Applied

Marketing
Session 4:
Gathering
Marketing
Information
Role of Information in Decision Making

Marketers use marketing research to gather data. Marketing research is an umbrella

term covering all the research marketers undertake including PESTEL, Competitors,
Customers, Suppliers, Intermediaries, Media, Product, Price, Place (channels),
Promotion, Service, and so on.

Marketing Research Mix

Purpose identifies clearly what the research is for. This will depend on the question
that the organisation wants to answer. For example, what attitudes do customers
have towards specific brands or products?

Population refers to whom the research needs to be carried out with. First a
‘population’ is determined – a group of people that the research is going to examine
e.g. high frequency buyers of a product/service. A ‘census’ would cover the whole
population but this is not always necessary and is a more costly approach. An
alternative to a ‘census’ is to carry out a process called ‘sampling’ which involves the
selection of a sample of respondents from the defined target population. The
sampling process involves clearly specifying who should be involved in the research,
the total number of respondents required and the method for selecting those
respondents.
Procedure considers the process that will be used to find out the answers to the
purpose questions from the population. There are a variety of different approaches to
gathering marketing information that are discussed over the next few slides.

Publication involves a plan for using the results. Marketing research is carried out to
inform decision making and therefore it is vital for findings to be published and
communicated to the relevant people within the organisation.

Population: Approaches to Sampling

Methods for sampling are grouped as either probability sampling methods (an
objective and systematic procedure) or non-probability sampling methods (a
subjective procedure) for choosing respondents from the population.

Probability sampling methods involve an objective and systematic procedure for

choosing respondents from the population. Every member of the population of
interest has a known probability of being selected. This approach means that the
survey results can be projected to the total population and the information obtained
is a relatively representative group of the population of interest. It can be a more
costly and time consuming approach than non-probability sampling.

Probability sampling methods include:

• Simple random sampling – respondents are chosen using random numbers so
every possible member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for
the survey.
• Systematic sampling – similar to the above but instead of using a random number
generation it uses a ‘skip interval’ e.g. every 4th, 5th or 6th person. The respondents
are then selected on the basis of the skip interval.
• Stratified random sampling – each chosen sample is forced to contain potential
respondents from each of the key segments of the population e.g. from each age
range in the population or gender. The importance of each segment can be reflected
in the sample.
• Cluster sampling – this approach involves clusters of the population to be
selected at random and then one (one-stage cluster sampling) or more (two-stage
cluster sampling) of the units in the chosen clusters are studied.

Non-probability sampling involves a subjective procedure for selecting respondents,

resulting in the probability of selection for each member of the population of interest
being unknown. This is popular for a large proportion of marketing research studies
as this approach is quicker and less costly to execute than probability sampling. The
obvious limitation is that the researcher does not know the degree to which the
sample is representative of the population.

Non-probability sampling methods include:

• Convenience sampling – the convenience of the researcher forms the basis for
this approach, as they approach the most accessible members of the population of
interest e.g. stopping people in the street,

• Judgement sampling – the researcher consciously selects a sample that he/she

considers most appropriate for the study. This is different from convenience
sampling as it involves the researcher making a deliberate choice of each sample
member so that consideration is given to the sample representing the population.

• Quota sampling – the researcher selects segments within the population of

interest e.g. age groups.

• Snowball sampling – this approach is used when the target audience for the
research makes up a very small percentage of the total population e.g. people with
unusual hobbies or interests. Respondents are identified and selected based on
referrals of initial responders. This helps in situations where potential respondents
are difficult to find.

Primary Research
“Data collected by a programme of observation, qualitative, or quantitative research
either separately or in combination to meet the specific objectives of a marketing
research project”

Primary research is data that is collected for a specific project and is not currently
available from any other source. It is split into two broad types, qualitative and
quantitative data.

Qualitative Research
“Research that is undertaken using an unstructured research approach with a small
number of carefully selected individuals to produce non quantifiable insights into
behaviour, motivations and attitudes.”

Three Basic Approaches to Qualitative Research:

In-Depth Interviews
Focus Groups
Observation

Key Features of Qualitative Research

• Less structured
• Small samples
• Great care taken in the recruitment of each respondent
• Not quantifiable
• Deeper and more penetrating insights
• Especially good at understanding the ‘why’
• Needs highly skilled researchers to be done effectively
• Used primarily for exploratory research, new products and creative development
Individual Depth Interviews
Interviews that are conducted face-to-face with individuals, where the subject matter
is explored in detail using an unstructured and flexible approach driven by a topic
guide.

Focus Groups
Depth interviews with a group of people interacting with each other. A moderator is
key to the success of this.

Observing Behaviour
No questions are asked of participants. Measures behaviour and not the reason for
it. Measurable Behaviour can include the following:

 Physical Action (shopping, Watching TV,)

 Verbal Behaviour (conversation with customer service)
 Spatial Pattern (traffic flows on a road)
 Temporal Pattern (amount of time spent queuing)
 Physical Objects (brands in a consumer’s shopping bag)

Quantitative Research
“Research that is undertaken using a structured approach with a sample of the
population to produce quantifiable insights into behaviour, motivations and attitudes.”

Key Features
 More structured
 Larger samples
 More easily replicated, and direct comparisons can be made between the
results
 Able to quantify the incidence of behaviours, motivations, and attitudes in the
population under investigation
 Analysis will tend to be statistical in nature
Survey Methods
Quantitative methods involve questionnaires or surveys and are defined by the
method used to collect the data. It involves the structured questioning of participants
and the recording of responses. They can be done verbally, in writing or via digital
technology.

Omnibus Surveys
“Data collection approach that is undertaken at regular intervals for a changing group
of clients who share the costs involved in the survey’s set up, sampling and
interviewing.”

Omnibus surveys represent a halfway house between secondary and primary

research – it gives an organisation access to low-cost primary data that is
representative and fast to report on.

Organisation works with a specialist organisation like YouGov or Ipsos for example,
that carry out regular surveys and only pays for questions asked but has no control
over question order of sequencing.

Experimental Research
“Research that measures causality and involves the researcher changing one
variable (e.g., price, packaging,) while observating the effect of those changes on
another variable (e.g., Sales) and controlling the extraneous variables.”

The Delphi Method

A forecasting method based on the results of questionnaires sent to a panel of
experts. Several rounds of questionnaires are sent out and the anonymous
responses are aggregated and shared with the group after each round.

Test Your Knowledge

Quantitative research attempts to answer which one of the following?
a. How often do you buy? b. Why do you think that?
c. How does that make you feel? d. What makes you say that?
Secondary Research
“Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose
other than the current research project”

Common Issues with Data

• Availability – is the data needed available?

• Accuracy – is it accurate?
Must consider: collection methods, sample size, methodology used, and
organisation, who undertook research/captured the data.
• Applicability – ‘data fit’ issues, units or measures used.
• Incomplete – not all data is available.
• Comparability – problem when integrating data from different sources.
— Must consider: reliability, measurement unit, methodology and reliability.

Internal Secondary Research Sources

• Customer databases – behavioural data, volunteered data and profiling data
• Sales figures
• Operational data – stock levels, etc
• Customer satisfaction results
• Advertising spend
• Customer complaints records
• Customer feedback (email, telephone etc.)
• Effectiveness data from promotional campaigns
• Marketing research reports from past studies
• Onsite analytics (social media, web)
External Secondary Research Sources

Google Alerts
Google Alerts are a regular feed of new information posted to the internet from
websites, blogs and social networking sites – the user can set up the alert for any
topic of interest.
Google Alerts can be set up to:
• Keep up-to-date on a competitor or industry
• Monitor a developing news story
• Review what’s been said about your company or products (or a competitors)

Social Media Dashboards

A social media dashboard is an organisational tool to help organisations manage
their activity on social media.
Instead of having to go to each site to post messages or to see what customers and
the competition are talking about, the dashboard brings it all together in one place.
It enables organisations to sort through the media clutter and pinpoint exactly what
they need.
Some of the best social dashboards are often specialised for only one social media
(for example, Tweetdeck and Twitter), which can create higher workloads.

Big Data
Big data is a term used to describe the exponential growth, availability and use of
information generated around us. Every digital process and social media exchange
produces it – often in real time.
Big Data: Its Value to Marketing
By combining big data with an integrated marketing strategy, it can make a
substantial impact in these key areas:

Customer engagement. Big data can deliver insight into not just who an
organisation’s customers are, but where they are, what they want, how they want to
be contacted and when.

Customer retention and loyalty. Big data can help discover what influences
customer loyalty and what keeps them coming back again and again.

Marketing optimisation/performance. With big data, organisations can determine

the optimal marketing spend across multiple channels, as well as continuously
optimise marketing programs through testing, measurement and analysis.

Data and Information

DATA - raw (needs processing to be meaningful)

INFORMATION - data processed to provide specific information

INTELLIGENCE - pieced together related information to provide a bigger picture

INSIGHT – gain a deeper understanding of ways consumers, markets and

marketing work

Impact of Data on Marketing Planning

Marketing Information System (MkIS)

A Marketing Information System has been defined as a system in which marketing
information is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed to managers
according to their informational needs on a regular planned basis (Jobber and
Rainbow, 1977).

The organisation needs to understand its information needs in order to gather the
relevant data from the marketing environment. The data from the marketing
environment is represented in blue on the left.

The Marketing Information System in the middle of the slide represents the
organisation’s system of taking the data collected and developing it into actionable
knowledge relevant to the decision making for its marketing managers.

The decisions that the marketing managers are making relate to Marketing Planning
as shown in pink.

The Marketing Information System involves three core and essential components,
namely:
• Technology – this considers technology infrastructure required to manage the
process and that it is reliable.
• The data – this considers the way in which it is collected, disseminated and
analysed.
• The personnel who both use and maintain it – including the behaviour of those
individuals and the structures in place to share knowledge.
The system is the interface between the environment and the Marketing Managers .it
uses marketing intelligence, internal records, marketing research and information
analysis to create relevant information for decision making.
MKiS: Internal Databases
Consumer and market information obtained from company sources
— Financial statements, sales records, costs, cash flow
— Operations reports; production schedules, inventories and shipments
— Customer transactions, demographics and buyer behaviour
— Customer satisfaction and service issues
MkIS: Marketing Intelligence
Marketing Intelligence - publically available information about competitors and
developments in the marketing environment
• Data could be collected from employees, online research, trade shows, industry
reports, social media, information from suppliers and resellers or even observations
• It also includes environmental scanning which is:
“the process of monitoring and analysing the marketing environment of a company.”
MkIS: Marketing Research
Marketing research – formal studies for specific marketing situations facing the
organisation. Could be used for:
• Understanding specific purchase behaviour
• Assessing market potential
• Measuring effectiveness of pricing, distribution or promotional activities
MkIS Uses
• To generate new knowledge or access from external databases
• To represent knowledge in documents, databases, software and promotions
• To embed knowledge in new processes, products and services
• To diffuse existing marketing information throughout an organisation
• To apply accessible knowledge to effective marketing decision-making
• To facilitate knowledge growth through market research and competitor intelligence
• To measure the value of marketing knowledge and assess their impact