Marketing Communication Research

Market Research
- Information about consumers (perceptions, preferences, motivations, KAP)
- Information about competition
Message Research
- Pre-test (campaign development)
- Post-test (campaign tracking)
Media Research
- Target media-users habits

Planning cycle
1. Where are we? : Purpose: Identifying the current status, market position, and performance metrics. Analyzing market
trends, competitor activities, and external factors impacting the business. Key Activities: Swot analysis and market
research, gathering data on market dynamics, consumer preferences, and competitive landscape.
2. Where do we want to be? : Purpose: Clearly degining measurable and achievable goals, articulating the long-term
vision and mission statement of the organization. Key activities: Goal setting: defining specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, and time-bound smart objectives. Mission and vision development: crafting statements that
guide the organization’s purpose and aspirations.
3. How do we get there? : Purpose: Creating plans and strategies to achieve the set objectives and allocating human,
financial, and other resources effectively. By outlining high level approach to achieve objectives, detailing specific
actions and initiatives to implement startegies, allocate financial resources to support the plans.
4. Are we getting better? : Assesing progress toward objectives and goals and identifying areas for improvement and
optimization. By establishing metrics to measure success, regularly reviewing performance against tagets and
gathering feedback, making adjustments and refining strategies based on results.
Market Research
1. Purpose
- Identify target consumer.: Understand the characteristics, needs, and preferences of the target consumer. Tailor
products, services, and marketing strategies to align with consumer expectations.
- Develop a positioning strategy: Determine the unique value proposition and positioning of a product or brand in the
market. Create a distinct market presence and effectively communicate the brand's value to the target audience.
2. Type of Research Methodology
- Market activity (internal data, secondary data):
- Survey data (perceptual maps, demographics, psychographics)
- Motivational research (in-depth interviews, laddering, focus groups, projective techniques)

Message Research
1. Pre-testing
- Evaluate/improve communication executions (diagnostic ability): Identifying strengths and weaknesses in
communication elements before the campaign launch.
- Test finished ads before media release (predictive ability): Assessing how the audience is likely to respond to the ads
before they are officially released.
- Differ on types of measures, and types of methods to collect data:
2. Post-testing
- Evaluate effectiveness of communication executions in conjuction with communication objectives (After launching a
mobile app ad campaign, conducting online surveys to asses how well the communication objectives were met and if
the audience found the ad effective. If the post-testing reveals shortcomings, the company can make adjustments to
future ads or campaigns)
- Differ on types of measures, and types of methods to collect data
3. Measures (fast food adv evaluation)
- Stopping power: Brand recognition, recall (by surveying consumers about recently viewed fast food ads to determine
how well they remember the brands)
- Transmission power: Message recognition, recall, comprehension (by asking consujmers about specific features or
offers mentioned in the ad)
- Persuasive power: Feature recall/memory, attitudes, believability, likeability, emotions, intention, action (toward the
brand based on consumer responses to the adv)
- Locking power: day-after recall (conducting that recal survey to measure how well the ad stays in the audience
memory)
 4. Pre-test Methods (laboratory testing for a new drink advertsiment)
- Laboratory testing (showing a new energy drink ad to a group of participants in a controlled environment, using
methods like a joystick to measure interest and gauging responses to understand perceptions and recall)
Audience view “test” ad along with others
Audience view television shows with ads, give responses, joy stick methods to express interest, views/perceptions,
recall, recognition, response time
- Physiological testing (utilizing psychological measures like pupil dilation to gather additional data)
Pupil dilation
Galvanic Skin Response
Eye movement
EEG
5. Post-test Methods (tracking studies for a fashion brand adv)
- Tracking Studies (Following the launch of a new fashion brand ad, continuously monitoring communication volume
and content alongside competitive activity.)
- Communication (content and volume) tracked alongside competitive activity as well as brand recall, recognition, trials,
repurchase measures.
- Test market: Broadcasting ads in specific markets and tracking consumer responses for inquiries and sales.
- On-air testing: Testing commercials while they are broadcast, followed by consumer interviews post-viewing.
- Day-after recall: Collecting consumer responses on recall and recognition the day after the ad is broadcast.

Some other Issues

- Selection of consumers for responses: Choosing a representative sample that accurately reflects the target audience's
diversity and preferences. Random sampling, stratified sampling, or targeted selection based on specific criteria.
- Qualitative v/s quantitative research: Determining the appropriate balance between qualitative methods (e.g., focus
groups, in-depth interviews) for deeper insights and quantitative methods (e.g., surveys) for broader data collection.
Qualitative research for in-depth understanding, and quantitative research for statistical analysis and generalizability
- Consumer feedback – responses to existing execution v/s new campaign ideas: Assessing consumer feedback on
existing ads versus gauging responses to new campaign concepts. Combining feedback on current executions with
reactions to new ideas for a comprehensive understanding.
- How many alternatives to test: Determining the optimal number of alternatives to test during pre-testing to ensure
thorough evaluation without overwhelming respondents. Testing a range of alternatives while avoiding survey fatigue.
- Interpretation of results: execution v/s positioning strategy: Distinguishing between results related to the execution
of the message (e.g., visual elements, tone) and the broader positioning strategy. Understanding whether issues lie in
the execution itself or if adjustments are needed in the overall brand positioning.
Media Research
- Often down for the category, across categories
- Focus on the media habits of consumers
Types of media, specific vehicles used
Frequency, time spent
Program v/s ad viewership
Reach, frequency estimation
- Ongoing research to track changes every week
- Profiling consumers
Demographics, geographic, psychographics, brand usage
Ethical Issues
1. Ethics: Moral principles and values
2. Advertising specific products: promoting products that may have ethical implications (e.g. controversial
pharmaceuticals)., advertising to specific target groups: ethical concerns related to targeting vulnerable groups or
stereotyping, advertising in a certain way: and assessing the ethical implications of certain advertising methods.
3. Truth in advertising
- What is truth? : examining what constitutes truth in advertising and the boundaries of deception.
- Deception…. stealth marketing: addressing concerns related to deceptive advertising practices, including stealth
marketing tactics.
- BMW: Seamless transition!: analyzing instances where advertsing seamlessly transitions between reality and fiction.
4. Offensive advertising
- Certain products: addressing concerns related to advertising certain products deemed offensive, sexual or nudity:
examining ethical considerations surrounding sexually explicit content in advertising, religious and cultural
sensitivities: navigating potential clashes with religious or cultural beliefs.
5. Advertising for certain “harmful” products
- Tobacco, Liquor: assessing the ethical implications of promoting products with potential health risks.
6. Advertsing to Vulnerable targets
- Children, elderly: analyzing ethical concerns associated with advertising to vulnerable demographics.
7. Cultural and social
- Influence social values and culture.: examing how advertsing shapes social values and cultural norms.
- Promotes materialism. : ethical considerations related to promoting excessive consumerism.
- Promotes “unwanted” products.
- Intrusive, cluttering, “commercializing” open spaces: ethical concerns related to turning public spaces into
commercialized environments.
8. Stereotyping People
- Women, ethnic groups, specific roles: addressing ethical issues associated with stereotyping in advertsing.
Corporate Citizenship
Maybe there is not really a trade-off between being “good” and being profitable.
- Consumers want to do business with “good organizations.”
- Non-profits are seen as warm and caring.
- Fair-trade, organic, and employee-focused are good and profitable: Whole Foods, and Tom’s Shoes.: Those examples,
demonstrating that companies embracing fair trade, organic practices, and employee-focused initiatives can be both
ethical and profitable.
- Traceability-my new research : highlighting the importance of traceability in ensuring ethical sourcing and production.
Ethical Issues
9. Organizational values and ethics vs personal values and ethics: navigating the intersection and potential conflicts
between organization.