Slide set - I

Marketing Problems:
Doing Research
Uncertainty in marketing
decisions making
Uncertainty in Marketing
Decisions Making

Modelling uncertainty
What is a Model?
Business Problems
o How many seats IndiGO should offer on
Christmas weekend for Mumbai to Delhi flights?
o How many sales calls I need make to get 8
appointments in this week? (HDFC - 2% to 10%)
o How many admission offers should SBM-NMIMS
give in year 2023 so that they will be sure that
10 batches are formed?
How many seats IndiGO should
offer on Christmas weekend for
Mumbai to Delhi flights?
o Expected Value E(x) = 500
o SD (x) = 100
Expected Value
o What is the expected value of throwing a
dice?
o What is the expected value of the demand for
product X in the following table?

Demand: number of units Probability

220 0.3
175 0.4
230 0.2
275 0.1
Expected Value
o E(x) = (220×0.3) + (175 ×0.4) +
(230×0.2) + (275 x 0.1)

Demand: Number of units Probability

220 0.3
175 0.4
230 0.2
275 0.1
What is the probability that
IndiGo will meet its demand if
they offer 600/700/800 seats?
Expected Value E(x) = 500
SD (x) = 100
What is the probability that
IndiGo will meet its demand
if they offer 600/700/800
seats?
o Empirical Rule
(Normal Distribution Curve)
Empirical Rule
(68-95-99.7 Rule)
Empirical Rule
(Excel)

= NORM.DIST(600,500,100,TRUE)=0.84
= NORM.DIST(700,500,100,TRUE)=0.97
= NORM.DIST(800,500,100,TRUE)=0.99
What is the probability that
demand will fall between 400 &
600 seats?
Empirical Rule
(68-95-99.7 Rule)
What is the probability that
demand will fall between
250 & 600 seats?
= NORM.DIST(600,500,100,TRUE) –
NORM.DIST(250,500,100,TRUE)
How many seat should IndiGo
offer that chance of not meeting
demand is less than 1%?
Empirical Rule
(68-95-99.7 Rule)
How many seat should IndiGo
offer that chance of not meet
demand is less than 1%?

= NORM.INV(0.99,500,100)
Marketing Problems
Marketing Problems I
1. How should I segment my market using given 4
factors?
2. What is the positioning of my brand?
3. What is the impact on sales, if we place product
X on the Shelf Y in a store?
4. Which discounting method will lead to more
units of sales in sale period?
5. What types of advertising appeals/messages are
more/less effective?
Marketing Problems II
1) Can we market tailor-made discounts for “each” customer.
2) What percentage of overall purchase of customer “X” is
impulse buying?
3) How should call centers handle angry customers?
4) Can we know a customer who pays by cash at CCD/D-
Mart?
5) Can we predict a customer’s behavior for year 2025 or
say (t + n) period?
Classifying marketing
problems
Which tool can
fix these
problems?
Marketing problems: classification 1

o What is the reach of our new campaign on

Twitter and Facebook?
o Are customers happy with new McDonald
Burger launched in India in 2022?
o How many segments exist in this market?
o What is the positioning of my brand in the
market as compared to top 4 players in the
market?
Classification 1:
Descriptive Research
Marketing problems: classification 2

o Which discount type will lead to maximum

increase in sales?
o Which design of webpage/app will lead to
maximum clicks?
o Will consumers buy this newly launched product
more from stores or online?
o What will be the impact on sales, if we place
product X on the Shelf Y in a store?
Classification 2:
Causal research (A/B testing,
Experimental Research)
Marketing problems: classification 3

o If discount is increased by Rs. 15 on

Tropicana Juice, how will it impact my
weekend unit sale volume?
o How many consumers are likely to leave
Vodafone and switch to JIO in 2022?
o Will Mr. Ajit default on house loan that he has
applied for, on our website today?
o Can we know a customer who pays by cash at
CCD/D-Mart. (Eric Bradlow)
Classification 3:
Predictive analytics/research
Research Design
Research Design

A research design is a framework that has been

created to find answers to research questions.

A research design is a succinct and logical plan

to tackle established research question(s)
through the collection, interpretation, analysis,
and discussion of data.
Quantitative research designs

o Descriptive Research, which use data aggregation

and analysis to provide insight into the past and
answer:
“What has happened?”

o Causal Research: “Why things are happening?”

o Predictive Analytics, which use statistical models and

forecast techniques to understand the future and
answer:
“What could happen?”
Other Research Designs
Other Research Designs

o Review
o Meta-analysis
o Qualitative (Exploratory)
o Cross sectional vs. longitudinal
o Prescriptive
o Correlational vs. experimental
Exploratory Research

Qualitative Research
Marketing Research
Process
The Marketing Research Process
Backward Market
Research (HBR)
Backward Market Research (HBR)
o Determine how the results will be implemented
o What should report contain?
o Then, specify the analysis necessary to answer
above question
o What kind of data is required?
o Try secondary data first
o Design instruments and sampling plan
o Fieldwork and data collection
o Analysis and presentation of results