Tutorial Chapter 4: Managing Marketing Information

1. What is the difference between internal data, marketing intelligence and market
research?
i. Internal data
Internal database is any collection of business data compiled using the
internal networks. Internal databases have data regarding information on
market and consumer behavior in an electronic form.

There are four different areas a company can gather internal data from:
sales, finance, marketing, and human resources. Internal sales data is
collected to determine revenue, profit, and the bottom line.

ii. Marketing intelligence

The systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information
about consumers, competitors and developments in the marketplace. The
external data collected by a company about a specific market which it
wishes to enter, to make decisions. It is the first set of data which the
company analyses before making any investment decision.

iii. Market research

The Marketing Research is the systematic collection, analysis, and
interpretation of data pertaining to the marketing conditions.

Market research is the process of determining the viability of a new

service or product through research conducted directly with potential
customers. Market research allows a company to discover the target
market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their
interest in the product or service.
2. Explain 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of secondary data and primary data.
i. Secondary Data
 Advantages:
a. Time and Cost Effective.
The secondary data can be collected very easily where
researchers have to find the source of that data and then
collect it at all. Besides, the time and cost required to collect
this type of data is very lesser as compared to that of
primary data. Hence, it can be said that it is primary
advantage of secondary data. This thing helps the
researchers to collect the data easily and without spending
much time and financial resources.

b. Ease of Access.
The marketers visit libraries or the places where the
secondary data can be found easily. Besides, internet has
also made the secondary data also very much easier to
access and it can be said as another advantage of the
secondary data. As an example of a research study, the
literature review can be said as a secondary data which can
be accessed very easily.

c. Increased data quality.

Many secondary data sets are of high quality, especially in
terms of questionnaire and sample design. For example,
questionnaires may include standardized items and scales.
Since the dataset has probably been analyzed previously,
obvious errors and biases should have been noted and
rectified.
 Disadvantages:
a. Not Specific to One’s Needs.
The researcher cannot only rely on the secondary research
data and it is not of much use to him. It can be exemplified
better by stating a simple scenario. For example, a person or
organization who collected the data for itself will be saved as
secondary data for future researches. However, the future
researchers who will use that data as secondary data might
not find it appropriate and specific to their needs.

b. Lack of Availability.
The secondary data might not be available and accessible
easily. Sometimes, it can be the case that researcher may
not be able to find the exactly relevant and appropriate
secondary available data. Sometimes, a researcher
conducting a study on a particular topic does not find himself
in a position to find the data which addresses his research
question and purpose in a proper manner.

c. Time Lag Issues.

Information which is collected from secondary sources such
as books and historical surveys might not sync with the
times and it can change drastically. Hence, this can emerge
as another disadvantage of the secondary research data
where the time lag issue rises and as a result, it can be
highly risky for the business or a project.
ii. Primary Data
 Advantages:
a. Small Data Set.
When a small data set is sufficient, primary data is quicker
for a researcher to analyze. It does take longer to collect,
though. The time-saving advantage begins when it's time to
analyze, sort and compile the primary data into a report. This
makes it ideal for a small-scale study or pilot survey.

b. Better accuracy.
Primary data is much more accurate because it is directly
collected from a given population.

c. Up-to-date information.
The primary market research is a great source of latest and
up-to-date information as you collect it directly from the field
in real time. Usually, secondary data is not so up-to-date and
recent.

 Disadvantages:
a. More expensive.
It could be very expensive to obtain primary data collection
because the marketer or the research team has to start from
the beginning. It means they have to follow the whole study
procedure, organizing materials, process and etc.

b. Time consuming.
It is a matter of a lot of time to conduct the research from the
beginning to the end. Often it is much longer in comparison
with the time needed to collect secondary data.
 c. Can have a lot of limits.
Primary data is limited to the specific time, place or number
of participants and etc. To compare, secondary data can
come from a variety of sources to give more details.

3. Explain the research approaches which can be used during primary data
collection.
 Observational research.
Involves gathering primary data by observing relevant people,
actions, and situations

 Survey research.
The process of conducting research using surveys that are sent to
survey respondents. The data collected from surveys is then
statistically analyzed to draw meaningful research conclusions.

 Ethnographic research
Qualitative research study looking at the social interaction of users
in a given environment. This research provides an in-depth insight
into the user’s views and actions along with the sights and sounds
they encounter during their day. It provides the researcher with an
understanding of how those users see the world and how they
interact with everything around them.
4. Explain research instruments used during primary data collection
 Questionnaires.
Consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering information
from respondents. Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written
interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone, computer or
post. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of close-ended questions and
open-ended questions. Open-ended, long-form questions offer the
respondent the ability to elaborate on their thoughts.

Questionnaires provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining

large amounts of information from a large sample of people.

 Mechanical instruments.
This research activity may involve equipment and a research process to track
the user’s eye movements, mouse/pointer movements and click stream, as
well as his or her impressions of the Web site user experience. Marketing
research on media and messaging may use a variety of devices to track
research participants’ media usage habits or their responses to messages
and images as they view an advertisement, program, or speech.

 Neuromarketing.
The formal study of the brain's responses to advertising and branding, and
the adjustment of those messages based on feedback to elicit even better
responses. Brands such as Campbell’s Soup, Gerber, and Frito-Lay have
used neuromarketing to restyle their packaging designs.
5. Differentiate between the following:
 Exploratory Research
Defined as a research used to investigate a problem which is not clearly
defined. It is conducted to have a better understanding of the existing
problem, but will not provide conclusive results. For such a research, a
researcher starts with a general idea and uses this research as a medium to
identify issues, that can be the focus for future research. An important aspect
here is that the researcher should be willing to change his/her direction
subject to the revelation of new data or insight. Such a research is usually
carried out when the problem is at a preliminary stage. It is often referred to
as grounded theory approach or interpretive research as it used to answer
questions like what, why and how.

For example: Consider a scenario where a juice bar owner feels that
increasing the variety of juices will enable increase in customers, however he
is not sure and needs more information. The owner intends to carry out an
exploratory research to find out and hence decides to do an exploratory
research to find out if expanding their juices selection will enable him to get
more customers of if there is a better idea.
 Descriptive Research
Aims to accurately and systematically describe a population, situation or
phenomenon. It can answer what, when, where, when and how questions, but
not why questions.

For example, an apparel brand that wants to understand the fashion

purchasing trends among New York buyers will conduct a demographic
survey of this region, gather population data and then conduct descriptive
research on this demographic segment. The research will then uncover
details on “what is the purchasing pattern of New York buyers”, but not cover
any investigative details on “why” the patterns exits. Because for the apparel
brand trying to break into this market, understanding the nature of their
market is the objective of the study.

 Causal Research
Defined as an attempt to connect ideas to understand cause and effect, so
researchers can try to explain what is going on. This type of research has the
potential to get to the bottom of deeper issues, such as why products are
returned or why a certain target market doesn’t understand the service. One
variable gets manipulated to see if it changes the outcome. This could be as
simple as putting a service in a test market at two different price points to see
if purchase rate is highly correlated with price.