Marketing Research

Step 1:
• Marketers must first determine their research question (or what is it that
they need to find out?)
• Egs.:
How do American consumers feel about the vegetable juice brand, V8?
Why do consumers in the Midwest prefer powdered laundry detergent
to liquid?
How many people in the USA are aged 50 and over?
Which type of consumers want their companies to take a stand on social issues in
their advertising?

Step 2:
In attempting to answer their research question, marketers access secondary data
first
• Secondary data is data that has been collected for some purpose other than
the current one, eg. US census, internal financial reports, sales histories,
customer complaint letters, R & D documents, industry analyses,
Euromonitor (an international organization that collects and publishes
consumer information from any country of the world), A.C. Nielsen (a
syndicated market research firm which measures market share across many
categories and markets, for distribution to those firms which have
purchased membership), etc.
This is the least expensive option and often will answer the research question.
Consider the sample questions offered in Step 1, above. Which of these could be
answered using secondary data sources?
If you selected the question, "How many people in the USA are 50 years old and
over?", then you are right. The US Census contains this demographic (age)
information. It can't help you with the other questions, however.

Step 3:
However, if the study of secondary data does not answer your research question,
then you must conduct primary research: Collect data directly from
respondents.
Different methods of collecting primary data include: sampling, focus groups, mall
intercept interviews, central facility testing, personal interviews, self-reporting
questionnaires, online surveys, etc.

Regardless of the technique chosen, the marketing research must be reliable and
valid:
Reliability -- when subsequent trials produce consistent results
Eg. Interview each participant in the same way -- using the same questions, and in
the same order -- so that every research subject is tested in the same way
Validity -- when the research measures what it is supposed to measure
Eg. Ask the right questions to answer your research question
Take for example a new product concept test, where the marketer wants to see if
there is enough interest among target market consumers to actually purchase the
product. In the focus group, the interviewer describes the product and asks, "Do
you like the idea?" Let's assume that more than 90% of the focus group
participants say that they do. The marketer then concludes that the new product
should be a "go."
Except.......
Can you see an issue with validity in this focus group research?
The researcher asked if the consumers liked the product, not whether they would
purchase it. That's quite a different thing, wouldn't you say?