Principles of Marketing

Principles of Marketing 10e

Chapter 5 Managing Marketing Information

Unit 5

1. Assessing Marketing Information Needs
   Marketing Information Systems balance the information users would like to have against what they need to have to do their job. occasionally the information may not be available. For that research may need to be done.
2. Developing Marketing Information
   1. Internal Data
      Internal databases are electronic collections of information obtained from data sources within the company. They are usually accessed more quickly and cheaply. One problem is that the data may not the meet then needs as it may have been collected for other needs.
   2. Marketing Intelligence
      Marketing Intelligence is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about competitors and developments in the marketing environment. This information is available from many different sources. Some can even be word of mouth or just direct observation. Others can be legal but questionable such as searching publicly available dumpsters to get information on the company.
   3. Marketing Research
      Marketing researchis the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization. Some companies have departments that focus on doing this. Smaller companies and sometimes these companies will use marketing and research companies.
      1. Defining the Problem and Research Objectives
         This is the hardest thing to do. You may bring your own bias as to why the problem exist and it may not be the right question asked. To do this you need to do one of three types of research. 1)Exploratory research which is research to gather preliminary information that will help define problems and suggest hypotheses. 2)Descriptive research, research to better describe marketing problems, situations, or markets, such as the market potential for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers. 3)Casual Research research to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships.
      2. Developing the Research Plan
         Research objectives will need to be translated into specific information needs. This may be demographic information, usage patterns, attitudes as well as other things. The plan should be developed in to a written proposal. Both primary and secondary data will need to be collected.
      3. Gathering Secondary Data
         Secondary data information that already exist somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Can be internal or can be purchased. For examples, grocery stores, especially ones with bonus clubs, can sell register information of what sells at what time. There are also online databases that can provide information like CompuServe, Dialog, and LEXIS-NEXIS. This type of data can present problems in that the needed information may not be available, or if available it is not usable. Researchers need to make sure that the information is accurate, relevant, current and impractical.
      4. Primary Data Collection
         • Research Approaches
           Observational research gathering of primary data by observing relevant people, actions and situations. Observers might go to a supermarket and observer the way people make purchasing decisions. Things can be observed by mechanical means as well (people meters on tv ratings machines). Cookies on a computer is another way of doing this. The most widely used method to collect this information is to ask them directly and is called survey research. Another information source is single-source data systems, electronic monitoring system that link consumers to television advertisements and promotions (measured using meters) with what they buy in stores (measured using check out scanners). Lastly experimental research is done. This is the gathering of primary data by selecting matched groups of subjects, giving them controlling related factors and checking for differences in group responses.
         • Contact Methods
           Information can be collected many ways. While mail questionnaires can prevent interviewers bias, they can take a long time to get back or may not come back at all. Telephone interviews are a good way but very often they can be confused with telemarketers, who have developed the questionnaire technique as a way to sell products. It is also higher in cost. Personal interviews, can come in individual and groups. Both involve talking with people directly and can be the most costly way of doing things. Group interviewing is sometimes done as focus groups. Lastly is Online (Internet) marketing research. This can be done in many ways.
         • Sampling Plan
           A sample is a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole. One must decide three things in making this group; who should be interviewed, how many people should be interviewed, and how should they be chosen. These are often broken up into probability samples (random) and nonprobability samples (not random).
         • Research Instruments
           questionnaires and mechanical devices are the two instruments used by researchers. questionnaires are mot popular and they come in open and closed ended questions. Closed questionnaires tend to give you a collection of answers to choose from. Open ones let the respondent answer questions in their own words. researchers need to be careful in how the questions are worded and in what order as these can lead to biases.
      5. Implementing the Research Plan
         At this point collecting and processing the information should take place. Care should be taken to not let erroneous information be gathered.
      6. Interpreting and Reporting the Findings
         Once all done, conclusions need to be drawn. Managers and researchers need to work together with this to prevent bias from either group.
3. Analyzing Marketing Information
   1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
      CRM is managing detailed information about individual customers and carefully managing customer "touch points" in order to maximize customers loyalty. It consists of software that analyzes information in the company. The information is usually stored in data warehouses and is dug through using data mining techniques. The information should be kept in a secure location. For others to use this information could violate privacy.
4. Distributing and Using Marketing Information
   This information needs to be made available to people in the company so that they can make use of it. Usually this is set up with an intranet, an internal internet. Sometimes it can be used with suppliers in an extranet .
5. Other Marketing Information Consideration
   1. Marketing Research in Small Business and Not-for-Profit Organizations
      Small business can do marketing research in a simple way, Observe things! Watch their competitors ads, watch how many people are in their own store at any given time, go into competitors businesses to see how things are done. Another thing would be simple experiments, changing ads to see what works is one thing. Lastly, libraries can be be a good source of information.
   2. International Marketing Research
      International research can be a little bit more troublesome. Translations of the questionnaires can have problems when some idioms get translated. There may be some bias when it comes to answering questions to show the people are higher up the economics ladder than they are, or to not answer personal questions.
   3. Public Policy and Ethics in Marketing Research
      • Intrusions on Consumer Privacy
        Companies collecting data should not distribute personal information without permission of the people that information comes from, This becomes a matter of consumer privacy being violated. While it is OK to pass the information on in aggregate form, the collection and selling of this personal information can lead to trouble. Large companies may need to hire a Privacy officer who makes sure that the information is used appropriately.
      • Misuse of Research Findings
        By not designing the questions properly, or leaving out key information, some studies can be biased the wrong way. This needs to be watched for.