UNIT-5: Marketing Research

Marketing research is the process of gathering, analysing, and interpreting data to help businesses make informed marketing decisions.

Importance of Marketing Research

1. Informed Decision Making: Marketing research provides valuable insights that help businesses make informed decisions.
2. Identifying Opportunities: Research helps businesses identify new market opportunities and trends.
3. Competitive Advantage: Conducting marketing research can give businesses a competitive advantage over their competitors.

Marketing Research Process

1. Identifying and Defining the Problem
   This is the first step in the marketing research process, where problems are clearly defined and identified. For this purpose, researchers state marketing and business problems that need to be addressed. For this, we require additional information to figure out the solution. For this purpose, we need to understand the actual research question that we need to explore.
2. Determining and developing an approach
   In this step, objectives or theoretical framework is formulated. Analytical models are constructed, and research questions are generated. The factors that can influence research design are also identified. In this process, management and industry experts discuss simulations and case studies. Secondary data is analysed, and qualitative research takes place.
   In this process, the researcher states the general problem and identifies specific components of the marketing research problem.
3. Developing a Research Plan
   Once you have developed an approach, research objectives, and set of problem-related questions, researchers develop a research plan. In this plan, you need to map out your requirements for thorough research. This includes customer opinion, data requirements, information on competitors, and market trends.
   Based on these factors, you can develop a research design. For these details, researchers will have to conduct both primary and secondary research. Primary research is conducted by communicating directly with customers. For secondary research, documents are available.
4. Conducting Research
   It is the most important part of the marketing research process. Conducting research is important since accurate and adequate information can be gathered only then. First of all, existing research and data are reviewed to determine if it is relevant to the problem. By reviewing existing material, one can gain insights into the problem for which we are conducting research. This secondary research is always important since it not only saves time but also efforts of conducting interviews in person. After gathering data through secondary research, researchers must conduct primary research to understand the market and what consumers demand.
5. Data Collection
   Once the plan for research has been created, it is important to gather data through surveys, interviews, and other methods. At this stage, the researcher needs to decide the method of collecting the information. The method must be selected in a way to avoid biased opinions of the respondent. Professionals can conduct telephonic interviews, send emails and surveys to collect the data. These professionals must be trained and evaluated beforehand to minimize data collection errors.
6. Preparation and data analysis
   Once the data is obtained, it should be transformed into useful information from just being primary and secondary data. This involves data editing, coding, transcription, and verification. Every questionnaire is inspected, edited, and even corrected. To represent every response in the questionnaire, either number or letter codes are assigned. This data is transcribed or key-punched on magnetic tapes, and disks are uploaded directly to the computer.
7. Reporting The Analysis and Findings
   Professionals involved in the business should interpret the data since they can identify the relevant insights and accordingly make recommendations from the research finding. This report consists of both analysis and data interpretation to address project objectives. The findings are then presented to the top-level management so that they can understand the problem and the way it is summarized.
   The findings should be in a comprehensible format so that they are easily understandable by the business.

Information Systems

is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structure (or roles), and technology.

Elementary Knowledge of Information Systems

1. Hardware: Computers, servers, and other equipment used to process and store data.
2. Software: Programs and applications used to manage and analyse data.
3. Database Management Systems: Systems used to store, manage, and retrieve data.
4. Networking: The connection of multiple devices to share resources and exchange data.

Green Marketing

is a strategy that businesses use to promote their products, services, or charitable efforts as environmentally friendly or sustainable.

Importance of Green Marketing

1. Environmental Awareness: Green marketing raises awareness about environmental issues and promotes sustainable practices
2. Competitive Advantage: Businesses that adopt green marketing practices can gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.
3. Cost Savings: Green marketing can help businesses reduce costs by adopting sustainable practices.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services.

Importance of Digital Marketing

1. Increased Reach: Digital marketing allows businesses to reach a wider audience and increase their online presence.
2. Cost-Effective: Digital marketing is often more cost-effective than traditional marketing methods.
3. Measurable Results: Digital marketing allows businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

Service Marketing

Service marketing is simply the process of promoting and selling a service or an intangible good to a specific group of people. It is a new way of marketing that has become very popular and helps companies all over the world promote their services.

Characteristics of Services

1. Intangibility: Services are intangible and cannot be touched or seen.
2. Inseparability: Services are often produced and consumed simultaneously.
3. Variability: Services can vary in quality and delivery.
4. Perishability: Services are perishable and cannot be stored or inventoried.

Service Marketing Mix

1. Service Product: is an intangible service that a business offers to its customers. It's a package of service elements that are designed to meet the needs of the customer and maximize their satisfaction.
2. Price: price is the only element that generates revenue for a company, while the other elements are considered costs.
3. Promotion: is a marketing strategy that uses incentives to encourage customers to buy a product or service. It is a short-term campaign that aims to increase sales, generate brand awareness, and encourage customer loyalty.
4. Place: is the strategy for making a service available to customers, including where and how it will be distributed.
5. People: they directly interact with customers and can significantly impact their level of satisfaction
6. Physical Evidence: refers to the physical environment and tangible proof that a business provides to customers
7. Process: refers to the procedures and flow of activities that are used to deliver a service to customers

Importance of Service Marketing

1. Growing Service Sector: The service sector is growing rapidly, making service marketing increasingly important.
2. Competitive Advantage: Effective service marketing can help businesses gain a competitive advantage.
3. Customer Satisfaction: Service marketing helps businesses focus on customer satisfaction and deliver high-quality services.