Marketing Research:

An Introduction

DR. NAVEEN DAS

Agenda
MR Industry Overview
Why MR? Why Important?
MR Easier or Tougher now?
What Can you Research?
MR Defined
Steps in the MR process
Summary

Need for MR
Decision-makers need to find solutions to
business problems, such as the following:
How satisfied are customers with a product and
service offering?
How will customers react to a decision to change a
price or product?
What are service representatives hearing from
customers?
What responses to competition will bring success in
a given market?

Marketing Research Industry

Worldwide the industry is worth 40+

billion dollars (2013)

In global market, Indias share is very

small, but growing very fast. Why?
Worldwide norm is 0.5-1.0 % of
Industry turnover
In India, if 0.25% were spent, Indian
MR would be worth Rs. 3000 crore!
(in US $?)
What does that tell you?
Any change in the last 5 years or so?.....

Why do MR?
In India the MR industry is worth a few hundred

crores, say Rs. 750 cr (2013-14). What is the size

now (2015)?
Big players are many thanks to consolidation
Why is MR important for companies?
Why should one learn MR?
Why should companies invest in MR? Other than
companies?

Why MR?
Why do men buy Barbie dolls while buying Van

Heusen shirts?
Why do we see chocolates / cookies stacked near the
check-out counters in malls?
Why are private labels kept at eye-contact height in
racks?
Places of worship in hospital precincts. Why?
Banks and financial institutions have started
showing family in their advertisements. Why?

Why MR?
Men spend a lot on the shirt

End up being a little guilty

Hence buy a Barbie doll for daughters!
Hence, retailers place Barbie dolls near expensive shirts

Without analysis of data, would such a thing be

foretold or explained?
What if they have young sons?

Why MR?
Marketing management is all about making decisions

relating to 4 Ps, STP and issues like market entry,

repositioning, branding, etc.
Essentially, all management revolves around decision
making
For any decision-making, information is vital
MR provides managers this info

Without this, managers will go by hunches..risky?

Does this happen now?....Data explosion! Analytics!
In God we trust, for the rest we need data

Why MR?
MR helps marketers get consumer insights
There is a danger of losing touch with consumers
At IIM Sambalpur, we have just 48 MR students, so getting

feedback is not a problem

P&G has a billion+ consumers worldwide

Each day, Indian Railways ferry millions of passengers

Without MR, it would be impossible to keep in touch

The stunning success of the Koreans in appliances

Does Apple believe in MR? Why?
Is observing without interfering be called marketing research?

Why MR?
Tatas launched Nano. Why?
They did some MR
Asked people why do you need a 4-wheeler?
Answer was it will improve my marriage prospects
Thus, emotional reasons were key, not rational ones

3-wheeler was considered cheap

4-wheeler was aspirational
4-wheeler was safer.Was it more economic?

Why MR?
Knowledge of MR will come in useful
An MR career is very rewarding by the way

Lot of variety
Plus intellectual content quite high

Even consulting jobs involve quite a bit of MR

Hence, useful for you all!
Any product/service needs MR to be positioned

properly

The tools and techniques

Idea of the consumers mind
Reason to buy

MR Easier or Tougher now?

Certainly easier now .Over-communicated society!
Many consumers own cell phones, insurance

policies, phones, cars, bikes, club memberships

Meaning what?
Are we over-exposed?
Privacy..Is it an issue?

MR Easier or Tougher now?

Plus, now MR companies are dime a dozen
Though quality is suspect sometimes
Statistical software is now sophisticated and user-friendly

e.g. SPSS
Consumer literacy has shown dramatic increase in the last
15-20 years
Net has come in as a major boon as a tool

Keeps changing everyday almost

Also, companies nowadays no longer see MR as a waste of

money necessary investment

Earlier, first budget to be cut in a recession

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!!

MR Easier or Tougher?
However, consumer apathy has grown

Widespread disinterest and downright lying e.g. voter opinion

polls
Prannoy Roy in 1984 started them in India.
US Caucuses?

Oftentimes, time is a constraint

HLL had how much time to react to P&Gs price cut? MR

possible?
Pepsi-CokeDo they compete or collaborate?

Also, small companies lack the resources as MR is

expensive

What Can You Research

What are some areas that you can do MR on?
Group

Area

Group

1 Nitesh & Co.

8 Arko & Co.

2 Maninder &
Co.

9 Ansuman & Co.

3 Rajeev & Co.

10 Love & Cop.

4 Yogendra &
Co.

11 NJ & Co.

5 Pritam & Co.

12 Pravendra & Co.

6 Antariksh &
Co.

13. Awiral & Co.

7 Amit & Co.

Area

What Can You Research

Thus, almost everything is researchable, tactical and

strategic
Thus, it should be What Can You Not Research?
MR is very important

Else, the company/industry is in bad shape

Like the film industry
Vacuumiser, Contessa were big failures
Korean giants do assiduous MR
As does P&G, Levers
Not chance that they are successful
Neemazol is an excellent example of rural MR

MR Defined
So what then is MR?
How can it be defined?

MR Defined
MR is the systematic and objective ID, collection,

analysis, dissemination and use of info for

marketing-related decision-making
Note that it is systematic and objective
It is thus different from Marketing Intelligence

What is this?

MR Defined
MI is general, vague and usually done in-house, with

focus on competition by and large

Some authors use MI as part or MR
But MR is always systematic and objective, or should
be

12 Steps of Research
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Identify the research question

Initial review of literature
Distilling the question to a researchable problem
Continued review of literature
Formulation of hypothesis
Determining the basic research approach
Identifying the population and sample
Designing the data collection plan
Selecting or developing data collection instruments
Choosing the method of data analysis
Implementing the research plan
Interpreting the results

Steps in the MR Process

Defining the problem
Developing an approach to the problem

Just builds off first step

Research design

The heart of the MR process

Data Collection
Data analysis
Report Presentation
Feedback and Continue

Steps in the MR Process

We are going to take a look in detail at research

design, data collection and analysis

How many of you know SPSS?

The Iceberg Principle

The dangerous part of many marketing problems is neither

visible to nor understood by many marketing managers.
Submerged parts of the problem must be understood and
including in the research design for the research to be useful.

Beware the Iceberg!

Summary
MR is very important for any business
Good MR should be the basis of decisions
India is a small portion of the big MR market
Most factors are not easily visible/researchable
We shall take a look at some steps in detail

TWENTY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING SURVEYS

1 - MARKET DESCRIPTION SURVEYS:
Determine the size and relative market share of the market.
Provide key information about market growth, competitive positioning and share of market.

2- MARKET PROFILING-SEGMENTATION SURVEYS:

Identify customers and non-customers, and why they are or are not your customers. Often a
descriptive market segmentation and market share analysis.

3 - STAGE IN THE PURCHASE PROCESS / TRACKING SURVEYS:

Where is the customer in the adoption process?
Shows market Awareness Knowledge Intention Trial Purchase Repurchase of the product.

4 - CUSTOMER INTENTION - PURCHASE ANALYSIS SURVEYS:

Customer motivation to move from interest in the product to actual purchase.
Key to understanding customer conversion, commitment and loyalty.

5 - CUSTOMER ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS SURVEYS:

Does the product meet customer expectations? Attitudes formed about the product and/or

company. Improve ads, customer conversion, commitment and loyalty.

TWENTY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING SURVEYS

6 - CUSTOMER TRUST - LOYALTY RETENTION ANALYSIS SURVEYS:
Depth of consumer attitudes formed about the product and/or company.
Especially for high priced consumer goods with long decision and purchase processes.

7 - NEW PRODUCT CONCEPT ANALYSIS SURVEYS:

Appropriate in the initial screening of new product concepts.
Likes and dislikes, acceptability and likelihood of purchase are especially useful measures.

8 - NEW PRODUCT ACCEPTANCE AND DEMAND SURVEYS (CONJOINT ANALYSIS):

Estimating demand for new product descriptions, graphics, or prototypes.
Yields market share estimates for alternative concept configurations.

9 - HABITS AND USES SURVEYS:

Understanding usage situations, including how, when and where the product is used.
May include a real or virtual pantry audit.

10 - PRODUCT FULFILLMENT SURVEYS:

Evaluation of promised attribute and feature benefits (both tangible and intangible).
Are expectations produced by advertising, packaging, and product appearance fulfilled?

TWENTY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING SURVEYS

11 - COMPETITIVE PRODUCT AND MARKET POSITIONING:
Best Practices study of How does the market view us relative to the competition?
Compares attributes and benefits of the product.

12 - BRAND EQUITY SURVEYS:

What is psychological value that a brand holds in the marketplace?
A composite of brand awareness, brand quality, brand associations and brand loyalty measures.

13 - ADVERTISING VALUE IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS SURVEYS:

Mapping the hierarchical attributes, benefits and values associated with and portrayed by an
advertisement. Means-end analysis is often part of this type of study.

14 - ADVERTISING MEDIA AND MESSAGE EFFECTIVENESS SURVEYS:

Identifies the impressions, feelings, and effectiveness in moving the respondent to a desired goal

(increased awareness, product information, trial, repeat purchase).

15 - SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESS SURVEYS:
Sales activities, performance and effectiveness in producing the desired and measurable effect or

goal. Often measured in a 360 degree survey completed by the sales person, the client (evaluating
the sales call) and the supervisor responsible for evaluating the sales person.

TWENTY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING SURVEYS

16 - SALES LEAD GENERATION SURVEYS:
(1) Timely use and follow-up of sales leads, (2) Qualifying sales leads (thereby saving valuable sales force time)

and (3) Providing more effective tracking of sales leads.

17 - CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEYS:
Focus in detail on the actual customer service that was received, the process involved in receiving that service

and the evaluation of the participants in the service process.

18 - CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (CSR) SURVEYS ATTITUDES, BURNOUT,

TURNOVER AND RETENTION:

Customer Service Representatives hold attitudes that reflect on their job related activities including (1) the

allocation of time; (2) solutions to customer needs; (3) how to improve their job; (4) best practices; (5) how well
internal departments help customers. Focuses on reducing costs and increasing the quality of customer
relationships.
19 - SALES FORECASTING AND MARKET TRACKING SURVEYS:
Expert estimates of the market, judgmental bootstrapping (expert based rules describing how to use available

secondary market information), conjoint analysis (estimation of consumer choice preferences), and selfreported intentions to make future purchases.
20 - PRICE SETTING SURVEYS AND ELASTICITY OF DEMAND ANALYSIS:
Estimates of demand elasticity, optimal price points, and prices too low or too high.
Estimates for different product-service segments, or usage situations.