Essentials of Marketing Research

1
Essentials of Marketing Research

• Exploratory Research
• Chapter 5
• Audhesh Paswan, Ph.D.

2
Research Design - I

• Exploratory Research

Objective Discovery of ideas and
insights. Characteristics Flexible, Versatile,
Unstructured, Often the Front End of total
Research Design, Small Non-representative
Sample, Analyses typically qualitative. Finding
s Tentative, typically followed by further
exploratory, descriptive or causal
research. Methods Literature Search, Focus
Groups, Experience Surveys, Pilot Surveys,
Expert Interviews, Case Studies, Reliance on
Secondary Data.
3
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

• INITIAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED TO CLARIFY AND DEFINE
  THE NATURE OF A PROBLEM
• DOES NOT PROVIDE CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE
• SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH EXPECTED

4
Exploratory Research

• Unstructured, informal, and sometimes intuitive
• Used for -
• Gain background information.
• Define terms.
• Clarify problems and hypotheses.
• Establish research priorities.
• Diagnose a situation
• Screening of alternatives
• Discover new ideas

5
WHAT IS EXPLORATORY RESEARCH?
QUALITATIVE DATA
QUANTITATIVE DATA
6
Exploratory Research Techniques

• Qualitative Research
• Experience surveys
• Case analysis
• Pilot Studies
• Projective techniques.
• Focus groups
• Depth Interview.
• Other qualitative techniques (secondary data
  observation, etc.)??

7

• Knowing when to use qualitative research, and
  importantly when not to is a crucial skill in a
  research managers judgment.
• Malcolm Baker, President
• The B/R/S Group, Inc.

8
EXPERIENCE SURVEYS

• ASK KNOWLEDGEABLE INDIVIDUALS
• ABOUT A PARTICULAR RESEARCH PROBLEM
• MOST ARE QUITE WILLING

9
If you wish to know the road up the mountain,
you must ask the man who goes back and forth on
it. -- Zenrinkusi
10
CASE STUDY METHOD

• INTENSELY INVESTIGATES ONE OR A FEW SITUATIONS
  SIMILAR TO THE PROBLEM
• INVESTIGATE IN DEPTH
• CAREFUL STUDY
• MAY REQUIRE COOPERATION

11
PILOT STUDY

• A COLLECTIVE TERM
• ANY SMALL SCALE EXPLORATORY STUDY THAT USES
  SAMPLING
• BUT DOES NOT APPLY RIGOROUS STANDARDS

12
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

• WORD ASSOCIATION TESTS
• SENTENCE COMPLETION METHOD
• THIRD-PERSON TECHNIQUE
• ROLE PLAYING
• T.A.T (and PICTURE FRUSTRATION VERSION OF TAT)

13
A man is least himself when he talks in his own
person when given a mask he will tell the
truth. --Oscar Wilde
14
WORD ASSOCIATION

• SUBJECT IS PRESENTED WITH A LIST OF WORDS
• ASKED TO RESPOND WITH FIRST WORD THAT COMES TO
  MIND

15
WORD ASSOCIATION EXAMPLES

• GREEN
• CHEESE

• MONEY
• KRAFT

16
SENTENCE COMPLETION
People who drink beer are ______________________
A man who drinks light beer is
___________________ Imported beer is most liked
by ___________________ The woman in the
commercial ____________________
17
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
TAT
18
FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS

• UNSTRUCTURED
• FREE FLOWING
• GROUP INTERVIEW
• START WITH BROAD TOPIC AND FOCUS IN ON SPECIFIC
  ISSUES

19
GROUP COMPOSITION

• 6 TO 10 PEOPLE
• RELATIVELY HOMOGENEOUS
• SIMILAR LIFESTYLES AND EXPERIENCES

20
Focus groups

• Small group of people brought together and guided
  by a moderator through an unstructured,
  spontaneous discussion about some topic.
• Goal is to draw out ideas, feelings, and
  experiences about a certain issues that would be
  obscured by more structured methods.

21
Focus Group Objectives

• To generate ideas.
• To understand consumer vocabulary.
• To reveal consumer needs, motives, perceptions,
  and attitudes.
• To understand findings from quantitative studies.

22
Focus Group Moderator

• The Man (or woman) with the plan!
• Conducts the entire session and guides the flow
  of group discussion.
• Must have excellent observation, interpersonal,
  and communication skills, Interacts, listens,
  develops rapport.
• Must be sensitive to participants situations and
  comments, promotes interaction.
• Must be prepared.

23
Reporting and Use of Focus Group Results

• Some sense must be made by translating the
  qualitative statements of participants into
  categories.
• Demographic and buyer behavior characteristics
  should be judged against the target market
  profile.

24
Focus Group Pros and Cons

• Advantages
• Generate fresh ideas
• Allow clients to observe the group
• Generally versatile
• Works well with special respondents.

• Disadvantages
• May not represent the population
• Interpretation is subjective
• Expensive

25
Exploratory Research Techniques

• Quantitative Research
• Secondary data analyses
• Observation
• Physiological measurement

26
Observation Techniques

• Observation methods - researcher relies on his or
  her powers of observation rather than
  communicating with respondent
• Direct versus Indirect
• Disguised versus Undisguised
• Structured versus Unstructured
• Human versus Mechanical

27
Direct or Indirect

• Direct observation
• Observing behavior as it occurs
• Indirect observation
• Observe effects or results of behavior
• Use archives or physical traces
• Archives - secondary data
• Physical traces - tangible evidence of some event
  (e.g., garbology)

28
Disguised or Undisguised

• Disguised - unaware of observation
• Secret shopper
• One-way mirrors
• Hidden cameras
• Undisguised
• Laboratory settings
• Ride withs
• Knowing may bias the responses.

29
Structured or Unstructured

• Structured - researchers agree beforehand which
  behaviors are to be observed and recorded.
• Unstructured - No restrictions, all behavior is
  observed.
• Observer must be thoroughly briefed on the areas
  of general concern.

30
Human or Mechanical

• Human - a person observes
• Mechanical - a machine observes
• turnstiles, scanners, people meters, etc.

31
When to use observation

• Short time interval - involves activities that
  generally occur over a short time span.
• Public behavior - setting where researchers can
  readily observe.
• Faulty recall - when actions or activities are so
  repetitive that the respondent cannot recall
  specifics.

32
Advantages . . .

• Subjects are unaware
• React in a natural manner
• No chance for recall error
• Less costly and more accurate Assuming
  disguised observation.

33
Limitations . . .

• Only a small number of subjects are studied
  (Dracula Syndrome - suck too much out of a few
  subjects).
• Is sample representative?
• Motivations, attitudes, and internal conditions
  are not observed.
• Multiple observers (inconsistency)
• Subjective Interpretation

34
Other Techniques

• Depth interviews
• Protocol analysis - Decision makers view
• Projective techniques
• Shopping basket
• Personality completion
• Cartoon or balloon test
• Role-playing activity
• Physiological measurement - Galvanometer,
  Pupilometer, etc.

35
SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS

• DATA COLLECTED FOR A PURPOSE OTHER THAN THE
  PROJECT AT HAND
• ECONOMICAL
• QUICK SOURCE FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION

36
Next Stage - Quantitative Research

• Quantitative research
• involves structured questions
• predetermined response options
• large number of respondents involved.
• Sizable representative sample of the population
• Formalized data gathering procedure
• Specific purpose

37
Qualitative or Quantitative Research?

• Does it have to be one or the other?
• It depends . . .maybe both - Pluralistic Research.