MBA 7003

Lecture 4
Market Research
 MBA Marketing: start of level 2
Level 1
Marketing
Putting Marketing into a business context. an
Understanding it’s contribution to business and introduction
the extent of what it is, what it is not and what it (L1 & L2)
could be.

Level 2
Consumer
Marketing Marketing
behaviour &
What activity do we need to do and what environment research
STP
information do we need to collect before we (L3) (L4)
(L5)
can set marketing strategy?

Level 3
Marketing
strategy
What is marketing strategy (L6)
and how is developed?

Level 4
Marketing Price, place
How is marketing strategy Product & promotion Services Branding
mix and B2B (L10) (L11)
operationalised into activity to (L8) (L9)
(L7)
ensure the organisation benefits?
 MBA Marketing: Week 3: Marketing Environment
Why is it important?
The world changes, the business environment
changes, so a business must also change!

Marketing
Micro-environment? Macro-environment?
environment

Customers Political
Intermediaries Economic
Suppliers Social / Cultural
Competitors (including demographic)
Stakeholders Technical
How to use the analysis? Environmental
Legal
Avoided making a listing of un-related points.
Used each of the PESTEL and Micro sectionsin context.
Listed key and important evidence to support your case for change, growth etc.
Stated the positive / negative implications for the change, growth etc.
 MBA Marketing: Last week
Level 1
Marketing
Putting Marketing into a business context. an
Understanding it’s contribution to business and introduction
the extent of what it is, what it is not and what it (L1 & L2)
could be.

Level 2
Consumer
Marketing Marketing
behaviour &
What activity do we need to do and what environment research
STP
information do we need to collect before we (L3) (L4)
(L5)
can set marketing strategy?

Level 3
Marketing
strategy
What is marketing strategy (L6)
and how is developed?

Level 4
Marketing Price, place
How is marketing strategy Product & promotion Services Branding
mix and B2B (L10) (L11)
operationalised into activity to (L8) (L9)
(L7)
ensure the organisation benefits?
 MBA Marketing: Week 4: Lecture 4
Market research: what it is and what it’s not?

The role of ethics in market

research? Value and role of market research?
Market
Research

Steps in market research process? Areas and types of market research?

 Lecture 4A
Market Research Background
 Lecture 4B
Market Research Process
Market Research
in context!
A new range of ready meals centred around
baked beans!
Marketing research defined!
Marketing research defined
“Process of making investigations into the
characteristics of given markets, e.g. location, size,
growth potential and observed attitudes” (CIM, 2014)

“Research activity which provides information relating

to marketing operations. The term embraces
conventional market research as well as motivation
studies, advertising effectiveness, packaging
effectiveness, logistics, media research and any analysis
of internal and external statistics of relevance” (CIM, 2014)
Charlie Bighams Innovation: why research the market?
Value and role of Market
Research!
Charlie Bighams Innovation: the value of market research?
Value and role of marketing research
• Through marketing research an organisation can
• Understand the marketing environment (Level 2)
• Identify market opportunities (Level 3)
• It will provide vital information for key marketing decisions
(Level 3)
• Aid with planning and decision making (Level 3)
• Reduce risk (Level 4)
• Provide information on customers (type, feedback etc.)
(Level 4)
• Provides information on effectiveness of marketing
activities (Level 4)
• Investigate specific problems and issues (Level 4)

(Masterson et al, 2017; Kotler et al, 2013; Palmer, 2012)

Charlie Bighams Innovation: the answer to all our problems?
Criticisms of marketing research
• Critics say waste of time and money due to:
• Research design often being poor
• Results often inconclusive
• Results often ignored, misinterpreted, or misused
• Market may have moved by time get results
• Respondents may lie or not understand questions
Areas of Market Research!
 MBA Marketing: areas of research
Level 1
Marketing
Putting Marketing into a business context. an
Understanding it’s contribution to business and introduction
the extent of what it is, what it is not and what it (L1 & L2)
could be.

Level 2
Consumer
Marketing Marketing
behaviour &
What activity do we need to do and what environment research
STP
information do we need to collect before we (L3) (L4)
(L5)
can set marketing strategy?

Level 3
Marketing
strategy
What is marketing strategy (L6)
and how is developed?

Level 4
Marketing Price, place
How is marketing strategy Product & promotion Services Branding
mix and B2B (L10) (L11)
operationalised into activity to (L8) (L9)
(L7)
ensure the organisation benefits?
Charlie Bighams Innovation: Scope of research?
Areas of marketing research
• Marketing environment
• Competitors
• Consumer behaviour
• Business buying behaviour
• Distribution
• Products and brands
• Pricing
• Advertising and promotions
• Consumer Media habits
(Masterson et al, 2017; Palmer, 2012; Blythe, 2006)
Areas market information
system!
Marketing Information System
(MIS)
• Marketing research is part of an organisation’s
marketing intelligence system (MIS).
• Provides a continuously updated stream of up to date
information
• Built around the needs of managers
• Consists of 4 elements

(Blythe, 2006, p215)

 MBA Marketing: Week 4: Lecture 4
Market research: what it is and what it’s not?

The role of ethics in market

research? Value and role of market research?
Market
Research

Steps in market research process? Areas and types of market research?

 Lecture 4B
Market Research Process
 MBA Marketing: Week 4: Lecture 4
Market research: what it is and what it’s not?

The role of ethics in market

research? Value and role of market research?
Market
Research

Steps in market research process? Areas and types of market research?

The marketing research process

(Baines et al, 2012,

p.128)
 Stage 1: Define problem

Stage 1: Define the problem

• What is the actual problem and what is it you want to find out?
• Defining the problem gives the researcher direction
• Sets objectives
• Sets questions
(Baines et al, 2012)
Research Question: Is there an available market for
Diabetic Ready Meals and, if so, how can it be addressed
by Charlie Bighams?
 Stage 2: Decide research plan

Stage 2: Decide the research plan

• Decide how we are going to gather the information.
• Decisions to be made:
• Primary or Secondary research or both?
• Category of research
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
• Qualitative or Quantitative research methods?
Research Question and Methods: Is there an available
market for Diabetic Ready Meals (secondary) and
(primary, qualitative) and, if so, how can it be addressed
by Charlie Bighams (primary qualitative and
quantitative)?
Phase 1: Is there an available market for Diabetic Ready Meals: A. Secondary: Ready
Meals Market, Trends of Diabetes in UK and B. primary, qualitative: strains of cooking
and eating with Type 2 Diabetes and attractiveness of ready meals as a solution).

Phase 2: if so, how can it be addressed by Charlie Bighams: A: (Primary qualitative:

appeal and adaption of Charlie Bighams ready meal solution and B. (primary
quantitative: quantify final market size, pricing, channel, media consumption, purchase
criteria)?
Secondary Data
• A.K.A. Desk research
• Information that already exists and has been conducted
by another individual/organisation for another purpose
(Kotler et al, 2013)

• Sources of secondary data:

• Internal sources
• Competitor sources
• External secondary sources
• Official sources
• Non-official sources
• The press
• Trade associations and professional institutes
Secondary data
• Advantages:
• Cheaper
• Easy to access
• May answer research
question
• May highlight difficulties
for when conducting
primary research
• Wide range of data
available
• More immediate
• Disadvantages:
• Reliability
• Quality of research
• Not specific to research
question
• May be out of date
• Incomplete information
• May be inaccurate
Social trends : changing consumer preference for ready meals and limited forecasted market growth

Implications: Bighams sales growth is threatened by reducing market growth, an increasing wish to cook from fresh ingredients
but healthy fish and vegetable options offer an opportunity:

Home cooking remains the key competition for ready meals, 43% of buyers and eaters of ready meals or 
ready-to-cook foods saying that not cooking meals from scratch makes them feel guilty.*

Ready meals are seen as a nice treat by 53% of people who eat and buy ready meals/ready-to-cook foods. *

Fourth-biggest purchase driver for ready meals is health , cited by 44% of buyers, after taste, price and how
convenient it is.*

27% and 29% of eaters and buyers cite fish or chunks of vegetables as the main ingredients holds marked potential for
driving interest in ready meals/ready-to-cook foods.*

Ready meals are seen as a good route into trying new cuisines, with 50% of buyers of ready meals/ready-to-cook foods
buying them to do so.*

Limited forecasted growth in total market size for ready meals (by volume in millions of Kilograms) volume terms, for of ready meals
(2019: 109, 2020: 564, 2021: 574, 2022: 572, 2023: 568).*

* Source: Mintel Ready Meals and Ready-to-Cook Foods: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK - July 2020
Social trends : in the UK Type 2 diabetes is growing significantly in the general population each year

Implications: An opportunity for Bighams. People with type 2 diabetes have to eat very carefully, eating a specialised
low carbohydrate diet (fish, vegetables etc). The market is large. The opportunity is to make a low carb diet convenient and
accessable for those with or those who want to prevent type 2 diabetes.

One in ten over 40s now has Type 2 diabetes, and the number of people living with diabetes in all its forms
in the UK has reached 4.7 million. The number of people affected by diabetes is expected to reach 5.5 million by 2030 (25.02.19,
Diabetes UK).

Following a low carbohydrate diet is important if diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and helps prevent getting diabetes
in the first place (https://www.diabetes.org.uk/preventing-type-2-diabetes/ten-tips-for-healthy-eating).

To prevent type 2 diabetes or control it individuals should eat chicken and fish, plenty of vegatables (chickpeas, beans and lentals)
and minimise the intake processed meat, red meat, fatty foods etc (https://www.diabetes.org.uk/preventing-type-2-diabetes/
ten-tips-for-healthy-eating).

Example meals are difficult to source and cook from scratch: herby mackerel, spinach and corn fritters, chickpea and tuna salad,
minted aubergine with spinach and pine nuts green kale lentil soup (https://www.diabetes.org.uk/preventing-type-2-diabetes/
ten-tips-for-healthy-eating).

Tracking daily carbohydrates is a problem and is tricky. Bigham’s ready calculated meals are an alternative to having to plan, keep
Looking up and forecasting daily carbohydrate intake (www.carbsandcals.com ).
Phase 1: Is there an available market for Diabetic Ready Meals: A. Secondary: Ready
Meals Market, Trends of Diabetes in UK and B. primary, qualitative: strains of cooking
and eating with Type 2 Diabetes and attractiveness of ready meals as a solution).

Phase 2: if so, how can it be addressed by Charlie Bighams: A: (Primary qualitative:

appeal and adaption of Charlie Bighams ready meal solution and B. (primary
quantitative: quantify final market size, pricing, channel, media consumption, purchase
criteria)?
 Stage 2: Decide research plan
Primary Data
• A.K.A. Field research
• Information that is collected specifically for the
research task in question (Masterson et al 2017)

Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Tailored to specific research  More expensive
problem  Can take longer
 Up-to-date  By the time some data is
 Researcher has control collected and analysed data
 Online data collected may be out of date
quickly  Risk of competitors finding
 Data more likely to be out your intentions
reliable
 Stage 2: Decide research plan
Primary data
• Approaches to collecting primary data:

• Quantitative methods: Gathers numerical

data and seeks numerical answers, usually Numbers
involves statistical analysis, structured, fairly
easy to collect, traditionally large samples
more than 30 (Masterson et al, 2017; Blythe, 2012)

• Qualitative methods: Investigates feelings,

opinions, motivations and attitudes, can be
unstructured, smaller samples less than 30 Words
(Masterson et al, 2017; Blythe, 2012)
Continuum of research techniques

(Baines et al, 2012, p.135)

 Stage 2: Decide research plan

Categories of research design (Baines et al, 2012)

• Three categories of research design, each specifies a

procedure for data collection and analysis
• Exploratory research: Used when little is known about
the problem , qualitative research techniques are
usually utilised
• Descriptive research: Focuses on describing variables,
quantitative are usually utilised
• Casual research: Used when there is a need to see if
one variable causes an effect on another variable
Phase 1 (Exploratory): Is there an available market for Diabetic Ready Meals: A.
Secondary: Ready Meals Market, Trends of Diabetes in UK and B. primary, qualitative:
strains of cooking and eating with Type 2 Diabetes and attractiveness of ready meals as a
solution).

Phase 2: (Descriptive and Causal) if so, how can it be addressed by Charlie Bighams: A:
(Primary qualitative: appeal and adaption of Charlie Bighams ready meal solution and
B. (primary quantitative: quantify final market size, pricing, channel, media
consumption, purchase criteria)?
 Stage 3: Data collection & sampling

Stage 3:
Undertake data collection & sampling
• Conduct fieldwork, in other words go an get on with data collection
• Issues to contend with:
• Ensuring that data collected in reliable and high quality

• Sampling:
• Random: simple, systematic, stratified
• Non-random: quota, convenience, snowball
 Stage 4: Data analysis & interpretation

Stage 4:
Data analysis & interpretation
• Comprises of 3 stages, data input, analysis,
interpretation
• Data input: depends on type of data collected
• Qualitative: researcher can transcribe interviews into Word
or maybe into software applications (Nvivo, NUDIST)
• Quantitative: entered into spreadsheet (Excel) or into
specialist software (SPSS)

• Information obtained must Valid and Reliable

 Stage 5: Report preparation and
report

Stage 5:
Report preparation and report

• Final stage involves reporting to management or

clients findings
• Report should free from bias
• Presented in a format that will be understood by
management or client
Research ethics: Is there an available market for Diabetic
Ready Meals and, if so, how can it be addressed by Charlie
Bighams?
 Ethics (Baines et al, 2012, p.147)

• When conducting marketing research you MUST take into

consideration ethics
• MRS key principles of research (MRS, 2010; 4)
1. Ensure that participation in their activities is based on voluntary informed
consent
2. Be straightforward and honest in all their professional and business relationships
3. Be transparent as to the subject and purpose of data collection
4. Respect confidentiality of information collected in their professional activities
5. Respect the rights and well-being of individuals
6. Ensure that respondents are not harmed or adversely affected by their
professional activities
7. Balance the needs of individuals, clients, and their professional activities
8. Exercise independent professional judgement in the design, conduct and
reporting of their professional activities
9. Ensure that professional activities are conducted by persons with appropriate
training, qualifications and experience
10. Protect the reputation and integrity of the profession
Week 4 summary!
 MBA Marketing: Week 4: Lecture 4
Market research: what it is and what it’s not?

The role of ethics in market

research? Value and role of market research?
Market
Market Research Society Vital information for decision making
Research
key principles etc Informs MICRO and MACRO analysis
Plan, review and evaluate activity
Dependant upon appropriate / rigorous design

Steps in market research process? Areas of market research?

Define the problem Consumer behaviour

Decide the research plan Competitors
Data collection Distribution
Data analysis / interpretation Product and branding
Reporting Pricing etc