Master of Business Administration - MBA Semester 3 MK0013 Marketing Research Assignment Set- 1

Q. 1 How to write a marketing report and what quality is to be ensured?

Writing a Market Research Report The professional marketing research report must achieve four primary objectives: To effectively communicate the findings of the marketing research project, To provide interpretations of those findings in the form of sound and logical recommendations, To illustrate the credibility of the research project, To serve as a future reference document for strategic or tactical decisions. The first and foremost objective of the research report is to effectively communicate the findings of the marketing research project. Since the primary purpose of the research project was to obtain information that will answer specific questions in relation to a specific business problem, the report must explain both how the information was obtained and what relevance it has to the research questions. Best practices suggest that a detailed description of the following factors be communicated to the client: The specific research objectives. The specific research questions the study was to answer. Specific procedural information relevant to the collection of secondary data (if necessary). A description of the research methods employed. Findings displayed in tables, graphs, or charts. An accurate interpretation and summation of the findings. Conclusions based on data analysis. Recommendations and suggestions for their implementation. Far too often, the researcher is so concerned about communicating results that he or she forgets to provide a clear, logical interpretation of those results. The researcher must always be aware that his or her level of understanding regarding sampling methods and statistics, for example, may not be the same as that of the

user. Therefore, the researcher must always attempt to take technical or complex information and present it in a manner that is understandable to all parties concerned. Most researchers are often fully armed with statistics, computer output, questionnaires, and other project-related material. In presenting such information to the client, the researcher should always rely on the original research objectives. The task is to focus on each objective and communicate how each part of the project is related to the accomplishment of that objective. A critical dimension of the research report is to establish credibility of the research methods, findings, and conclusions. This can be accomplished only if the report is accurate, believable, and professionally organized. These three dimensions cannot be treated separately, for they collectively operate to build credibility into the research document. For the report to be accurate, all of the input must be accurate. No degree of carelessness in handling data, reporting statistics, or phasing outcomes must be tolerated. Errors in mathematical calculations, grammatical errors, and incorrect terminology are just a few types of inaccuracy that can serve to diminish the credibility of the entire report. Quality Research Report Before communicating the results of the project to the manager, the researcher should keep several issues in mind for effective communication. The first and foremost rule for writing the report is to empathize. The researcher must keep in mind that the manager who is going to read and utilize the findings of the research project might not be as technically knowledgeable with statistical techniques or at times with the methodology. Furthermore, the manager will be more interested in knowing how results can be used for decision making rather than how they have been derived. Therefore, the jargons and technical terms should be kept at minimum. If the jargons cannot be avoided, then researcher should provide a brief explanation for the manager to understand it.

Q.2 Distinguish between product research and new product research. Explain with examples. Product Research One of the major application areas of marketing research is product research. A large number of companies spend substantial amount of funds in R&D activities related to new product development. As profit margins decline on their established products, organisations rely on new products to sustain their overall profitability. Product research is the development of a product line which meets the needs of a certain group of consumers. The essence of any firms new product policy is the identification of those product opportunities which should generate, over a given period, the greatest return on investment in relation to risk involved. Procedures used in product research include the following eight steps: Developing an overall product strategy based on market needs, industry structure and corporate resources. Developing a flow of new product ideas from a variety of sources. Develop procedures to screen on a preliminary basis.

 Develop procedures for final reasoning. Product testing. Test marketing. Developing Product Specification: The set of product attributes which are optimum for the market segments, to which the product may appeal must be determined. The optimum must take into account the characteristic of competitive products. Consumers describe, what they want in terms of product benefits, functions and effects. These must be translated into ingredients, design characteristics, performance criteria and even manufacturing procedures. Therefore, the relative importance of individual attributes will be determined. Product Testing: It is the way of determining whether potential customers have understood the idea behind the product and how they evaluate the product attributes. On the basis of up-to-date information the marketer is now in a position to undertake a research which provides him insights into whether he has been successful in developing the desired product. Test Marketing: It is the procedure by which a company attempts to launch a new product marketing plan by introducing it on a miniature basis before committing the product to the entire market. Here the basic assumption is that the test market results are projectable to the entire market so that potential buyers may rationalise the desire to buy. The product research decision itself is really a result of a collection of decisions, for example, what class of product, what type of brand, what design, what quantity, in what place, from whom, at what price, by what method of payment and so on. One of the tasks of marketing is to communicate with the potential buyer in such a way that not only does he become aware of the existence of a product or service offered, but develops such a sufficiently strong and favourable attitude that he will go through the buying decision process with a greater degree of confidence. Uncertainty and delay in making buying decisions is often the result of a conflict between rational economic motive and non-rational external and internal stimuli. The so called impulse buying is more frequently found, where there is no anxiety with comparatively inexpensive, frequently purchased products, for example, where non-rational external stimuli like packaging, promotion, display, etc., have a major influence. Commercialisation: The following points fall under this category: 1. Product Life Cycle: Products pass through a life cycle comprising an introductory period, a growth stage, maturity and decline. Each of these stages requires a different set of strategies and tactics, if the firm is to cope successfully with the problems of the particular stage. 2. Package Testing: Packaging has become increasingly important as a result of the increase in selfservice. Packaging materials, design, colour, size, illustration, brand names and associated symbols, copy and layout may affect to a very considerable extent a potential buyers perception of a product. Packaging has assumed such importance today that packaging research has become an indispensable part of product research. 3. Display: Advertising and communication must be directed towards stimulating favourable trade opinion and feelings about a company as well as favourable customer attitude towards product price, quality, delivery, sales and technical services. Concepts derived from the clinical research and findings of

sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists may be used to determine why people buy particular products or services and lead to advertising which appeals to needs, wants and desires. New Product Research While analysing a new product, you should always consider: Marketing Product Life Required Input Future Planning Financial Appraisal Marketing: It includes a study of all the aspects of the relationship of the product with its market: Examine the product thoroughly; find out its main features and whether any additional features can be added. Consider the performance characteristics and limitations of the product. Take the help of an expert opinion for understanding the ideal performance level. Consider the market in which the product is to be sold. Assess the competition and the extent of the inter-product rivalry. Train the sales-force, enabling the team to sell the new product. Assess the services in addition to manufacturing and selling. Product Life: All product lines have a definite life and it is important to obtain some idea about the life span of a new product. The effective life of a product should be taken into consideration. Product life cycles are not easy to estimate and are largely dependent on the forecasters own judgment. It is necessary for you to have a knowledge of competitors activity and about potential customers. Required Input: The following input requirements are felt in case of new product research. Researchers should try to estimate: Staff requirements for the new product. Sales and market forecast for the purpose. May have to consult personnel department. Estimation of capital and plant requirement.

Future Planning: It is necessary for researchers to estimate the future effect the product will have on the company. The following points need to be considered: Effect on companys growth. Compatibility with companys growth intentions. Effect on competitors plans and policies. Future of customers and end-users.

Q.3 Explain the types of hypothesis and the steps involved in hypothesis testing. Types of Hypothesis There are several basis on which hypothesis are classified: a. Descriptive Hypothesis b. Relation Hypothesis Descriptive hypothesis These by name implies describing some characteristics of an object, a situation, an individual or even an organization. Example: 1. Students from autonomous institutions are placed faster than other institutions. 2. Research and practice of educations system in our country is not integrated.. The above tells us the characteristics of some entity. Relational hypothesis In this case we describe relationship between two variables: 1. Why rich people shop at life style? 2. Rate of attrition is high in those Jobs where there is night shift working Working hypothesis: This is a hypothesis framed in the early stages of research. These are altered or modified as investigation proceeds. Example: As of now demand and quality are related. Later on this may not be the fact as investigation proceeds. 4. Null hypothesis: This hypothesis states that there is no difference between the parameter and the statistic that is being compared. Example: There is no relationship between marks obtained in the examination and the success of the same student in the corporate world. Null hypothesis are framed for testing statistical significance. Null hypothesis is very exact.

5. Analytical hypothesis: Here relationship of analytical variable is found. These are used when one would like to specify the relationship between changes in one property leading to change in another. Example: Income level related to number of children in the family or literacy related to number of children in the family. 6. Statistical hypothesis: These are got from samples that are measurable. Statistical hypothesis are of two types: (a) Hypothesis which indicates differences Example: There is a difference between the performance of students graduating from English medium schools and those of others. (b) Hypothesis which indicates association Example: There is a perfect relationship between price and demand. 7. Common sense hypothesis: They are based on what is being observed. (1) Junior students are more disciplined than seniors (2) Economically poor students work hard compared to those who come from well to do families (3) Middle class families lead a humble living. The above are observed on a day to day basis over a period of time before drawing any conclusions. Steps involved in Hypothesis 1. Formulate the null hypothesis, with H0 and HA, the alternate hypothesis. According to the given problem, H0 represents the value of some parameter of population. 2. Select on appropriate test assuming H0 to be true. 3. Calculate the value. There are two types of tests. One-tailed and two-tailed tests A hypothesis test may be one-tailed or two-tailed. In one-tailed test the test-statistic for rejection of null hypothesis falls only in one-tail of sampling distribution curve.

Example: In a right side test, the critical region lies entirely in the right tail of the sample distribution. Whether the test is one-sided or two-sided depends on alternate hypothesis. Example: A tyre company claims that mean life of its new tyre is 15,000 km. Now the researcher formulates the hypothesis that tyre life is = 15,000 km. A two-tailed test is one in which the test statistics leading to rejection of null hypothesis falls on both tails of the sampling distribution curve as shown.

When we should apply a hypothesis test that is one-tailed or two-tailed depends on the nature of the problem. One-tailed test is used when the researchers interest is primarily on one side of the issue. Example: A product is manufactured by a semi-automatic machine. Now, assume that the same product is manufactured by the fully automatic machine. This will be two-sided test, because the null hypothesis is that "the two methods used for manufacturing the product do not differ significantly".

Degree of freedom It tells the researcher the number of elements that can be chosen freely. Example: a + b/2 = 5. fix a = 3, b has to be 7. Therefore, the degree of freedom is 1. Select test criteria If the hypothesis pertains to a larger sample (30 or more), the Z-test is used. When the sample is small (less than 30), the T-test is used. Compute Carry out computation. Make decisions Accepting or rejecting of the null hypothesis depends on whether the computed value falls in the region of rejection at a given level of significance.

Q.4 Which are the various types of scales in marketing research and its applications? Types of Scales Types of attitude rating scales There are many ways to present a respondent with a continuum of numbered categories that represent the range of possible attitude judgments. The figure A shows various types of scales which are used in research.

Single-item scale As the name itself suggests, single-item scales are those that have only one item to measure a conduct. Under the single-item scale, the itemized-category scale is most widely used by researchers. Itemised-category scales These are four categories from which respondents can choose to indicate their overall level of satisfaction with their present banking facilities. Very satisfied Quite satisfied Somewhat satisfied Comparative scales Another version of the preceding scale would label the categories excellent very good good fair and poor thereby eliminating the implicit comparison. The problem with a comparative scale is that the reference point is unclear and different respondents may use different reference points or standards. For example: Comparison of public school in an area with government school in terms of quality of education. Rank orders ordinal scale Ordinal scales represent numbers, letters or other symbols used to rank items. It can be classified not only on the basis of whether they share some characteristic with another item but also whether they have more or less of this characteristic than some other object. The ranking of certain attributes/benefits as deemed important by the respondent is obtained through this scale.

Example: Rank the following attributes on a scale of 1-5 according to their importance to a washing machine. A. Company image B. Functions C. Price D. Comfort E. Design Q-sort scaling When the number of objects or characteristics that are to be rated or ranked is very large, it becomes rather tedious for the respondents to rank order or do a pair wise comparison. If the respondent is forced to do a rank ordering or a pair wise comparison, a number of problems and biases creep into the study. In Q-sort scaling the respondents are asked to sort the various characteristics or objects that are being categorised into various groups, such that the distribution of the numbers of objects or characteristics in each group follows a normal distribution. Constant-sum scales Constant-Sum scales require respondents to allocate a fixed number of rating points among several objects, to reflect the relative preference of each object. It is widely used to measure the relative importance of attributes, as in the following example: Please divide 100 among the following characteristics so the division reflects the importance of each characteristic to you in the selection of a management institute. Ratio scale Ratio scales consist of numbers that rank items such that numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal distances in the property being measured and have a meaningful zero. All descriptive measures and inferential techniques are applicable to ratio scaled data. Table B Gives a Summary Description of each of the Four Types of Scales

Specialized scales The judgements are against other similar objects. The respondents directly compare two or more oMethods of ranking scales are as follows: Method of paired comparison When there are more stimuli to judge, the number of judgements required in paired comparison is given as:

N = number of judgments n = number of stimuli or objects to be judged objects and may choose among them. Arbitrary scales They are developed on an adhoc basis and are designed largely through the researchers own subjective selection of items. The researcher first collects a few statements or items which he believes are unambiguous and appropriate to a given topic, then a few of them are selected for inclusion in the measuring instrument. People are then asked to check the list for the statement on which they agree. Example of an arbitrary scale Keeping in mind the conditions of Delhi roads owning a luxury, high-cost brand car is: 1. A necessity 2. To satisfy self-esteem Differential scales Thurstone-type scales They are developed using consensus scale approach, where the selection of items is made by a panel of judges who evaluate the items in terms of whether they are relevant to that topic area and unambiguous in implication. It is used to measure attitudes towards various issues like war, religion, etc. Summated scales (Likert type scales) They are developed by utilising the item analysis approach wherein a particular item is evaluated on the basis of how well it discriminates between those persons whose total score is high and those whose score is low. Thus, summated scales consist of a number of statements which express either a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards a given object to which the respondent is asked to react. The respondent indicates his agreement or disagreement with each statement in the instrument. Each response is given a numerical scale/score and these scores are totaled to measure the respondents attitudes. Advantages Easy to construct and reliable. It also provides more information and data.

Cumulative scales It consists of a series of statements to which a respondent expresses his agreement or disagreement. These statements form a cumulative series, i.e., they are related to one another in such a way that an individual who replies favorably to say item no. 3 also replies favorably to items no. 2 and 1 and so on. The individuals score is worked out by counting the number of points concerning the number of statements he answers favorably. If one knows the total score one can estimate as to how a respondent has answered individual statements constituting cumulative scales. Advantages:-It assures that only a single dimension of attitude is being measured. Stapel scale It is a modification of the differential scale. It differs from the semantic differential scale in that the adjectives or descriptive phrases are tested separately instead of simultaneously as bipolar pairs. Also, the points on the scale are identified by number as these are ten scale positions rather than five or seven as in the required manner. Fractionation Rating Scale: It requires the raters to rate an object by comparing it with reference point. The goal is a ratio-scale representation of attitudes toward the complete set of objects. An example is presented below: Please divide 100 points among the following TV brands so as to reflect how much overall quality you believe each one has: BPL __________________ points SAMSUNG __________________ points Fishbeins Scale: This scale uses a combination of constant sum and semantic differential scale. To assess, how consumers perceive a set of alternative offerings, this type of scale is used. Here the respondent is first asked to assign a weightage to a set of given attributes. Afterwards the respondent is given some specific choice alternatives. For example, suppose a research study was assessing consumers attitude towards five leading brands of decorative points in terms of the attributes like durability, washability, finish, range of package size, range of colour, price, etc. Multi-dimensional scaling It is a complicated scaling device. But with this we can scale objects, individuals or both with a minimum of information. MDS can be characterised as a set of procedures for portraying perceptual or effective dimensions of substantive interest. It is used when all the variables (metric or non-metric) in a study are to be analysed simultaneously and all such variables happen to be independent. Semantic differential scaling It is developed by Charles. E. Osgood. G.J. Suci and P.H. Tennenbnum (1957) is an attempt to measure the psychological meaning of an object to an individual. For instance, the S.D. scale items for analysing candidates for leadership position may be shown as under. Disguised, structured, scaling techniques For the disguised structured scaling method of data collection, certain projective techniques are used. The popular projective techniques used are (i) Word Association, (ii) Sentence Completion, (iii) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), (iv) Story-telling, (v) Body-building/House-building. A. Word association

Description: A series of situation/words is given to the respondents and they are asked to fill up the first word/brand which comes to their mind. It is interesting for the respondent to fill up the various word associations. It is also quick and easily understood. Example: 1. DOVE: LOVE 2. Which brand of cooking oil comes to your mind when speaking of a light and nutritious sunflower oil? 3. Who do you think is most likely to use the Bajaj Sunny?

Q.5 What are the limitations of sampling? What are the indicators for an ideal sample? Limitations of Sampling The limitations of sampling are: Less Accuracy: In comparison to census technique the conclusions derived from sample are more liable to error. Therefore, sampling technique is less accurate than the census technique. Changeability of Units: If the units in the field of survey are liable to change or if these are not homogeneous, the sampling technique will be very hazardous. It is not scientific to extend the conclusions derived from one set of sample to other sets which are dissimilar or are changeable. Misleading Conclusions: If due care is not taken in the selection of samples or if they are arbitrarily selected, the conclusions derived from them will become misleading if extended to all units. For example, in assessing the monthly expenditure of university students we select for sample study only rich students, our results will be highly erroneous if extended to all students. Need for Specialised Knowledge: The sample technique can be successful only if a competent and able scientist makes the selection. If this is done by an average scientist, the selection is liable to be wrong. When Sampling is not Possible: Under certain circumstances it is very difficult to use the sampling technique. If the time is very short and it is not possible to make selection of the sample, the technique cannot be used. Besides, if we need 100% accuracy the sampling technique cannot be used. It can also not be used if the material is of a heterogeneous nature. Characteristics of Ideal Sample A good sample has following qualities: Representativeness: An ideal sample must be such that it represents adequately the whole populations. We would select those units which have the same set of qualities and features as are found in the whole data. It should not lack in any characteristic of the population.

 Independence: The second feature of a sample is independence, that is interchangeability of units. Every unit should be available to be included in the sample. Adequacy: The number of units included in a sample should be sufficient to enable derivation of conclusions applicable to the whole population. A sample having 10% of the whole population is generally adequate. Homogeneity: The units included in the sample must bear likeness with order units, otherwise the sample will be unscientific.

Q.6 Considering Indian consumers and Indian market trends, mention the ways through which a marketing researcher can carry out research? If you were to research a market segment, how would you go about it? Marketing research is an important component of a formal network of information flow to marketing management, known as a marketing information system (MIS). In the words of Philip Kotler, a marketing information system is a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures designed to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by decision makers to improve their marketing planning, execution and control. The figure on the next page shows the key components or subsystems of the marketing information system 1) The internal records system 2) The marketing research system 3) The marketing decision support system and 4) The marketing intelligence system. The marketing environment comprises target markets, marketing channels, competitors and macro-environmental forces. Marketing managers use marketing information for planning, execution and control. Thus, the marketing information system serves as a link between marketing managers and the marketing environment. The Marketing Decision Support System (DSS) This consists of two components a) Advanced methods of statistical analysis such as regression, correlation, factor, discriminant and cluster analysis techniques and b) Computerized or mathematical models that are designed to help the marketing executive take decisions such as establishing the optimum advertising budget, allocation of budget among various media types, evaluating the progress of new products, or

assigning sales representatives to their territories. Databases have no value if the insights they contain cannot be retrieved. A decision support system not only allows the manager to interact directly with the database to retrieve what is wanted, it also provides a modeling function to help make sense of what has been retrieved. A common example of a DSS in action is that used by many industrial sales people especially those selling products that require significant customization. The salesperson frequently will be asked whether or not the price and delivery time of a unique product configuration will meet or exceed a competitors promises. Without leaving the customers office, the salesperson can plug a laptop computer into a phone jack and begin communicating with a database stored in the companys main computer memory. The salesperson types in the product configuration and desired delivery data and these requirements are compared to the costs, inventory, and assembly time contained in the data bank. In a matter of minutes, the sales person can propose a price and delivery date and perhaps close the sales. Each firm has to develop or adapt a model to support its own decision problems. A sales force turnover model revealed that the most significant variable influencing the turnover rate was the level of the appointment fee that representatives pay for initial materials. An order model is that which explains the components of the average order and isolates the actionable variables such as the size and timing of the catalogue and the gift incentives. A procurement model is that which helps determine how much of a new product to buy, when to purchase it and the risks involved.

Master of Business Administration - MBA Semester 3 MK0013 Marketing Research - 4 Credits Book ID: B1223 Assignment Set- 2 (60 Marks)

Q.1 What are the nature, scope and features of Marketing Research? The Role of Marketing Research in Strategic Planning and Decision Making Our primary focus is on the role of marketing research in marketing strategy decisions.

A. Identifying Marketing Opportunities and Constraints Identifying marketing opportunities and constraints is a logical starting point for developing marketing strategies.

1. Embracing the Marketing Concept Conducting marketing research to understand customers is becoming widespread as an increasing number of firms embrace the marketing concept (the philosophy of customer orientation urging firms to uncover customer needs first and then coordinate all their activities to satisfy those needs). 2. Understanding the Competitive Environment Marketing research is vital to maintaining and improving a company's overall Competitiveness. Unless managers understand the external environment, they cannot intelligently plan for the future. Many organizations continually collect and evaluate environmental information to identify future market opportunities and threats.

B. Developing and Implementing Marketing Strategies To benefit fully from the opportunities uncovered in the marketplace, a firm must develop an effective marketing strategy with an effective marketing mix: the nature of its product ways to promote the product

the price charged to potential customers the means used to make the product available to them

Good marketing research will identify whether the marketing mix is effective enough to maximize the benefits to the firm from available opportunities (sales, profits, customer satisfaction, and value.

Some of the most successful new-product introductions have been preceded by extensive marketing research that helped develop one or more elements of their marketing mixes.

C. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Marketing Plans Getting feedback from the marketplace and taking corrective action for elements of products or services that need fixing is often referred to as controlling or the control function. Controlling is an important component of the planning and decision-making process and another area in which marketing research provides solutions.

To succeed in the marketplace, a firm must at least periodically monitor market conditions, usually by obtaining feedback from customers, and answer control-related questions such as: What is the market share of our product? Is its share increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? Who are its users? Are the nature of the users and the volume of their purchases consistent with our expectations (goals)? If not, why not?

Only marketing research, not marketers' intuition, can yield accurate answers to such questions.

Nature of Marketing Research Marketing research is systematic and objective collection of data, its analysis and evaluation, and decision making in respect of specific aspects of a marketing problem. Marketing Research and Market Research:- The nature of marketing research cannot be properly understood without knowing the meaning of market research. Market research is the gathering, recording and analyzing of market data to identify the present and potential customers and their motives and buying

habits. It is the discovery of the capacity of the market to absorb the products of a firm. It is a part of the marketing research. It is worthwhile to quote Richard D.Crips to identify clearly the scope of Marketing research and market research. Marketing research is the systematic, objective and exhaustive search for the study of the facts relevant to any problem in the field of marketing. Market research is restricted to the study of actual and potential buyers, their location, their actual and potential value of purchases and their motives and habits. Market research may be conducted for the following reasons:

1. To identify the present and potential customers and their needs. 2. To forecast the demand of a product. 3. To determine customers preferences with regard to packaging, design, size, price and other features of a product. 4. To locate the demand for products with regard to time and place, such as festival demand. 5. To explore new markets for existing products.

Scope of Marketing Research Marketing research covers different aspects of marketing of goods, services and ideas. There are many areas of marketing management where marketing research has special branches.

Product Research:- Product research is associated with the conversion of customer needs into tangible product offer. This includes development and testing of new products, improving the existing products, and a tab on the changing customer preferences, habits, tastes, etc. Packaging design, branding, and labeling decisions are also included here.

Customer Research:- This research type includes investigation into the customer buying behavior the economic, social, cultural, personal and psychological influences.

Sales Research:- Sales research involves decisions concerning selection of store location, channels, territories, sales force motivation and compensation, etc. The purpose is to reach the target customer more effectively, efficiently and timely. .

Promotion Research:- Promotion research encompasses all efforts by the marketers to communicate the companys offer. This includes advertising, publicity, public relations, sales promotion, etc.

features of Marketing Research

First, marketing research is systematic. Thus systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are methodologically sound, well documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses the scientific method in that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses. Marketing research is unbiased. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the researcher's research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in predetermined findings. The motto of every researcher should be, "Find it and tell it like it is."

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, and inferences are drawn. Finally, the findings, implications and recommendations are provided in a format that allows the information to be used for management decision making and to be acted upon directly. It should be emphasized that marketing research is conducted to assist management in decision making and is not: a means or an end in itself. The lesson elaborates on this definition by classifying different types of marketing research

Q.2 What do you mean by sales forecasting? Explain the steps involved in it. . Sales Forecasting Sales forecasting can be explained as the prediction of the future sales of a particular product over a specific period of time based on past performance of the product, consumer spending patterns, inflation rates, market trends, unemployment, and interest rates. From this you, may very rightfully say that sales forecasts help the marketer to develop a marketing budget, allocate marketing resources, and monitor the competition and the product environment.

Steps in Sales Forecasting You should adopt following steps while forecasting sales: Defining the objectives to be achieved. Dividing various products into homogeneous groups. Analysing the importance of various factors to be studied for sales forecasting. Selecting the method. Collecting and analysing the related information. Drawing conclusions from the analysis made. Implementing the decisions taken. Reviewing and revising the sales forecasting from time to time. Role of Sales Forecasting in Marketing Decisions The role of marketing research in sales forecasting has increased due to demand seasonality. The immortal law of marketing is dead. For example, marketers of Woodland shoes and casual wear are now pulling up their socks to bring up demands during the lean months. Across a range of marketstelevisions, refrigerators, footwear, garments, paints etc., companies are increasingly latching onto a new truth consumers are no longer buying during specific seasons in the year. As a result, footwear sales in lean months is 40 per cent of sales, up from 25 per cent in the early nineties. Refrigerator sales too have come out of cold storage during the lean months. So why is demand seasonality gradually disappearing from Indian markets. It is surprising then to see that even though consumer-buying is changing track, marketers are largely in a wait-and-watch mode. In many categories like black and white TVs, mopeds, cassette recorders, nearly 50 per cent of the sales occur in rural markets. Yet, companies did not have any distribution network to reach out to these exterior markets. Most of the sales would happen at the end of the harvest season in local markets or annual fairs organized by companies. Since harvesting was a once-a-year event, rural folks would undertake big purchases only around that time. So it did not make any sense to set up elaborate retail networking throughout the year. It was a highly seasonal economy. With rural income accounting for 70 per cent of the total national income, it was not surprising that seasonality was a strong factor. But that is changing now. Gradually, there has been a shift from one crop to two crop agriculture. So there are two income streams within the year now. As a result buying is also gradually happening throughout the year as per a study conducted by the Centre for Media Studies. How can companies benefit from the changing cycle of season? To take an example, consumer durable marketers estimate that anything between three to five per cent of the retail price of a unit can be saved if the sales are spread evenly throughout the year.

To ensure that these benefits accrue, they can make three fundamental changes. One, have specific products for the off season; two, optimise media spends during the lean months and three, extend distribution to seasonal markets. Sales Forecasting Methods An organisation can suffer huge losses due to faulty sales forecasting. Faulty sales forecast may arise due to incorrect information or faulty reasoning. But sales forecasting done on scientific lines proves very useful. The following are the specific tools which are used for sales: Barometer Indicators Economic model Correlations and Regression

Q.3 Write a short note on marketing audit. Marketing Audit Marketing audit is the hottest management concept in the new millennium and marketers are getting increasingly conscious about this, no matter small or large sized companies. No chief or head of marketing can afford to stay away from the up-to-date check on marketing process. The marketing audit provides good input for a plan of action to improve a companys marketing performance. The ultimate utility or objective of conducting of Marketing Research could really lie in conducting Marketing Audit of the organization. The marketing audit has the following four characteristic: 1. Comprehensive: The scope of marketing audit is relatively broad as it includes all the important marketing activities of business. In other words, it is not at all, problem oriented always. 2. Systematic: The audit follows a specific system and it is an orderly and well-organized scrutiny of organizations environment, objectives, strategies, activities, systems, etc. 3. Independent: It can be conducted in different ways as follows: - Self-audit: Here, the marketing manager utilizes a checklist in order to rate and evaluate different marketing activities or marketing operations. - Audit from across: Here, the marketing auditing activities are performed across the table.

- Audit from above: Here the superior marketing manager in the official hierarchy conducts the audit of different marketing activities or marketing operations. - Audit officer of the company: Here, the officer of the company appointed for the purpose of conducting audit, conducts the same in respect of different marketing activities or marketing operations. This is technically termed as Internal Audit, and the auditor, here is called as Internal Auditor. - Company taskforce audit: Here, the audit is conducted by the company taskforce, created, specially, for the purpose of conducting audit. - Outside audit: Here, an outside agency or an organization is employed for conducting the audit. This is technically termed as External Audit and the auditor, here, is called as External Auditor. 4. Periodic: The marketing audit is periodic that is repetitive in its nature. The period of audit may be varied depending upon the nature and the requirements of the sponsoring organization. (a) Periodic audit is, naturally, always superior as compared to its conducting as and only when there crops up a marketing problem like: - Poor sales performance - Decline in sales - Incurring of heavy looses (b) The scope of the marketing audit extends to: - Marketing Environment - Marketing Objectives - Marketing Strategies - Marketing Activities, etc (c) The objectives of the marketing audit are: i) To determine the problem areas and opportunities. ii) To recommend a plan of action, in order to improve the marketing performance. Components of marketing audit The various components of marketing audit have been identified as follows: Marketing environment audit Marketing strategy audit Marketing organization audit

Marketing Environment Audit: Marketing environment audit concentrates on: Macro environment - Demographic environment - Economic environment - Political environment - Cultural environment - Technological environment Marketing Strategy Audit: Marketing strategy audit focus on: Business strategy Business mission Business objectives Marketing Organization Audit: Marketing organization audit area of concentrates on: Organization structure Organizational efficiency Marketing Systems Audit: The area of marketing system audit are: Marketing information systems Marketing planning systems Marketing control systems New product development systems Marketing Function Audit Marketing function audit concentrates on: Product line objectives Pricing objectives Distribution objectives Advertising objectives Sales force objectives

Marketing Productivity Audit Marketing productivity audit concentrates on: Cost-benefit analysis Profitability analysis Methodology of Marketing Audit The auditor collects the relevant and significant data for the purpose of audit by conducting interviews of: Customers Dealers Sales representatives Marketing executives People from top management.

Q.4 What are client ethics and field service ethics? Explain with example. Client Ethics Like research suppliers, clients (or users) also have a number of ethical dos and donts. Some of the more common client problems are requesting bids when a supplier has been predetermined, requesting bids to obtain free advice and methodology, making false promises, and issuing unauthorized RFPs. Requesting bids when a supplier has been predetermined: It is not uncommon for a client to prefer one research supplier over another. Such a preference may be due to a good working relationship, cost considerations, ability to make deadlines, friendship, or quality of the research staff. Having a preference per se is not unethical. It is unethical, however, to predetermine which supplier will receive a contract and yet ask for proposals from other suppliers to satisfy corporate requirements. Requiring time, effort, and money from firms that have no opportunity to win the contract is very unfair. Why more than a single RFP? Some corporations require more than one bid. Requesting Bids to Obtain Free Advice and Methodology: Client companies seeking bargain basement prices have been known to solicit detailed proposals, including complete methodology and a sample questionnaire, from a number of suppliers. After picking the brains of the suppliers, the client assembles a questionnaire and then contracts directly with field services to gather the data. A variation of this tactic is to go to the cheapest supplier with the clients own proposal, derived by taking the best ideas from the other proposals. The client then attempts to get the supplier to conduct the more elaborate study at the lower price. Making False Promises: Another technique used by unethical clients to lower their research costs is to hold out a nonexistent carrot. For example, a client might say, I dont want to promise anything, but we are planning a major stream of research in this area, and if you will give us a good price on this first study,

we will make it up to you on the next one. Unfortunately, the next one never comes or if it does, the same line is used on another unsuspecting supplier. Requesting Proposals without Authorization: In each of the following situations, a client representative sought proposals without first receiving the authority to allocate the funds to implement them: A client representative decided to ask for proposals and then go to management to find out whether she could get the funds to carry them out. A highly regarded employee made a proposal to management on the need for marketing research in a given area. Although managers were not too enthused about the idea, they told the researcher to seek bids so as not to dampen his interest or miss a potentially (but, in their view, highly unlikely) good idea. A client representative and her management had different ideas on what the problem was and how it should be solved. The research supplier was not informed of the management view, and even though the proposal met the representatives requirements, management rejected it out of hand. Without consulting with the sales department, a client representative asked for a proposal on analyzing present sales performance. Through fear of negative feedback, corporate politics, or lack of understanding of marketing research, the sales department blocked implementation of the proposal. Field Service Ethics Marketing research field services are the production arm of the research industry requiring telephone or face-to-face interviews. They are the critical link between the respondent and the research supplier. It is imperative that they properly record information and carefully follow sampling plans. Otherwise, even the best research design will produce invalid information (garbage in; garbage out). Maintaining high ethical standards will aid a field service in procuring good raw data for the research firm. Using Professional Respondents: The problem of professional respondents arises most often in the recruitment of focus group participants. Virtually all field services maintain a database of people willing to participate in qualitative discussion groups, along with a list of their demographic characteristics. Maintaining such a list is good business and quite ethical. When qualifications for group participants are easy (for example, pet owners, persons who drive SUVs), there is little temptation to use professional respondents. However, when a supplier wants, for example, persons who are heavy users of Oxydol detergent or who own a Russian Blue cat, it is not unheard of for a group recruiter to call a professional respondent and say, I can get you into a group tomorrow with a $75 respondent fee and all you need to say is that you own a Russian Blue cat. In an attempt to weed out professional respondents, a research supplier may specify that the participant must not have been a member of a qualitative discussion group within the past 6 months. However, dishonest field services will simply tell the professional respondent to deny having participated in a group within the past 6 months.

Q.5 Discuss different types of information applicable in market research and mention their uses.

Types of Market Information Various types of information available in market include: Quantitative vs Qualitative Information: The difference is shown through Table A. Table A.: Quantitative vs Qualitative Information Qualitative Information Deals with descriptions. Can be observed but not measured. Colors, textures, smells, tastes, appearance, beauty, etc. Quantitative Information Deals with numbers. Can be measured.

Length, height, area, volume, weight, speed, time, temperature, humidity, sound levels, cost, members, ages, etc. Exact vs Tentative Information: The difference is shown through Table B Table B: Exact vs Tentative Information Exact Information Deals with perfect revelations Can be trusted totally. What does one prefer eating (veg/non veg); which type of restaurants a specific group of customers like going to, etc. Tentative Information Deals with tentative revelations Can be trusted blindly

Will a non vegetarian prefer eating crab on a visit to Hawaii; would someone happily married like to date a person if not married happily, etc. Primary vs Secondary Information: Primary information helps in determining the survival of the market. The popular ways to collect primary data consist of surveys, interviews and focus groups, which shows that direct relationship between potential customers and the companies. Secondary research is a means to reprocess and reuse collected information as an indication for betterments of the service or product. Both primary and secondary data are useful for businesses but both may differ from each other in various aspects. In secondary data, information relates to a past period. Hence, it lacks aptness and therefore, it has unsatisfactory value. Primary data is more accommodating as it shows latest information. Secondary data is obtained from some other organization than the one instantaneously interested with current research project. Secondary data was collected and analyzed by the organization to convene the requirements of various research objectives. Primary data is accumulated by the researcher particularly to meet up the research objective of the subsisting project. A good marketing information system should determine the various information needs of the organization. These information can be got from internal source or from external sources. Database is a source of information about individuals or organizations. Database may contain customers purchase history, demographic life style etc. data base helps to locate potential prospects. When a transaction takes place certain relationship is developed. Relationship marketing focus on retention of customer forever.

Marketing information systems support traditional and e-commerce processes and management of the marketing function. Major types of marketing information systems include interactive marketing at ecommerce websites, sales force automation, customer relationship management, sales management, product management, targeted marketing, advertising and promotion, and market research. Thus, marketing information systems assist marketing managers in electronic commerce product development and customer relationship decisions, as well as in planning advertising and sales promotion strategies and developing the e-commerce potential of new and present products, and new channels of distribution. Glossary Management Information System: a system or process that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Marketing Information System: a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis and presentation of information for use in marketing decisions. Targeted Marketing: a strategic approach to creating a marketing mix for a specific, targeted market segment and set of buyers. Decision Support System: a way to model data and make quality decisions based upon it. Database: collection of data that is organized so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. Data Mining: the process of extracting patterns from data.

Q.6 What is SPSS? How does SPSS help in marketing research?

Concept of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS is the data analysis package of choice for people wanting to analyze quantitative data. However, most researchers find dealing with quantitative data quite daunting. Although most researchers are quite comfortable with qualitative research methods and analyses, they tend to shy away from using quantitative statistics. However, the ability to perform quantitative data analysis is increasingly becoming an important skill for researchers to possess. Actually most peoples fear of statistics is unfounded. The advent of computer software programmes such as SPSS that can be used to analyze data, has meant that people do not have to know or learn mathematical formulae in order to be able to perform quantitative statistical analyses. Nowadays, all one needs to know is the appropriate analyses to perform on their data and how to do it so they can obtain the information they need to know. Knowledge of SPSS is useful because: SPSS is a leader in the field of market research and social surveys

 It has been in the forefront of these fields for over 40 years It is a very powerful piece of software that will enable you to carry out quantitative analysis in seconds You can legitimately see it as an extension or complement to Excel It is easier to use than other packages when it comes to handling large datasets It may help you get a job in the job market.

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences marketing researcher:SPSS is used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organizations and others. In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation (a metadata dictionary is stored with the data) are features of the base software. The developers of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) made every effort to make the software easy to use. This prevents you from making mistakes or even forgetting something. Thats not to say its impossible to do something wrong, but the SPSS software works hard to keep you from running into the ditch. To foul things up, you almost have to work at figuring out a way of doing something wrong. You always begin by defining a set of variables, and then you enter data for the variables to create a number of cases. For example, if you are doing an analysis of automobiles, each car in your study would be a case. The variables that define the cases could be things such as the year of manufacture, horsepower, and cubic inches of displacement. Each car in the study is defined as a single case, and each case is defined as a set of values assigned to the collection of variables. Every case has a value for each variable. (Well, you can have a missing value, but thats a special situation described later.) Variables have types. That is, each variable is defined as containing a specific kind of number. For example, a scale variable is a numeric measurement, such as weight or miles per gallon. A categorical variable contains values that define a category; for example, a variable named gender could be a categorical variable defined to contain only values 1 for female and 2 for male. Things that make sense for one type of variable dont necessarily make sense for another. For example, it makes sense to calculate the average miles per gallon, but not the average gender.