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Focus groups are used when a researcher needs detailed information or needs to brainstorm. The group dynamics of
3.6 Divide the class into teams of eight persons. Each team 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
groups 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.
3.7 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:
3.8 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.
4.1 Go to www.strategicbusinessinsights.com and take the VALS Survey. Report on how marketing researchers
are using this information.
4.2 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.
4.3 What are various ways to obtain respondents for online surveys?
Marketers can either find their own respondents or rent a panel from a third party. Managers who decide to create
4.4 Describe the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys.
surveys, the ability to reach large audiences, and eye appeal. Disadvantages include skewing of online survey
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-17
5.1 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
5.2 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:
6.1 Why do you think that CI is so hot in today’s environment?
6.2 Prepare a memo to your boss at JetBlue Airlines and outline why the organization needs a CI unit.
Student responses will vary depending on the specific reasons that the student chooses to target. Some of those
6.3 Form teams of three students. Each team must choose a firm in the PC manufacturing industry and then go
to the Web site of the firm and acquire as much CI as possible. Each team will then prepare a five-minute
oral presentation on its findings.
Supplemental Exercise: Group Work
Review and Applications
Review and Applications Questions 2.3. 3.1, 3.6, 4.2, and 6.3 lend themselves well to group work. For those
activities, divide the class into small groups of 4-5 people. Each group of students should read the question and then
use their textbooks, or any work that was completed previously, to perform the exercise. Then, each group should
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discuss or present its work to the class.
APPLICATION EXERCISE
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. Each group works for Kraft as new-product
ETHICS EXERCISE
1. Should John Smythe sell the names?
This dilemma is particularly tricky because it involves the interests of John as both a marketing research
2. Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address this issue? Go to
what the AMA Statement 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
MARKETING PLAN EXERCISE
Complete the exercises on page 348 to find out more about your competitors and customers through marketing research.
Once completed, you can use your answers to complete the Marketing Plan Worksheet for Part II on the companion
CASE STUDY
Marriott International: A Marriott Site for Those on the Move
1. Look at the characteristics of survey research outlined in Exhibit 9.3, and analyze Marriott Mobiles
mobile feedback system with respect to these characteristics.
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-19
Cost: while no relative cost was indicated in this piece, costs should decrease for future uses as having the
system already in place eliminates initial set-up expenses.
2. What are some of the disadvantages of the mobile-based survey that Marriott created?
3. If you were in charge of mobile marketing at Marriott International, what research methods would you
use to build on Marriott’s existing programs and further develop Marriott Mobile?
LESSON PLAN FOR VIDEO
Company Clips: ReadyMade—Ready Research
Having been in business for five years, ReadyMade now has a lot of research on the various characteristics of its
readers. Its knowledge of GenNesters has made the magazine a leader in identifying and describing that segment. As a
new business, ReadyMade found that businesses had little interest in marketing to this group. Now that businesses have
become more aware of GenNester influence, however, ReadyMade is able to fill the need for information. ReadyMade
has statistics on the ages at which people are marrying and the interests of couples that have just married. Because the
magazine is ahead of the curve on gathering information on this segment, ReadyMade can help other businesses figure
out how to tailor their marketing efforts to fit the needs of GenNesters
Solutions for Viewing Activities (also for the Company Clips questions in the textbook):
1. How has ReadyMade been able to help Toyota promote its new line of cars? What benefit has
ReadyMade seen from the partnership?
Toyota approached ReadyMade as experts in the demographic Toyota wanted to know more about for the
2. How does ReadyMade use new technology to gain information about its consumers?
3. What sort of long-term decisions is ReadyMade making that could be aided by research? What would
you recommend?
9-20 Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research
ReadyMade is in the process of targeting an older audience, and worried about risking its younger readership.
Supplemental Exercise: Video
Company Clips
Pre-Class Prep for You:
• Preview the Company Clips video segment for Chapter 9. This exercise reviews concepts for LO1, LO2, LO3, and
LO4
• 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.
Pre-Class Prep for Students:
• Have students familiarize themselves with the following terms and concepts: marketing research, marketing research
Video Review Exercise Activity
• Warm-up
o Begin this session by asking students to explain the difference between a marketing research problem and a
management decision problem.
• In-Class Preview
o Segue into a review of the importance of marketing research to marketing decision making.
• Follow-up
o Have the student team’s reform to respond to the viewing activity. Again, move from team to team to
Supplemental Exercise: Class Activity
Pepsi/Coke Taste Test Bank Marketing
Part One
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-21
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.
Part Two
Before Coke introduced its reformulated “New Coke” in 1985, it conducted almost 200,000 blind taste tests with
consumers. The results:
You can replicate the taste test comparing New Coke, Coca-Cola Classic, and Pepsi as follows:
1. Get forty small paper cups and label ten with the letter R, ten with S, ten with T, and ten with the letter W.
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.
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.
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2. In comparing the tastes of S and 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?
5. During the past month, estimate your consumption of the three colas so that they total 100 percent:
New Coke _______ percent
6. How many twelve-ounce cans or bottles of sugared cola have you consumed in the past 30 days?
____ 6 or fewer
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-23
GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 9
James S. Cleveland, Sage College of Albany
DISCUSSION BOARD TOPICS TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION
Discussion board questions provided to students to encourage them to engage in thinking and writing about the content
of the Principles of Marketing course usually take the form of a provocative statement to which students are asked to
respond. An example of this would be: All PR is good PR.
Discussion topics such as this one are abstract and often require that the instructor provide an initial reply to show
students what is expected of them in their own replies. For students with limited work experience, this approach may be
quite appropriate. For adult students with extensive experience as employees and consumers, however, the abstract
nature of such topics can be frustrating.
I have developed, therefore, a series of discussion board questions to use with experienced, adult students. These
questions are designed to encourage them to use their experiences as employees and consumers as doorways to better
understand the course material, and to make their own responses more interesting to themselves and to the other students
in the class who will read and comment on them.
Each question has three parts:
1. First, there is a sentence or two from the students’ textbook introducing the topic. By using the text author’s
Here are additional such discussion board questions developed for Chapter 8 of Marketing 9e. Each is written to fit
the same text cited above but could easily be rewritten and revised to fit another text.
Series A
1. Marketing research is the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision.
Series B
1. One of the most difficult parts of doing marketing research is creating good questionnaires.
Deborah C. Calhoun, College of Notre Dame of Maryland
SECONDARY RESEARCH DATA HUNT AND MARKETING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
9-24 Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research
The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint the student with the many diverse business information sources available to
them in their college library as well as introduce them to the types of data marketers often use when making a strategy
decision. As you are aware, the ability to locate and analyze secondary data in an efficient and effective manner is
critical to their success as a business student as well as a future business decision maker. It has been said that “To
manage a business well is to
Petco Products Data Hunt
(1) Who are Petco Products competitors in the dog food and cat food industry? Identify the competitors by both brand
name and manufacturer. You may wish to supplement your library research with a trip to the local grocery &/or pet
(3) What Standard Industrial Codes (S.I.C.) Do dog food & cat food fall under? What S.I.C. codes do pet stores and dog
kennels come under?
(4) Before investing a significant sum of money into the “First in Show” (F.I.S.-27) dog food product Petco
Products needs to further investigate the domestic and international pet food industry, in particular dog food market.
What are the significant trends and what do sales & profitability forecasts look like for both the consumer market and the
pet store/kennel market?
Kay Tracy, Gettysburg College
IN-CLASS EXERCISE IN RESEARCH
To illustrate a few of the trials and tribulations of conducting marketing research, I have the students do the following
exercise in class. This exercise is intended to demonstrate, through an experiential approach, how market research should
and should not be conducted.
Time Required: One 50-minute class period.
Materials: Survey forms for each class member; signs indicating where groups should meet after interviews are
completed.
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-25
MARKETING EXERCISE
Directions:
Briefly interview ten of your classmates as to:
1. Which brand of automobile they own
After you have interviewed ten individuals, team up with four of your classmates—meet under the sign for the product
about which you are interviewing.
Pool the results of your interviews with your research team. Based on the pooled results:
1. Determine the market segment that the top three brands appear to target. (Based on demographic data)
Debriefing: At the conclusion of the various teams’ reports, ask participants if they would care to base a product decision
on this survey. Students are quick to point out the shortcomings of collecting marketing research data in a classroom
9-26 Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research
Elwin Myers, Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi
COLLECTING, CREATING, AND MARKET RESEARCHING DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS
Direct mail advertising continues to comprise a substantial component of the advertising budget. In spite of the large
sums spent on producing millions of pieces of direct mail sales letters, many of those pieces are not read by their
intended readers.
This assignment helps students observe the current writing practices used by direct mail sales letter writers and suggests
ways of improving
upon what they observe. The assignment consists of two components;
instructors interested in using the assignment in class may use one or both segments as time and interest permit.
Collecting and Analyzing Direct Mail Sales Pieces
1. Students are required to locate 20 different direct mail sales writing pieces—10 from local advertisers and 10 from
national advertisers. The pieces may be ones received by students, their friends, family, or from the post office trash
receptacle.
Students will notice that some of the written messages may entice or encourage readers to open the envelope while other
messages may distract or annoy potential readers. The better written envelope messages generally contain these three
Conducting Market Research on Student-Written Sales Letters
5. After students have analyzed their 20 sales letters including the envelopes and enclosures, they should be qualified to
6. After writing what students think are effective sales letters, their last task is to conduct a marketing research
investigation designed to find out the likely outcome of their creations if they were to be used in a sales campaign.
Gregory S. Martin, University of West Florida
USING SECONDARY DATA FOR MARKETING DECISIONS
Many of us would like our Marketing Principals students to have a direct experience with using market research data as
an input for marketing decision-making. Time constraints and large class sizes can make the collection and use of
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-27
my classes, but variations on the basic format are endless. Students will develop many different variations of the decision
process (e.g., ranking methods, weighting schemes, etc.) that can be discussed and compared in an in-class debriefing
session after completion of the assignment. This discussion does a good job of illustrating the “fuzzy” nature of most
marketing decision processes.
Assignment:
Copies of the Florida section of Sales & Marketing Management Survey of Buying Power for 1996 are on reserve in the
Library. Use this secondary source of market information to complete your choice of one (1) of the following tasks.
Report your findings in a one page report.
a. A home electronics company wants to test market a new product in a Florida Metro Area that has a high proportion of
Note: Don’t assume that all students understand the concept of “per capita”—many don’t have a clue.)
b. A growing regional retailer of furniture not currently doing business in Florida wants to expand its market coverage
into two Florida counties by August 1, 1997. The firm’s market planners know from past experience that a county must
Michael C. Murphy, Langston University at Rogers University
Jon Shapiro, Northeastern State University at Rogers University
STORYTELL1NG: METAPHOR GENERATION AS A CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH TOOL
Traditional market research techniques such as surveys and focus groups often fail to reveal the customer‘s hidden, inner
feelings that are not easily verbalized or quantified. As a result, STORYTELL1NG is gaining recognition as a useful tool
that gives marketers a richer insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. Researchers such as Gerald Zaitman—the
creator of Harvard’s Metaphor Lab, have successfully utilized variations of storytelling to aid DuPont and other
consumer product companies.
In our classrooms, storytelling is an informative and entertaining way to help students expose non-verbalized feelings as
9-28 Part 2 ♦ Analyzing Marketing Opportunities – Solutions
PART 2 – Solutions
MARKETING MISCUES
Four Loko Targets Young College Hedonists
1. Profile the target market for Four Loko.
• Age: college student, probably under 21, although should be at least 21 years of age since the product is
2. Outline the consumer decision making process for Four Loko.
• Need Recognition—internal stimuli: student decides he or she wants to party; external stimuli: friends
and depiction of partiers having more fun
CRITICAL THINKING CASE
Mary Kay Inc. Taps into a Changing Demographic
1. The younger demographic is important to Mary Kay Inc. both as consumers of the company’s
products and as its sales force. Since the market is one and the same, can the company utilize one
marketing strategy targeting both consumers and sellers? Why or why not?
No, the company cannot use the same marketing strategy to both attract its independent sales consultants and
consumers. While both groups are in the same demographic and thus possess the same demographic
2. What are particular characteristics about this younger demographic that Mary Kay Inc. will have
to tap into in order to capture and maintain the segment’s attention?
• Digitally-drive (technology)