Learning Objectives

1. To Understand the Importance of Consumer

Research for Firms and Their Brands, as Well as
Consumers.
2. To Understand the Steps in the Consumer
Research Process.
3. To Understand the Importance of Establishing
Specific Research Objectives as the First Step in
the Design of a Consumer Research Project.
 Learning Objectives (continued)
4. To Understand the Purposes and Types of Secondary
Consumer Research That Is Available for Making
Decisions or Planning Future Consumer Research.
5. To Understand Specific Features and Applications of
Different Research Methods to Be Carried Out in
Consumer Research Studies.
6. To Understand Where Data Analysis and Reporting of
Findings Fit in the Research Process.
7. To Understand How Each Element of the Consumer
Research Process Adds to the Overall Outcome of the
Research Study.
Why Do Marketers Regularly Test Print Ads Like
This One Before They Are Placed in the Media?
To Test the Impact of the Message Before
Spending Large Amounts of Money
 The Importance of the Consumer
Research Process
• Marketers must understand customers
to design effective:
– marketing strategies
– products
– promotional messages
The Consumer Research Process
 The Consumer Research Process

• Secondary research
• Primary research
– Qualitative
– Quantitative
 Developing Research Objectives

• Defining purposes and objectives helps ensure

an appropriate research design.
• A written statement of objectives helps to
define the type and level of information
needed.
 Discussion Questions

• Assume you are planning to open a new pizza

restaurant near your campus.
– What might be three objectives of a research plan
for your new business?
– How could you gather these data?
Secondary Data
• Data that has been
collected for reasons
other than the specific
research project at hand
• Includes internal and
external data
 Types of Secondary Data

Internal Data External Data

• Data generated in-house • Data collected by an outside
• May include analysis of organization
customer files • Includes federal
• Useful for calculating government, periodicals,
customer lifetime value newspapers, books, search
engines
• Commercial data is also
available from market
research firms
 Discussion Questions Personal Privacy

• Many people do not like the fact that their

personal data are used for marketing.
• How can marketers justify their need for data?

• How can they acquire data and maintain

customer privacy?
Designing Primary Research
 Qualitative Collection Method Depth
Interview
• Also called one-on-one interview
• Usually 20 minutes to 1 hour
• Nonstructured
• Interviewer will often probe to get more
feedback (see following slide for probing)
• Session is usually recorded
Probing Options for Interviews
 Qualitative Collection Method Focus
Group
• 8-10 participants
• Respondents are recruited through a screener
questionnaire
• Lasts about 2 hours
• Always taped or videotaped to assist analysis
• Often held in front of two-way mirrors
• Online focus groups are growing
 Discussion Guides for Research

• Step-by-step outline
for depth interviews
and focus groups
• Interviewers will
often “improvise”
and go beyond the
discussion guide
Focus Group Discussion Guide
 Qualitative Collection Method
Projective Techniques
• Research procedures designed to identify
consumers’ subconscious feelings and
underlying motivations
• Consist of a variety of disguised “tests”
 Common Projective Exercises

Description
Word The researcher has a list of words, some of them to be studied and some
Associations just as “filler.” The researcher asks the respondent(s) to react, one-at-a
time, to each word by stating or (in a focus group setting) writing on a
pad the first word that comes to mind, and to explain the link.
Sentence The researcher has a series of incomplete sentences that the
Completion respondent(s) needs to complete with a word or phrase.

Photo/Visual The researcher creates/selects a series of photos of consumers, different

for brands or products, range of print ads, etc., to serve as stimuli. The
Storytelling respondents are asked to discuss or tell a story based on their response
to a photo or some other visual stimulus.
Role Playing Is quite similar to storytelling; however, instead of telling a story, the
participant(s) will be given a situation and asked to “act out” the role(s),
often with regard to a product or brand, or particular selling situation.
 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.
 Qualitative Collection Method
“Looking-In”
• Look at information from threads and postings
on social media, including blogs and
discussion forums
• Methodology to capture consumers’
experiences, opinions, forecasts, needs, and
interests
Designing Primary Research
 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
 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
• Audits are a type of mechanical observation
which monitor sales
 Data Collection Methods
Experimentation
• 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
• Test markets are conducted on a single
market area
• Experimentation can be conducted in
laboratories or in the field
 Discussion Questions

• What might direct marketers test in

experiments?
• How can they use the results?
 Data Collection Methods

Mail Telephone Personal Online

Interview
Cost Low Moderate High Low
Speed Slow Immediate Slow Fast

Response rate Low Moderate High Self-selected

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

• If a 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.
 Attitude Scales

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Chapter Two Slide 31
Customer Satisfaction Measurement
• Customer
Satisfaction
Surveys
– Analysis of
Expectations
versus Experience
• Mystery Shoppers
• Customer
Complaint Analysis
 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.
Data Analysis and Reporting Findings

• Open-ended questions are coded and

quantified.
• All responses are tabulated and analyzed.
• Final report includes executive summary,
body, tables, and graphs.
The End!