• Defining the Problem and Research Objectives

• Defining the Problem and Research Objectives

The marketing manager and the researcher must work closely together to define the problem carefully and must agree on the research objectives. The manager

Developing Information * 32

Figure 8.2

The marketing research process

understands the decision for which information is needed; the researcher under­ stands marketing research and how to obtain the information.

Managers must know enough about marketing research to help in the plan­ ning and in the interpretation of research results, if they know little about marketing research, they may obtain the wrong information, aecept wrong conclusions, or ask for information that costs too much. Experienced marketing

researchers who understand the manager's problem also need involvement at this stage. The researcher must be able to help the manager define the problem and to suggest ways that research can help the manager make better decisions.

Defining the problem and research objectives is often the hardest step in the research process. The manager may know that something is wrong, without knowing the specific causes. For example, managers of a discount retail store chain hastily decided that poor advertising caused falling sales, so they ordered

research to test the company's advertising. It puzzled the managers when the research showed that current advertising was reaching the right people with the right message. It turned out that the chain stores were not delivering what the advertising promised. Careful problem definition would have avoided the cost and delay of doing advertising research. It would have suggested research on the real

problem of consumer reactions to the products, service and prices offered in the chains stores.

After the problem has been defined carefully, the manager and researcher exploratory­ research must set the research objectives. A marketing research project might have one of

Marketing research Co three types of objective. The objective of exploratory research is to gather prelimi­

gather preliminary nary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses. The

information that will objective of descriptive research is to describe things such as the market poten­

help better to define tial for a product or the demographics and attitvides of consumers who buy the

problems and suggest product. The objective of causal research is to test hypotheses about cause­and­

hypotheses. cff'ect relationships. For example, would a 10 per cent cut in CD prices increase

descriptive research sales sufficiently to offset the lost margin? Managers often start with exploratory Marketing research to research and later follow with descriptive or causal research.

better describe The statement of the problem and research objectives guides the entire

marketing problems, research process. The manager and researcher should put the statement in

situations or markets, writing to be certain that they agree on the purpose and expected results of the

suc/i as the market research.

potential for a product or the demographics and

attitudes e/consumers,

» Developing the Research Plan

The second step of the marketing research process calls for determining the infor­ causal research Marketing research to

mation needed, developing a plan for gathering it efficiently and presenting the test hypotheses about plan to marketing management. The plan outlines sources of existing data and cans e ­ and­effect

explains the specific research approaches, contact methods, sampling plans and relationships. instruments that researchers will use to gather new data.

322 • Chapter 8 Market Information and Marketing Research