Page 59 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Marketing Management/Essentials of Marketing

Notes
Example: If a market consists of 5 million people and the researcher shows a prototype
of a mixer-grinder to just 10 individuals and 8 of them say they like it, it would mean 80 per cent
favourable attitude.
But a sample size so small is not enough for a minimum sample, and the prototype shown to
them would probably bias their response. The test cannot be considered reliable because if
repeated with another 10 individuals, it might get an entirely different response. Reliability of
a test means that approximately similar results can be obtained if the research is repeated.

Example: An entrance test for MBA is reliable in case a student scores similar marks
after taking it a second time. Validity and reliability depend on a number of key factors, such as
the sampling methods, the design of survey questionnaire, data tabulation approach, and the
method of analysis.
According to Tull and Hawkins, many researchers have found it useful to consider three categories
of research based on the type of information required. These are briefly discussed below:

Exploratory Research

This category of research aims at discovering the general nature of the problem and to correctly
understand the involved variables. In case managers face serious doubts about the marketing
problem and need more information about a problem, exploratory research tends to rely more
on secondary data such as company’s database, publicly available data, questioning experienced
and knowledgeable persons inside or outside the company such as salespeople and resellers etc.
It can be conducted with a very limited sample size such as convenience or judgement samples.
Exploratory research studies are particularly useful in addressing broad problems and developing
a more specific educated or informed guess, called a hypothesis, which is a statement that
specifies how two or more measurable variables such as age, attitude, and purchase behaviour
are related.

Descriptive Studies

Such studies are more extensive in scope. In such studies, information is collected from a
representative sample of respondents and the information collected is analysed by using statistical
methods. Such studies generally demand much prior knowledge and assume that the problem
is clearly defined. A lot of marketing research involves descriptive studies and may range from
general surveys of consumers’ age, education, occupation, market-potential studies, product
usage studies, attitude surveys, and media research.

Example: Specifics such as how many consumers bought a Maruti Zen last month, or
how many adults between the age of 18 to 25 visit McDonald’s 4 times a week and how much
they spend.

Such studies could help developing new products or services. Accuracy is quite critical in such
studies as the errors can lead to results that could prove to be misleading to marketing decision-
makers. To minimise the chances of such errors, much care should be taken in sampling procedure,
design of questionnaire, and information reporting.

Causal Research (Experimental Research)

As the name suggests, such research studies are conducted to establish cause and effect relationship
between different variables. Suppose it is assumed that variable X causes variable Y. To prove or

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