C18FM - FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING

Tutorial
Preparation Task
Marketing Research

PREP TASK:

Student Learning Objectives:

 Familiarise students with the bases of marketing research theory and processes.
 Facilitate a critical, reflective understanding of marketing research as a basis for decision-making.
 Encourage a more critical appreciation of knowledge gathering techniques within marketing.
 Encourage the use of a more formal, evidence based approach to the exposition of personal
knowledge.

Student Task:

Task a: (No need to submit answers to task a). Understanding the value needs of consumers lies at
the heart of successful marketing but useful, valid and reliable knowledge is often difficult to achieve.
You may like to search for journal articles that address the value of marketing research to help
formulate your ideas and potential insights. Whilst this is not compulsory, it would be a useful
starting point and a valuable future resource for you .

Task b: (No need to submit answers to task b - this is not compulsory). Find two willing
participants and conduct a short interview with each, separately. Your objective is to find out their
experience of a particular retail brand (you choose the brand). Before the interview, prepare a
maximum of 10 questions for each interview. For participant 1, you must prepare highly structured
questions (e.g. Do you …) and answers (e.g. ‘agree’ … ‘disagree’). For respondent 2, you must
prepare highly unstructured questions (e.g. ‘why’). Once you have your answers, reflect on their
usefulness in satisfying your objectives; the ease of construction and analysis; the experience of both
the respondent and of yourself as interviewer.

Task c: (Submission required) Complete the ‘boxed’ questions overleaf to form a basis for
this understanding.

 Submit your answers before the next Tutorial

with your name and student number clearly marked below.
 All weekly prep tasks must be submitted to qualify for the exam
 You will receive standardised feedback for the exam/essay style question.
 Keep these safe and use as a revision tool for the assessments.

This topic will form the basis of discussion in your next Tutorial.

Your Name : Hosanna Christopher

Matriculation Number : H00332720
Date Submitted : 12/10/2019

Marketing Research PREP TASK

This prep task formalises your learning by asking a series of questions relating to the exam style
question below (no need to answer this exam style question here). Provide brief answers to the
questions within the boxes.

‘Discuss the value of marketing research within effective marketing’

Now outline answers to the following questions within the boxes:

Provide at least one definition of marketing research and identify the source.
(American marketing association) – “Marketing research is the systematic gathering,
recording and analysing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and
services”
the consumers are the source

Identify 4 types of data within a Marketing Information System and suggest an advantage and
disadvantage of each.
 Market decision support system
advantage: makes communication easier
disadvantage: eliminates possibility of subjectivity
 custom research reports:
advantage: requirements can be met according to specific needs
disadvantage: low flexibility

Identify the stages/steps in a Marketing Research Process and explain which step is the most
important (‘explain’ = which one and why):
Define the problem
Determine the research design
Choose data collection method
Design the sample
Collect the data
Analyse and interpret data
Prepare the research report
The most important step in the marketing research process is to define the problem and/or
the goals of the project.
Once the correct problem is identified then the rest of the marketing research processes fall
in place
For example: when the Pepsi challenge was launched, Pepsi did blind taste tests to prove
that in blind tests Pepsi tasted better than Coca cola. Originally when the open tests were
done people chose Coca Cola over Pepsi.
Hence, in any marketing research process, defining and identifying the problem is
paramount.

Identify and describe the key features of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research:
 Quantitative: the data collected is solely in the form of numbers
 Mode of collection is very structured
 C18FM - FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING

 Mix of questionnaires and surveys

 Questions are not open ended
 Data is measurable
 Uses a large sample

 Qualitative:
 The data is collected in the form of words and pictures
 Questions are generally open ended
 Data is observable
 Mode of collection is unstructured
 Uses a small sample

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using unobtrusive measures to gather information:

 ADVANTAGES
 Behaviour can be observed first hand without being manipulated
 Quick and inexpensive
 Avoids overreliance on verbal descriptions by respondents
 More natural (non-reactivity)

 DISADVANTAGES:
 Ethical issues (privacy invasion)
 Time consuming
 Observer bias

Identify key barriers to successful market research across national frontiers:

 Keeping costs down

 Coming up with innovative ideas
 Changing customer expectations
 Protecting consumer data

Recall a personal experience of marketing research as interviewer or respondent and offer some
reflections on the process:
As respondent
I was asked to rate the quality of the service, the ambience and the things that
can be improved upon. I was also asked to give my personal details.

Explore the value/usefulness of Marketing Research:

(This question is a chance for you to collect some insights that will help you to provide a more
critical answer in your examination (e.g. think of useful and less useful elements, explain why you
think they are more or less useful, give examples…this then becomes a great crib sheet for your
revision).
 Marketing research is an effective tool to arrive at critical decisions with reference to the
launch of a product, the target market/segment and demand for the product.
 Currently with the availability of marketing data and marketing analytics, marketing
research has evolved into a very powerful strategic tool to make critical decisions.
 Marketing research can be very useful in the following areas:
 Need and demand estimation studies: it helps identify the need and demand of any product
or service
 Competitor analysis: it helps understand the current competition in that product/service
category
 Neuromarketing: through advanced neuro-imaging and neuro marketing tools, we can
understand customers positive and/or negative reactions to products, packaging, pricing, and
advertising.
 Problem identification and analysis: when a product fails in the market place, market
research can help find out the reasons behind why a product failed. Possible problems are
identified and rectified before things get out of hand.

Well done … now I’m sure that you will be only too pleased to help out those poor market
researchers when they call!