The Human Side of Marketing Research

Stage of developmentStage of intuitivedecision making

Stage ofsophistication

Intuition-Centered Decision Making

Research-CenteredDecision Making

Continuum of Marketing Research Sophistication

Managers Researchers1) Decision-oriented

2) Intuitive

3) Like to confirm

4) Time orientation -- Proactive1) Project immediacy

2) Results about future behavior

5) Frugal1) keep costs down

6) Results orientation1) Do not like surprises – tend to

reject the results

2) Concern 1) Aren’t we #1 yet?

3) Certainty1) Is it or isn’t it?

1) Technique-oriented

2) Analytical

3) Like to explore

4) Time orientation -- Reactive1) Project prolongment

2) Results about past behavior

5) Not cost conscious1) You get what you pay for

6) Results orientation1) Love surprises – like finding

out new info about the world

2) Abstraction1) Our exponential gain ….

3) Probability1) May be …..

Who Should Do the Research?• Outside Agency (Research supplier)

– An independent research firm contracted by the company that actually will benefit from the research.

• Can provide a fresh perspective

• Often can be more objective

• May have special expertise

• Often has local expertise

• In-house Research– Research performed by employees of the company that will

benefit from the research.• Can complete the research quickly

• Allows close collaboration with other employees

• Economy

• Secrecy

Organizational Structure of Marketing Research: Mid-Sized Firms

• Director of marketing research– Provides leadership in research efforts & integrates all staff-

level research activities into one effort.

– Plans, executes, & controls the firm’s marketing research function.

• Research analyst– Responsible for

• client contact,

• project design,

• preparation of proposals,

• selection of research suppliers

• supervision of data collection, analysis , & reporting activities.

Organizational Structure of Marketing Research (cont’d)

• Research assistants (or associates)– Provide technical assistance with questionnaire design, data

analyses, &similar activities.

– Also called junior analysts

• Manager of decision support systems– Supervises the collection and analysis of sales, inventory, and

other periodic customer relationship management (CRM) data.

• Forecast analyst– Provides technical assistance, such as running computer

programs and manipulating data to forecast sales.

Director of marketing researchand sales forecasting

Manager ofsales research

Forecastanalysts

Research analyst(project director)

Research assistant(entry-level trainee)

Medium-Sized Research Department

The Director of Marketing Research:Problems in Directing Research

• Skilled research professionals like conducting research better than managing people.

• The research management role often is not formally recognized.

• Outstanding research professionals often have trouble delegating responsibility.

• Research is often seen as a hodgepodge of techniques available to answer individual, unrelated questions.

Marketing Research Pays

• Research analysts’ salaries are $45,000 - $85,000, but some make over $100,000

• Entry level is lower: $22,500 - $55,000

Research Supplier

• A commercial marketing research service that conducts marketing research activities for clients

• Syndicated service– Can provide standardized service

– Can provide customized research

World’s Largest Research Firms (2010)

Choosing Research Suppliers

Evaluative Criteria Description

Technical Competency Possesses necessary functional requirements to conduct project. Expertise, practical skills, confidence

Marketing Knowledge Ability to assimilate diverse marketing environments and situations very rapidly. Quickly link client’s business with valid project.

Reliability of Service Ability to be consistent and responsive to client’s needs.

Conformance to Standards

Ability to be accurate and on time. “Never promise what you can’t deliver.”

Reputation Aggregate of the 4 criteria above.

Evaluating Research Suppliers

Evaluative Criteria Description

Marketing Knowledge Translates objectives into marketing perspective; recommends marketing program action.

Technical Skills Design, questionnaire, sample, measures, analysis

Reliability Consistent performance over entire project duration

Responsiveness Willingness/readiness to provide designated tasks as indicated in research proposal

Access Prompt replies to questions; easily approachable

Evaluating Research Suppliers

Evaluative Criteria Description

Communication Keeps client informed throughout entire project

Credibility Exhibits expertise; trustworthy; performs in professional manner

Understanding Tries to keep project costs low; understands true nature of client’s problems, business, daily activities

Quality of report Well-planned, concise, accurate report; no wasted information in presentation

Cost Justifies/itemizes costs based on all necessary tasks to complete project

Timing Completes project as promised within reasonable time frame

Ethical Issues in Marketing Research

• 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– A situation in which one chooses from alternative

courses of actions, each with different ethical implications.

Ethical Issues in Marketing Research (cont’d)

• Relativism– Degree to which one rejects moral standards in

favor of the acceptability of some action.

– Rejects absolute principles in favor of situation-based evaluations.

• Idealism– Degree to which one bases one’s morality on

moral standards.• example: the Golden Rule

General Rights and Obligations of Concerned Parties

• Everyone involved in marketing research can face an ethical dilemma:– The people actually performing the research—the

“doers.”– The research client, sponsor, or the management

team requesting the research—the “users.”– The research participants—the actual research

respondents or subjects.– Society at large — forms governments that oversee

all aspects of commerce & benefits from effective research.

Rights & Obligations of Marketing Research

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Rights & Obligations:Research Participant

• Informed Consent– The individual understands what the researcher

wants him/her to do and consents to the research study.

• Implicit Consent– Behaviors that are performed in public, implies that

one is willing to have others observe them.

• Confidentiality– The information involved in the research will not be

shared with others.

• Be Truthful

Deception in Research Designs And the Right To Be Informed

• Experimental Designs– Placebo

• False experimental effect used to create perception of a true effect.

– Debriefing• Research subjects are fully informed & 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.

Protection from Harm• Questions to ask to help avoid harming a research subject:

– Has the research subject provided consent to participate in an experiment?

– Is the research subject subjected to substantial physical or psychological trauma?

– Can the research subject be easily returned to his or her initial state?

• Human Subjects Review Committee– Reviews proposed research designs to ensure that no harm can

come to any research participant.

– Also called Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Rights and Obligations of the Client Sponsor (User)

• The Right to Privacy (confidentiality)

• Commitment to the research

• Theft of creative ideas– Get ideas from researchers & conduct study

themselves, or

– Use the ideas they got as a bargaining tool with other suppliers

• Use of pseudo-pilot studies– Researcher is told study is 1st of many in a

comprehensive study (when it’s actually only the 1)

Rights of the Researcher

• Fair compensation for efforts

• Properly cited as research provider

Obligations of the Researcher

Objectivity

Understand that the purpose of research is research -- no sales pitch to research participants

Do not misrepresent research

Be honest in reporting errors & limitations

Protect the confidentiality of both subjects & clients

Appropriately price the research

Data Validation Attempt to ensure data collected & recorded accurately

Typically 20% of total responses

Researcher Unethical Behaviors

Falsifying data Rocking chair interviewing

Duplicating actual response data Phantom respondents

Consciously manipulating data structures inappropriately

Inflation of research price with “soft” costs – travel expenses, monetary response incentives, etc

Selling unnecessary / unwarranted research services i.e., sells 2 or 3 data collection forms while only 1 is necessary to

achieve the research objectives

Researcher Unethical Behaviors

Fulfilling promises to respondents and/or field workers Incentives usually not given until project is over

Recipients thus lose leverage

Respondent abuse Misrepresent interview length

Selling PII without approval

Tracing individual respondents for sales call purposes

Covertly recording audio / visual without permission

When Nobody Is Looking?

• Sometimes the stakeholders involved in research are presented with subtle or perhaps even invisible ways to influence the research process in potentially unethical ways.

How Results Can Be Misrepresented in a Report or Presentation

Research That Isn’t Research

• Pseudo-research– Conducted not to gather information for

marketing decisions but to bolster a point of view & satisfy other needs.

• Push poll– Telemarketing under guise of research.

• Service monitoring– Contacting customers about their experience

with a product, there is no selling attempt.

The Researcher & Conflicts of Interest

• Conflict of interest–Occurs when one researcher works

for two competing companies

Suggestions

• Develop & enforce a Code of Ethics

• Develop & publish a Privacy Policy

• Maintain an opt-out list for all survey methods– Phone

– Mail

– Electronic