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Chapter 2: The Marketing Research Industry and Research
Ethics
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is not a way marketing research is used by corporate
marketing departments to support the marketing decision-making process?
a. to evaluate the ongoing success of operational marketing strategies
b. to identify new target markets
c. to measure the quality of customer service and level of satisfaction
d. to assess changes in the internal environment
e. All of the above are used to support the marketing decision-making
process.
2. When a market research supplier subcontracts out data collection activities to
another firm, they are using what kind of a company?
a. data analysis
b. field service
c. quality control
d. target marketing
e. None of the above
3. Greenfield Online manages a database of consumers who have agreed to fill out
online surveys periodically. This data base of consumers is an example of a
_________.
a. focus group
b. research panel
c. cyberstudy
d. strategic partnership
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4. Which of the following is not an internal client of marketing research?
a. franchisees
b. marketing department
c. senior management
d. All are internal clients of marketing research.
5. The Nielsen ratings, compiled by AC Nielsen Media Research, are an example of
which type of research?
a. custom
b. ad hoc
c. qualitative
d. syndicated
6. Field service firms:
a. are data collection specialists who collect data on a subcontract basis.
b. design research strategies for large marketing companies.
c. analyze interviews and provide this analysis to clients.
d. specialize in going into the field and generating new product ideas.
e. do only exploratory research.
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Difficulty: Medium
Response: See page 23
Ref: Evolving Structure of the Marketing Research Industry
Learning Objective 2.3: To learn about the various types of firms and their
functions in the marketing research industry.
7. Which of the following would be considered a custom research firm?
a. Burke, Inc.
b. the marketing department for Dell computers
c. a statistical software company
d. AC Nielsen
8. Which of the following is an example of an external user of marketing research?
a. the company’s vendor’s
b. senior management
c. human resources management
d. manufacturing
e. Information Resources, Inc.
9. When a television network is interested in finding out the ratings of its programs,
it purchases data from AC Nielsen. What type of research firm is Nielsen?
a. custom
b. syndicated
c. ad hoc
d. internal
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Ref: Research Suppliers, Syndicated Service Firms
Learning Objective 2.3: To learn about the various types of firms and their
functions in the marketing research industry.
10. When a research supplier purchases a list of 3,000 customers, it is contracting
with what type of company?
a. Syndicated service firm
b. specialized service firm
c. software firm
d. sampling firm
e. none of the above
11. Who might use the services of a field service firm?
a. custom research firms
b. syndicated research firms
c. ad agencies and corporations
d. none of the above
e. all of the above
12. Syndicated service firms:
a. are relatively small.
b. are large in number.
c. specialize in product movement and audience media data.
d. do nothing but collect data.
e. account for 90% of all monies spent on market research.
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Ref: Research Suppliers
Learning Objective 2.3: To learn about the various types of firms and their
functions in the marketing research industry.
13. When the brand manager for Red Bull energy drinks seeks a research project
designed for their unique needs, they would be advised to hire what type of
supplier?
a. sampling firm
b. syndicated service firm
c. custom research firm
d. media research firm
14. A true field service firm:
a. is involved in all the steps of marketing research.
b. is only involved in data collection on a contract basis.
c. places a great deal of emphasis on research design and data analysis.
d. uses data collected for internal purposes.
e. none of the above
15. Which is not an example of a media company?
a. custom marketing research firm
b. advertising agency
c. public relations agency
d. direct marketing firm
e. All of the above are examples of media companies.
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Ref: Evolving Structure of the Marketing Research Industry
Learning Objective 2.3: To learn about the various types of firms and their
functions in the marketing research industry.
16. Where are the majority of the large global marketing research firms based?
a. Japan
b. United Kingdom
c. France
d. Germany
e. United States
17. Which type of research supplier would provide audience media ratings, scanner
data, and internet research?
a. syndicated research firm
b. field service firm
c. custom research firm
d. advertising agency
e. quality control firm
18. A marketing research supplier that quotes an unrealistically low price for
marketing research, only to raise it, is engaging in _______.
a. price skimming
b. price penetration
c. price leadership
d. low-ball pricing
e. none of the above
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Ref: Marketing Research Ethics
Learning Objective 2.8: To examine unethical practices among marketing research
suppliers, clients, and marketing research field services.
19. When research is commissioned for public relations purposes or to prove a
position, this is referred to as a(n) _________ study.
a. qualitative
b. quantitative
c. advocacy
d. valid
20. What type of manager is among the heaviest users of marketing research?
a. franchise manager
b. vendor
c. new product development manager
d. top management
e. none of the above
21. Mystery shoppers:
a. develop strategic partnerships.
b. play an important role in the distribution function.
c. develop new product ideas.
d. are heavy users of marketing research.
e. work for franchisors and provide information for franchisees.
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Learning Objective 2.3: To learn about various types of firms and their functions in
the marketing research industry.
22. Which of the following is an example of an internal client?
a. franchisees
b. vendors
c. marketing research companies
d. a firm’s marketing department
23. When selecting a research supplier, a client firm would be wise to do which of the
following?
a. not do business with a supplier who guarantees an outcome
b. always choose the supplier with the lowest price
c. work with a supplier only one time
d. all of the above
24. A company that provides statistical analysis to the marketing research industry is
an example of what type of firm?
a. syndicated service firm
b. custom research firm
c. field service firm
d. specialized service firm
25. In terms of research ethics, which of the following is not an important right that
respondents have?
a. right to choose
b. right to objectivity
c. right to be informed
d. right to safety
26. When a research study disguises brand names in order to avoid biasing the study,
after the study, respondents should be _______.
a. probed
b. compensated extra
c. debriefed
d. randomized
27. In survey research, it is especially important to protect respondents’_______.
a. responses
b. integrity
c. professionalism
d. anonymity
e. none of the above
28. When a research supplier claims to have a proprietary way of measuring brand
loyalty, this is known as _______.
a. RFP
b. TQM
c. black box branding
d. low ball pricing
e. none of the above
29. A respondent who participates in several studies each week is known as a(n)
________ respondent.
a. inside
b. informed
c. professional
d. ethical
e. all of the above
30. All of the following firms represent the front line of the research industry except
what?
a. Custom research firms
b. Syndicated research firms
c. Limited function research firms
d. Specialized service firms
31. Which U.S. marketing research firm is not in the top five in revenue, based on
Exhibit 2.3 The 40 Largest U.S. Marketing Research Firms.
a. The Nielson Co.
b. Q Research Solutions Inc.
c. Symphony IRI
d. Kantar
e. IMS Health Inc.
32. An alliance formed by two of more firms with unique skills and resources to offer
a new service for clients , provide strategic support for each firm, or in some other
manner create mutual benefits is:
a. A positive relationship
b. Mutual agreement
c. Strategic partnership
d. A smart business deal
33. The major ethical theories discussed in the chapter include all of the following
except:
a. Existentialism
b. Utilitarianism
c. Deontology
d. Causist
True/False
34. Primary information users are sometimes referred to as client organizations.
35. Field service firms are the ultimate users of the research data provided by their
marketing research departments.
36. Custom, or ad hoc, research firms are primarily in the business of executing
custom, one-of-a-kind marketing research projects for corporate clients.
37. Syndicated service firms are relatively few and, compared to custom research
firms, relatively large.
38. Professional respondents are generally viewed in a positive light by marketing
researchers.
39. An organization’s marketing department is an example of an external user of
marketing research.
40. Most of the large marketing research firms are concentrated in Europe.
41. A true field service firm not only collects data, but performs research design and
analysis as well.
42. Often, participants of a research panel receive cash or gifts in exchange for
participating.
43. Syndicated research suppliers focus only on compiling television ratings.
44. In terms of revenues, the largest marketing research firms tend to be syndicated
research suppliers.
45. Reaching a representative sample of respondents is not seen as particularly
important by marketing research executives.
46. An advocacy study is a good way to produce a non-biased research project.
47. Black box branding techniques are usually easy for a potential client to decipher.
48. Subjectivity should be discouraged in marketing research.
49. The average size of marketing research departments is quite small and the recent
recession has led many firms to outsource this function of their business.
50. Nielson’s Buy segment provides market research and analysis primarily to
businesses in the consumer packaged goods industry, and it is organized into two
areas: Information & Technology.
51. A study by Boston Consulting Group found that, on average, 20-35 percent of a
company’s market research budget is invested in strategic research studies.
Essay Questions
52. What is the difference in a syndicated marketing research firm and a field services
marketing research firm?
53. Radio station KOOL is in a large metropolitan area, and is having trouble selling
advertising space to advertisers. The advertisers contend that they don’t know
how much coverage they are getting by advertising on KOOL. What kind of data
collection strategy should KOOL undertake?
54. Station WWWW radio has been using Arbitron for to produce numbers it can use
to sell advertising to its customers. Since beginning to use Arbitron’s rating
service their ratings have fluctuated widely and wildly from measurement to
measurement. WWWW is located in a small town on the edge of the Arbitron
rating area. The rating area is about 120 miles in diameter contain several large
cities, but the station provides coverage for only the county in which it resides,
which is sparsely populated. WWWW’s advertisers are getting hesitant
concerning the coverage they are getting. What should WWWW do?
55. You work for a marketing research supplier and one of your clients indicates that
he would like to see the raw data for a recent study, including all of the names and
phone numbers of respondents. What do you do?
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Response: See pages 36-43
Ref: Marketing Research Ethics
Learning Objective 2.9: To become familiar with respondents’ rights.
56. Your company has decided it needs some marketing research done. However,
you are inexperienced in the evaluation of research suppliers. What are some
things to consider in the selection of a marketing research supplier?
57. A custom ad hoc research firm is attempting to develop a template for measuring
community assessment, that it can market and administer communities in general.
It decides to construct a relatively comprehensive questionnaire with the goal of
determining which questions are the most important generally in a community
assessment. Who would the research firm want to sample for such a study and
who would provide the sample frame?