Instructors and content administrators

• Chapter 2 power points.

With respect to the filming of the two families, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this research approach? What are some issues that you think would affect the quality or goodness of the data collected?

Observing shoppers in grocery stores led management of ID Magasin to suggest that the produce section in grocery stores are poorly laid out. This section of the store should be in aisles, like the rest of the store.

CHAPTER 2

I am convinced this is a good product, but people aren’t buying it. Why?

How are visitors “responding” to this music festival? Would better information about the healthiness of foods change people’s purchases at QSRs?

Portion of problem that is unseen.

Unless these are “discovered” –

When uncertain about the ‘true problem’, I am a fan of qualitative

exploratory research – talking to ‘customers’ or observing the situation.

THE PROCESS OF DEFINING A PROBLEM

Ultimately want a small number (say, 3 to 6) of

Situation analysis: Background information (e.g., literature review/secondary research) to familiarise researchers with the decision context and to

convince the client that you are ‘experts’. For

A variable is anything that “varies” in value – your research objectives drive the variables of interest.

In a descriptive study, you might collect:
• demographics,
• dollar spend,
• attitudes toward brands,
• attribute importance ratings,
• how important are various information sources when decision making, etc.

explained. The dependent variable “depends

on” or is caused by the “independent

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES FOR A PRIOR HEART FOUNDATION STUDY

• Allows managers to evaluate the details of the proposed research design and determine if alterations are necessary.

• For the market researcher, it bounds the scope of the project.

Most of the following repeats the steps in the research process (table 2.3) and looks a lot like a table of contents in a research report.

STAGE 1: PROBLEM DEFINITION

STAGE 2: PROPOSING A BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN

• What types of questions need to be answered suggests appropriate designs.

STAGE 3: SELECTION OF SAMPLE

These depend on your design (exploratory vs. descriptive…)

Ex: Qualtrics panel; all adults 45+; n=250
See also TEG Insights (Aus and NZ respondents initially ) from Ticketek buyer list:

STAGE 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

STAGE 6: Type of report

Stage 7. OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN

• Costs and timing considerations:

tasks)? Qualtrics, for example, has consumer

panels that you can pay to access -- ~$7 to 12 per

STRUCTURE OF THE FINAL REPORT• Executive summary (1-2 pgs.) Common mistake – students write an introduction, not a summary. You can skip this.

• Introduction (background information and
research objectives. ~2-3 pgs.)
• Research method (~1 pg)
• Data analysis (5-12 pgs.) – include lots of
figures/images
• Recommendations (1-2 pgs.)
• Limitations (1 pg.)
• Appendices (support material; biographies of team members; copies of questionnaire/moderator guide)

Which is why Problem Definition is the most important step in the research process. And

despite our best efforts, sometimes we “find out”

• Problem definition can be difficult as most causes or true problems hide beneath the symptoms.

KEY TAKEAWAYS (CONTINUED)• And so there is no misunderstanding…when the research is done, the ‘goodness’ of the market research will depend on:
Is your research approach sound (method, sample)?

Did you competently address the research
objectives? If not, did you provide a reason for why you did not address an objective?