Chapter 7 – Using External Secondary Data
I. Learning Objectives:
Upon completing this chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Describe the process of searching for published external secondary data.
• Identify the information need
2. List three common uses of the information supplied by standardized marketing
information services.
3. Define geodemography.
4. Describe the use of diary panels and scanner data for assessing product sales.
A diary panel is a log of purchases made and/or products consumed over a given
5. Discuss the purpose and operation of people meters.
People meters attempt to measure which household members are watching which
6. Define single-source data.
Single-source measurement refers to organizations that have the capability to
Chapter 7 – Using External Secondary Data
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II. Chapter Outline:
A. External Secondary Data from Published Sources
2. Step 2 – Develop a list of key terms and names.
3. Step 3 – Conduct an online search of relevant databases and Web sites.
Exhibit 7.2: Key Online Sources of Secondary Data for Business Purposes
5. Step 5 – Consult a reference librarian
Exhibit 7.3: Sources of Data on the Electronic Security Systems Industry
6. Step 6 – Identify authorities in the subject matter and consult with them
B. Standard Marketing Information – Profiling Customers
Exhibit 7.4: NAICS Codes for Utility Industries
Exhibit 7.5: Sample Geodemographic Map of Birmingham, AL
C. Standardized Marketing Information – Measuring Product Sales and Market Share
2. Scanners
Exhibit 7.6: Conducting a Store Audit to Measure Product Sales
D. Standardized Marketing Information – Measuring Advertising Exposure and
Effectiveness
1. Television and Radio
3. Internet
4. Cross-platform Services
Manager’s Focus
5. Striving toward Nirvana: Single-Source Data
Exhibit 7.8: Single-Source Data in a Perfect World
Manager’s Focus
E. Summary
F. Key Terms
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G. Review Questions
III. Answers to Review Questions:
1. Researchers should look for published sources of secondary data before searching
2. Standardized marketing information is secondary data collected by companies that
sell that data to multiple companies, allowing the costs of collecting, editing,
4. Geodemography refers to the availability of demographic, consumer behavior, and
5. Companies need to know standardized information about product sales and
market share because it further helps them profile their customers and prospects.
6. A diary panel keeps track of purchases made or products consumed over a period
of time. It can be recorded on paper or reported online.
7. Participants keep a daily record of purchases or product use so that companies can
8. People meters attempt to measure which household members are watching which
television channels at which time. Each member of the family has his/her own
9. Portable people meters are pager-like devices that household members carry with
.
10. A company may assess the success of its online advertising by using services such
11. Cross platform services are used when an advertising campaign appears
12. Single-source data are data that allow researchers to link together purchase
IV. Instruction Suggestions:
1. One useful method of framing a discussion on the use of marketing information
services is to focus on the issues that these databases may be used to address,
2. An alternative strategy is to present various scenarios and to use class discussion to
develop the advantages and disadvantages of addressing the problem using
particular commercial databases. The four scenarios below are offered as a point of
departure in that regard.
A. The research manager for a large consumer products company is interested
in determining consumers‘ attitudes towards a certain product. More
importantly, she wants to see if consumers’ attitudes are associated with
their purchase behavior toward the product. Discuss the pros and cons of
using a mail panel (see chapter 6) vs. a diary panel in this situation. Which is
more useful? What trade-offs might be involved in selecting one of the
methods over the other?
Discussion points:
• diary panels are especially useful for measuring sales; attitudes are
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B. An advertising agency has prepared two alternative television commercials
for a new brand of tennis shoe and wants to determine which ad is more
effective at reaching a specific target market (i.e., which version sells more
shoes). The new brand is being developed by a division of a very successful
multiproduct firm, so money for testing the alternative commercials is not a
primary concern. Moreover, the company prefers to test the ads in an
actual selling environment. Discuss the use of BehaviorScan data vs. the
more traditional methods for assessing the effectiveness of commercials
(e.g., methods relying upon recall or recognition of brands from
commercials). What trade-offs might occur in the choice of one method
over the other?
Discussion points:
• The traditional approaches might measure awareness of the brand,
C. A consumer products company wants to develop a general profile of
purchasers of its products in a certain trade area. Would diary panel data or
scanner data be more useful for this purpose?
Discussion points:
• traditional scanner data would provide a good record of purchase
D. The same consumer products company was interested in identifying
potential customers in another region of the country based on the results of
the demographic study. The company assumed that purchasers of its
products would be similar across the country. Could the company use
scanner data for this purpose? What about Dun’s Market Identifiers or the
geodemographic research companies?
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