Marketing research an applied approach 4th edition

Off-time focus groups occur online when respondents do not have to present but can contribute to a discussion forum by posting comments. The advantage of off-time focus groups is that respondents can reply at their own convenience and it is easier to organise and implement as a research design.

The disadvantage is that there is not the same level of interaction in a real-time focus group. With the research example provided, off-time focus groups may be a good way to get student feedback about buying digital textbooks, as the level of interaction with peers may not be a crucial part of the research problem. What benefits can be gained from case studies?

What dangers, if any, do they present? In what situations are they most useful? Case studies normally portray extremely good or extremely bad examples. The major danger is that the situation in the case may not be typical. Making the assumption that one situation is the same as another can be risky. They can remove some of the uncertainty surrounding a problem and pave the way for additional research. The function of a focus group is to identify the opinions, feelings and convictions of participants towards a specified topic.

These opinions are developed through an unstructured, free-flowing interview process. The primary advantages of a focus-group interview are that such research is fast, easy and inexpensive. A focus-group interview is also much more flexible than a typical survey because numerous topics can be discussed.

The moderator is crucial to the success of the focus-group interview. This person must not allow participants to be affected by the actions of a dominant member. A disadvantage of focus-group research is that the interpretation of the information received is largely subjective, thus increasing the possibility of bias. The small number of participants may not accurately reflect the larger population.

Such exploratory research is generally successful if it clarifies problems that will be tested in future research. Focus-group research may be used for many diverse purposes. For example, Lee Jeans conducted focus groups with women between the ages of 24—54 and found that women classified three different types of jeans: work jeans — — those worn for work in the house or in the backyard; casual jeans — for shopping, school and other regular activity; and dress-up jeans — for social occasions.

The focus-group interviews with consumers also revealed jeans provided working women with a sense of relaxation and energy. Women believe that coming home and putting on jeans after a day at work, in a uniform or office attire, was a pleasurable experience. The Carnation Company provides another interesting example of the type of information focus-group interviews can provide.

Past research had revealed that many people did not drink powdered milk because of a perceived taste deficiency compared with fluid milk. Carnation decided to reposition the brand to make it more appealing. These research questions suggested the need to develop hypotheses through the focus-group technique. Separate sessions with users and nonusers were conducted.

Discussions with nonusers confirmed that taste was a major barrier to use. Sessions with users revealed that a large percentage solved the taste problem by mixing powdered milk half and half with fluid whole milk, producing a cheaper, better-tasting, low-fat milk.

Carnation hypothesised that nonusers would be more likely to convert if the company repositioned its product as a milk extender. Quantitative research confirmed this hypothesis, and Carnation executed the strategy with an advertising and promotion campaign that told the milk extender story.

If a researcher wanted to conduct a focus group with children, what special considerations might be necessary? First the researchers need to get legal clearances to work with children. They then need to take into account some of the nuances of working with children. For example, children aim to please adults and so can be easily led by the moderator. Their level of understanding of abstract concepts also varies. A child may have difficulty understanding marketing terms like satisfaction, brand image and attitude.

Children may be influenced by peer pressure. A moderator might take special care to indicate that the client wants to know when people differ and that it is important to show disagreement if there is any.

Some children might be loud or boisterous if they are in a group with friends. Groups should be selected so there will not be too much socialising within the group. A focus-group moderator plans to administer a questionnaire before starting the group discussion about several new product concepts. Is this a good idea? This is a very typical procedure. It is often used when it is important for employees to understand or to think about an unfamiliar concept or something they have not been exposed to in the past.

By asking respondents to read concept statements and answer a short questionnaire to evaluate the concepts, the researcher has some assurance that the discussion will begin with everyone having a general understanding of the topic. In addition, this procedure provides the subjects with something to do while they are waiting for all group members to assemble. A videoconferencing system that allows marketers to conduct focus groups in two different locations with participants interacting with each other.

This system would be expensive. It would, however, be useful when the subjects are geographically far apart and too busy to travel to a central location.

For example, a manufacturer of surgical equipment might use this type of focus group to get several heart transplant surgeons together. This technique would probably be too elaborate and too expensive for a day-to-day focus group. A system that uses telephone conference calls for group sessions. The major advantage of the telephone conference call system appears to be convenience. The researcher does not require that the subjects travel to a central location for interviewing.

The group members may hear each other and conduct a group discussion. However, a major disadvantage is that visual aids e. It is more difficult to ensure that all the information will be collected from the members of the group. An online focus group that allows respondents to join the discussion and type in their responses at their own convenience. An online retailer receives many thousands of customer emails a year.

Some are complaints, some are compliments. They cover a broad range of topics. Are these letters a possible source for exploratory research? Why or why not?

Yes they are. This is a relatively inexpensive source of consumer information that is neglected in many organisations. Answering the emails should be delegated to a market research analyst. The text also discusses how text mining both of written and verbal information is being increasingly used by companies.

The information could be a suggestion for a product improvement and is not analysed in any systematic fashion by the marketing research department. Many new product ideas are generated on the basis of problems with the product. Complaints are a good source of knowledge about web design problems. How might exploratory research be used to screen various ideas for advertising copy in television advertisements?

Exploratory research techniques are often used to screen ideas for advertising. Advertising ideas can be expressed as concept statements in a manner very similar to concept statements for new products.

In this type of advertising concept testing, consumers are presented with a slogan or some rough advertising copy and asked what this statement means to them — if it is believable, if they like it, etc. Projection techniques can be used to get top-of-the-mind reactions to these advertising concepts. Often, focus groups are used to evaluate certain advertising themes — possibly produced in a rough form that is shown to members of the focus group. The television advertisement featured a girl who innocently encountered a boy at school.

Preteen girls, when asked about the commercial in a focus group, showed minor irritations at the false eyelash scene which they thought condescending, but indicated a strong positive response to encounters with the boy, especially when he joins the group. The mothers identified strongly with the eyelash scene, which reminded them of youthful togetherness, and with the early scene with the boy, but they drew the line when the boy actually sat down with the girl, who they thought too young to be dating.

Does the use of this technique constitute deception? Individuals may be more likely to give a true answer if the question is disguised. The respondent is asked a variety of questions where the purpose is not understood by the respondent. If the respondent has been told the general purpose of the study and agreed to cooperate, there is no need to explain every detail of the study. What are the potential problems with the following focus groups?

How might they be improved? It is looking for fathers to take part in its focus groups to determine what services and assistance the groups can provide. The topic is rather sensitive and potentially embarrassing to participants. Getting fathers to open up and speak freely about their needs may prove to be a challenge as such admissions may be associated with poor parenting.

A skilled and tactful moderator is. Only then will they feel comfortable enough to talk about weekend parenting and any assistance they may require. Again, an experienced moderator can overcome this by interjecting at the opportune time and requesting comments from other participants.

Finally, sampling problems may arise. No matter how carefully they are selected, the fathers may not be representative of the wider population. Several focus groups will be necessary before common themes become apparent.

Surveys are not recommended because of the sensitivity of the topic. Comment on the following approach to qualitative research. If the research was successful, does it need to be changed or improved?

He does not believe in focus groups. They take three hours, and for the last hour, participants lie on the floor in a dark room, listen to relaxing music, taking their minds back to childhood. What came out of this research was the PT Cruiser, a s retro-looking sedan.

Chrysler sold more than one million units. Their presence should not affect the discussion. Time and care needs to be taken when interpreting qualitative data.

Research should never be conducted by just one person. Participants were placed in a very unusual environment. A researcher interested in understanding the illicit drug-use habits of 18—29 year olds in New Zealand, is wondering whether to use in-depth interviews or focus groups. What would you advise and why? How to ask questions on sensitive topics such as drug use is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9 of this textbook. Clearly, confidentiality and privacy are important here, and this means that respondents should not be identified in any reports and perhaps they should not be recorded.

The use of both focus groups and in-depth interviews has, however, been used successful by the Australian government in its research on illicit drug use. What type of research are you conducting in your meetings with Waterpik?

A to describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas B to determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated C to understand which variables are the cause and which variables are the effect of a phenomenon D to determine the perceptions of product characteristics Answer: C Diff: 2 Page Ref: 70 AACSB: Reflective thinking LO: 3.

A A cohort is a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval. B It is unlikely that any of the individuals studied at time one will also be in the sample at time two. C The term cohort analysis refers to any study in which there are measures of some characteristics of one or more cohorts at two or more points in time.

D All are correct. The sample remains the same over time thus providing a series of pictures which, when viewed together, portray a vivid illustration of the situation and the changes that are taking place over time. Bush immediately after the war in Afghanistan?

A Relatively large amounts of data can be collected. B Panel data can be more accurate than cross-sectional data. C Panels may not be representative. D All of the above statements are correct. A test hypotheses B conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey C define the problem more precisely D quantify the relative salience of social causes that businesses should be concerned about Answer: C Diff: 2 Page Ref: 77 LO: 3.

It may be defined as the variation between the true mean value for the sample and the true mean value of the population. It may be defined as the variation between the true mean value of the variable in the net sample and the observed mean value obtained in the marketing research project. This error may be defined as the variation between the true mean value of the variable in the original sample and the true mean value in the net sample.

Respondents may intentionally misreport their answers because of a desire to provide socially acceptable answers, avoid embarrassment, or please the interviewer. It describes the research problem, the approach, the research design, data collection methods, data analysis methods, and reporting methods. Answer: A comparison of the basic research designs appears in Table 3. The objective of exploratory design is to discover ideas and insights; of descriptive design is to describe market characteristics; of causal design to determine cause and effect or functions.

The characteristics of exploratory design include flexibility, versatility, and that it is often used as the front end of total research design. The characteristics of descriptive design include its preplanned and structured design and that it is marked by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses.

The characteristics of causal design include the fact that mediating variables must be controlled for and that one or more independent variables are manipulated. Methods using exploratory design include expert surveys, pilot surveys, secondary data which is analyzed qualitatively , and qualitative research. Methods using descriptive design include secondary data which is analyzed quantitatively , surveys, panels, and observational and other data.

Methods using causal design include experiments. What is the cause and how can it be stopped? Use the six Ws used in descriptive design to clearly define the information needed to address this management decision problem. Answer: The six Ws are as follows: Who-Who should be considered a patron of a particular department store?

What-What information should be obtained from the respondents? When-When should the information be obtained from respondents? Where-Where should the respondents be contacted to obtain the required information? Why-Why are we obtaining information from the respondents? Way-In what way are we going to obtain information from the respondents?

He lives in the Atlanta area with his wife Veena, and children Ruth and Paul. We're sorry! We don't recognize your username or password. Please try again. The work is protected by local and international copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning.

You have successfully signed out and will be required to sign back in should you need to download more resources. This title is out of print. Availability This title is out of print. The response to the first four editions has been amazing with over eight international translations: Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hungarian, Bahasa Indonesia, and Japanese. Benefit : Shows students the application of concepts and techniques by marketing researchers and the implementation of findings by managers to improve marketing practice.

Additionally, it teaches students how to navigate statistical software tools and interpret marketing research data and output.

Real Research Feature --These real company vignettes profile a wide range of big and small businesses to some of the world's most recognizable companies including Harley, Avon, and IBM.

Benefit : Reinforces students' understanding of the concepts presented in each chapter.