Marketing+Research

What is marketing research? [|Google Doc link to work done by Majd] Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior. Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market: To reduce the areas of uncertainty surounding Business decisions Consumer marketing research- Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research- [] []

The importance of marke Research

Role of marketing research (MR) provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information Competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making require that marketing research provide sound information. Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment.

Marketing managers make decisions about potential opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control. These decisions are complicated by product, pricing, promotion, and distribution, technology, public policies and laws, political environment, competition, and social and cultural changes. The role of marketing research in managerial decision making is explained further using the framework of the "DECIDE" model:

D: Define the marketing problem E: Enumerate the controllable and uncontrollable decision factors C: Collect relevant information I: Identify the best alternative D: Develop and implement a marketing plan E: Evaluate the decision and the decision process

Marketing research characteristics Marketing research is systematic, systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are well documented, planned in advance. Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Marketing research involves the identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. Each phase of this process is important. We identify or define the marketing research problem or opportunity and then determine what information is needed to investigate it.

Comparison with other forms of business research Other forms of business research include:. Types of marketing research
 * Product research - This looks at what products can be produced with available technology, and what new product innovations near-future technology can develop.
 * Advertising research - is a specialized form of marketing research conducted to improve the efficacy of advertising.

Marketing research techniques come in many forms, including: Marketing research methods
 * Ad Tracking – monitoring a brand’s performance using measures such as brand awareness, brand preference, and product usage.
 * Brand association research - what do consumers associate with the brand?
 * Brand name testing - what do consumers feel about the names of the products?
 * Commercial eye tracking research - examine advertisements, package designs, websites, etc. by analyzing visual behavior of the consumer
 * Concept testing - to test the acceptance of a concept by target consumers
 * Buyer decision processes research - to determine what motivates people to buy and what decision-making process they use
 * Customer satisfaction research - quantitative or qualitative studies that yields an understanding of a customer's of satisfaction with a transaction
 * Demand estimation - to determine the approximate level of demand for the product
 * Segmentation research - to determine the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics of potential buyers

marketing research uses the following types of research designs: *Based on questioning: ·Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes of small number of respondents. Such as focus groups,in-depth interviews, and projective techniques ·Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions using random sampling techniques. Such as include surveys and questionnaires.

*Based on observations: ·Ethnographic studies - by nature qualitative, the researcher observes social phenomena in their natural setting - observations can be made at one time or over several time-periods. Such as product-use analysis and computer cookie traces. ·Experimental techniques-, by nature quantitative, the researcher creates a quasi-artificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates at least one of the variables - examples purchase laboratories and test markets Market knowledge: Knowledge about the market means knowledge about the environment including customers marketing knowledge is the foundation of our discipline. However, there is not yet clear agreement about what marketing knowledge is. Three stages are envisioned in a project to investigate marketing knowledge:

1- identification of the forms of marketing knowledge, 2- specification of agreement on the content, and 3- development of a comprehensive test to measure acquisition of marketing knowledge.

This article attempts the first stage, proposing that the four forms of marketing knowledge are: - marketing concepts, - structural frameworks, - strategic principles, and - research principles. Marketing Planning If you are not Planning, you are planning to failure



The following link explains all about the strategic planning

Market segmentation: The following presentation explains all about the market segmentation http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/70-381/chap7.ppt

How to Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) It's a success key factor towards deeper understanding of your environment and also key factor to build strategy To know more about the KPIs please follow the following link []

The importance of market research:
 * Communicate effectively
 * Identify and understand opportunities
 * Pinpoint obstacles or problems
 * Benchmark and evaluate your success

5 Psychological Influences that Affect Consumer Behavior 1. Motivations and Personality 2. Perception 3. Perceived Risk 4. Learning 5. Attitude, Beliefs and Values

Six Social and Cultural Influences on Consumer Behavior

1. Personal Influence 2. Reference Groups 3. Consumer Socialization 4. Family Life Cycle 5. Family Decision Making 6. Culture and Subculture

our discussion about Marketing Research in the lecture