Marketing Management, 15e (Kotler)
Chapter 4 Conducting Marketing Research
1) ________ provide diagnostic information about how and why we observe certain effects in the
marketplace, and what that means to marketers.
A) Marketing insights
B) Marketing metrics
C) Marketing channels
D) Marketing information systems
E) Marketing-mix models
2) ________ is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings
relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.
A) Marketing communications
B) Internal marketing
C) Marketing research
D) Market segmentation
E) Marketing planning
3) Anne, a beautician by profession, owns a salon in the small town of Franklin, New Jersey.
Every weekend, she makes it a point to visit the other salons in Franklin to find out about the
beauty services they offer to customers. Anne is attempting to conduct market research by
________.
A) studying customer behavior
B) forming alliances with competing firms
C) using experimental research techniques
D) checking out rivals
E) tapping into marketing partner expertise
4) Which of the following types of marketing research firms gathers consumer and trade
information and then sells it for a fee (e.g., Nielsen Company)?
A) custom marketing research firms
B) syndicated-service research firms
C) specialty-line marketing research firms
D) generic marketing research firms
E) focused marketing research firms
5) Amity Inc. is a firm which collects and processes household data and sells it to other firms
which produce consumer durables. Amity is an example of a ________ research firm.
A) custom marketing
B) specialty-line marketing
C) syndicated-service
D) generic marketing
E) focused marketing
6) The Nielsen Company and IRI are examples of ________, or firms that gather consumer and
trade information which they sell for a fee.
A) customer marketing research firms
B) internal marketing insights departments
C) qualitative marketing intelligence agencies
D) syndicated-service research firms
E) specialty-line marketing research firms
7) AT&T, GE, Samsung, Shell Oil, and others have engaged in a(n) ________ exercise by
sponsoring the Innovation Challenge, where top MBA students compete in teams to address
company problems.
A) crowdcasting
B) syndication
C) net monitoring
D) product-preference
E) advertising evaluation
8) A field-service firm is a ________ research firm.
A) custom marketing
B) syndicated-service
C) specialty-line marketing
D) consumer marketing
E) social marketing
9) You are the marketing research director of a medium-sized manufacturing firm and you would
like to engage an outside marketing research firm to conduct field interviews. Which of the
following categories of marketing research firms should you use?
A) syndicated-service research firms
B) custom marketing research firms
C) global research management firms
D) specialty-line marketing research firms
E) brand management specialty research firms
10) A(n) ________ is a gathering of 6 to 10 people carefully selected by researchers based on
certain demographic, psychographic, or other considerations and brought together to discuss
various topics of interest at length.
A) target group
B) pilot group
C) focus group
D) customer base
E) ethnographic group
11) Good marketing insights often form the basis of successful marketing programs.
12) When companies engage students to design and carry out projects, the payoff to the students
is experience and visibility; the payoff to the companies is a fresh sets of eyes to solve problems
at a fraction of what consultants would charge.
13) A good example of a syndicated-service research firm is Nielsen Media Research.
14) Custom marketing research firms sell field interviewing services to other firms.
15) Discuss the different ways that can be adopted by small manufacturing firms to conduct
market research.
16) What are the six steps involved in the marketing research process?
17) List the challenges faced to conduct a good focus group discussion.
18) What are the relative advantages of online and in-person focus groups?
19) Give an example of experimental research.
20) Explain qualitative research and why it might be useful to marketers. What are its major
drawbacks?
21) Give an example of the different technological devices that have been developed to provide
insight into the consumers’ behavior to the researchers.
22) What is the chief advantage of using each of the following contact methods: mail
questionnaire, telephone interview, and personal interview?
23) Give reasons to justify that online research is versatile.
24) Mars Group is a market research firm that sells field interviewing services to a software
development firm. Can Mars Group be categorized as a custom market research firm? Give
reasons to support your answer.
25) As a marketing researcher of Matrix Private Limited you have been asked to forecast the
demand for your new range of body wash if a discount of 10 percent is offered on each unit sold.
Identify the research category into which this market research falls.
26) Highspeed Motors is planning to introduce its new sports bike into the market. It collects
data on prices, designs, features, and performance of sports bikes manufactured by other
companies from their respective Web sites. What type of data is being used by Highspeed motors
in this case?
27) Ryan has been appointed by Target Internationals, a hardware manufacturing firm, as a
marketing researcher and has been asked to conduct marketing research to produce new insights
of consumer attitude on its vacuum tubes. Ryan begins the research process by defining the
problem, the decision alternatives, and research objectives. Mention the next step that Ryan will
follow to continue with the research.
28) Axis Centre, a department store, has installed CCTV cameras to record consumer actions.
Which research approach has been adopted by Axis and why?
29) As a marketing manager of Kids Care, a manufacturer of baby soaps, Tim plans to analyze
customer attitudes by using the focus group research approach. How will he conduct the research
in this case?
30) Copra, a manufacturer of cigarettes, conducts a survey before launching its new range of
herbal cigarettes. What is the basic purpose of undertaking such a survey by Copra?
31) Greenfoods, a manufacturer of ready-to-eat foods, conducts over 60,000 customer surveys
each month through its retail outlets. What risk is Greenfoods likely to face by putting out so
many surveys each month?
32) As a marketing researcher of a firm, you plan to conduct behavioral research to develop
marketing insight. What procedure would you follow in this case?
33) A questionnaire used in a survey contains a question such as: “Retail-R-Us offers the best
everyday prices” and the responses that the respondents can opt for are: “Strongly Disagree,”
“Disagree,” “No opinion,” “Agree,” “Strongly Agree.” Identify and define the type of closed-end
question that has been exemplified in this case.
34) Suppose, as a marketing manager of a firm, you plan to conduct market research using
qualitative measures. For the purpose of developing consumer insight you have distributed
among the respondents a picture of a man and woman in a coffee shop, and have asked the
respondents to make up a story about what is happening in the picture. Identify and define the
type of question used in this case.
35) The Bledsoe Marketing Research group has been hired to administer a series of questions to
shoppers in a local mall. If questions on the survey questionnaire have only two possible
responses (such as “yes/no”), what type of questions are these?
36) As a marketing researcher, if you plan to conduct your research using qualitative measures
like brand personification, what are you likely to ask the respondents in order to elicit their
impression on your brand?
37) Jane is a marketing researcher of a cellular service providing firm. She is conducting market
research before the firm decides to launch its 4G services. After deciding on the research
approach and instruments, what is the next step that Jane should follow? What are the three
things that she is required to consider in this step?
38) A marketing research firm has instructed its research associates to collect primary data by
stopping people at a shopping mall or busy street corner and request an interview on the spot.
Which contact method is being used by the researchers in this case? What probable risk may the
researchers face while using this method?
39) Aromas is a popular brand of cosmetic products. During the last quarter, the company
suffered a drop in sales of some of its more popular offerings. In an attempt to find out the
problem, Aromas designed an online questionnaire for its existing customers, who can fill out the
questionnaire and also leave their comments and suggestions for improvement. What are the
problems that Aromas is likely to face by using this method of contacting its customers?
40) When American Airlines decided to review new ideas aimed at first-class passengers on very
long flights, like an ultra high-speed Wi-Fi service and 124 channels of high-definition satellite
cable TV, their first step in the marketing research process was to ________.
A) develop the research plan
B) define the problem and research objectives
C) collect the information
D) analyze the information
E) make the decision
41) The marketing research process begins by ________.
A) developing a research plan
B) defining the problem, the decision alternatives, and research objectives
C) analyzing the internal environment
D) reading marketing research journals
E) contacting a professional research consultant
42) When American Airlines asked “1) What types of first-class passengers would respond most
to ultra high-speed Wi-Fi service and 2) How many are likely to use it at different price levels?”,
it was ________.
A) setting specific research objectives
B) conducting exploratory research
C) outlining decisions
D) defining the problem
E) designing a research plan
43) Which of the following is considered to be the last step in the marketing research process?
A) presenting findings
B) analyzing information
C) controlling the environment
D) arriving at a decision
E) drafting the report
44) If the goal of marketing research is to shed light on the real nature of a problem and to
suggest possible solutions or new ideas, the research is said to be ________.
A) descriptive
B) quantitative
C) primary
D) secondary
E) exploratory
45) Unistar Inc., is an FMCG company that produces a wide range of offerings such as grocery
items and personal care products. If Unistar wants to estimate the demand for its new line of
body moisturizers, which are all priced at $18, it should opt for ________ research.
A) descriptive
B) exploratory
C) prescriptive
D) causal
E) qualitative
46) When American Airlines asked how many first-class passengers would purchase in-flight
Internet service at $25, they were conducting ________ research.
A) causal
B) exploratory
C) secondary
D) ethnographic
E) descriptive
47) Researchers usually start their investigation by examining some of the rich variety of low-
cost and readily available ________ data, then collect ________ data if the needed data don’t
existing or are dated, inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable.
A) primary; secondary
B) secondary; primary
C) primary; econometric
D) secondary; econometric
E) exploratory; econometric
48) A company would like to study the impact of advertising expenditure on sales and sales
revenue. This is an example of ________ research.
A) prescriptive
B) causal
C) secondary
D) exploratory
E) qualitative
49) The marketing manager needs to know the cost of the research project before approving it.
During which stage of the marketing research process would such a consideration most likely
take place?
A) defining the problem
B) analyzing the information
C) drafting the report
D) developing the research plan
E) collecting information
50) Designing a research plan calls for decisions on all of the following EXCEPT ________.
A) research objectives
B) data sources
C) research approaches
D) research instruments
E) sampling plans
51) ________ data are data that were collected for another purpose and already exist.
A) Primary
B) Secondary
C) Primitive
D) Cross-sectional
E) Ordinate
52) Before Sandra opened her florist shop she read all she could about the floral industry. She
also consulted several published research reports to understand growth patterns in the local area
with particular interest in the location of florists throughout the city. This ________ helped her to
decide on the location of her store.
A) primary data
B) secondary data
C) primitive data
D) tertiary information
E) licensed information
53) Primary data can be collected in several ways. Installing CCTV cameras in a retail store
whereby consumers’ actions can be recorded is an example of ________ research.
A) focus group
B) survey
C) observational
D) behavioral
E) experimental
54) ________ research approach uses concepts and tools from anthropology and other social
science disciplines to provide deep cultural understanding of how people live and work.
A) Cognitive
B) Inductive
C) Archaeological
D) Ethnographic
E) Deductive
55) The goal of ethnographic research is to ________.
A) capture cause-and-effect relationships by eliminating competing explanations of the observed
findings
B) understand consumers’ behavior by observing a sample group discussing various topics of
interest at length
C) study demographic variables such as age, gender, income, education, and so on, in relation to
consumer buying patterns
D) analyze customers’ purchasing behavior through catalog purchases and customer databases
E) immerse the researcher into consumers’ lives to uncover unarticulated desires that might not
surface in any other form of research
56) As the marketing manager of Cominform Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of health drinks, you
have selected 10 individuals who match the profile of your target customer, to participate in a
discussion on changing lifestyle trends related to health. You have also hired a skilled moderator
to facilitate the discussion and ensure that everyone participates and stays focused on the topic.
The moderator provides questions and probes based on the “script” prepared by you. The
discussions are also recorded for further analysis. Which of the following methods of acquiring
primary data is being used in this case?
A) observational research
B) surveys
C) behavioral data
D) experiments
E) focus groups
57) Why must researchers avoid generalizing from focus group participants to the whole market?
A) Participants’ responses are not reliable.
B) Most of the participants are likely to be ignorant about the topic of discussion.
C) The size of the group is too small and the sample is not drawn randomly.
D) Most of the participants are likely to exhibit similar tastes and preferences.
E) The participants usually come from diverse backgrounds.
58) Which of the following is used to assess people’s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and
satisfaction and to measure these magnitudes in the general population?
A) observational research
B) descriptive research
C) quantitative research
D) survey research
E) experimental research
59) Orville Redenbacher popcorn yielded deep consumer insights from its ________ research,
which suggested that the essence of popcorn was that it was a “facilitator of interaction.”
A) cognitive
B) inductive
C) archaeological
D) ethnographic
E) deductive
60) The most scientifically valid research is ________ research.
A) observation
B) focus group
C) survey
D) behavioral
E) experimental
61) ________ research is designed to capture cause-and-effect relationships by eliminating
competing explanations of the observed findings.
A) Experimental
B) Behavioral
C) Observational
D) Focus group
E) Descriptive
62) Which of the following rules must be kept in mind while framing a questionnaire?
A) Use broad and loosely defined words in the questions.
B) Avoid using response bands.
C) Ensure that fixed responses overlap.
D) Frame hypothetical questions.
E) Allow for the answer “other” in fixed-response questions.
63) Because of its flexibility, ________ are the most common technique of collecting primary
data.
A) questionnaires
B) telephonic interviews
C) behavioral research studies
D) experimental designs
E) focus groups
64) ________ questions allow respondents to answer in their own words and often reveal more
about how people think.
A) Open-end
B) Dichotomous
C) Likert scale
D) Multiple choice
E) Semantic differential
65) Which of the following is true of qualitative research?
A) It is a structured measurement approach that permits a range of possible responses.
B) It is indirect in nature, so consumers may be less guarded.
C) It requires large sample sizes.
D) Its results can be easily generalized to broader populations.
E) It generally results in similar results and conclusions across researchers.
66) A scale that connects two bipolar words is called a ________.
A) dichotomous question
B) multiple-choice question
C) Likert scale
D) semantic differential
E) word association
67) A question that respondents can answer in an almost unlimited number of ways is called a
________ question.
A) structured
B) closed-end
C) completely unstructured
D) dichotomous
E) multiple choice
68) “Truancy should be checked in schools: 1) Strongly disagree, 2) Disagree, 3) Neither agree
nor disagree, 4) Agree, 5) Strongly agree.” This is an example of a ________.
A) Likert scale
B) semantic differential
C) multiple choice question
D) Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
E) dichotomous question
69) An item in a questionnaire states that “most politicians cannot be trusted.” Respondents are
required to provide their answers by choosing any one of the following options: 1) Strongly
disagree, 2) Disagree, 3) Neither agree nor disagree, 4) Agree, 5) Strongly agree. This is an
example of a ________.
A) semantic differential
B) word association question
C) Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
D) Likert scale
E) dichotomous question
70) If a marketing researcher chooses to use word associations, the researcher is using ________
questions.
A) closed-end
B) Likert scale
C) open-end
D) rating scale
E) semantic differential
71) In which of the following types of tests is a picture presented and respondents are asked to
make up a story about what they think is happening or may happen in the picture?
A) semantic differential test
B) word association test
C) story completion test
D) thematic apperception test
E) picture test