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Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 1
CHAPTER 9 Marketing Research
This chapter begins with the learning outcome summaries, followed by a set of lesson plans for you to use to
deliver the content in Chapter 9.
• Lecture (for large sections) on page 3
• Company Clips (video) on page 4
• Group Work (for smaller sections) on page 6
Review and Assignments begin on page 8
Review questions
Application questions
Application exercise
Ethics exercise
Video Assignment
Case assignment
Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing from faculty around the country begin on page 19
2 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
LEARNING OUTCOMES
9-1 Define marketing research and explain its importance to marketing decision making
Marketing research is a process of collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of solving specific marketing problems.
Practically speaking, marketers use marketing research to improve the decision-making process, trace problems, serve
customers, gauge the value of goods and services, understand the marketplace, and measure customer service efforts.
9-2 Describe the steps involved in conducting a marketing research project
The marketing research process involves several basic steps. First, the researcher and the decision maker must agree on a
problem statement or set of research objectives. Social media and big data may be helpful in this pursuit. The researcher
then creates an overall research design to specify how primary data will be gathered and analyzed. Before collecting
data, the researcher decides whether the group to be interviewed will be a probability or nonprobability sample. Field
service firms are often hired to carry out data collection. Once data have been collected, the researcher analyzes them
using statistical analysis. The researcher then prepares and presents oral and written reports, with conclusions and
recommendations, to management. As a final step, the researcher determines whether the recommendations were
implemented and what could have been done to make the project more successful.
9-3 Discuss the profound impact of the Internet on marketing research
The Internet has simplified the secondary data search process. Internet survey research is surging in popularity. Internet
surveys can be created rapidly, are reported in real time, are relatively inexpensive, and are easily personalized. Often
researchers use the Internet to contact respondents who are difficult to reach by other means. The Internet can also be
used to conduct focus groups, to dispute research proposals and reports, and to facilitate collaboration between the client
and the research supplier.
9-4 Describe the growing importance of mobile research
Mobile survey traffic now accounts for approximately 30 percent of interview responses. Mobile surveys are designed to
fit into the brief cracks of time that open up when a person waits for a plane, is early for an appointment, commutes to
work on a train, or stands in a line. Marketers strive to engage respondents in the moment because mobile research
provides immediate feedback when a consumer makes a decision to purchase, consumes a product, or experiences some
form of promotion. Mobile research has also expanded into qualitative research.
9-5 Discuss the growing importance of scanner-based research
A scanner-based research system enables marketers to monitor a market panel’s exposure and reaction to such variables
as advertising, coupons, store displays, packaging, and price. By analyzing these variables in relation to the panel’s
subsequent buying behavior, marketers gain useful insight into sales and marketing strategies.
9-6 Explain when marketing research should be conducted
Because acquiring marketing information can be time consuming and costly, to acquire additional decision-making
information depends on managers’ perceptions of its quality, price, and timing. Research, therefore, should be
undertaken only when the expected value of the information is greater than the cost of obtaining it. Implementing a
Customer Relationship Management system is integral to deciding if marketing research should be conducted.
9-7 Explain the concept of competitive intelligence
Intelligence is analyzed information, and it becomes decision-making intelligence when it has implications for the
organization. By helping managers assess their competition and vendors, competitive intelligence (CI) leads to fewer
surprises. CI is part of a sound marketing strategy, helps companies respond to competitive threats, and helps reduce
unnecessary costs.
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 3
TERMS
behavioral targeting (BT)
experiment
open-ended question
BehaviorScan
field service firm
primary data
big data
focus group
probability sample
central-location telephone (CLT)
facility
frame error
random error
InfoScan
random sample
closed-ended question
mall intercept interview
research design
competitive intelligence (CI)
management decision problem
sample
computer-assisted personal
interviewing
marketing research
sampling error
marketing research objective
scaled-response question
computer-assisted self-interviewing
marketing research problem
scanner-based research
convenience sample
measurement error
secondary data
cross-tabulation
mystery shoppers
social media monitoring
ethnographic research
neuromarketing
survey research
executive interview
nonprobability sample
universe
observation research
LESSON PLAN FOR LECTURE
Brief Outline and Suggested PowerPoint Slides:
Learning Outcomes and Topics
PowerPoint Slides
LO1 Define marketing research and explain its
importance to marketing decision making
9-1 The Role of Marketing Research
1: Marketing Research
2: Learning Outcomes
3: Learning Outcomes
4: The Role of Marketing Research
5: The Role of Marketing Research
6: The Role of Marketing Research
7: Management Uses of Marketing Research
LO2 Describe the steps involved in conducting a
marketing research project
9-2 Steps in a Marketing Research Project
8: Steps in a Marketing Research Project
9: Exhibit 9.1: The Marketing Research Process
10: The Marketing Research Project
11: Sources of Secondary Data
12: Advantages of Secondary Data
13: Disadvantages of Secondary Data
14: Social Media and Big Data
15: Planning the Research Design
16: Primary Data
17: Disadvantages of Primary Data
18: Survey Research
19: Forms of Survey Research
20: Questionnaire Design
21: Questionnaire Design
22: Observation Research
23: Exhibit 9.5: Observational Situations
24: Observation Research
25: Ethnographic Research
26: Virtual Shopping
27: Experiments
28: Sampling Procedure
4 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
Learning Outcomes and Topics
PowerPoint Slides
28: Types of Samples
30: Probability Samples
31: Nonprobability Samples
32: Types of Errors
33: Collecting the Data
34: Analyzing the Data
35: Preparing and Presenting the Report
36: Following Up
LO3 Discuss the profound impact of the Internet on
marketing research
9-3 The Profound Impact of the Internet on
Marketing Research
37: The Profound Impact of the Internet on Marketing
Research
38: Impact of the Internet
39: Advantages of Internet Surveys
40: Uses of the Internet by Marketing Researchers
41: Methods of Conducting Online Surveys
42: Advantages of Online Focus Groups
43: Web Community Research
LO4 Describe the growing importance of mobile
research
9-4 The Growing Importance of Mobile
Research
44: The Growing Importance of Mobile Research
45: Mobile Research
LO5 Discuss the growing importance of scanner-based
research
9-5 Scanner-Based Research
46: Scanner-Based Research
47: Scanner-Based Research
48: Scanner-Based Research
LO6 Explain when marketing research should be
conducted
9-6 When Should Marketing Research Be
Conducted?
49: When Should Marketing Research be Conducted?
50: When Should Marketing Research be Conducted?
51: Exhibit 9.8: A Simple Flow Model of the Customer
Relationship Management System
LO7 Explain the concept of competitive intelligence
9-7 Competitive Intelligence
52: Competitive Intelligence
53: Competitive Intelligence (CI)
54: Sources of Competitive Intelligence
55: Chapter 9 Video
56: Part 2 Video
Suggested Homework:
• The end of this chapter contains assignments for the Nederlander Organization video and for the Axe case.
• This chapter’s online study tools include flashcards, visual summaries, practice quizzes, and other resources that can
be assigned or used as the basis for longer investigations into marketing.
LESSON PLAN FOR VIDEO
Company Clips
Segment Summary: The Nederlander Organization
The Nederlander Organization is at the forefront of using technology to understand its customers and the ways that those
theatregoers purchase tickets. This video clip discusses specific ways the Nederlander Organization collects data and
then leverages that information to the benefit of the customer.
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 5
These teaching notes combine activities that you can assign students to prepare before class, that you can do in class
before watching the video, that you can do in class while watching the video, and that you can assign students to
complete as assignments after watching the video in class.
During the viewing portion of the teaching notes, stop the video periodically where appropriate to ask students the
questions or perform the activities listed on the grid. You may even want to give the students the questions before
starting the video and have them think about the answer while viewing the segment. That way, students will be engaged
in active viewing rather than passive viewing.
PRE-CLASS PREP FOR YOU:
PRE-CLASS PREP FOR YOUR STUDENTS:
• Preview the Company Clips video segment for
Chapter 9. This exercise reviews concepts for LO1,
LO2, and LO3
• Review your lesson plan.
• Make sure you have all of the equipment needed to
show the video to the class, including the DVD and a
way to project the video.
• You can also stream the video HERE
• Have students familiarize themselves with the following
terms and concepts: marketing research, marketing
research process, marketing research problem,
marketing research objective, management decision
problem, open- and close-ended questions, research
design, primary data, and secondary data.
• Ask students to define and provide a detailed example of
a marketing research problem and a management
decision problem.
VIDEO REVIEW EXERCISE
ACTIVITY
Warm Up
Begin this session by asking students to explain the difference between a marketing research problem
and a management decision problem.
In-class
Preview
• Segue into a review of the importance of marketing research to marketing decision making.
• Have students form teams of up to four members. Ask each team to brainstorm several ways they
can capture data about customers (e.g., frequent shopper program, credit card databases, internet
research, surveys, etc.).
• Move from team to team and prompt them with additional questions. Examples include “How will
you turn that data into useful, valuable information?” and “What are the risks of not collecting
data, or collecting the wrong data?”
• Have teams remain in place to watch the video segment about The Nederlander Organization.
• Review the Company Clips questions below and make sure students are prepared to discuss them
with their group after viewing the video.
Viewing
(Solutions
below.)
1. What are some of the methods mentioned in the video that The Nederlander Organization
uses to gather primary data?
2. In what way does The Nederlander Organization use secondary data?
Follow-up
• Have the student teams re-form to respond to the viewing activity. Again, move from team to team
to respond to questions or redirect discussion.
• Take-home activity: Have each student reread the book section on questionnaire design and then
design their own questionnaire on a product or service of their own choosing to be turned in later.
Solutions for Viewing Activities:
1. What are some of the methods mentioned in the video that The Nederlander Organization uses to gather
primary data? How does the company leverage that data?
The Nederlander Organization has several ways it gathers information about its theatregoers. Students could mention
6 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
2. In what way does The Nederlander Organization use secondary data?
LESSON PLAN FOR GROUP WORK
In most cases, group activities should be completed after some chapter content has been covered, probably in the second
or third session of the chapter coverage. (See “Lesson Plan for Lecture” above.)
• For “Class Activity – Pepsi/Coke Taste Test,” provide the information and the questions asked by the class
activity.
• Application questions 6, 8, and 12 lend themselves well to group work. For those activities, divide the class into
small groups of four or five people. Each group should read the question and then use their textbooks, or any
work that was completed previously, to perform the exercise. Then, each group should discuss or present their
work to the class.
Class Activity – Pepsi/Coke Taste Test
Part One
First, ask each student to select either the letter M or Q. Next, ask them to select a number from 1 to 4. Tally the results.
How did the Pepsi/Coke taste test evolve? In the late 1970s, Pepsi was looking for a creative promotion for its big
problem area: the southwestern United States. Pepsi’s national market share was 17 percent at the time but only 8 percent
in the Southwest. Pepsi decided to stage a blind taste test using a sample of loyal Coke drinkers in the Southwest. Pepsi
had the volunteers taste test two colas—one labeled M (Pepsi) and one labeled Q (Coke)—and state their preference.
In this test, more than half the Coke drinkers chose the product labeled M (Pepsi). Pepsi advertised the results in a
promotion in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and sales of Pepsi doubled. The promotion was so successful that Pepsi
introduced it into seven other market areas.
At this point, Coca-Cola announced that Pepsi’s taste test was biased and unfair. Coca-Cola pointed out that variables
other than taste were affecting volunteers’ choices. One extraneous variable is that people have a natural preference for
the letter M over the letter Q. As a result, the preference for product M could be based on taste or could be a
subconscious preference for the letter.
In extensive testing, when people were asked to pick either Q or M, 78 percent chose M and 22 percent preferred Q.
When people were asked to chose a number from 1 to 4, 70 percent chose 2 or 3, and only 30 percent chose 1 or 4. How
do your class results compare?
Part Two
Before Coke introduced its reformulated “New Coke” in 1985, it conducted almost 200,000 blind taste tests with
consumers. The results:
New Coke (55 percent) chosen over original Coke (45 percent)
New Coke (52 percent) chosen over Pepsi (48 percent)
However, after New Coke was introduced, it failed miserably in the market. The original formula was reintroduced a few
months later as “Coca-Cola Classic.”
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 7
You can replicate the taste test comparing Coke Zero, Coca-Cola Classic, and Pepsi as follows:
1. Get 40 small paper cups and label 10 with the letter R, 10 with S, 10 with T, and 10 with the letter W.
2. Outside the room have a student volunteer randomly assign Coke Zero, Coca-Cola Classic, and Pepsi to the
letters R, S, and T. Write down which soft drink goes with which letter.
3. At the start of class, select 10 students as taste testers. The subjects should be regular consumers of non-diet
cola (at least six 12-ounce bottles in the last month). Place the students at the front of the classroom.
4. Outside the room, the student volunteer should be filling each cup with the appropriate soda. Fill the W cups
with water.
5. Put an R, S, T, and W cup in front of each student, and hand each student a copy of the Cola Taste Test Form
provided.
6. To eliminate order bias, have three of the students begin the taste test with cup R, three with cup S, and four
with cup T. Have them take a sip of water between colas and continue to sample and test in any order they
wish. They can resample as needed to fill out the questionnaire.
7. Have a student tabulate the answers during class and share the results at the end of class. The form could even
lend itself to cross-tabulations (between preferences and answers to questions 5 or 6) if the sample were larger.
Cola Taste Test Form
1. In comparing the tastes of R and S,
____ I prefer R.
____ I am indifferent between R and S.
____ I prefer S.
2. In comparing the tastes of S and T,
____ I prefer S.
____ I am indifferent between S and T.
____ I prefer T.
3. In comparing the tastes of T and R,
____ I prefer T.
____ I am indifferent between T and R.
____ I prefer R.
4. Which of the following brands are R, S, and T?
a. Coke Zero is ____
b. Pepsi Cola is ____
c. Coca-Cola Classic is ____
5. During the past month, estimate your consumption of the three colas so that they total 100 percent:
Coke Zero _______ percent
Pepsi Cola _______ percent
8 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
Coca-Cola Classic _______ percent
Total 100 percent
6. How many 12-ounce cans or bottles of sugared cola have you consumed in the past 30 days?
____ 6 or fewer ____ 13 to 24
____ 7 to 12 ____ 25 or more
REVIEW AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR CHAPTER 9
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. The task of marketing is to create exchanges. What role might marketing research play in the facilitation of
the exchange process?
2. Give an example of 1) the descriptive role of marketing research, 2) the diagnostic role, and 3) the predictive
function of marketing research.
3. Marketing research has traditionally been associated with manufacturers of consumer goods. Today, we are
experiencing an increasing number of organizations, both profit and nonprofit, using marketing research.
Why do you think this trend exists? Give some examples.
4. Why are secondary data sometimes preferred to primary data?
5. What is a marketing research aggregator? What role do these aggregators play in marketing research?
Companies whose role it is to acquire, catalog, reformat, segment, and resell reports already published by large and
6. Ethnographic research is a new (and expensive) trend in marketing research. Find an article on ethnographic
research. Read and summarize the article. What is your opinion of ethnographic research? Do you think it
will be the wave of the future? Explain your reasoning.
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 9
7. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys.
Advantages of Internet surveys include speed, low cost, creation of longitudinal studies, cost effectiveness of short
8. Why has scanner-based research been seen as “the ultimate answer” for marketing researchers? Do you see
any disadvantages of this methodology?
Scanner-based research provides an accurate, objective picture of the direct causal relationship between different
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
1. Write a reply to the following statement: “I own a restaurant in the downtown area. I see customers every
day whom I know on a first-name basis. I understand their likes and dislikes. If I put something on the menu
and it doesn’t sell, I know that they didn’t like it. I also read the magazine Modern Restaurants, so I know
what the trends are in the industry. This is all of the marketing research I need to do.”
Although students’ answers will vary, they should address some of these points: Making correct decisions is as
2. Critique the following methodologies and suggest more appropriate alternatives:
a. A supermarket was interested in determining its image. It dropped a short questionnaire into the grocery
bag of each customer before putting in the groceries.
b. To assess the extent of its trade area, a shopping mall stationed interviewers in the parking lot every
Monday and Friday evening. Interviewers walked up to persons after they had parked their cars and
asked them for their ZIP codes.
c. To assess the popularity of a new movie, a major studio invited people to call a 900 number and vote yes,
they would see it again, or no, they would not. Each caller was billed a two-dollar charge.
a. The supermarket should have short intercept interviews or phone interviews in order to get more participation.
4. You have been charged with determining how to attract more business majors to your school. Write an
outline of the steps you would take, including the sampling procedures, to accomplish the task.
The first step is to define the problem or questions that this research needs to examine. The next step, planning the
10 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
situation are selected. Next the data are collected, often by an outside firm. Data analysis then takes place, and the
results are interpreted. Subsequently, a report is drafted and presented to management. A follow-up on the
usefulness of the data and the report is the final step.
5. Discuss when focus groups should and should not be used.
6. Divide the class into teams of eight persons. Each group will conduct a focus group on the quality and
number of services that your college is providing to its students. One person from each group should be
chosen to act as moderator. Remember, it is the moderator’s job to facilitate discussion, not to lead the
discussion. These group sessions should last approximately 45 minutes. If possible, the groups should be
videotaped or recorded. Upon completion, each group should write a brief report of its results. Consider
offering to meet with the dean of students to share the results of your research.
This is a project question and results will vary.
7. Go to http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/presurvey.shtml and take the VALS Survey. Report on
how marketing researchers are using this information.
Students’ reports will vary.
8. Divide the class into teams. Each team should go to a different opt-in survey site on the Web and participate
in an online survey. A spokesperson for each team should report the results to the class.
This is a project question and results will vary.
9. Detractors claim that scanner-based research is like “driving a car down the road looking only in the
rearview mirror.” What does this mean? Do you agree?
This is a major disadvantage to scanner-based research: it gathers information on the past but may not be able to
predict the future. Students can argue for or against this statement:
10. Why do you think that competitive intelligence (CI) is so hot in today’s environment?
11. Prepare a memo to your boss at United Airlines and outline why the organization needs a CI unit.
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 11
12. Form a team with three other students. Each team must choose a firm in the PC manufacturing industry.
Next, each team will go to the Web site of the firm and acquire as much competitive intelligence as possible.
Each team will then prepare a five-minute oral presentation on its findings.
13. Why do companies hire mystery shoppers?
Mystery shoppers are researchers posing as customers who gather observational data about a store. Companies also
hire these shoppers to study customer-employee interactions. Mystery shoppers also:
APPLICATION EXERCISE
For its Teens and Healthy Eating: Oxymoron or Trend? study, New York–based BuzzBack Market Research focused on
snacking. Among its findings: Teens eat an average of three snacks per day, and breakfast is the meal they skip most
often. Though scads of snacks are stacked on store shelves, when it comes to healthier treats targeting adolescents, it’s a
bit of a teenage wasteland. BuzzBack asked 532 teen respondents to conjure up new foods they’d gobble up. The
following are some of their ideas:
• “Travel fruit. Why can’t fruit be in travel bags like chips or cookies? Canned fruit is too messy. Maybe have a
dip or something sold with it, too.” –Female, age 17
• “A drink that contains five servings of fruits and vegetables.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “I would invent all natural and fat-free, vitamin-enhanced cookies and chips that had great flavor.” –Female,
age 16
• “I would make fruit-based cookies.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “Low-carb trail mix, because trail mix is easy to eat but it has a lot of fat/carbs.” –Female, age 15, Caucasian
• “I would create some sort of microwavable spaghetti.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “Something quick and easy to make that’s also cheap. I’ll be in college next year, and I’m trying to find things
that are affordable, healthier than cafeteria food, and easy to make.” –Female, age 17
• “Good vegan mac n’cheese.” –Female, age 18, Caucasian
• “A smoothie where you could get all the nutrients you need, that tastes good, helps you stay in shape, and is
good for you. Has vitamins A, B3, B12, C, ginkgo. Packaging would be bright.” –Female, age 16, African
American
• “A breakfast shake for teens. Something easy that tastes good, not necessarily for dieters like Slim Fast, etc.
Something to balance you off in the morning.” –Male, age 18
SOURCE: Becky Ebenkamp, “The Market Is the Message,” “What If Teenagers Ruled the R&D Roost?” Brandweek, July 11, 2005, 16 and 17.
Activities
1. You are a new-product development specialist at Kraft. What guidance can you get from the BuzzBack study?
2. Choose one of the suggestions from the above list of healthy snack concepts. Imagine that your company is
interested in turning the idea into a new product but wants to conduct market research before investing in product
development. Design a marketing research plan that will give company managers the information they need before
engaging in new-product development of the idea. Once you have finished your plan, collect the data. Depending
on the data-collection methods you have outlined in your plan, you may need to make adjustments so that you can
collect actual data to analyze.
12 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
3. Analyze the data you collected and create a report for your company either recommending that the company pursue
the idea you chose or investigate another.
Purpose: To show how marketing research supports all of the marketing functions.
Setting It Up: This exercise is well suited to small group work in class. Once groups have made their lists, have groups
come together to share their results as a class.
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 13
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing:
Matthew D. Shank, Northern Kentucky University
Fred Beasley, Northern Kentucky University
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH
(OR WHY DO I HAVE TO TAKE THIS CLASS?)
What three words best describe how students feel about marketing research before entering the course? Do hard, boring,
and unnecessary come to mind? In order to combat these negative expectations, an in-class exercise can be used in the
first class meeting to hopefully change students’ attitudes towards marketing research.
The exercise begins by asking students to list and describe the basic functions of marketing. This task may be facilitated
by providing the students with any product or service (e.g., athletic footwear, cars, universities) and asking what
functions should be performed to successfully market this product or service. After discussing the functions, the students
are told to list all of the potential research activities needed to support each of the marketing functions. The typical list of
functions and some of the related marketing research activities are shown below:
Basic Marketing Functions
Examples of Research Activities
Promotion Planning
Ad Effectiveness
Media Research
Sales Promotion Effectiveness
Distribution Planning
Retail Image Studies
Site Location Analysis
Price Planning
Price Elasticity
Demand Analysis
Product/Service Planning
Brand Image Research
Package Design Studies
Test Marketing
Scope of the Organization
Concept Testing
Market Development Studies
Consumer Analysis
Satisfaction Studies
Attitude and Usage Studies
Environmental Analysis
Secondary Data Collection Competitive Analysis
Marketing Management
Target Market Identification
Positioning Studies
Segmentation Studies
The broad purpose of this in-class exercise is to stress the importance of marketing research and set the tone for the
semester. More specifically, the exercise has the following benefits:
• Serves as a review of the basic marketing functions
• Provides the students with a basis for developing a list of questions for their initial client meeting (Note:
students conduct research for businesses in the community)
• Positions research in the context of the overall marketing discipline
• Explores the critical link between research and the basic marketing functions
ETHICS EXERCISE
John Michael Smythe owns a small marketing research firm in Cleveland, Ohio, which employs 75 people. Most
employees are the sole breadwinners in their families. John’s firm has not fared well for the past two years and is on the
verge of bankruptcy. The company recently surveyed over 2,500 people in Ohio about new-car purchase plans for the
Ohio Department of Economic Development. Because the study identified many hot prospects for new cars, a car dealer
has offered John $8,000 for the names and phone numbers of people saying they are “likely” or “very likely” to buy a
new car within the next 12 months. John needs the money to avoid laying off a number of employees.
1. Should John Smythe sell the names?
2. Does the AMA Code of Ethics address this issue? Go to http://www.marketingpower.com and review the
code. Then, write a brief paragraph on what the AMA Code of Ethics contains that relates to John Smythe’s
dilemma.
The AMA Code of Ethics does have verbiage requiring marketers to “apply confidentiality and anonymity in
VIDEO ASSIGNMENT: The Nederlander Organization
1. Using information collected for Ricky Martin’s fan club would be considered:
a. primary data
b. meeting the research objective
c. secondary data
d. survey research
2. Broadway Direct offers a collection of people who have signed up to receive a newsletter about Nederlander
theatre events. Most of these individuals also purchased tickets to see a show at a Nederlander owned theatre. If
used as a sample for a marketing research project, Broadway Direct would be a
a. judgment sample
b. probability sample
c. observation research
d. convenience sample
Chapter 9 ♦ Systems and Marketing Research 15
3. When the Nederlander Organization “retargets” recipients of email pre-sale blasts (such as the one used for Evita)
based on whether they clicked “buy tickets” and did not make the purchase, they are
a. using behavioral targeting to send follow-up messages.
b. using behaviorscan to understand why they didn’t purchase tickets.
c. performing observation research on email marketing success and failure.
d. demonstrating how virtual shopping can use personal selling techniques.
4. When someone opts in to receive Broadway direct newsletters, what step in the CRM system are they fulfilling for
the Nederlander organization?
a. They are helping Nederlander understand its interactions with the current customer base.
b. They are helping Nederlander capture customer data based on interactions.
c. They are helping Nederlander identify its best customers.
d. They are helping Nederlander leverage stored information.
CASE ASSIGNMENT: Axe
Though it has been in production since 1983, Unilever’s Axe body fragrance skyrocketed from a small European brand
to a $2.5 billion global enterprise in recent years. Axe holds 76 percent of the body fragrance market, and grew 13.6
percent in 2012 alone. Without question, the key to Axe’s success has been its excellence in marketing. As other
companies do, Axe sponsors events and places advertisements that are aimed at connecting with young men. Axe,
however, takes things a step further by tying all of its marketing efforts to an incredible level of research.
Axe’s core target demographic is men aged 20 to 25. It does not try to “age” with the group, meaning that it does
not chase its customers as they age. The company operates a relentless research system that focuses squarely on this
segment, tracking fads, trends, likes and dislikes, interests, and relationship patterns. Axe marketers know that what
appealed to the 20 to 25 demographic five years ago will not appeal to the current 20 to 25 group, and that whatever is
popular now will likely be out of style in another five years.
Axe’s research skills have led to a significant shift in its advertising strategy. Early on, marketers found that males
and females would often spend time in separate groups. This knowledge led to advertising that focused on how guys
could use Axe to get close to girls. In one commercial, a cheerleader, driven insane by Axe, tackles a football player
wearing the fragrance. Recently, however, researchers found that males and females are spending more time together.
Axe shifted its advertising strategy, playing to both men and women. The newer commercials show women being more
demanding, telling males to groom themselves better and females to take charge of the budding romance.
16 Chapter 9 ♦ Marketing Research
Jason Feifer, “Axe’s Highly Scientific Typically Outrageous and Totally Irresistible Selling of Lust,” Fast Company,
August 8, 2012, www.fastcompany.com/3000041/axes-highly-scientific-typically-outrageous-and-totally-irresistible-
selling-lust (Accessed March 26, 2013).
TRUE/FALSE
1. Axe engages in market research when it tracks fads, trends, likes and dislikes, interests, and relationship patterns.
2. Axe relies primarily on secondary data to discover what appeals to 20- to 25-year-old males.
3. If Axe surveyed students at Harvard University to represent the entire 20- to 25-year-old market, it might encounter a
random error.
4. An effective way for Axe to reduce its research costs while improving respondent participation would be to utilize
internet surveys.
5. Axe likely collects data through behavior-based research, a system for gathering information from a single group of
respondents by continuously monitoring the advertising, promotion, and pricing they are exposed to and the things they
buy.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following statements illustrates the predictive role of marketing research?
a.
Axe holds 76 percent of the body fragrance market.
b.
Online sales account for 8 percent of all sales.
c.
The new television commercial will likely drive sales up 21 percent.
d.
Axe’s packaging redesign resulted in a 2 percent drop in sales.
e.
None of these.
