Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-1
CHAPTER 9 Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research
CHAPTER FEATURES
Chapter Features
Key Points
✓ Marketing & You
Students are given a survey to determine the importance placed on
collecting information.
✓ Case Study
By conducting an extensive (but concise) mobile survey, Marriott
International gained insight into customer needs, allowing the
company to develop functional mobile Web and smartphone app
presences. These developments have proven monumentally
successful for Marriott.
ReadyMade can help other businesses figure out how to tailor their
marketing efforts to meet the needs of this influential market.
USING THIS MANUAL
Chapter nine includes six learning outcomes that help students become more familiar with decision support systems and
marketing research. The chapter outline provides detailed analysis of these learning outcomes, listing PowerPoint slides
individuals with wavy-to-kinky hair. The salon offers a luxury
experience that is expensive, but often draws a line of customers.
find ways to implement some of these ideas after completing a
marketing research plan.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
1 Explain the concept and purpose of a marketing decision support system
A decision support system (DSS) makes data instantly available to marketing managers and allows them to manipulate
2 Define marketing research and explain its importance to marketing decision making
Marketing research is the process of collecting and analyzing data in order to solve specific marketing problems.
3 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
4 Discuss the profound impact of the Internet on marketing research
The Internet has vastly simplified the secondary data search process, placing more sources of information in front of
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
6 Explain the concept of competitive intelligence
Competitive intelligence (CI) helps managers assess their competition and their vendors in order to become more
efficient and effective competitors. Intelligence is analyzed information, and it becomes decision-making intelligence
when it has implications for the organization.
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-3
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Review Questions 1.1 and
1.2
PowerPoint 9-4:
PowerPoint 9-5:
DSS System
Characteristics
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Marketing Decision
Support Systems
1 Explain the concept and purpose of a marketing decision
support system
I. Marketing Decision Support Systems
Accurate and timely information is the lifeblood of marketing decision
making. Marketing information is everyday information about
developments in the marketing environment that managers use to prepare
The four characteristics of a DSS are:
1. Interactive – managers give simple instructions and see immediate
results.
Perhaps the fastest growing use of DSS is for database marketing, which
is the creation of a large computerized file of customers’ and potential
customers’ profiles and purchase patterns.
2 Define marketing research and explain its importance to
marketing decision making
Review Question 2.1
II. The Role of Marketing Research
Marketing research is the planning, collection, and analysis of data
relevant to marketing decision making. It plays a key role in the marketing
system:
PowerPoint 9-9:
Marketing Research
1. It provides managers with data on the effectiveness of the current
marketing mix.
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Review Question 2.4
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Marketing research serves three roles:
1. Descriptive: gathering and presenting statements of fact.
Review Questions 2.2 and
2.3
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Management Uses of
A. Management Uses of Marketing Research
1. Marketing research improves the quality of marketing decision
making.
B. Understanding the Ever-Changing Marketplace
Marketing research helps managers understand what is going on in the
marketplace and take advantage of opportunities.
Customer Experience
Zappos’ Otherworldly Customer Service
Las Vegas-based online shoe retailer Zappos redirected its marketing budget to
3 Describe the steps involved in conducting a marketing
research project
Review Questions 3.1 and
3.2
III. Steps in a Marketing Research Project
Virtually all firms that have adopted the marketing concept engage in
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-5
PowerPoint 9–14: The
Marketing Research
PowerPoint 9-15:
Marketing Research
Review Question 3.3
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Sources of Secondary
PowerPoint 9–17:
Advantages of Secondary
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Disadvantages of
that maximizes the chance for getting accurate and meaningful results.
The marketing research process contains the following steps:
1. The Identify and formulate the problem/opportunity
The marketing research problem involves determining what information
is needed and how that information can be obtained efficiently and
effectively.
A. Secondary Data
1. Secondary data are data previously collected for any purpose other
than the one at hand. The use of secondary data represents a savings
2. Sources of secondary data include:
a. Internal corporate information
3. Advantages to using secondary data:
a. Saves time and money if on target
4. Disadvantages to using secondary data:
a. May not give adequate detailed information
The New Age of Secondary Information: The Internet
Rapid development of the Internet has eliminated much of the drudgery
associated with the collection of secondary data.
B. Marketing Research Aggregators
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PowerPoint 9–19:
Planning the Research
Design
C. Planning the Research Design and Gathering Primary Data
1. The research design specifies which research questions must be
answered using primary data, how and when the data will be gathered,
PowerPoint 9–22:
Forms of Survey Research
D. Survey Research
1. Although in-home personal interviews often provide high-quality
information, they tend to be very expensive.
2. Telephone interviews offer the advantage of lower cost than in-home
monitoring equipment in one location.
3. The most popular technique for gathering primary data is survey
research, in which a researcher interacts with people to obtain facts,
opinions, and attitudes.
5. Another technique is computer-assisted personal interviewing, with
6. In computer-assisted self-interviewing, a mall interviewer intercepts
7. Mail surveys have relatively low costs, eliminate interviewees and
8. Executive interviews involve interviewing businesspeople at their
Review Questions 3.5, 3.6
offices concerning industrial products or services.
9. Focus groups are groups of seven to ten people with desired
PowerPoint 9-23, 9-24:
Questionnaire Design
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Observational Situations
Review Question 3.7
E. Questionnaire Design
All forms of survey research require a questionnaire to ensure that all
participants are asked the same series of questions.
1. Open-ended questions are those worded to encourage answers
Qualities of good questionnaires:
• Clear
F. Observation Research
1. Observation research is a research method that relies on the
2. Two common forms of people watching people research include:
3. Mystery shoppers are researchers who pose as customers to observe
the quality of service being offered. Mystery shopping can provide a
variety of benefits:
a. Enables an organization to monitor compliance
4. The three levels of mystery shopping:
a. The mystery shopper makes a phone call or shops online
b. The mystery shopper visits an establishment and makes a quick
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interaction with the personnel
PowerPoint 9–26:
Ethnographic Research
Class Activity: A
Coke/Pepsi taste test, a
type of experiment
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Sampling Procedure
1. Ethnographic research, the study of human behavior in its natural
context, involves observation of behavior and physical setting.
2. Ethnographers can record:
a. What is happening
b. Where it is happening
Observation Research and Virtual Sampling
1. Advances in computer technology have enabled researchers to
simulate an actual retail store environment on a computer screen.
2. Advantages of computer-simulated environments include:
a. The virtual store duplicates the distracting clutter of an actual
Global Perspectives
Ethnographics Reveals How Beleza Natural Thrives by Keeping Close to Its Roots
Beleza Natural is a chain of Brazilian beauty salons that caters to individuals with
H. Experiments
In an experiment, the researcher changes one or more variables (such as
I. Specifying the Sampling Procedures
When specifying the sampling procedures, the sample or subset of the
larger population to be drawn for interviewing, must be determined.
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-9
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Types of Samples
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Types of Errors
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Field Service Firms
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Analyzing the Data
• If yes, then a probability sample is called for.
1. With a probability sample, every element in the population has a
known nonzero probability of being selected. Scientific rules are
used to ensure that the sample represents the population.
2. A nonprobability sample is any sample in which little or no attempt
is made to get a representative cross section of the population.
a. A convenience sample uses respondents who are readily
3. Several types of errors are associated with sampling.
a. Measurement error occurs when the information desired by
the researcher differs from the information provided by the
measurement process.
J. Collecting the Data
Most data collection is done by marketing research field services.
• Field service firms specialize in interviewing respondents on a
subcontract basis.
K. Analyzing the Data
Three types of analysis are common in marketing research.
• One-way frequency counts are the simplest, noting how many
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PowerPoint 9–32:
Preparing and Presenting
L. Preparing and Presenting the Report
4 Discuss the profound impact of the Internet on marketing
research
Review Questions 4.1 and
4.2
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Impact of the Internet
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Advantages of Internet
Surveys
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Review Question 4.3
IV. Marketing Research on the Internet
The world’s Internet population is about 1.8 billion users, or about one-fifth of
the world’s population. Over 90 percent of America’s marketing research
companies conduct some form of online research.
Reasons for the success of Internet marketing research include:
1. Better and faster decision more rapid access to business intelligence.
A. Advantages of Internet Surveys
There are several advantages attributed to Internet surveys. Some of these
include:
• Rapid development and real-time reporting.
B. Uses of the Internet by Marketing Researchers
C. Methods of Conducting Online Surveys
a. Web Survey Systems are software systems specifically designed
eSurveysPro.
D. Online Panel Providers
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PowerPoint 9–39:
Process for Online Focus
Groups
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Advantages of Online
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Role of Consumer
Generated Media in
Marketing Research
E. Online Focus Groups
• The research firm builds a database of respondents via a screening
questionnaire on its Web site.
1. The moderator of an online focus group communicated in real time, or
“on the fly.” Advanced virtual focus group software reserves a frame
3. Advantages of online focus groups:
a. Speed
F. Web Community Research
1. A Web community is a carefully selected group of consumers who
agree to participate in an ongoing dialogue with a particular
corporation.
2. Several key benefits of web communities:
a. They engage customers in a space where they are most
3. By adding a research focus to the Web community, it becomes a way
to:
a. Map the thinking of consumer segments
d. Observe natural consumer behavior
G. The Role of Consumer Generated Media in Marketing Research
1. Consumer generated media (CGM) is that media which consumers
generate themselves and share among themselves.
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Other Uses of the Internet
by Marketing Researchers
2. CGM originates from:
a. Blogs
b. Message boards and forums
3. A marketer wanting to know about the latest diet trend, technological
H. Behavioral Targeting
1. Behavioral targeting (BT) is a form of observation marketing
research that uses data mining coupled with identifying Web surfers by
5 Discuss the growing importance of scanner-based
research
PowerPoint 9–46:
Scanner-Based Research
Review Question 5.1
V. Scanner and Machine-Based Research
Scanner-based research is a system for gathering information from a single
group of respondents by continuously monitoring the advertising, promotion,
and pricing that panel members are exposed to and the things they buy.
The two major suppliers of single-source research are SymphonyIRI
Group and the Nielsen Company.
Review Question 5.2
1. SymphonyIRI offers information collected through its BehaviorScan
2. Another SymphonyIRI product, InfoScan, is a scanner-based
national and local sales-tracking service for the consumer packaged-
3. Neuromarketing is a fresh attempt to better understand consumers’
responses to promotions and purchase motivations. Microscopic
Chapter 9 ♦ Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research 9-13
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When Should Marketing
Research Be Conducted?
4. Electroencephalograph (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and
eye tracking are some of the most notable methods of
neuromarketing data collection.
A. When should Marketing Research by Conducted?
1. Where there is a high level of uncertainty.
6 Explain the concept of competitive intelligence
Review Questions 6.1,
6.2, and 6.3
PowerPoint 9–51:
Competitive Intelligence
VI. Competitive Intelligence
Competitive intelligence (CI) is a system that helps managers assess their
competitors and their vendors in order to become more efficient and
effective competitors.
1. Competitive intelligence and environmental scanning combine to
TERMS
behavioral targeting (BT)
field service firm
observation research
BehaviorScan
focus group
open-ended question
central-location telephone (CLT)
facility
frame error
primary data
galvanic skin response (GSR)
competitive intelligence (CI)
group dynamics
random error
computer assisted personal
InfoScan
random sample
computer-assisted self-interviewing
mall intercept interview
research design
consumer generated media (CGM)
management decision problem
sample
convenience sample
marketing information
sampling error
cross-tabulation
marketing research
scaled-response question
database marketing
marketing research aggregator
scanner-based research
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decision support system (DSS)
marketing research objective
secondary data
Suggested Homework:
• The end of each chapter contains numerous questions that can be assigned or used as the basis for longer
investigations into marketing.
REVIEW AND APPLICATIONS
1.1 In the absence of company problems, is there any reason to develop a marketing DSS?
1.2 Explain the difference between marketing research and a DSS.
Marketing research is the planning, collection, and analysis of data relevant to marketing decision making. A
2.1 The task of marketing is to create exchanges. What role might marketing research play in the facilitation of
the exchange process?
2.2 Marketing research has traditionally been associated with manufacturers of consumer goods. Today,
however, an increasing number of organizations, both profit and nonprofit, are using marketing research.
Why do you think this trend exists? Give some examples of specific reasons why organizations might use
marketing research.
Students will need to explain that every type of firm should be endeavoring to serve their customers better, and one
2.3 Write a reply to the following statement: “I own a restaurant in the downtown area. I see customers every
day who 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
ethnographic research
measurement error
universe
executive interviews
mystery shoppers
Web community
experiment
neuromarketing
eye tracking
nonprobability sample
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2.4 Give an example of (a) the descriptive role of marketing research, (b) the diagnostic role, and (c) the
predictive function of marketing research.
Descriptive marketing research examples should describe gathering and presenting factual statements. Diagnostic
3.1 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.
The supermarket should have short intercept interviews or phone interviews in order to get more
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.
They are surely going to scare customers by casually approaching them and asking 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 $2 charge.
People are not going to be willing to pay to vote for a movie. Exit interviews are the way to go for this one.
3.2 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
3.3 Why are secondary data sometimes preferred to primary data?
3.4 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
3.5 Discuss when focus groups should and should not be used.