marketing research tools & techniques Isabelle and Jonathan, this book is dedicated to you marketing research tools & techniques third edition Nigel Bradley 1 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Nigel Bradley 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition copyright 2007 Second Edition copyright 2010 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization.
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Brief contents About the author xiii About the book xiv How to use this book xvi How to use the Online Resource Centre xviii Acknowledgements xx Part 1 Research preparation 1 1 Introduction to marketing research 2 2 Planning research 30 Part 2 Data collection 67 3 Secondary data 68 4 Primary data 106 5 Sampling 144 6 Questionnaires and topic guides 186 v 7 Qualitative research 234 8 Quantitative research 266 Part 3 Analysis and communication 299 9 Analysis 300 10 Reporting and presentation 334 Part 4 Marketing research contexts 375 11 Business-to-business research 376 12 International research 396 13 Audience and advertising research 418 14 Web metrics 438 Market researcher’s toolbox 465 Abbreviations 505 Glossary of marketing research terms 507 Index 515 This page intentionally left blank Detailed contents About the author xiii About the book xiv How to use this book xvi How to use the Online Resource Centre xviii Acknowledgements xx Part 1 Research preparation 1 1 Introduction to marketing research 2 Introduction 4 Research for the company 7 Social research 8 Managing knowledge 10 Ethics 15 The structure of the MR sector 16 vii A career in marketing research 20 Chapter summary 24 2 Planning research 30 Introduction 32 The marketing research mix 35 Briefings 41 Proposals 47 Selecting an agency 56 Evaluating proposals 58 Chapter summary 62 Part 2 Data collection 67 3 Secondary data 68 Introduction 70 The nature of secondary data 73 Sources of secondary data 77 Detailed contents Planning desk research 86 Evaluation and reverse researching 94 Recording and reporting sources 98 Chapter summary 99 4 Primary data 106 Introduction 108 The nature of primary data 112 Interviewing 115 Self-completion methods 117 Differences between traditional and online research 122 Mixed-mode methodologies 126 Observation 126 Research instruments 131 Factors that affect cooperation 133 Chapter summary 139 5 Sampling 144 Introduction 146 Purposes of sampling 149 viii Social classification 151 Populations involved in social research 153 The stages of sampling 155 Sampling frames 155 Sampling procedures 161 Populations involved in online research 169 Qualitative recruitment 173 Sample size determination 175 Chapter summary 179 6 Questionnaires and topic guides 186 Introduction 188 Purposes of questionnaires and topic guides 191 Supporting materials 193 Projective techniques 195 Open-ended questions 198 Closed questions 200 The steps in questionnaire design 204 Procedures involved in online research 216 Detailed contents The topic guide (for qualitative studies) 220 Quasi-questionnaires 222 Chapter summary 225 7 Qualitative research 234 Introduction 236 Depth interviews 238 Focus groups 238 The Delphi technique 241 Observation research 242 Grounded theory 247 Verbal communication 247 Non-verbal communication 250 Chapter summary 260 8 Quantitative research 266 Introduction 268 Some applications 272 Experimentation 272 Databases Spreadsheets and survey software 286 289 ix Chapter summary 292 Part 3 Analysis and communication 299 9 Analysis 300 Introduction 302 Analysis of qualitative data 306 Analysis of quantitative data 313 Data storage 326 Chapter summary 328 10 Reporting and presentation 334 Introduction 336 The purposes of reports and presentations 339 Planning 341 Presentations 356 Chapter summary 367 Detailed contents Part 4 Marketing research contexts 375 11 Business-to-business research 376 Introduction 378 Differences between FMCG research and B2B research 379 Purposes of B2B research 380 Populations involved in B2B research 381 Procedures involved in B2B research 384 Publication considerations in B2B research 388 Chapter summary 391 12 International research 396 Introduction 398 Differences between domestic and international research 399 The purposes of international research 400 The populations involved in international research 401 Procedures involved in international research 406 Publication considerations in international research 413 Chapter summary 414 x 13 Audience and advertising research 418 Introduction 420 Purposes of audience and advertising research 423 Procedures for audience research 424 Procedures for advertising research 429 Publication considerations in audience and advertising research 433 Chapter summary 434 14 Web metrics 438 Introduction 440 Differences between web analytics and social media monitoring 443 Purposes of web metrics 444 Populations involved in web metrics 446 Procedures involved in the web metrics sector 447 Publication considerations in web metrics research 456 Chapter summary 460 Detailed contents Market researcher’s toolbox 465 Checklist for audit of MR activities 466 Checklist for objective verbs 467 Marketing metrics checklist 468 Questions to ask about secondary data 472 Options for primary data capture 473 Checklist for focus groups 474 Website evaluation form 476 Common screener questions 477 Common rating scales 478 Common classification questions 479 Checklist for sampling 483 Checklist for online surveys 484 Checklist of projective techniques 485 Checklist for questionnaires 486 Checklist for report-writing 487 Checklist for presentations 488 Five reflective research questions 489 Example of a market research brief Example of a market research proposal 490 492 xi Example of a topic guide 498 Example of operational instructions 501 Abbreviations 505 Glossary of marketing research terms 507 Index 515 This page intentionally left blank About the author Nigel Bradley is a senior lecturer in marketing at Westminster Business School at the University of Westminster. During his time at the University, he has led modules in marketing research, digital age marketing, principles of marketing, marketing management, promotional management, and research methods for management, and has supervised student research at undergraduate, Master’s, and doctorate levels.
With a Master of Science in Product Copyright Chris Haydon, Alanbri Management and Marketing from Cranfield, Nigel began his career with the Burke Research Services Group, where he worked on agricultural and industrial market research studies. Following this, he joined a packaging machinery company in Italy as an OEM product manager with a particular emphasis on liaising with non-Italian partners. On his return to the UK, Nigel became an associate director with BJM Research and Consultancy, where he helped to build a profitable research unit based on qualitative and quantitative research studies. He was later invited back to the Burke Research Services xiii Group (now demerged under a new name—Research Services Ltd) to head the International Division, in which role he was responsible for securing significant new projects and clients, and implementing systems to increase productivity and reduce costs.
Before leaving for Harrow Business School, he changed direction and moved to the media department of Research Services Ltd, where he assumed day-to-day responsibility for the National Readership Survey (NRS) and the British Business Readership Survey. Nigel’s academic research interests include green marketing, Internet marketing, media research, graphology, and ‘de-marketing’. In addition to his university teaching, Nigel is a Chartered Marketer and works as a marketing research consultant to research agencies. He is also an examiner for both the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Market Research Society, and is a regular peer reviewer of articles for the International Journal of Market Research.
Nigel Bradley, 2012 Sadly, Nigel Bradley passed away as this edition was going to press. He was a valued author who will be sorely missed by all who worked with him at Oxford University Press. A tribute to Nigel can be found in the Author Information section of the title’s webpage. About the book Market for this book Marketing Research: Tools and Techniques has been written for university students who are taking an introductory module in marketing research as part of their business programme.
The book draws on the author’s years of teaching as a university lecturer and working as a market research practitioner, and endeavours to accommodate the core developments in the industry without losing its pedagogical focus. This book has also been used extensively by students outside of the formal education system who are continuing their professional education at such institutions as the Market Research Society (MRS), the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the Communications and Marketing Foundation (CAM Foundation), and ESOMAR. This book has been informed by both university students and practitioners. Focus groups held with undergraduates have yielded great insight into the learning needs of marketing research students and have been instrumental in guiding the preparation of this book; equally, the experiences and advice of marketing practitioners have influenced the direction of the text xiv and formed the basis of the many rich research examples and case studies that you will see in each chapter.
Drawing throughout on the author’s concept of the marketing research mix, the text is organised around the core themes of research preparation, data collection, analysis and communication of findings, and how skills and techniques are used by researchers to offer services for specific contexts. Distinguishing features This book contains a number of key distinguishing features that set it apart from comparable texts. Namely, it achieves the following: • It provides a balance between the theoretical and practical sides of marketing research, thereby showing students how to ‘do’ market research, and encouraging them to be analytical and critical in their thinking. • It includes real research tools and examples of poor or mishandled research practice, demonstrating what is ‘unacceptable’ in marketing research and not only what is exemplary.
• It offers numerous case studies and examples of marketing research in action, to help contextualise the subject and relate it to the student experience. • It demystifies topics that have been overcomplicated in other texts and makes the world of marketing research much more accessible to newcomers to the subject. • It bridges the gap between introductory, lower level texts and those taking a more About the book rigorous, theoretical approach, ensuring students engage with the issues involved in marketing research while presenting material in an accessible manner. The research environment Market research is essential for strategic decision-making and business success.
At the level of the individual, there is a need to develop skills in seeking information and understanding market issues, and to be able to assess the quality of information obtained and combine it with business instinct to make strong, strategic decisions. At the level of the company, there is a need to understand the competitive environment, to seize market opportunities where they exist, and to be more productive. The corporations with access to the right information can use their knowledge to achieve any objective; without information, the marketer depends on guesswork and intuition alone. There are many examples of product failures that might have been avoided with access to better market intelligence or through interpreting marketing research more accurately.
At a national level, knowledge derived from research is essential in guiding social and business policy. As such, Marketing Research: Tools and Techniques has been written with strategic decision- making in mind and driven by the combined needs of students and practitioners, in the hope that it forms an essential toolkit for business success. The third edition You will enjoy this third edition.