Topic 7. Quantitative research: Surveys

Lecturer: E. Tauris, 2011

Course Title: Marketing Research

Topic 7 notes were written using the following sources:

• Boyce, J. (2007), Marketing Research, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, Australia.

• Fletcher, R., & Crawford, H. (2011), International Marketing: an Asia-Pacific Perspective, 5th ed., Pearson Australia., Chapter 6.

• Malhotra, N., Hall J., Shaw, M., & Oppelheim, P. (2007), Essentials of Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, Australia;

• Olatundun, I.O. (2009). What is Cross-Cultural Research, International Journal of Psychological Studies, Vol. 1 (2)., pp. 82-95

• Salciuviene, L., Auruskeviciene, V., & Lydeka, Z. (2005). As Assessment of Various Approaches for Cross-Cultural Consumer Research. Problems & Perspectives in Management, Vol. 3, pp. 147-159.

• Watkins, L (2010) The Cross-cultural appropriateness of survey-based value(s) research, International Marketing Review, Vol. 27 (6).

Survey method

• Quantitative method – Produces a large number of responses suitable for

statistical analysis • Survey

– A structured questionnaire given to a sample of a population to elicit specific information from respondents.

• Structured data collection– Formal questionnaire; – Questions in a prearranged order.

• Precoded (fixed alternative) questions– Respondents choose from a set of predetermined

answers.

Surveys

Personal interviewing using a structured questionnaire: •Face-to-face

– Door-to-door– Streets– Shopping malls

•Telephone•Door-to-door

Self-completion questionnaires:

•Mail

•(online) Internet

•E-mail

Surveys

Advantages

• Simple to administer (coded, fixed alternative)

• Straightforward analysis • Large sample• Low cost• Suitable for statistical

analysis • Geographic flexibility

Disadvantages

• Inability to probe • Lack of flexibility due to

structured responses• Difficulty in designing a

good questionnaire

Classification by nature of interaction

• Person-to-person• Self-completion• Computer assisted

Source of this and next ppt: Essentials of Marketing Research, 2e; Malhotra, Hall, Shaw, Oppenheim © 2007 Pearson Education Australia, Figure 5.1 & 5.2, Chapter 5

Classification by mode of administration

Personal interviewing: Face-to-face

Advantages•Interviewer-respondent rapport•Reassuring the respondent•Long interviews•Visuals•Overcoming language barriers•Higher completion rate required

Disadvantages

•The cost

•Interviewers must be well trained

•Interviewer bias

•Not anonymous

Personal: location interception

Advantages • Travel costs are

eliminated• Interviewer can interact

with respondents• Ability to show, taste or

handle a product

Disadvantages • Non-representative

sample• Uncomfortable

environment (shopping centre, street, etc.)

Telephone interviewing (CATI)

• The fastest way to interview • CATI – computer assisted telephone

interviewing (ACNielsen)• Programming to minimise errors:

• Computer dials phone number• Computer skips questions• Can customise questions• No editing required

• Interviewers can be easily supervised

Telephone Interviewing

Advantages:•Quick•Lower cost per interview•People are used to telephone calls from strangers•Response rate•No security problems

Disadvantages:•Silent numbers•No visuals•Harder to establish rapport•Falling achievement rates•% of refusals are rising•Voice-mails•Mobile phones cause sampling problems•Mobile phones:

–Inconvenience (timing & location)

CATS

• Computer automated telephone systems (CATS)– Computer-synthesised voices are used to ask

questions over the phone

• Advantages• Respondents select numbers on the telephone keypad to

answer questions• Voice recognition is likely to be used in the future to record

and count responses

• Disadvantages• Not appealing to respondents• High refusal

Self-completion questionnaires

Advantages

•Usually low total cost of survey

•Can cover people over a wide area

•Respond at their own time

Disadvantages•Little control of time frame and respondent identity•Low & slow response•More response errors are likely answers may be influenced by the content of all questionnaire

Response rate problems

Methods used to increase response rate• Preliminary notification• Personalisation• Anonymity• Response deadline• Incentives• Questionnaire size, reproduction, and colour• Type of postage (return envelopes)• Follow-ups

Response errors

• Omitted questions• Misunderstood questions• Misread instructions• Incomplete answers• Insufficient reply to open-ended questions

Issues of cross-cultural research

• Difficulty to communicate an opinion if the respondent is unfamiliar with the concept

• Willingness to respond – A male interviewer is not allowed to interview a female

respondent in Muslim countries

• Language and comprehension– idioms, literacy, dialects, no exact translation,

interpreting answers, and so on. .

• Respondent bias– Social bias: telling what it is believed the interviewer

wants to hear; Taboo topics.

Cross-cultural survey methodology

• Survey methodology is particularly open to bias and errors due to cultural differences in the construction of meaning

• Values research: – The relationship of values to other constructs are not

easily addressed using survey methodology

– The use of scales is problematic

– The problem with almost exclusively Western cultural background of theories and instruments used:

• Western cultural values measures are themselves culture bound. The most important values may not be even captured.

Cross-cultural response issues

• Different response styles: – For example, Asian respondents demonstrate

significantly different response patterns to Australian respondents:

– Asian response style: mild leading to less extreme points ticked

• Difference in response style may account for up to 6% variance of the data

• Likert-scales tend to be most problematic

Response bias

• Non-response bias– Respondents are reluctant to answer (may perceive

the questions as culturally sensitive)

• Extreme response bias – The answers tend to cluster around some point in the

scale; over-reaction to questions.

It becomes difficult to determine whether the answers reflect tendencies to answer in a certain way, or true national differences.

The Internet & Intranet

• The Internet - An extensive international connection between computer systems that allows for the transmission of digital data between household and business computers.

• Intranet - private computer connections and networks, available internally to company or organisational members only.

• WWW - A system of using computer language to allow easy communication between remote computers in business or the home.

Internet market research

• Any research activity that involves gaining information for the purposes of marketing research from respondents using the internet or web technologies– Focus groups – Observation – Internet surveys – Email surveys

Qualitative

Quantitative

The Internet future trends

• Improved access to wireless technology• Improved geographical access• Mobile Internet : sport, music, video, films and

pictures on mobile internet technology

Internet market research

• When a respondent – either on a single occasion or as part of a panel:– completes a questionnaire online– downloads a questionnaire from a server on the

Internet and returns it by e-mail – receives the questionnaire incorporated into an e-mail

and returns it – participates in an online qualitative interview or

discussion– takes part in a measurement system which tracks

web usage on the user's p.c

Essentials of Marketing Research, 2e; Malhotra, Hall, Shaw, Oppenheim © 2007 Pearson Education Australia, Chapter 6, figure 6.5

Classification of electronic sources

OIR- Online information resources

• On-line Information Resources (OIR) are sources used for secondary data collection that re accessed using the Internet or the WWW (scholar.google.com/)

• Key Issues: Accuracy, Reliability and Legality

– Internet data needs to be checked carefully– Your queries about information:

• Is information right? (accurate, reliable and valid)• Is it right to use the information? (morally and ethically)• Do I have the right to use the information? (legally)

Online qualitative research

1. Moderated online Focus Groups:• OLCD (online chat discussion) – text-based

exchange of comments and opinions• OLVD (online video discussion) – video streaming

to provide visual contact between participants

2.Unmoderated online Focus Group• Newsgroups• Chat rooms• Weblogs• Consumer response sites

Online qualitative research

Advantanges • Lower geographical

constraints • Client can observe from

office or home• Reach hard-to-get-to

segments – doctors, professionals, etc

• Moderator can carry on person to person side- conversations to probe deeper

Disadvantages • Can you verify who is

participating?

• Lack of control over participant’s environment – distractions

• Only audio and visual stimuli can be used

• New moderating skills required – some resistance to change

Types of Quantitative online research

1. Observation

– Trace measures : Cookies, Page hits, Log files2. Intranet surveys

– Distributed by company internal networks to employees and customers

3. Email surveys

– Uses system of personal addresses

Email surveys

• Uses system of personal addresses with the questions sent to potential respondents– Direct email survey: Survey questions are distributed in

the body of the message – Download email attachment: download and print

questionnaire and return by email, fax or mail.– Visitor lists : visitors to web-site– Opt-in lists : customers asked to participate– Purchased lists : from list suppliers

• Two-stage research approach can be used :– Email contact– Direction to website or attached form

Email surveys

Advantages

• Ease of transferring information – both to and from

• Cost savings

Disadvantages

• Cannot use skip patterns

• Inappropriate respondent replies cannot be blocked

• More post-survey data cleaning required

• Email system may be limited

Internet surveys

• Accessed from a website and the responses entered and added directly to the researcher’s web site or service

• Respondents recruited online or by traditional methods

• Passwords may be necessary to limit access to once only

• Usually conducted by using an Internet panel

Internet survey panels

• Opt-in panels– Participants have agreed to provide data on a regular basis (f.e.

Loyalty program)

• Pre-recruited panels– Challenge is to recruit panel that reflects the population– Researcher tends to set quotas

• Screened panels:– Variation of pre-recruited panel. Participants selected on specific

relevant criteria

• Web invited participation– Pop-up or banner invitation– 1inN Website visitor selection

Disadvantages of Internet surveys

• Self-selection to participate • Unrepresentative user population• Multiresponders • Lack of interpersonal contact

Technical issues

• May be regarded as SPAM – intrusive use, may create sample bias – Genuine survey regarded as spam may slow down

response

• Bad email addresses– in one UK study 35% of invalid addresses from a one

year-old database. Assumption that email addresses change frequently.

• Duplicate responses (over-sampling) – Server-generated passwords required for each respondent to

avoid clicking on “Submit” more than once.

Olatundun, 2009.