Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
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Chapter 10
Marketing Research
Tools for Instructors
• Brief Chapter Outline
• Learning Objectives
• Extended Chapter Outline with Teaching Tips
• Answers to End of Chapter Learning Aids
• Chapter Case Study
• Additional Teaching Tips
• Connect Activities
Brief Chapter Outline
The Marketing Research Process
Secondary Data
Primary Data Collection Techniques
The Ethics of Using Customer Information
End of Chapter Learning Aids
Chapter Case Study: Swim, Lift, Play—But Also Donate: Using Market Research to Redefine the YMCA
Learning Objectives
LO 10-1 Identify the five steps in the marketing research process.
The first step is to define objectives and research needs, which sounds so simple that managers often
gloss over it. But this step is crucial to the success of any research project because, quite basically, the
research must answer those questions that are important for making decisions. In the second step,
designing the research project, researchers identify the type of data that are needed, whether primary or
secondary, on the basis of the objectives of the project from Step 1, and then determine the type of
LO 10-2 Describe the various secondary data sources.
External secondary data comprise information that has been collected from outside sources, such as the
U.S. Census, the Internet, books, articles, trade associations, or syndicated data services. Internal
LO 10-3 Describe the various primary data collection techniques.
Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
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Primary data are collected to address specific research needs. Techniques used for primary qualitative
LO 10-4 Summarize the differences between secondary data and primary data.
Compared with primary research, secondary research is quicker, easier, and generally less expensive.
However, if you are using secondary data using big data, then the investment in programs supporting
secondary data can be expensive. However, because secondary research is collected for reasons other
LO 10-5 Examine the circumstances in which collecting information on consumers is ethical.
Marketing researchers should gain permission to collect information on consumers, and it should be for
the sole purpose of conducting marketing research endeavors. Information should not be collected under
Extended Chapter Outline with Teaching Tips
I. The Marketing Research Process
A. Marketing Research Process Step 1: Defining the Objectives and Research Needs
B. Marketing Research Process Step 2: Designing the Research
C. Marketing Research Process Step 3: Collecting the Data
D. Marketing Research Process Step 4: Analyzing the Data and Developing Insights
E. Marketing Research Process Step 5: Developing and Implementing an Action Plan
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
1. What are the steps in the marketing research process?
2. What is the difference between data and information?
II. Secondary Data
A. Inexpensive External Secondary Data
B. Syndicated External Secondary Data
Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
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Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
1. What is the difference between internal and external secondary research?
Answer: Secondary data might come from free or very inexpensive external sources, such as
census data, information from trade associations, and reports published in magazines. Secondary
III. Primary Data Collection Techniques
A. Observation
B. Social Media
C. In-Depth Interviews
D. Focus Group Interviews
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
1. What are the types of qualitative research?
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
1. What are the types of quantitative research?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary research?
IV. The Ethics of Using Customer Information
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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Students should be able to demonstrate their knowledge of data warehouses and data mining and be
able to consider what information might be important in this scenario. A buyer for lawn equipment might
customers shop, what time of year, and their annual spending patterns.
2 Identify a nonprofit organization that might use marketing research, and describe one example
of a meaningful research project that it might conduct. Discuss the steps it should undertake
in this project.
Research is beneficial for both for-profit businesses as well as nonprofit businesses. Student answers will
vary. An example of a meaningful research project for a nonprofit organization might involve researching
potential donors. The steps in the research process for nonprofit organizations are similar to the research
marketing efforts to highlight those motivations and perhaps increase the number of donations it receives.
3 Marketing researchers do not always go through the steps in the marketing research process
in sequential order. Provide an example of a research project that might not follow this
sequence.
This exercise is designed to test students’ knowledge of the marketing research process and their
understanding of how and why that process is not necessarily linear.
An exploratory study focused on observing a group of target consumers using a company’s product might
find that the target group does not actually use the product at all, in which case the research project
4 A sunglasses retailer is trying to determine if there is a significant market for its merchandise
in a specific mall location where it is considering opening a store. It has an active Facebook
page where customers routinely visit to get coupons and comment on the latest sunglasses
offered. How can this retailer use Facebook and Facebook Insights to decide if it should open
the new store?
The sunglasses retailer could use Facebook analytics such as Impressions, Reach, Engaged Users,
Talking about This, New Likes, and Consumption/Consumers to help increase customer engagement and
Based on this data, the retailer could determine if a new store has the potential for success.
5 A consumer package goods company (e.g., Pepsi) has just developed a new beverage. The
company needs to estimate the demand for such a new product. What sources of syndicated
data could it explore?
Syndicated data is a type of secondary data that is available for a fee from commercial research firms. If a
firm like Pepsi introduces a new beverage, it might use data from companies like ACNielsen, which tracks
on the products consumers buy, the brands that they prefer, and their lifestyle preferences.
Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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6 A bank manager notices that by the time customers get to the teller, they seem irritated and
impatient. She wants to investigate the problem further, so she hires you to design a research
project to figure out what is bothering the customers. The bank wants three studies: (a)
several focus groups of their customers, (b) observation using a hidden camera, and (c) an
online survey of 500 customers. Which studies are qualitative, and which are quantitative?
The focus group and the hidden camera observation are examples of qualitative studies. Qualitative
research uses broad, open-ended questions to understand the phenomenon of interest. It provides initial
information that helps the researcher more clearly formulate the research objectives. Qualitative research
is more informal than quantitative research methods and includes observation, following social media
7 Best Buy has an extensive loyalty program, Best Buy Reward Zone, that allows it to track its
customers’ purchasing habits over time. How can Best Buy use such big data to improve
sales?
Best Buy can use this information to communicate more effectively with its customers, “fine tune” its
products and services, discover new revenue streams, revise and update its website in order to stay
8 Suppose your university wants to modify its course scheduling procedures to better serve
students. What are some secondary sources of information that might be used to conduct
research into this topic? Describe how these sources might be used. Describe a method you
could use to gather primary research data about the topic. Would you recommend a specific
order in obtaining each of these types of data? Explain your answer.
Every undergraduate student can relate to the scenario of registering for academic courses. Students
need to put the various research concepts together to structure a research project that might improve this
process.
The university could use secondary sources of information such as how the process has been done in the
past, the length of time it takes for the average student to register, the number of complaints received, the
number of students waitlisted for courses, the amount of drop/add activity after registration, ages,
9 Manuel is planning to launch a new gourmet taco truck and is trying to decide where he
should park his truck and what features and prices would entice consumers. He sends a
request for proposal to four marketing research vendors, and three respond, as described in
the ¬table below. Which vendor should Manuel use? Explain your rationale for picking this
vendor over the others.
Chapter 10 – Marketing Research Marketing 6th
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Vendor A
Vendor B
Vendor C
The vendor that Manuel has
used in the past estimates it
can get the job done for
$200,000 and in two months.
The vendor plans to do a
telephone-based survey
analysis and use secondary
data from the U.S. Census.
Manuel’s key competitor has
used this vendor, which
claims that it can get the job
done for $150,000 and in one
month. This vendor plans to
do a telephone-based survey
analysis and use secondary
data. During a discussion
pertaining to its price and
time estimates, the vendor
indicates it will draw on
insights it has learned from a
recent report prepared for
one of Manuel’s competitors.
This well-known vendor has
recently started to focus on
the restaurant industry. It
quotes a price of $180,000
and a time of one month. The
vendor plans to conduct a
web-based survey analysis
and use secondary data.
Students might believe ethical issues are not at play here and therefore choose a vendor solely on the
basis of the price, timeframe, and response rate of the research methods employed; alternatively, they
Quiz Yourself
1 Which of the following is not a disadvantage of using secondary research data?
a. The information may not be timely.
b. The process is costly and time-consuming.
c. The data sources may be biased.
d. The methodologies for collecting the data may not be appropriate.
e. The sources may not be original, and therefore usefulness is an issue.
2 The key difference between scanner and panel research is that scanner research typically focuses on
a particular _____, while panel research typically focuses on a particular _____.
a. product; person or household
b. product; service
c. person; household
d. person; product
e. service; product