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Marketing Research and Analysis: Understanding the Customer

Dr. Ajay K. SirsiSchulich School of Business, York University

asirsi@schulich.yorku.ca

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Source: Marketing: A Roadmap to Success by Ajay Sirsi

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Agenda

• Increasing the profile of marketing research• Research design• Conducting secondary research• Conducting primary research

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A Customer’s Question

• “How can you help me make more money?”

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Why could Mike not answer the customer’s question?

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What is the customer really saying?

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What the customer is saying …

• My market share is declining• My industry is mature• Our products have become commodities• Low-cost competitors are here!• My customers are price sensitive• My brands face declining loyalties• My time-to-market for new products is slow• My firm lacks customer focus

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What the customer is saying …

• I cannot distinguish between suppliers– “They are all the same”– “They say the same thing”

• You are a commodity• I need help• If you want to help me, differentiate yourself

– By creating value for me

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What Are Customers Looking For?

• “Be a thought leader”– Strategic business partner– Help me build my business– Provide expert knowledge– Provide latest trends in industry– What are my competitors doing?– What are best practices?

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Agenda

• Increasing the profile of marketing research• Research design• Conducting secondary research• Conducting primary research

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Research Design

DescriptiveResearch

ImprovedDecision-Making

Causal Research

ExploratoryResearch

Problem Definition

Secondary Research

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The World is Your Market Research Agency

• Pringle Prints, launched in 2004• Old P&G model (two years to launch product)

– Do everything in-house– Shoulder all investment and risk

• New model (less than one year to launch new product)– Develop

• Top ten consumer needs• Product adjacencies• Technology game boards

– Source• Proprietary networks

– Technology entrepreneurs– Suppliers

• Open networks– NineSigma– InnoCentive– YourEncore– Yet2.com 12

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Open Networks

• NineSigma– Connects companies with science and technology problems with companies,

universities, labs …

• InnoCentive– Developed by Eli Lilly

– Brokers solutions to narrowly-defined scientific problems

• YourEncore– Connects 800 high-performing retired scientists and engineers with businesses

• Yet2.com– Brokers technology transfer into and out of companies, universities, government

labs

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Research Design

DescriptiveResearch

ImprovedDecision-Making

Causal Research

ExploratoryResearch

Problem Definition

Secondary Research

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Agenda

• Increasing the profile of marketing research• Research design• Conducting secondary research• Conducting primary research

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Primary Research Techniques

• Focus Groups• Depth Interviews• Ethnographic Research• Questionnaires

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Successful Focus Groups

• 8 - 12 participants• Careful screening of participants• Homogeneous participants • Relaxed atmosphere• Room with one-way mirror, recording• Session between 1 - 3 hours• Trained moderator• Good discussion guide• Compensation for respondents

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Steps In Conducting A Focus Group

• Define the research objectives• Create a discussion guide (including focus group

length)• Select focus group facility• Develop screener• Recruit participants• Select moderator• Conduct the group• Prepare the focus group report

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Attitudes and feelings toward eating out

Fast foods

Food and décor of aparticular chain

Discussion Guide

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Improving Focus Groups’ Success

• Ask how respondents are recruited• Ask fewer questions• Increase focus group length• Give participants “homework” assignments

– Have respondents do tasks during session• Tap into naturally occurring groups • Develop customer advisory boards

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Depth Interviews

• Elimination of group pressure– No group dynamics

• Customer decision-making process• Focus on respondent• Rapport with interviewer• Probing for answers• More expensive than focus groups

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Depth Interviews

• Spend 60 - 90 minutes with each customer• Pre-scheduled• Telephone or face-to-face• Respondents compensated• Saturation point is quickly reached

– Excellent insights

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Typical Depth Interview Questions

• How customer spends his/her day– Bottlenecks– Frustrations– Challenges

• Customer decision making process• Key players involved

– Criteria used to make decisions

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Ethnographies

• Excellent insight generating technique– Participant observation– Depth interviews

• Pattern analysis

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Basic Rules for Effective Market Research

talk to your customers, whenever and wherever you can

use the data you already havetalk to your market research peopleclarify marketing problems before you do the researchcreate research that you will be prepared to act on......and then act on it !

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Designing Better Research

• Purpose of the Research– What is the information to be used for?

• Give examples of Questions this Research is to answer– Market segmentation

• Action Standards– What criteria will be used to translate research results into action?

• Value of the Research– What is the value of the information? What is the cost of incorrect

decision making?• Timing

– When do you want the research to start? When do you need the results?

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In Chapter 2 - you will learn about effective ways to conduct market research to

understand customer needs