ch3 Research Tool for

understanding customers
market research
collect -> analyse -> report: (1)consumers (2)market segments/niches
(3)effectiveness of marketing initiatives
information used to
identify problems & opportunities
generate/refine/evaluate marketing actions
monitor marketing performance
Good market research:
max sales
identify future products
identify potential treats
understand consumer
consumer feedback
help determining price
When/Why do research?
1. Swot
internal - strengths/weakness
external - opportunities/threats (always investigate)
2. reduce uncertainty (understand the customers and market trend first)
marketing myopia -> danger
3. new entry into a market (e.g. china brand want to enter korea market ->
understand the need of that market first)
product, brand
e.g. FILA - from Italy to Korea -> Korea has a need for fashion shoes ->
FILA sell fashion shows in Korea -> huge success (Korea FILA earns more
than Global FILA)

Research & Marketing Mix [4Ps]

product
 explore product development efforts (R&D)
examine products of your competition
product position and brand equity
Place
distribution channel will give customers best access
best place to sell
location of outlets (online/offline/own store)
Promotion
trends in sports promotion
effectiveness of certain types of promotional activities
SBJ (sports business journal) -> talk about new trends of promoting
trends [secondary data]
Price
competitors product/price mix
production costs
find out how much people are willing to pay for your product
test people's price sensitivity

Market research process

define a problem/opportunity -> choose research design
(exploratory/descriptive/causal) -> identify data collection techniques
(primary/secondary) -> identify data collection form (open/close/scale-ended) ->
sampling strategy - (probability/non-probability) -> analyse & interpret data ->
conduct report
1. Defining problem/opportunity
example - problems of opportunities an organisation confronting
ocean park: to increase customers on weekdays -> study non-local visitors as
target market
Standard Chartered HK Marathon: first time runners not coming back
Research objectives - identify what you are trying to achieve -> determine what
info needed to address
org often outsource market researcher, issues addressed at an initial meeting:
background of organisation
background of past market research
targeted population of interest
 clear expectation (timeframe & cost)
2. Choosing Research Design
exploratory design - identify why from scratch
qualitative approach - conduct individual interviews
descriptive design
quantitative approach (eg. mean, range, variance, correlations)
characteristics /differences of target groups
causal design - cause & effect
eg. Effects of fan motivations and fan loyalty on purchase intention
precedence (X rise, Y rise)
concomitant
Spurious association (affected by other factors)
3. Identify Data Collection Techniques
general market data (market size, demographics, purchase behaviour, data
on future trends)
data on individual consumers (purchase history, habits, media usage)
data on competitors (price lists, promotional strategies, comparisons)
Seconadary sources Secondary sources Primary sources
[external] [internal]
- government
reports/docs -personal observation
-standardised sports -sales records &
marketing information accounting records -focus group
-surveys/questionnaires
studies (eg. American -inquiries, letters, -personal interviews
Sports Data Inc.) complaints
-Trade and industry -website registrations -mystery shoppers
-open letter
associations
-journals
Focus group
number of people, number of groups, where, when
give good incentives for interviewees
composition of the group (who to be invited to foster a good discussion)
Survey
cross-sectional study (different groups compared at same time)
 longitudinal study (same group compared over time)
think about interventions
4. Designing data collection forms
response validity & reliability: survey organisation:
format:
introduction
general description
open- survey length offer incentives
ended specific & focused stress anonymity
closed- simple wordings & item sequencing
ended universal terminology easy question first
scaled- no assumptions / demographics
ended leading questions questions put first
or last
pre-test (pilot study)
5. Choose a sampling strategy
sample - subset of population of interest - gather to estimate some characteristics
of that population
non-probability sampling
convenience
judgement - based on collector's own experience and knowledge
quota - e.g. same number from each group
probability sampling [random]
6. Data analysis & interpretation
analysis result examples:
60% of MMA fans are age 18-39
1/3 of MMA fans are women
19 percent more likely to make $100,000 plus a year (52.4% had house
income over $50,000)
51.1 percent have some college degree or higher
7. Prepare a final report