Marketing Research
The application of the scientific method in searching for the truth about marketing phenomena
Applied Marketing Research
research conducted to address a specific marketing decision for a specific firm or organization.
Basic Marketing Research
Research conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the needs of a specific organization.
The scientific method
the way researchers go about using knowledge and evidence to reach objective conclusions about the real world.
Product oriented
describes a firm that prioritizes decision making an a way that emphasizes technical superiority in the product.
Production Oriented
describes a firm that prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness of the production processes in making decisions
marketing concept
a central idea in modern marketing thinking that focuses on how the firm provides value to customers more than on the physical product or production process
marketing orientation
the corporate culture existing for firms adopting the marketing concept. it emphasizes customer orientation, long term profitability over short term profits and a cross functional perspective
customer oriented
describes a firm in which all decision are made with a conscious awareness of their effect on the consumer
Relationship marketing
communicates the idea that a major goal of marketing is to build long term relationships with the customers contributing to the firms success.
Total Quality Management
a business philosophy that has much in common with the marketing concept
Four Stages of Implementing a marketing strategy
1) Id and eval market opportunities.
2) analyze market segments and select target markets
3)planning and implementing a marketing mix that will provide value to customers and meet organizational objects
4)analyze firm performance
Geo Demographics
refers to info describing the demographic profile of consumers in a particular geographic region.
Pricing
involves finding the amount of monetary sacrifice that best represents the value customers perceive in a product after considering various market constraints
Marketing Channel
network of interdependent institutions that perform the logistics necessary for consumption to occur.
supply chain
another term for a channel of distribution (link between suppliers and customers)
promotion
the communication function of the firm responsible for informing and persuading buyers
promotion research
investigates the effectiveness of advertising premiums coupons sampling discounts public relations, and other sales promotions.
Integrated marketing communication
all promotional efforts (advertising public relations, personal selling, event marketing, and so forth) should be coordinated to communicate a consistent image
Integrated marketing mix
the effects of various combinations of marketing mix elements on important outcomes.
total value management
the management and monitoring the entire process by which consumers receive benefits from a company
performance monitoring research
refers to research that regularly, sometimes routinely, provides feedback for evaluation and control of marketing activity.
marketing metrics
quantitative ways of monitoring and measuring marketing performance
culturally cross validate
to verify that the empirical findings from one culture also exist and behave similarly in another culture
data
facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena
information
data formatted (structured) to support decision making or define the relationship between two facts.
market intelligence
the subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory power enabling effective decisions to be made.
relevance
the characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent these particular facts are to the situation at hand.
information completeness
having the right amount of info
global information system
an organized collection of computer hardware, software, data, and personnel designed to capture store update manipulate analyze and immediately display information about worldwide business activity.
decision support system
a computer based system that helps decision makers confront problems through direct interaction with databases and analytical software programs
customer relationship management
part of the dss that addresses exchanges between the firm and its customers
database
a collection of raw data arranged logically and organized in a form that can be stored and processed by a computer
data warehousing
the process allowing important day to day operational data to be stored and organized for simplified access
data warehouse
the multitiered computer store house of current and historical data
proprietary marketing research
the gathering of new data to investigate specific problems
scanner data
the accumulated records resulting from point of sale data recording
data wholesalers
companies that put together consortia of data sources into packaes that are offered to municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee
Electronic Data Interchange
Type of exchange that occurs when one company's computer system is integrated with another company's system
Predictive analytics
a system linking computerized data sources to statistical tools allowing more accurate forecasts of consumers opinons and actions
content providers
parties that furnish info on the internet
uniform resource locators
a web site address that web browsers recognize
search engine
a computerized directory that allows anyone to search the world wide web for info using a keyword search
keyword search
takes place as the search engine searches through millions of web pages for documents containing the keywords.
environmental scanning
entails all information gathering designed to detect changes in the external operating environment of the firm
pull technology
consumers request information from a webpage and the browser then determines a response, the consumer is essentially asking for the data.
push tech
sends data to a users comp without a request being made, software is used to guess what info might be interesting to consumers based on the pattern of previous responses
smart agent software
software capable of learning an internet users preferences and automatically searching out information in selected web sites and then distributing it
cookies
small data files that a content provider can save onto the comp of someone who visits its websites
intranet
a company's private data network that uses internet standards and tech
exploratory research
conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities
symptoms
observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that problem
descriptive research
describes characteristics of objects people groups organizations or environments tries to paint a picture fo a give situation
diagnostic analysis
seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products
causal research
allows causal inferences to be made, seeks to id cause and effect relationship
causal inference
a conclusion that when one thing happens another specific thing will follow
temporal sequence
one of the three criteria for causality deals with the time order of events,the cause must occur before the effect
concomitant variation
one of three criteria for causality; occurs when tow events "covary", meaning they vary systematically.
non-spurious association
one of three criteria for causality; means any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply due to some other variable.
experiment
a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed canse and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect
experimental variable
represents the proposed cause which the researcher controls by manipulating its value
manipulation
means that the researchers alter the level of the variable in specific increments
research objectives
the goals to be achieved by conducting research
deliverables
the term used often in consulting to describe research objectives to a research client
literature review
a directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand
pilot study
a small scale research project that collects data from respondents similar to those to be used in the full study
pretest
a small scale study in which the results are only preliminary and intended only to assist in design of a subsequent study
focus group
a small group discussion about some research topic led by a moderator who guides discussion among the participants
theory
a formal logical explanation of some events that includes predictions of how things relato to one another
hypothesis
a formal statement explaining some outcome.
empirical testing
means that something has been examined against reality using data
research design
a master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information
survey
a research technique in wich a sample is interviewed in some form or the behavior of respondents is observed and described in some way
sampling
involves any procedures that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the population
unobtrusive methods
methods in which research respondents do not have to be disturbed for data to be gathered
data analysis
the application of reasoning to understand the ata that have been gathered
research project
a single study that addresses one or a small number of research objectives
research program
numerous related studies that come together to address multiple related research objectives
outside agency
an independent research firm contracted by the comp that actually will benefit from the research
in house research
research performed by employees of the company that will benefit from the research
research suppliers
commercial providers of marketing research services
syndicated service
a marketing research supplier that provides standardized information for many clients in return for a fee
standardized research service
companies that develop a unique methodology for investigating a business specialty area
custom research
research projects that are tailored specifically to a clients unique needs
director of marketing research
this person provides leadership in research efforts and integrates all staff level research activities into one effort. the director plans executes and controls the firms marketing research function
research analyst
a person responsible for client contact, project design, preparation of proposals selection of research suppliers and supervision of data collection analysis and reporting activities
research assistants
research employees who provide technical assistance with questionnaire design, data analyses, and similar activities
manager of decision support systems
employee who supervises the collection and analysis of sales, inventory, and other periodic, customer relationship management (CRM) data
forecast analyst
employee who provides technical assistance such as running computer programs and manipulating data to generate a sales forecast.
cross functional teams
employee teams composed of individuals fom various functional areas such as engineering production finance and marketing who share a common purpose
marketing ethics
the application of morals to behavior related to the exchange environment
moral standards
principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and what is unethical
ethical dilemma
refers to a situation in which one chooses from alternative courses of actions, each with different ethical implications
relativism
a term that reflects the degree to which one rejects moral standards in favor of the acceptability some action. this way of thinking rejects absolut principles in favor of situation based evaluations
idealism
a term that reflects the degree to which one bases ones morality on moral standards
informed consent
when an individual understands what the researcher wants him or her to do and consents to the research study
confidentiality
the info involved in a research will not be shared with others.
do-not-call legislation
restricts any telemarketing effort from calling consumers who either register with a no call list or who request not to be called
spyware.
software placed on a computer without consent or knowledge of the user
placebo
a false experimental effect used to create the perception that some effect has been administered
debriefing
research subjects are fully informed and provided with a chance to ask any questions they may have about the experiment
mystery shoppers
employees of a research firm that are paid to pretend to be actual shoppers
human subjects review committees
carefully reviews propsed research design to try to make sure that no harm can come to any research participant. otherwise known as an institutional review board or IRB
Institutional Review Board
another name for a human subjects review committee
advocacy research
research undertaken to support a specific claim in a legal action or represent som advocacy group
Pseudo-Research
conducted not to gather info for marketing decisions but to bolster a point of view and satisfy other needs
push poll
telemarketing under guise of research
conflict of interest
occurs when on researcher works for two competing companies