CHAPTER 3 - MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

CHAPTER 3

THE MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

STEPS IN MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS

ESTABLISH THE NEED FOR MARKETING RESEARCH
- Should have a monitoring system to discover the need.
- Should monitor own performance
- Should monitor environment
- McDonald's: health consciousness; market saturation; new competition
- Marketing research may not be needed if:
  Information is already available
  
  Insufficient time for marketing research
  
  Resources not available
  
  Costs outweigh the value of research
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
- A problem well defined is half solved
- Exploratory research
- Specify symptoms
- Itemize possible causes of the symptoms
- List reasonable alternative courses of action
- Case: Downtown Ithaca
ESTABLISH RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- Related to problem definition
- What information is needed to solve the problem?
- Would a large department/discount store help downtown Ithaca?
- Would people come more if the shopping hours are extended?
- Is security an issue?
DETERMINE THE RESEARCH DESIGN
- EXPLORATORY RESEARCH -- Collecting information in an unstructured and informal manner. Often used to define the problem.
- DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH -- Typically answers who, what, why, when, how questions. Common marketing research technique. Survey method and observation might be used.
- CAUSAL RESEARCH -- Conducted by controlling certain variables to determine which factor is causing the problem. Relationships between variables are established. The goal is to be able to say, for example, that "If I increase my advertising budget by 10 percent, my sales will increase by 20 percent."
  - Based on experiments.
  - Complex; time consuming; expensive.
  - Controlling variables is difficult.
  - Not very commonly used.
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION TYPES AND SOURCES
- Secondary Data
- Primary Data
- Advantages and Disadvantages
DETERMINE METHODS OF ACCESSING DATA
- Secondary Data -- WWW, CD-ROM Databases
- Primary Data -- surveys (telephone, mail, personal interviews, mall intercept, observation, focus groups.)
DESIGN DATA COLLECTION FORMS
- Questionnaires
- Structured versus unstructured
- Disguised versus undisguised
- "Dos and don'ts"
DETERMINE SAMPLE PLAN AND SAMPLE SIZE
- Population
- Census
- Sample
- Sampling error
- Sample frame
- Sample element
- Sampling plan
- Sample Size
COLLECT DATA
- Nonsampling errors
- Wrong sample element interviewed
- Non-response
- Cheating
ANALYZE DATA
- Data cleaning
- Coding
- Tabulation
- Frequency Distributions
- Cross-tabulations
- Statistical Tests
PREPARE AND PRESENT THE FINAL RESEARCH REPORT
- Oral presentation
- Written Report
MARKETING RESEARCH IN ACTION: KFC IN THE UK
- NEED FOR MARKETING RESEARCH
  · By early 1990s, KFC had been in the UK for 30 years. Over 300 units.
  
  · Takeout concept. Limited seating.
  
  · Young males visit it after pub visits.
  
  · Not too family oriented.
  
  · Competing with local fish-and-chip joints.
  
  · Big M starts growing. Over 500 units.
  
  · How do you change image? How do you attract families?
  
  · Big M is family oriented. Advertises heavily to this segment.
  
  · Find out how to reposition the firm.
- DEFINE THE PROBLEM
  · How to reposition the firm and change the "takeout image"
  
  · How to make it more "family friendly"
  
  · How to get UK "mums" interested enough to visit and use KFC on a regular basis to buy meals for their meals.
- ESTABLISH RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
  · KFC-UK has the lowest percentage of sales in family meals (10 percent).
  
  · In Australia, "family feast" provides 30 percent of sales. This is enough food to feed a family of four at reasonable prices.
  
  · Could this menu be copied in the UK?
  
  · Would "family feast" improve the overall image in the UK?
- DETERMINE THE RESEARCH DESIGN
  · Secondary data
  
  · Focus group studies
  
  · A Cross-sectional survey of UK "mums"
  
  · Consumer tracking studies "before" and "after" the program is introduced.
  
  · Examine ultimate sales figures.
- IDENTFYING INFORMATION TYPES AND SOURCES
  · Limited secondary data.
  
  · Some magazine articles about fast food (Advertising Age)
  
  · Data from KFC-Australia
  
  · Primary Data: Focus Groups (Qualitative)
  
  · Primary Data: A survey (Quantitative)
- DETERMINING METHODS OF ACCESSING DATA
  · The data from KFC-Australia would be studied first.
  
  · A series of focus groups would be conducted with moms with children under 12 to discuss eating habits, preferences, etc.
  
  · A survey instrument would be designed with the help of focus group info to find out the optimal "bundle" of offering.
- DESIGN DATA COLLECTION FORMS
  · Focus groups in North and South of the country.
  
  · KFC not identified to reduce bias.
  
  · Videotaped .
  
  · Structured questionnaire designed to determine amount of food, price, desert, drinks etc. to be included in the menu.
- DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE AND PLAN
  · Focus groups in Leeds, Birmingham, and London.
  
  · 10-12 mums who have visited a fast food restaurant during the last 3 months selected.
  
  · For the survey, 200 women from 10 different mall sites around the country.
  
  · Tracking studies with a similar sample size done each month. Street intercept.
- COLLECT DATA
  · Focus group data collected over a period of two weeks.
  
  · Survey took two weeks.
  
  · Survey was conducted by a field data collection company.
- DATA ANALYSIS AND FINAL REPORT
  · Focus group mums were interested in the "family feast"
  
  · With the survey, "family feast" (8 pc chicken, 4 regular French fries, two large side orders, and a family size apple pie for $16) was compared to the current "bargain bucket" (8 pc chicken and 4 regular fries for $12).
  
  · The family feast was preferred.
  
  · According to tracking studies, the image was improved. The 10-point gap with the big M was eliminated.
  
  · The "family feast" did not cannibalize the "bargain bucket." Smaller families still purchased "bargain bucket."
  
  · The "family feast" eventually became the number one selling item at KFC-UK.