Marketing research has a variety of applications in marketing decision making process. It can investigate into any problem in marketing. However, the major application of marketing research if for product development, advertising, sales evaluation and psychographic research.
1. Product Research
Product research is one of the most important marketing research areas. Product research gives back valuable inputs to the decision maker in all stage of the new product development process. Product research activity is concentrated into areas, such as developing product specifications, concept development and testing, product testing and test marketing research.
Developing product specifications
Developing product specification is the most primary form of product research. In marketing, it is necessary to determine the set of optimum product attributes or the best combination of attributes. The optimum product attributes form the basis on which future products are developed and designed for the market segment. This research is conducted among the potential consumers. The research concentrates on collecting the various product attributes desired by the potential consumers and their importance or preference rating on various attributes. During this phase, the company does not even have the product concept and most attributes will have to be based on the level of satisfaction of consumers with the current brands.
Concept development and testing
Product idea is the most critical element in a product; consumers can easily react the product concept without seeing the physical product itself.The research is conducted on the belief that people usually are attracted by the idea behind the product before they become interested in physical product.Consumer want a beautiful face, cleaner hair or a convenient kitchen. Products are merely a vehicle for delivering the end benefits. A product concept is the product idea written on a paper. the product concept is based on the optimum product attributes generated through the product specification research. Product concepts are generally tested in central market locations. Intercept interview technique is used in which the responds are stopped and requested for a brief interview.
Product tests
Product test is one of the most basic and widely used marketing researches. Product test is very important in the area of frequently purchased consumer products such as food, beauty aids, and household products. The researcher tests require a complete blinding of the product. Blinding involves erasing all identification marks on the product.
Test marketing research
Test marketing attempts to test on a limited scale the commercial viability of the new or modified product and the marketing mix designed for the product in the context of a market segment.. There are two purposes of test marketing research; 1. to provide a reasonable estimate of sales and market share for the product and 2. to correct the marketing mix for the product.
2. Advertising Research
Advertising research is the other most frequently conducted marketing research. It includes research for setting advertising objectives, copy testing and media research.
Research for setting advertising objectives
Advertising is launched by the marketing firm with clearly stated objective, such as brand recognition, trial purchase, influence purchases at the sight of buying, value addition ti the product, help personal selling and sales promotion and remind the buyers about the brand or company.The research support for formulation of advertising objective is in the area of attitude measurement of current and potential consumers in a specific market segment.
Copy testing
The effectiveness of an advertisement is evaluated at three phases; 1. a pre-test at the time of the finalization of the layout design,2. a tracking study during the advertisement campaign and 3. a post-test after the campaign.
Advertisers often prepare several copies and their effectiveness in order to select and launch the most effective copy through the campaign. Effectiveness during the campaign is conducted usually one or two weeks after the launch. The effectiveness is measured over consumer inquiry for the product and actual sales. Post tests are conducted to measure the effectiveness of the advertisement after the campaign.
Media research
Media research is concerned with the selection of most efficient and cost effective advertising media. Media research helps the advertiser to identify the various media available in the target market, their coverage, circulation, costs and impacts.
3. Sales research
Sales research involves the identification and measurement of all those variables that individually or in combination affect the sales. It includes sales analysis, distribution analysis, sales force performance analysis, sales potential analysis and sales forecasting.
Sales analysis
It is an analysis of the actual sales results. Sales analysis is based on the analysis of sales invoice and executed in terms of sales territory, product, customer and size of order.
Distribution analysis
It is performed to evaluate the efficiency of the distribution channels and the cost of distribution. Distribution analysis uses various combination of the sales analysis to calculate costs associated with distribution of various products, in different customer groups and in different order sizes.
Sales force performance analysis
It involves and evaluation of the performance of the sales personnel working for the company in the field. The performance of the sales personnel is primarily based on the sales reports submitted by the field sales representative to the company.
Sales or market potential analysis
It is performed to evaluate the potentials for each geographic market segment. Such analysis helps the decision maker to determine the amount of sales effort needed for each market segment.The potential analysis is performed in relation to a product item or line for specific market area, for a specified time period.
Sales forecasting
It is a necessary part of the marketing decision. Most of the marketing decisions depend on the sales forecast. Any error in sales forecasts has far reaching consequences for the company. Market researchers rely on a number of techniques to provide reliable sales forecasts. The methods of sales forecasting can be grouped into subjective and objective methods. Subjective or judgmental methods include jury of executive opinion and sales force estimates. Objective methods include, trend analysis, regression analysis and survey.
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Marketing research process
4. Motivation And Attitude Research
Motivation research
4. Motivation And Attitude Research
Motivation research
Motivation research focuses into the hidden purchase motives of consumers. In order to formulate marketing strategy, the marketing manager needs information on question such as:
- Why does the consumer behave in the way he/she does?
- Why he/she bought the particular product, from a particular store at a particular period of time?
The answers to these questions lie in the inner motivating forces. The science of psychology has made valuable contribution to the technique of understanding the inner motivations of people. The application of behavioral science's technique in marketing research is popularly known as motivation research.
Attitude research
Attitude measurement occupies an important position in consumer research. Attitudes cannot be measured directly and therefore indirect methods are applied for its measurements. The methods can be categorized into two groups:
i. Questionnaire method: Attitude is measured through scaled questionnaire.
ii. Observation method: Attitudes are also measured by observing the behavior of individuals while shopping or handling the product.
