Marketing Essentials

Chapter 29: Conducting Marketing Research

Chapter Summaries

Section 29.1

• The five steps that a business follows when conducting marketing research are defining the problem, obtaining data, analyzing the data, recommending solutions, and applying the results. The steps are performed sequentially to arrive at solutions to a problem or research an issue.
• Primary data are collected specifically to address a problem or question under study. Secondary data were collected for some other purpose.
• The marketing research report has many elements: title page; acknowledgments; table of contents; list of tables, figures, charts, and graphs; introduction; review of the research information; procedures used; findings; recommendations; summary and conclusions; appendixes; bibliography.

Section 29.2

• Marketing surveys may include open-ended and forced-choice questions. Forced-choice questions include yes/no, multiple-choice, rating scale, and level of agreement questions. Write the questions so that the answers will provide data that are valid and reliable.
• When administering a survey in person, it is important not to select participants in a biased way or to present the questions in a manner that influences the participants. When administering a survey through the mail, include a cover letter to explain the purpose of the survey and the deadline, as well as a postage-paid return envelope.