Lecture 2 by Gita MS Agarwal

By David Luck and Ronald Rubin

Chapter 2
 The subjects to which companies apply their
marketing research have been surveyed (at 5
year intervals) by the American Marketing
Association for over thirty years.
 These categories are as follows:
 Markets,
 Products,
 Sales force problems
 , Distribution channel studies,
 Advertising,
 Problems broader than marketing.
 This is the most studied( over 95% of
companies engage in these subjects)
 What are their sales potentials?
 Their characteristics?
 What share of their purchases ( in our product
lines) are we winning?

 (over 95% of companies engage in studying

these subjects)
 How well will our new products be accepted?
 With what sales potential?
 What about competitive products?
 How do our present products stack up?

 (90% of manufacturing companies study

these)
 Measurement of market potentials
 Market share analysis
 Determining market characteristics
 Sales analysis
 Sales quota and territories
 Distribution channels
 Test market audits
 Short range forecasting
 Long range forecasting
 Pricing studies
 Business trend studies
 Management information systems(MIS)
 Acquisition studies
 Rate high in research use.
 How should territory boundaries be set?
 How should sales quotas be set?

 ( over 90% of manufacturers study these

repetitive problems)
 Done by 85% of the manufacturers
 Most consumer goods companies and a
majority of financial services companies
conduct these
 How effective are our ads?
 How strong is the proposed copy?
 Which media are appropriate for our markets
and products?
 Include business expectations and short term
forecasts that rate high
 Acquisition studies also very common
 The effects of inadequate interface may be
observed in the following:
 Case A- Agency communicated with the
Marketing Exec Vice president by phone and
by mail and only once in a direct meeting but
got the full brief.
 Case B- Agency had many meetings with the
client company through their managers but
never met the real client ( Mktg Exec VP) till
the report stage when it was too late.
 There has to be a clear understanding of the
problem by the researcher from the client
 (someone senior enough)
 Even 2 meetings with a senior are better than
6 meetings with a junior , since it can lead to
wrong problem definition.
 Keep researcher informed on:
 The precise problem(s) faced by the client and
the way that a decision is going to be made.
 All limitations on the costs and time for doing
the study
 The background of the problem and its
environment.
 What data will be provided by the client and
where to obtain it
 Any changes in the situation that arise as the
study is under way.
 Being honest and clear regarding the
meaning and limitations of the expected
findings
 Being of maximum help in presenting and
explaining the conclusions and aiding the
clients application
 Demanding that the client provide the
information needed to plan and conduct the
study. This includes explicating the goals
and the problems faced.
 1) Ascertaining- the objectives that the firm
is trying to accomplish (relevant to the
particular problem area)
 2)Recognizing that the problem exists and
locating it.
 3)Determining the problem’s nature and
environment
 4) Searching for and selecting alternatitive
solutions
 5)Deciding which solution should be adopted.
 Set objectives
 Discover problems and define
 Analyse problem environment
 Search and select alternatives
 Decide on action to take
 Implement