MARKETING RESEARCH PROCEDURE
Marketing
research is undertaken in order to improve the understanding about a marketing
situation or problem and consequently improve the quality of decision-making
related to it. The usefulness of the marketing research output will depend upon
the way the research has been designed and implemented at each stage of the
process. There are five steps in every marketing research process:
B) RESEARCH DESIGN
B) RESEARCH DESIGN:
If
you have stated your problem correctly and precisely, you should be able to
spell out the precise objectives for research. Now you are in a position to
prepare your research design. The research design spells out how you are going
to achieve the stated research objectives. The data collection methods, the
specific research, instrument and the sampling plan that you will use for
collecting data and the corresponding cost are the elements that constitute the
research design.
Data Collection Methods: A
great deal of data is regularly collected and disseminated by international
bodies, International Labour Organisation, World Bank, International Monetary
Fund, Government and its many agencies including Planning Commission, Central
Statistical Organisation, Reserve bank of India, Census Commission, private
research organisations, and trade associations. This kind of data which has
already been collected by another organisation and not by you is known as secondary data. This secondary data
already exists in an accessible form; it only has to be located. You must first
check whether any secondary data is available on the subject matter into which
you are researching and make use of it, since it will save considerable time
and money. But the data must be scrutinised properly since it was originally
collected perhaps for another purpose. The data must also be checked for
reliability, relevance and accuracy.
When secondary data is not available or it is not reliable, you
would need to collect original data to suit your objectives. Original data
collected specifically for a current research are known as primary data. Primary data can be collected from customers, retailers,
distributors, manufacturers or other information sources. Primary data may be
collected through any of the three methods: observation, survey and
experimentation.
In
the observation method, the researcher gathers information by observing.
This method is generally used to observe buyer behaviour in a shop or to assess
the impact of shelf placement and point of purchase promotional material. For
instance you may like to observe the movement of shopping traffic through a
department store, the number of shoppers who stopped before a particular
display etc.
The obvious limitation of the observation method is that it allows
observation of only overt behaviour. It provides no clues why a customer
behaved in a particular manner, what product attributes appealed most to him,
whether he would like to buy the product again etc. Such data can be generated
by using the survey method.
The survey method can also yield
information about the socio-economic profile of your customers. The survey may
either be conducted in a small group of customers through the focus group
interview or may cover a large number of customers with the help of a questionnaire.
In the focus group interview five to fifteen customers are invited for a
discussion on a specific product or .a specific aspect of the
product. The customers' comments provide valuable insight into their thinking
which can help the manager to fine tune his marketing strategy to suit
different customer segments. Surveys conducted with the help of questionnaire
often take off from the focus group interview which yields excellent clues for
designing the questionnaire. The questionnaire-based surveys yield not only
qualitative but also quantitative data which have statistical validity.
The third method of collecting data is
through experimentation. This is basically a simulation of the real-life
situation, but in a controlled environment in which you systematically
introduce certain elements to study their impact. This method is used for
finding the best sales-training technique, the best price level, the most
effective advertisement campaign. However, its use requires an extremely
skilled researcher to ensure useful results. Also, this method is expensive.
Research Instrument: In the observation
method, the researcher may use a camera, tape recorder or tally sheet (a sheet
in which the number of times an event occurs is recorded). Whatever the
instrument used, the researcher must ensure that the instrument is appropriate
to the occasion and is reliable.
In
the survey method the most commonly used instrument is the questionnaire. This
is a written and organised format containing all the questions relevant to
soliciting the required information. The construction of a questionnaire
requires great skill. To check that the questionnaire serves the necessary
purpose, it should be tested on a limited scale and this is technically known
as a pilot survey. The objective of a pilot survey is to weed out unnecessary
questions, questions which are difficult to answer, and improve the phrasing of
certain questions which are difficult to comprehend.
In
constructing a questionnaire the important points to be considered are the type
of questions to be asked, wording of questions and sequencing of questions.
Each question should be checked to evaluate its necessity in terms of
fulfilling the research objectives. Furthermore, the questions should be such
that the respondent can answer them easily. Questions which require the
respondent to answer questions about events which occurred a long time ago or
about which he does not have direct knowledge should be avoided since you are
not likely to get very accurate response. The questions should have direct
relevance to the problem being researched. Too many irrelevant questions will
only increase the length of the questionnaire (which would only put off the
respondent) and also add to the burden of analysis without yielding any useful
result.
The wording of the questions is a very
important input in ensuring the correct response. Clearly worded, precise
questions are not only easy to understand but they also facilitate the proper
response. The wording of the question should be neutral and not attempt to
influence or bias the response. This is especially relevant when information is
being sought on non physical issues such as motivation, attitudes, and personal
values of the respondent. If you want to know the name of the shop from where
the respondent bought his last tube of toothpaste, any way that you phrase the
question will elicit the same response. Consider the following three
alternatives in this context:
a) Where did you buy this toothpaste?
b) Can you please tell me the name of the shop from where you
bought this toothpaste?
c) From which shop did you buy this toothpaste?
On
the other hand, suppose you are trying to find out the customer perceptions
about the performance of foreign brands of televisions versus Indian brands.
The manner in which you phrase the questions is extremely critical as it can
influence the response. Consider the following three alternatives:
a) Do you think there is any difference in the performance of
Indian TV sets as compared to foreign sets? (neutral wording)
b) Don't you think foreign TVs perform better than Indian ones? (interviewer bias)
c) Most people feel that foreign TVs perform better than Indian
ones. Would you agree wit: this statement? (introducing respondent bias)
When including questions about qualitative aspects it is better to
ask open ended questions rather than close ended questions, and unstructured
rather than structured questions.
Open-ended question
"How
would you describe the taste of this toothpaste?"
Close-ended question
"Would
you describe the taste of this toothpaste as tingling?" Yes/No
Unstructured
Word
association: For assessing toothpaste taste you may ask the respondent to give
his immediate reaction to the following phrases in context of your specific
brand:
Fresh
Tingling Foamy
Mild
Pleasant Sharp
In
the structured questions you may like to give the respondents a number of
answer choices to choose from. This is known as multiple-choice questions.
"Which
one of the following words or phrases, in your opinion, best describes the
taste of this toothpaste?"
-Fresh
-Tingling
-Spicy
-Minty
-Cool
-Antiseptic
-Medicinal
A technique which combines both the
structured and unstructured type of questions is the question scaling. The respondent is
asked to rank his perception of a particular brand, product attribute, company
image or any such factor on a scale ranging from extremely good to extremely
poor. A typical scale may look as depicted in Figure I
The
advantage with unstructured and open ended questions is that they give the
respondent freedom to answer in his own words. And this often provides
information and insight about the product which the researcher had not even
thought about. The only problem with unstructured questions is that of interpreting
the results. The same results may lead to different analysis by different
researchers. Unstructured questions also make statistical summaries difficult.
Close-ended and structured questions are easy to summarise and
there is no scope for misinterpretation. But the scope of the research gets
limited. The respondents have to choose from already given alternative answers,
even though none may exactly match the respondent's perception.
The sequencing of the questions in the
questionnaire should be such that the opening questions create interest in the
respondent and are easy to answer. You would not like your respondent to be put
off by posing difficult questions right in the beginning. The questionnaire
should gradually move from relatively simple to difficult questions. The
questions should be arranged in a logical manner to facilitate the respondent's
answers and not confuse him. Personal questions about income, education,
profession should be asked in the end since many people may view them as a
violation of their privacy.
Sampling Plan: After preparing your
questionnaire or your equipment for observation, you have to identify the
source of your information, the source is also called the `population' or
`universe'. For conducting marketing research you would rarely gather
information from the entire population, rather you would select a small group
known as sample which has all the characteristics of the population, and
conduct research among the sample group. The reasons for not using the
population for research are:
a) the number of units in the population may not be known,
b) the population units may be too many in number and/or widely
dispersed thus making research an extremely time consuming process,
c) it may be too expensive to include each population item.
When
the number of population items is small and known, (say, the number of cinema
halls, colleges, government hospitals in a city) you may use the population as
your source of information. But in most cases, a representative group which has
all the characteristics of the population and is known as sample is drawn from
the population and this is used for conducting research.
Having
decided to use a sample, your next step is to draw up the sampling plan. There
are four aspects to the sampling plan:
-who is to be surveyed (sampling unit)
-how many are to be surveyed (sample size)
-how are they to be selected (sampling procedure)
-how are they to be reached (sampling media).
The
choice of sampling unit will depend on the product with which you are dealing and the
kind of information you need. In case of a product such as lipstick if
you need information on the reasons which motivate a customer to buy your
brand, your sampling unit would obviously be the actual user, i.e., a
woman. But would the population comprise all the women?
Obviously not, because all women do not use
lipsticks. You then need to collect information about women who use lipsticks
in terms of their socio-economic background, education, occupational profile
(student, housewife, professional), age and marital status. The sample
which you choose must be representative of the universe in terms of all these
characteristics. If you want to find out the monthly sale of all brands of
lipsticks in a particular market, your 'sampling unit would be the
distributors or retail outlets which deal in cosmetics. Suppose the product
being researched into is toys for the under 7-years age category. Who
would constitute your sampling unit: the child who actually plays with the toys
or the parents who exert a strong influence in the final decision to purchase a
particular toy? Here you would have to consider not only the kind of
information that you need, but also who is most likely to have it and his
ability to communicate, and choose your unit accordingly.
In
deciding on the sampling size,
you have to make a trade-off between the desired
accuracy of the results and your budget. The larger the sample, the
more accurate are the results likely to be, but the cost would also be
correspondingly high. Another factor affecting the sample size is the kind
of research which is being conducted. In exploratory research even a small
sample may be sufficient. In focus-group interviews and motivation-research
studies, very small sample sizes are sufficient because here the emphasis is on
qualitative aspects rather than accuracy of numbers.
The
choice of sampling procedure is between two kinds: probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In the former, each item of the universe has an equal chance of
being selected as a sample unit. In non-probability sampling, the researcher
selects the units to be included in the sample. Non-probability sampling is
mostly used in exploratory research where a true representation of the universe
is not important, But where true representation is important, probability or
random sampling is used. Random sampling enables the researcher to make an
accurate estimate of the population characteristic but it is more expensive
than non-random sampling. The cost that you can bear and the degree of accuracy
which you require have to he weighed to arrive at a decision.
The
fourth element in the sampling plan is the sampling procedure. How should you reach
your sample units: personally, by mail or by telephone. Personal interviewing
is most suited when there are many questions to be asked and it is important to
ensure that the questions are understood properly. Thus, wherever the questions
are little complex, personal interviewing should be used. This is also the best
method to ensure that correct answers are given which can be corroborated by
the interviewer through observation. But this technique requires a skilled
interviewer and a great deal of administration and supervision. Also, it is the
most expensive of the three methods.
The
mail questionnaire is extremely appropriate when your sampling units are
distributed over a wide geographical area and the cost of reaching them
personally is very high. However, the return rate of mail questionnaires is
usually very low, ranging between three to seven per cent. On an average, you
would have to mail 1000 questionnaires to get back thirty filled up
questionnaires. Another drawback is that you have no way of checking the
authenticity and accuracy of the response. The respondent may fill totally
wrong information and you may never be able to detect it.
The telephone
interviews combine advantages of
both personal and mail interviews. It allows you to clarify questions which may
not be clearly understood by the respondent and to reach a widely scattered
sample at a relatively low cost. But the obvious disadvantage is that your
sample is restricted to the people who have telephones. Also, you, cannot
conduct very long interviews over the telephone.
Cost: No information can be
collected without incurring cost. Before undertaking a research project its
cost should be calculated and assessed against the benefits it would yield in
improving the quality of decision-making. If the benefits outweigh the cost, it
is certainly worthwhile initiating the research. There are four kinds of costs
involved in marketing research.
Cost of data collection: The
actual cost incurred for collecting the data, which may comprise the research
organisation's fee, staff time, printing and postage of questionnaire, computer
time, etc.
Cost of time delays: The more time it takes
to provide the research results, the longer the dependent decision (s) is
delayed. In the meanwhile, the opportunity may be lost or it may become less
attractive.
Risk of adverse environment change: While the decision is pending unfavourable conditions may set in
(entry of competition) and consequently the returns may be lower.
Cost of error: Sometimes, by chance
or because of some bias or wrong choice of sampling units, there could be an
error in the results leading to expensive consequences for the company
concerned.