Business to business marketing

(b2B Marketing)
marketing research and
intelligence
Nature of Marketing Research
• Marketing research is the objective and systematic process of obtaining,
analyzing, and reporting of data/information for decision-making in marketing
• Marketing research in business marketing is different from that in consumer
marketing:
• More reliance on secondary data and exploratory/ descriptive research
• Differences in survey method
Nature of Marketing Research
Areas of survey methods Business Research Consumer Research

Large sample due to large

Small sample due to small
universe, and individual or
1. Sample size universe (or population) and
household buyers are
concentration of buyers
geographically dispersed

More difficult due to time

2. Respondent cooperation and Less difficult to obtain data;
constraint; accessibility is limited
accessibility accessibility is easier
to working time

More difficult, as buying decisions

Simple, as individuals or
are made by several members of
3. Defining respondent household users are generally the
buying committee and not by
buyers
purchase executives
Scope of Business Marketing Research
• Business marketers use marketing research in:
• New product development
• Market potential analysis
• Market share analysis
• Sales analysis
• Forecasting
• Competitor analysis
• Benchmarking
• Business trend studies
• Sales quota determination
Marketing Research Process
• Step 1: Identify the problem/opportunity and define the research
objectives
• Step 2: Develop the research design/plan
• Step 3: Collect the data/information
• Step 4: Process and analyze the data
• Step 5: Present/report the research findings
Research Design
1. Information type: what information is required for each of the
objectives?
2. Sources of data: where can this information be obtained from?
(primary/secondary sources)
3. Research method: observational/ exploratory/ descriptive/
experimental
4. Sampling plan: sampling unit, sample size, sampling method
5. Method of contact: mail/phone/interview
6. Research instrument: questionnaire/other tools
Sources of Data
• Primary Data Collection Methods
• Survey Research Method
• Exploratory Research by Focus Group or Depth Interview
• Observational Research
• Experimental Research

• Secondary Data Sources

• Government publications
• Non-government publications
• Standard Industrial Classification
• Websites
Use of Internet in Business Marketing Research
• Information gathered through Internet is inexpensive, easy to use, quick to access
• Most useful secondary data found easily, with speed, on the internet
• The internet & other online sources satisfy secondary information needs
• Primary data is collected through the Internet (i.e. online survey methods) by e-
mail survey’s, Internet surveys, online panels and online focus groups
• Quality of data provided by secondary information provider should be
questioned before using
Data Analysis
• Descriptive Analysis

• Inferential Analysis

• Differences Analysis

• Associative Analysis

• Predictive Analysis
Descriptive Analysis
• Qualitative variables are represented in terms of the frequency or
percentage distribution of the data across the categories, in the
form of frequency tables or charts
Frequency distribution of sources of Sources of Awareness
awareness of Product in the sample
40

30

20

Frequency
10

Bar chart of sources of awareness of a Product in the sample

An example of distribution of qualitative variables

Descriptive Analysis
• Quantitative variables are represented in terms of the frequency or percentage
distribution across class intervals of values, in the form of frequency tables or graphs,
and are summarized by sets of descriptive measures

Mean Std. Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic

Revenue $ 2,516.58 $ 994.59 0.124 -0.99

An example of distribution of quantitative variables

Inferential Analysis
• Inferential analysis is used to generate conclusions about the
population’s characteristics based on the sample data.

• It Includes:
• Estimation
• Distribution-fitting
• Hypothesis testing
Estimation
• Estimation involves the use of sample statistics, i.e. measures based
on the sample observations, in the place of unknown population
parameters, for the purpose of decision-making relating to the
unknown population parameters.
• Point estimates
• Interval estimates:
• e.g. 95% confidence interval for the population mean:
Distribution – fitting
• Distribution-fitting involves the use of probability models or
distributions to understand observed patterns in data, depending
upon the mechanisms or processes underlying the data

• Discrete distributions: uniform, binomial, hypergeometric, Poisson

• Continuous distributions: uniform, exponential, normal

Hypothesis Testing
• Hypothesis testing involves the use of sample statistics to ascertain
the validity of statistical hypotheses, i.e. assumptions regarding the
population distribution of the variable of interest

• Parametric vs. non-parametric tests

• Null vs. alternative hypothesis
• Test statistic
• Critical region
• Level of significance
Associative Analysis
• Associative analysis studies the strength, form, and direction of
relationships between two or more variables

• To what extent the variables are related to each other

• How the variables are related to each other (the form of the
relationship between the variables)
• Which variables cause changes in other variables
Associative Analysis
• Associative analysis studies the strength, form, and direction of
relationships between two or more variables
• To what extent the variables are related to each other
• How the variables are related to each other (the form of the
relationship between the variables)
• Which variables cause changes in other variables

1. Scatterplot Diagram
2. Correlation
3. χ2-test for Independence of Attributes
4. Regression
5. Multivariate Analysis
Predictive Analysis
• Forecasting
• Forecasting allows one to make forecasts or projections for future
events
• It involves a study of past and present data to estimate/ predict/
project future values of variables of interest

• Sales Forecasting
• Enables effective planning of business processes
• The forerunner to all planning activities in an organization
Sales Forecasting
• A sales forecast is the estimated number of units or monetary
value of sales for a specific future time period based on an
assumed marketing environment and a proposed marketing plan
• Sales forecasts are classified by three factors:
• Product level
• Geographic area
• Time period
Forecasting Approaches
• Forecasting Approaches:
• Top-down/Break-down Approach
• Bottom –up/Build-up Approach

• Sales Forecasting Methods:

• Qualitative Methods: executive opinion method, Delphi method, sales-force
composite method, survey of buyers’ intentions method, test marketing method
• Quantitative Methods: moving average method, exponential smoothing method,
decomposition method, ratio method, regression method, econometric method
Business Marketing Intelligence
Business Marketing intelligence is the everyday information
relevant to a company’s markets, gathered and analyzed
specifically for the purpose of accurate and confident decision-
making in determining market opportunity, market
penetration strategy, and market development metrics
Market Intelligence Studies
Business Marketing Intelligence (BMIS)
Marketing
Research
Studies

Business
Decision Marketing
Secondary marketing Market
support strategy
data sources intelligence response
system development
system

Internal
information
system

BMIS provides relevant, accurate, timely information continuously to managers for decision
making
Decision support system (DSS) is added to BMIS for making better decisions in complex
market situations