Page 135 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Unit 7: Secondary Data

Syndicated data may be classified as: Notes
(a) Consumer purchase data
(b) Retailer and wholesaler data
(c) Advertising data.

Most of these data collection methods as mentioned above are also known as syndicated data.
Syndicated data can be classified into:

7.2.1 Consumer Purchase Data or Panel Type Data

This is one type of syndicated data. In this method there are consumer panels. Members of this
panel will be representative of the entire population. Panel members keep diaries in which they
record all purchases made by them. Products purchased range from packaged food to personal
care products. Members submit the dairies every month to the organisations for which they are
paid. This panel data can be used to find out the sales of the product. These panel data also
provides an insight into repeat purchases, effect of free samples, coupon redemption etc.
The consumer panel data also provides profile of the target audience. Nowadays, diaries are
replaced by hand-held scanners.

Notes Panels provide data on consumer buying habits on petrol, auto parts, sports goods
etc.

Limitations

 Low-income groups are not represented

 Some people do not want to take the trouble of keeping records of their purchases.
Therefore, relevant data is not available.

Advantages

 Use of scanner tied to the central computer helps the panel members to record their
purchases early (almost immediately).

 It also provides reliability and speed.
 Panel can consist only of senior citizens or only children.
We also have the Consumer Mail Panel (CMP). This consists of members who are willing to
answer mail questionnaires. A large number of such households are kept on the panel. This
serves as a universe through which panels are selected.

7.2.2 Retail and Wholesale Data

Marketing research is done in a retail store. These are organisations that provide continuous
data on grocery products. The procedure does not involve questioning people and also does not
rely on their memory. This requires cooperation from the retailer to allow auditing to be
carried out. Generally, retail audit involves counting of stocks between two consecutive visits.

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