, determines the specific types of questions to ask, and identify factors to take into account when measuring results

• research design: specifies exactly what information marketers will collect and what type of study they will do
• Secondary Research
• Primary Research
• Exploratory (Qualitative) Research
• Descriptive (Quantitative) Research
• Casual Research

Determine whether secondary data is available -> data that have been collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand (less flexible)Determine whether primary data are required -> data from research conducted to help make a specific decision ( more flexible, costly, time consuming)

• to come up with ideas for new strategies and opportunities or perhaps just to get better handle on a problem they are currently experiencing with a product (very flexible/less structured/ detailed verbal or visual info about attitudes, feelings...
• consumer interviews
• focus groups
• projective techniques
• case study
• ethnography

full information make decisions/ how not structured

mediator while a group of people talk to each other and can help develop a new product

making a piece of work that reflects what people really feel that could be lost if were to verbally explain it

an approach to research based on observations of people in their own homes or communities

• Probes systematically into the problem
• Bases conclusion on large numbers of observations
• Quantitative terms (averages, percentages)
• 1. Surveys
• behavior / attitudes/ psychological
• 2. Longitudinal Data
• 3. Online Descriptive Research Measuring "Sentiment"

• The only way we can try to answer WHY
• identify cause and effect relationships
• change in something -> responsible for change in something else

• Survey Methods: ind of interview/ direct contact with respondents who answer questions
• Questionnaires:
• understructured: researcher loosely determines the items in advance -> questions may evolve from answers
• completely structured: asks every respondent the exact same questions/ same set of fixed choices
• moderately structured: some questions/ respondents free to answer his own words
• telemarketing: telephone to sell directly to costumers/ business customers
• mall intercept: study in which researchers simply records the customer behaviors
• unobtrusive measures: record traces of physical evidence that remain after people have consumed something when they suspect that respondents will probably alter behavior

• Validity: extent to which the research actually measures what it was intended to measure
• Reliability: extenet to which the research measurement techniques are of errors (manner researcher ask questions/ anonymous)
• compare responses/ look for consistency and stability
• Representativeness: extent to which consumers in the study are similar to a larger group in which the organization has interest
• Sampling- process of selecting respondents for study

• Probability Sampling: each member of a population has some known chance of being included in the study
• Simple Radom Sample: every member of a population has a known and equal chance of being included in the study
• systematic sampling: to select members, they select the _nth member of a population after a random start
• stratified: divides population into segments that relate to the study's topic
• NONProbability Sampling
• personal judgement is used to select respondents
• convenience sample: composed of individuals who just happen to be available when/ where the data are being collected
• Quota: includes the same population of individuals with certain characteristics as in the population

• Collector/interviewer: quality of research results is only as good as the interviewer
• Challenges to gather data in foreign countries
• cultural differences
• local customs
• language
• back translation: translating material to a foreign language and then back to the original language

• 1. arrange the data in a table or other summary form -> broad picture
• 2. cross tabulation -> examine and turn into subgroups

• executive summary of the report that covers the high points of the total report
• an understandable description of the research methods
• complete discussion of the results of the study, including the tabulations, cross tabulations, and additional statistical analysis
• limitations of the study
• conclusions drawn from the results/ recommendations

taking an ethical and above board approach to conducting marketing research that does no harm to the participant in the process of conducting the research