978-0134292663 Chapter 4 Lecture Notes

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Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

Chapter 4

Market Research

I. CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Chapter 4 exposes students to the value of sound marketing research. Through careful planning, collection,

analysis, and implementation, research is an invaluable tool for successful businesses.

Students are introduced to a typical marketing research process; learn the differences between exploratory,

descriptive, and causal research; explore various types of data collection methods and samples; and

understand the growing use of online research. Through all of the processes mentioned, managers are

better able to make good decisions based on solid information.

II. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

Explain the role of a marketing information system and marketing decision support system in

marketing decision-making.

 Understand the concept of customer insights and the role it plays in making good marketing decisions.

● List and explain the steps and key elements of the market research process.

III. CHAPTER OUTLINE

►MARKETING MOMENT INTRODUCTION

Ask for four volunteers to come up to the front of the class. Have them sit in a circle while you ask about

their decision to choose their school. What other schools were they considering? Why did they choose

______ school? Who influenced their decision? What do they like best about their school? What do they

like least? Thank the volunteers and explain to the class that they have just witnessed a mini-focus

group.

p. 93 REAL PEOPLE, REAL CHOICES—HERE’S MY PROBLEM AT

THE CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY

Campbell’s needed to position the millennial-focused platform

differently from existing products sold under the Campbell’s name.

Specifically, most of the ideas overlapped with Campbell’s Slow Kettle

brand. The Slow Kettle brand was created to bring Campbell’s into the

packaged premium soup category. Because consumers more interested

in the rich, complex flavors they enjoy from restaurant soups,

Campbell’s saw an opportunity to bring that experience home. Slow

Kettle was created to bring a “prepared with care” feeling even though

it comes from the supermarket. Clearly Campbell needs to do more

work to figure out the best way to create a new offering that would grab

millennials’ attention, make it clear that this is “not your father’s soup,”

but at the same time avoid confusion with the Slow Kettle brand.

Cindy had three options:

1. Carve out a new space within the soup portfolio for this

millennial-driven soup offering.

2. Reposition an existing brand to be the face of the

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

millennial portfolio.

3. Don’t take the risk, and stick with our existing solutions.

The vignette ends by asking the student which option he would choose.

Cindy chose option #1.

p. 94 1. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

To make good decisions, marketers must have information that is

accurate, up-to-date, and relevant.

Several aspects of marketing research are fraught with the potential for

ethics breaches. Marketing research ethics refers to taking

an ethical and above-board approach to conducting marketing research

that does no harm to the participant in the process of conducting the

research.

Whenthe organization collects data important issues of privacy and

confidentiality come into play. Marketers must be very clear when they

work with research respondents about how they will use the data and

give them full disclosure on their options for confidentiality and

anonymity. For example, it is unethical to collect data under the guise

of marketing research when your real intent is to develop a database of

potential customers for direct marketing.

A database is an organized collection (often electronic) of data that can

be searched and queried to provide information about contacts,

products, customers, inventory, and more.

►Marketing Moment In-Class Activity

Identify several marketing decision situations such as:

Whether or not to increase the price of a bottle of shampoo

Whether or not to redesign the package for cereal

What new flavors of soda to introduce

Ask students to spend a few minutes in groups listing the information the marketer might want for these

decisions. Then discuss in class.

p. 95 1.1 THE Marketing Information System

Many firms use a marketing information system (MIS)

to collect information. The MIS is a process that first determines what

information marketing managers need. Then it gathers, sorts, analyzes,

stores, and distributes relevant and timely marketing information to

users. The MIS system includes three components:

Four types of data (internal company data, marketing

intelligence, marketing research, and acquired databases)

Computer hardware and software to analyze that data and to

create reports

Output for marketing decision makers

Information to feed the system comes from:

Figure 4.1

Process: The

Marketing

Information

System

Chapter 4: Market Research

Internal company data

Marketing intelligence

Marketing research

Acquired databases

p. 95

p. 96

1.1.1 Internal Company Data

The internal company data system uses information from within the

company to produce reports on the results of sales and marketing

activities. Internal company data include a firm’s internal records of

sales.

Often, an MIS allows salespeople and sales managers in the field to

access internal records through a company intranet. An intranet is an

internal corporate communications network that uses Internet

technology to link company departments, employees, and databases.

Marketing managers can see daily or weekly sales data by brand or

product line from the internal company data system. They also can see

monthly sales reports to measure progress toward sales goals and

market share objectives.

p. 96 1.1.2 Marketing Intelligence

A second important element of the MIS is the marketing intelligence

system, a method by which marketers get information about everyday

happenings in the marketing environment. Nearly all the information

companies need about their environment—including the competitive

environment—is available by monitoring everyday sources: websites,

industry trade publications, or simple observations of the marketplace.

In addition, because salespeople are the ones “in the trenches” every

day, talking with customers, distributors, and prospective customers,

they too can provide valuable information.

Marketing managers may use marketing intelligence data to predict

fluctuations in sales due to economic conditions, political issues, and

events that heighten consumer awareness, or to forecast the future so

that they will be on top of developing trends.

Reverse engineering is the process of physically deconstructing a

competitor’s product to determine how it’s put together.

p. 96 1.1.3 Market Research

Market research refers to the process of collecting, analyzing, and

interpreting data about customers, competitors, and the business

environment to improve marketing effectiveness. Although companies

collect marketing intelligence data continuously to keep managers

abreast of happenings in the marketplace, marketing research also is

called for when managers need unique information to help them make

specific decisions.

In general, marketing research data available in an MIS include

syndicated research reports and custom research reports. Syndicated

research is general research collected by firms on a regular basis, and

then sold to other firms. In contrast, custom research is research a

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

single firm conducts to provide answers to specific questions.

Some firms maintain an in-house research department that conducts

studies on its behalf. Many firms, however, hire outside research

companies that specialize in designing and conducting projects based

on the needs of the client.

Website: www.surveysampling.com

Troubleshooting Tip: Before you present Chapter 4 in class, find and peruse a web link for both a

syndicated research firm and a customer research firm. Show these two websites when comparing and

contrasting these two types of marketing research firms.

p. 97 1.1.4 Acquired Databases

A large amount of information that can be useful in marketing

decision-making is available in the form of external databases. Firms

may acquire these databases from any number of sources. In recent

years, the use of such databases for marketing purposes has come under

increased government scrutiny as some consumer advocates protest

against the potential invasion of privacy these may cause.

Exhibit:

MasterCard’s

Conversation

Suite

p. 98 1.2 MArketing Decision Support System

Sometimes reports generated by the firm’s marketing information

system are inadequate. As a result, many firms beef up their MIS with a

marketing decision support system (MDSS). An MDSS includes

analysis and interactive software that allows marketing managers, even

those who are not computer experts, to access MIS data and conduct

their own analyses, often over the company intranet.

Typically, an MDSS includes sophisticated statistical and modeling

software tools. Statistical software allows managers to examine

complex relationships among factors in the marketplace. Modeling

software allows decision makers to examine possible or preconceived

ideas about relationships in the data—to ask “what-if” questions.

Figure 4.2

Process:

The MDDS

Exhibit: Las

Vegas

Table 4.1

Examples of

Questions an MIS

and an MDSS

Might Answer

p. 100 2. CUSTOMER INSIGHTS AND MARKETING

Data are raw, unorganized facts that need to be processed. Data are

then processed, organized, structured, and presented in order to become

useful for decision making. This transformation creates information,

which is interpreted data. Customer insights refer to the collection,

deployment, and interpretation of information that allows a business to

acquire, develop, and retain its customers. Companies maintain experts

whose jobs are to sift through information to support market planning

decisions.

The insights manager integrates feedback from syndicated studies,

marketing research, customer service, loyalty programs, and to paint a

picture the organization can use.

p. 100

p. 101

3. STEPS IN THE MARKETING RESEARCH

PROCESS

Ideally, marketing research is an ongoing process, a series of steps

marketers take repeatedly to learn about the marketplace.

3.1 Step 1: Define the Research Problem Figure 4.3

Chapter 4: Market Research

The first step in the marketing research process is to clearly understand

what information managers need. We refer to this step as defining the

research problem. Defining the problem has three components:

Specify the research objectives: What questions will the

research attempt to answer?

Identify the consumer population of interest: What are the

characteristics of the consumer group(s) of interest?

Place the problem in an environmental context: What

factors in the firm’s internal and external business environment

might influence the situation?

Providing the right kind of information for each of these pieces of the

problem is not as simple as it seems.

Process: Steps in

the Marketing

Research Process

p. 102 3.2 Step 2: Determine the Research Design

Once marketers isolate specific problems, the second step of the

research process is to decide on a “plan of attack.” This plan is the

research design, which specifies exactly what information marketers

will collect and what type of study they will do.

Research designs fall into two broad categories: secondary research

and primary research.

Figure 4.4

Process:

Marketing

Research Designs

pp.

102-103

3.2.1 Research with Secondary Data

The first question marketers must ask when they determine their

research design is whether the information they require to make a

decision already exists. We call data that have been collected for some

purpose other than the problem at hand secondary data. If secondary

data are available, it saves the firm time and money because the

expense to design and implement a study has already been incurred.

Websites:

Opinion Research Associates(offers numerous industry and trend reports that are useful as

secondary data sources): http://opinionresearchassoc.com

The U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov

The American Marketing Association: www.ama.org

Dialog (sorts companies by location, size, and industry): www.dialog.com

LexisNexis (a large database featuring information from sources such as Dun & Bradstreet, the

New York Times, CNN, and National Public Radio transcripts): www.lexisnexis.com

p. 103 3.2.2 Research with Primary Data

Of course, secondary research is not always the answer. When a

company needs to make a specific decision, it often needs to collect

primary data; information it gathers directly from respondents to

specifically address the question at hand.

p. 103 3.2.3 Exploratory (Qualitative) Research

Marketers use exploratory research to come up with ideas for new

strategies and opportunities or perhaps just to get a better handle on a

problem they are currently experiencing with a product. Because the

studies are usually small scale and less costly than other techniques,

marketers may use exploratory research to test their hunches about

what is going on without too much risk. Exploratory studies often

involve in-depth probing of a few consumers who fit the profile of the

“typical” customer.

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

p. 104

We refer to most exploratory research as qualitative: that is, the results

of the research project tend to be nonnumeric and instead might be

detailed verbal or visual information about consumers’ attitudes,

feelings, and buying behaviors in the form of words rather than in

numbers.

The focus group is the technique that marketing researchers use most

often for collecting exploratory data. Focus groups typically consist of

five to nine consumers who have been recruited because they share

certain characteristics (they all play golf at least twice a month, are

women in their twenties, and so on). These people sit together to

discuss a product, ad, or some other marketing topic a discussion leader

introduces. Typically, the leader records (by videotape or audiotape)

these group discussions, which may be held at special interviewing

facilities that allow for observation by the client who watches from

behind a one-way mirror.

A market research online community (MROC) is a privately

assembled group of people, usually by a market research firm or

department, utilized to gain insight into customer sentiments and

tendencies.

The case study is a comprehensive examination of a particular firm or

organization.

An ethnography is a different kind of in-depth report. It uses a

technique marketers borrow from anthropologists who go to “live with

the natives” for months or even years. Some marketing researchers visit

people’s homes or participate in real-life consumer activities to get a

handle on how they really use products.

►Marketing Moment In-Class Activity

Conduct a “mini” focus group for the class. Have 4-5 students come to the front of the class and sit

around a table or in a circle. Ask open-ended questions such as: What were you looking for in a college?

Why did you choose school name? What other schools did you consider? What do you like best about

school name? What do you like least? etc. Students will have an opportunity to observe the benefits

(quicker than individual interviews, more opportunity for variation in responses than a paper/pencil

instrument) and shortcomings (group think).

►Ethics Check

Find out what other students taking this course would do and why at www.mymktlab.com

As a marketing director, would you sign off an ad that’s so edgy it’s sure to get attention but that some

people are sure to consider offensive?

p. 104 3.2.4 Descriptive Research

The next step in marketing research, then, often is to conduct

descriptive research. This kind of research probes systematically into

the marketing problem and bases its conclusions on a large sample of

participants. Results typically are expressed in quantitative terms—

averages, percentages, or other statistics that result from a large set of

measurements.

Ripped from the

Headlines:

Ethical/

Sustainable

Decisions in the

Real World

Chapter 4: Market Research

Marketing researchers who employ descriptive techniques most often

use a cross-sectional design. This approach usually involves the

systematic collection of responses to a consumer survey instrument,

such as a questionnaire, from one or more samples of respondents at

one point in time. The data may be collected on more than one occasion

but generally not from the same pool of respondents. In contrast to

these one-time studies, a longitudinal design tracks the responses of

the same sample of respondents over time. Market researchers

sometimes create consumer panels to get information; in this case, a

sample of respondents that are representative of a larger market agrees

to provide information about purchases on a weekly or monthly basis.

p. 105 3.2.5 Causal Research

Causal research attempts to identify cause-and-effect relationships.

Marketers use causal research techniques when they want to know if a

change in something (for example, placing cases of beer next to a

diaper display) is responsible for a change in something else (for

example, a big increase in diaper sales). They call the factors that might

cause such a change independent variables and the outcomes

dependent variables. The independent variable(s) cause some change in

the dependent variable(s).

To rule out alternative explanations, researchers must carefully design

experiments that test predicted relationships among variables in a

controlled environment. Because this approach tries to eliminate

competing explanations for the outcome, researchers may bring

respondents to a laboratory so they can control precisely what the

participants’ experience.

Exhibit:

Male Shopper in

the Diaper Aisle

Photo

Discussion question: Describe in your own words and examples why a controlled environment is crucial

for a marketing research experiment.

p. 106 3.3 Step 3: Choose the Method to Collect Primary Data

When the researcher decides to collect primary data, the next step in the

marketing research process is to figure out just how to collect it. We

broadly describe primary data-collection methods as either survey or

observation.

Neuromarketing or brain research, uses magnetic resonance imaging

(fMRI) to measure brain activity to better understand why consumers

make the decisions they do.

p. 107

p. 108

3.3.1 Survey Methods

Survey methods involve some kind of interview or other direct contact

with respondents who answer questions. Questionnaires can be

administered on the phone, in person, through the mail, or over the

Internet.

3.3.2 Questionnaires

Questionnaires differ in their degree of structure. With a very

unstructured questionnaire, the researcher loosely determines the items

in advance. Questions may evolve from the respondent’s answers to

previous questions. At the other extreme, the researcher uses a

completely structured questionnaire. She asks every respondent the

exact same questions and each participant responds to the same set of

Table 4.2

Advantages and

Disadvantages of

Data Collection

Methods

Exhibit:

Virtual stores

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

p. 109

fixed choices. Moderately structured questionnaires ask each

respondent the same questions, but the respondent is allowed to answer

the questions in her own words.

Mail questionnaires are easy to administer and offer a high degree of

anonymity to respondents. On the downside, because the questionnaire

is printed and mailed, researchers have little flexibility in the types of

questions they can ask and little control over the circumstances under

which the respondent answers them. Mail questionnaires also take a

long time to get back to the company and are likely to have a much

lower response rate than other types of data-collection methods because

people tend to ignore them.

Telephone interviews usually consist of a brief phone conversation in

which an interviewer reads a short list of questions to the respondent.

One problem with this method is that the growth of telemarketing, in

which businesses sell directly to consumers over the phone, has eroded

consumers’ willingness to participate in phone surveys. Increasing

numbers of people use voice mail and caller ID to screen calls, which

further reduces the response rate.

Using face-to-face interviews, a live interviewer asks questions of one

respondent at a time. Typically, today’s face-to-face interviews occur in

a mall intercept study in which researchers recruit shoppers in malls or

other public areas.

Online questionnaires are growing in popularity, but the use of such

questionnaires is not without concerns. Many researchers question the

quality of responses they will receive—particularly because (as with

mail and phone interviews) no one can be sure who is typing in the

responses on the computer. In addition, it is uncertain whether savvy

online consumers are truly representative of the general population. Exhibit: Auto

show models

Discussion question: Which of the type questionnaires do you prefer to complete? Why?

Website: www.donotcall.gov

p. 109 3.3.3 Observational Methods

The second major primary data-collection method is observation. When

researchers use personal observation, they simply watch consumers in

action to understand how they react to marketing activities. When they

suspect that subjects will probably alter their behavior if they know

someone is watching them, researchers may use unobtrusive

measures to record traces of physical evidence that remain after

people have consumed something. Mechanical observation is a

primary-data–collection method that relies on nonhuman devices to

record behavior.

Eye tracking technology is a type of mechanical observation technology

that uses sensors and sophisticated software to track the position and

movement of an individual’s eyes to gain context-specific insights into

how individuals interact with and respond to different visual elements

and stimuli.

Exhibit: Nielsen’s

“People Meter”

Exhibit:

Eye tracking

technology

►Marketing Moment In-Class Activity

Chapter 4: Market Research

Suppose you were hired to study teenagers and develop a new product that would appeal to the teen

market. Where might you go to observe teenagers? (e.g., school, fast food restaurant, mall). What

challenges might you or another researcher have in conducting this observation? (You may not look like

a teenager and the sample would behave differently.)

p. 110

p. 111

p. 112

3.3.4 Online Research

Many companies find that the web is a superior way to collect data—it

is fast, it is relatively cheap, and it lends itself well to forms of research

from simple questionnaires to online focus groups. There are two major

types of online research. One type is information we gather by tracking

consumers while they are surfing. The second type is information we

gather through questionnaires on websites, through e-mail, or from

focus groups virtual moderators conduct in chat rooms.

Cookies are text files a website sponsor inserts into a user’s hard drive

when the user connects with the site. Cookies remember details of a

visit to a website typically tracking which pages the user visits. This

technology allows websites to customize services, such as when

Amazon.com recommends new books to users based on what books

they have ordered in the past. These surprising connections will happen

more often as e-marketers adopt newer generation of predictive

technology that use shopping patterns of large numbers of people to

determine which products are likely to be purchased if others are. Much

discussion is afoot at all levels of government regarding online privacy

rights. Proponents advocate:

Information about a consumer belongs to the consumer.

Consumers should be made aware of information collection.

Consumers should know how information about them will be

used.

Consumers should be able to refuse to allow information

collection.

Information about a consumer should never be sold or given to

another party without the permission of the consumer.

One potential problem of online research is the representativeness of

the respondents. Although the number of Internet users continues to

grow, many segments of the consumer population, mainly the poor and

elderly, do not have equal access to the Internet. In addition, in many

studies (just as with mail surveys or mall intercepts) there is a

self-selection bias in the sample. That is, because respondents have

agreed to receive invitations to take part in online studies by definition

they tend to be the kind of people who like to participate in surveys. As

with other kinds of research such as live focus groups, it is not unusual

to encounter “professional respondents.” These are people who enjoy

taking part in studies and being paid for it.

Hackers can actually try to influence research results. Competitors can

learn about a firm’s marketing plans, products, advertising, and so forth

when they intercept information from these studies (though this can

occur in offline studies just as easily). Because cheating has become so

rampant, some companies today use fraud-busting software that creates

a digital fingerprint of each computer involved in a survey to identify

respondents who fake responses or professionals who game the

industry by doing as many surveys as possible.

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

► METRICS MOMENT

Marketing is responsible for the e-commerce aspect of firms’ web strategies. Bounce rate is a marketing

metric for analyzing website traffic. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and

“bounce” (leave the site) rather than viewing other pages. Websites should be attractive, easy to

navigate, and have up-to-date information.

When you bounce off of a website, is it for one of these reasons? Are any of them more important than

others to you?

Apply the Metrics

A rule of thumb for website effectiveness is that great websites should fulfill three basic

criteria: (1) the site should be attractive, (2) the site should be easy to navigate and get

you where you want to go, and (3) the site should have up-to-date information (no old stuff).

Consider the bounce rate metric we describe above. Like any marketing metric, decisions should

not be made based on the bounce rate alone. What other considerations should the marketer use

to evaluate the effectiveness of a website?

p. 113 3.3.5 Data Quality: Garbage In, Garbage Out

All too often, marketers who commission a study assume that because

the researchers give them a massive report full of impressive-looking

numbers and tables, they must be looking at the “truth.” Unfortunately,

there are times when this “truth” is really just one person’s

interpretation of the facts. At other times, the data researchers use to

generate recommendations are flawed. Typically, three factors

influence the quality of research results—validity, reliability, and

representativeness.

Validity is the extent to which the research actually measures what it

was intended to measure. Internal validity is the extent to which the

results of a research study accurately measure what the study intended

to measure by ensuring proper research design, including efforts to

ensure that any potentially confounding factors were not included or

introduced at any point during the execution of the research study.

External validity is the extent to which the results of a research study

can be generalized to the population its sample was intended to

represent.

Reliability is the extent to which the research measurement techniques

are free of errors. Sometimes, for example, the way a researcher asks a

question creates error by biasing people’s responses.

Representativeness is the extent to which consumers in the study are

similar to a larger group in which the organization has an interest. This

criterion for evaluating research underscores the importance of

sampling; the process of selecting respondents for

a study.

The quality of research results is only as good as the poorest

interviewer in the study. When interviews are involved, the researcher

must train and supervise the interviewers.

Figure 4.5

Snapshot:

Completion Test

Chapter 4: Market Research

Discussion question: Describe in your own words and examples why you think that validity, reliability,

and representativeness are crucial for a marketing research study.

p. 114 3.4 Step 4: Design the Sample

Researchers collect most of their data from a small proportion or

sample of the population of interest. Based on the answers from this

sample, researchers hope to generalize to the larger population.

Whether such inferences are accurate or inaccurate depends on the type

and quality of the study sample. There are two main types of samples:

probability and nonprobability samples.

p. 115 3.4.1 Probability Sampling

In a probability sample, each member of the population has some

known chance of being included. Using a probability sample ensures

that the sample represents the population and that inferences we make

about the population from what members of the sample say or do are

justified.

The most basic type of probability sample is a simple random sample in

which every member of a population has a known and equal chance of

being included in the study.

Sometimes researchers use a systematic sampling procedure to select

members of a population; they select the nth member of a population

after a random start.

Yet, another type of probability sample is a stratified sample, in which

a researcher divides the population into segments that relate to the

study’s topic.

p. 115 3.4.2 Nonprobability Sampling

A nonprobability sample entails the use of personal judgment in

selecting respondents—in some cases they just ask whomever they can

find. With a nonprobability sample, some members of the population

have no chance at all of being included. Thus, there is no way to ensure

that the sample is representative of the population.

A convenience sample is a nonprobability sample composed of

individuals who just happen to be available when and where the data

are being collected. Researchers may also use a quota sample that

includes the same proportion of individuals with certain characteristics

as in the population.

►Marketing Moment In-Class Activity

Suppose you were hired to study groups of people who are difficult to access. If you cannot access the

group directly, how might you be able to sample to learn critical information?

Professional Golfers? Caddies. Brides? Ministers, dress shop owners, wedding planners, etc.

Upper-upper class—maids, butlers, drivers, etc. CEOs and Executives—administrative assistants,

cleaning personnel.

Troubleshooting Tip: conduct a very brief and simple study/survey using both sampling types

(probability vs. nonprobability) and discuss the implications for generalizing the conclusions of both

studies.

p. 116 3.5 Step 5: Collect the Data

p. 116 3.5.2 Challenges to Gathering Data in Foreign Countries

Conducting market research around the world is big business for U.S.

firms. However, market conditions and consumer preferences vary

worldwide, and there are major differences in the sophistication of

market research operations and the amount of data available to global

Part 2: Determining the Value Propositions Different Customers Want

p. 116

marketers.

Choosing an appropriate data-collection method is difficult. In many

developing countries, infrastructure is an impediment to executing

phone or mail surveys, and lack of online connectivity blocks

web-based research. Local customs can be a problem as well. Cultural

differences also affect responses to survey items. Another problem with

conducting marketing research in global markets is language.

Sometimes translations just do not come out right. In some cases, entire

subcultures within a country might be excluded from the research

sample.

To overcome language difficulties, researchers use a process of

back-translation, which requires two steps. First, a native speaker

translates the questionnaire into the language of the targeted

respondents. Then they translate this new version back into the original

language to ensure that the correct meanings survive the process.

p. 117 3.6 Step 6: Analyze and Interpret the Data

Data need interpretation if the results are going to be useful.

Typically, marketers first tabulate the data as Table 4.3 shows —that is,

they arrange the data in a table or other summary form so they can get a

broad picture of the overall responses. In addition, there may be a

desire to cross-classify or cross tabulate the answers to questions by

other variables. Cross tabulation means that we examine the data we

break down into subgroups to see how results vary between categories.

Table 4.3

Examples of Data

Tabulation and

Cross- Tabulation

Tables

p. 117 3.7 Step 7: Prepare the Research Report

In general, a research report must clearly and concisely tell the readers

—top management, clients, creative departments, and many others—

what they need to know in a way that they can easily understand. A

research report will include these sections: an executive summary that

covers the high points, an understandable description of the research

methodology, a complete discussion of the results of the study,

limitations of the study, and conclusions/recommendations drawn.

Discussion question: Describe your emotions during a marketing research study you have participated in

(or the emotions you might feel if you would participate in a study)—do you feel that the study was

ethical? Why or why not?

Real People, Real Choices: Here’s My Choice at the Campbell

Soup Company

Cindy chose option #1.