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382 marketing research
variables. It can provide information about
changes in the environment, shifts in competitive
offerings, alterations in the customer base and
reactions to new or modified products or services.
Marketing research plays an important role in
achieving satisfactory profits by promoting understanding
of how to satisfy customers' needs and
wants.
The process begins with a definition of the
research problem or objective from which one
develops specific questions to be addressed. One or
more hypotheses, or possible answers to each
question, are developed. From this, the necessary
information to be gathered is specified. The next
step in the process is to chose a method for
collecting the needed information, which can be
collected from primary �customised for this project)
or secondary �already existing) data sources. The
sampling design must then be set up to ensure that
the sample will represent the population under
study. The data collection process comes next,
followed by the analysis, interpretation and presentation
of the data in a report.
The scientific method plays an important role in
marketing research. Its use gives a higher level of
confidence in the results of the research. It
emphasises the objectivity of the investigator, the
accuracy of measurement, and the continuing and
exhaustive nature of investigation. However, several
areas of marketing research present difficulties
in applying the scientific method. The first area
concerns the complexity of the subject. Much
marketing research focuses on the consumer and
his or her motivations, attitudes and beliefs.
The attributes and their effects are often hard to
measure and interpret. Another area of difficulty
concerns the process of measurement. The process
that is used may influence the result. Humans tend
to behave differently when they realise that they
are being measured. In addition, sometimes it is
not easy to establish causal relationships �see
causal model) through marketing research.
Accurate prediction may also be difficult, especially
given that opinions and attitudes may change.
However, emphasis on the scientific method
improves the quality of the research output, which
in turn can improve the quality of decision
making.
Data can be collected from primary or secondary
sources. Primary data is collected to address a
specific research objective. The three major data
collection techniques from primary data are
qualitative interview techniques, survey interviewing
methods and experimental designs �see
experimental research). Qualitative interview
techniques include direct observation, in-depth
interviews and focus groups; these methods focus
on a small number of respondents. Survey methods
use structured questionnaires and attempt to
gather data from a large number of respondents
�see survey, guest). Primary data collection
requires specialised expertise and can be expensive
and time consuming. Secondary data uses what is
already available, collected for a purpose other
than the present research problem. The secondary
sources include existing company information,
databanks from governments and other organisations,
and syndicated sources that collect data for
use by clients. Secondary data is usually relatively
inexpensive and fairly easy to locate. Its availability
is often examined prior to the collection of primary
data; it can help define the parameters of the latter.
Marketing research falls into three research
design categories. Exploratory research gives insight
into the general nature of a problem, the
possible decision alternatives and the relevant
variables that should be considered. It is usually
used when hypotheses are vague and tends to be
flexible, unstructured and qualitative. Descriptive
research is used when the problem is clear and
specific. Descriptive design attempts to determine
the frequency with which something occurs or the
extent to which two variables are related. Thus this
provides a more detailed representation of an
aspect of the market environment. The third
category, causal research, shows that one variable
causes or determines the values of other variables.
Surveys are widely used in primary research.
The two types of surveys are cross-sectional, which
target many different respondents at a single point
in time, and longitudinal, which track similar
respondents at different points in time. These types
of surveys are used to collect a wide variety of
information. The types of information collected
include respondent background characteristics,
personality traits, attitude and lifestyle measures,
and product-related variables �such as usage,