CONSUMER RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION
Consumer Research is an off shoot of Marketing Research. Both follow the same steps and both are used for making better decisions. Consumer research is carried out to understand the behavior of consumers. How they would react to promotional messages and how their attitudes change after being exposed to the media messages. These studies and understandings can help the marketer to frame appropriate strategies to woo the consumer, to face competition and to locate target markets. The consumer research follows almost the same steps as are carried out in marketing research, which is known as research methodology.

THE CONSUMER RESEARCH PROCESS

1. Developing research objectives 2. Collecting and evaluating secondary data 3. Designing a primary research study 4. Collecting primary data 5. Analyzing the data 6. Preparing a report on the findings

 DEVELOPING RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The first step of this process is to define the objectives of the study. A specific, thoughtout set of objects assists in determining the type and level of information required.

 COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA Secondary data is data that is readily available and may be from an internal or external source. It is information that has been collected for an ulterior purpose that may be used to serve the current purpose.

 CONDUCT PRIMARY RESEARCH Primary Research is research that one must conduct to obtain the most relevant, valid and reliable data possible. There are two types of research that can be conducted: Quantitative Research Vs Qualitative Research

 SAMPLING Sampling is the method in which participants are chosen. One can either use a probability Sample where Schiffman and Kanuk tell is this should be chosen if the researcher wants the finding to be projectable to the total population. If it is sufficient to have the findings representative of the population then a Non-Probability Sample should be selected. METHODS OF PROBABILITY SAMPLING  Simple Random Sample  Systematic Random Sample  Stratified Random Sample  Cluster Sample METHODS OF NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING  Convenience Sample  Judgment Sample  Quota Sample  ANALYZE DATA The data collected must then be coded and quantified. All possible connections in the data must be established and then displayed in the form of tables and graphics.

 PREPARE REPORT The report must be summarizing the entire document, as well as make suggestions on its findings. It is often the case that researchers will include a sample of the questionnaire here for the client to see.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

 DATA COLLECTION METHODS
 OBSERVATION By observing consumer behavior.  EXPERIMENTATION By designing experiment to identify cause and effect of the relative sales appeal of many types of variables.  Surveys By questioning people in person by mail or by telephone about their purchase preferences.

 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

 QUESTIONNAIRES  By mail, personal interview or telephone  Interesting, objective, unambiguous, easy to complete, not burdensome  Include both substantive questions and demographic questions  Include both open-ended & close-ended questions  Wording the questions - biggest challenge  Sequence of questions important  RANK ORDER SCALE  Subjects are asked to rank items such as products in order of preferences in terms of some criterion  Provides competitive information and enable marketers to identify needed areas of improvement in product design and product positioning E.g. we would like to find out about your preferences regarding banking methods. Please rank the following banking
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methods by placing a 1 in front of the method you prefer most, a 2 next to your second preference, and continuing until you have ranked all of the methods. Inside the bank ATM online banking Banking by mail Banking by telephone

 ATTITUDE SCALES  List of product or product attributes indicate the relative feelings or evaluations a) Likert Scale Easy to prepare & interpret, simple to answer Consists of equal number of agreement/disagreement choices on either side of a neutral choice E.g. I am afraid to give my credit card number online 1. Strongly agree2. Somewhat agree 3. Neither agrees nor disagrees 4. Somewhat disagree 5. Strongly disagree

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

 DEPTH INTERVIEW  Lengthy, non-structured interview between respondent and highly trained interviewer, who minimizes his or her own participation in the discussion after establishing the general subject to be discussed.  Transcripts, videotapes, or audiotape recordings of interviews are carefully studied, together with report of respondents moods & gestures or body language they may have used to convey attitudes or motives.

 FOCUS GROUP  Consists of 8 to 10 respondents who meet with a moderate analyst for a group discussion focused on particular product or product category.  Are taped, & sometimes videotaped to assist in analysis.  Usually held in specially designed conference rooms with one-way mirrors  Limitation socially acceptable response  PROJECTIVE TECHINIQUES  Designed to tap the underlying motives of individuals despite their unconscious rationalizations or efforts at conscious concealment.  Consists of variety of disguised tests that contain ambiguous stimuli. Such as incomplete sentences, untitled pictures or cartoons, ink blots, word-association tests, & Other-person characterization

ADVERTISING RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION
Advertising research is a specialized form of marketing research conducted to improve the efficiency of advertising. Advertising research is the systematic gathering and analysis of information to help develop or evaluate advertising strategies, ads, commercials and media campaigns. Advertising research may focus on a specific ad or campaign, or may be directed at a more general understanding of how advertising works or how consumers use the information in advertising. It can entail a variety of research approaches, including psychological, sociological, economic, and other perspectives.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

 CUSTOMIZED Customized research is conducted for a specific client to address that clients needs. Only that client has access to the results of the research.  SYNDICATED Syndicated research is a single research study conducted by a research company with its results available, for sale, to multiple companies

METHODS OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

 PRE-MARKET RESEARCH It can be conducted to optimize ads for any medium optimize advertisement for any medium: radio, television, print (magazine, newspaper or direct mail), outdoor billboard (highway, bus, or train), or Internet.  POST MARKET RESEARCH It is conducted after the advertising; either a single ad or an entire multimedia campaign has been run in-market. The focus is on what the advertising has done for the brand, for example increasing brand awareness, trial, frequency of purchasing

PRE TESTING OR COPY TESTING

Evaluation of alternative ways for advertisers to present their messages.Copy refers to an entire advertisement, including the verbal message, pictures, colors, and dramatizations, whether the advertisement appears in print, on radio or television, or some other medium.

COPY TESTING
      Consumer Jury. Rating Scales. Portfolio Tests. Psychological Tests. Sales Tests. Day-after recall Tests

 CONSUMER JURY Oldest & simplest test. Personal interview may be used or a group may be assembled & asked to vote on an alternative based on their preferences, interests, or influences to buy the product. Provides a rating given by a group of consumers who may represent potential buyers of the product. Assumption: The respondent must like at least one advertisement

 RATING SCALES Requires the establishment of standards for effective copy and numerical weights for each standard. Ads are then rated in accordance with the scale values and a numerical score is obtained. Advantage: Provides a list against which to check an ad & helps to single out the elements that are good or bad. Disadvantages: Different judges will rate the ad differently

 PORTFOLIO TEST Sometimes the ad is placed in dummy copies of newspapers or magazines. A group of ads, usually a mixture of test ads and control ads, is placed in a portfolio.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST A list of reactions like self pity, security, fear or nostalgia is set up. Alternative ads are then rated on how readers respond w.r.t. those reactions. A no. of techniques including word association, sentence completion, depth interview & storytelling are adopted. Difficult to implement, since skilled interviewers are required

 SALES TEST Sales tests are a useful measure of advertising effectiveness when advertising is the dominant element, or the only variable, in the company's marketing plan. Sales response may not be immediate and sales tests, particularly field studies, are often costly and time-consuming

 DAY AFTER RECALL TEST Research method that tests consumers memories the day after they have seen an ad, to assess the ad's effectivenes

POST TESTING
Provide either periodic or continuous in-market research monitoring a brands performance. Including brand awareness, brand preference, product usage and attitudes. Some post-testing approaches simply track changes over time, while others use various methods to quantify the specific changes produced by advertising either the campaign as a whole or by the different media utilized. Overall, advertisers use post-testing to plan future advertising campaigns, so the approaches that provide the most detailed information on the accomplishments of the campaign are most valued.