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Conducting
Marketing Research

Marketing Insights

Venus Razor

$300 million

$2 billion revenue (2001-2005)

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From an MR Project, Gillette found:

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Different Consumer Preferences led into four customer segments o Perfect shave seekers o Skin pamperers o Pragmatic functionalists o EZ seekers

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Gillette’s Earlier successes
 Mach 3 razors (1998): Spent $1B in R&D and Marketing  $5 vs
$15; Blade costs 5 cents; sells at $2 (4500% profit margin)
 Fusion razors (2006): Aims to bring $1 billion revenue a year
 Fusion Proglide razors (2010)  “SilverTouch” for sensitive skin

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Chapter Questions
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Marketing Research Process
Marketing Metrics

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Marketing Research
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Systematic design of research plan
Collection and analysis of data
Reporting relevant findings
Provide Insights for making decisions for specific marketing problems
A new name: Marketing Insights

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Marketing Research Process
1.
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Define the problem
Develop research plan
Collect information
Analyze information
Present findings
Make decision

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Harley: Whether to expand to new market
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Options (no options  no business decisions) o Stay with big bad bikes for brand value o Expand into the new bike market o Collaborate with other manufacturers o Any other options?
Suppose you are the decision maker. What do you need to know?

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Step 1: Define the Problem
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The most important step
State research objectives o o

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Not to be used to support decisions already made
Not too broad or too narrow (New Coke; KFC?)

Harley’s research problem? o o o List of the problems…What do we want to know?
“We do not even know what we need to know…”
“We need an accurate number of XYZ.”

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Step 2: Develop the Research Plan
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Who performs the research? o Vendor o In-house
Research approach
Data sources
Research instruments
Sampling plan
Contact methods

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Research approach o Exploratory (Qualitative) o Focus groups, interviews, observations, ethnography, mechanical devices, etc. o Descriptive (Quantitative) o Statistical analysis for: descriptive stats, association and relationships among variables o Causal (Quantitative) o Statistical analysis with experiments
Data sources
Research instruments
Sampling plan
Contact methods
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Step 3. Collecting Information
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Research approach
Data sources o Secondary data: internal, published, syndicated o Primary data: qualitative, quantitative
Exploratory: secondary data, primary data o Descriptive: secondary data, primary data o Causal: secondary data, primary data
Research instruments
Sampling plan
Contact methods o 
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Research approach
Data sources
Research instruments for Primary Data
Qualitative
o Observational and ethnographic
 Technical devices o Focus group
Quantitative
o Survey  Questionnaire (descriptive) o Experiments (causal) o New Developments:
 Social Media and Big Data
 Biometrics

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Sampling plan
Contact methods
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Question Types – Likert Scale
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statement:
Small airlines generally give better service than large ones.

 Strongly disagree
 Disagree
 Neither agree nor disagree
 Agree
 Strongly agree

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Question Types – Semantic Differential
American Airlines
Large ………………………………...…….Small
Experienced………………….….Inexperienced
Modern……………………….…..Old-fashioned

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Question Types – Importance Scale

Airline food service is _____ to me.

 Extremely important
 Very important
 Somewhat important
 Not very important

 Not at all important

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Question Types – Rating Scale
American Airlines’ food service is _____.

 Excellent
 Very good
 Good
 Fair

 Poor

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Question Types – Intention to Buy Scale
How likely