Questions and Answers Grade A+ 2023
How is marketing research defined? What are the key elements of this definition? - -Marketing
research is the process of gathering and interpreting data for use in developing, implementing,
and monitoring the firm's marketing plans. Its key elements are the product or service, its price,
its placement or the channels in which it is distributed, its promotion, the tangible elements at the
point of contact, and the processes and people involved in making the exchange or delivering the
service.
-Who does marketing research? What are the primary kinds of research done by each enterprise?
- -Marketing research is performed by individuals and organizations, which includes companies
that
produce or sell products and services (marketing research gauges market needs), advertising
agencies
(to connect with target audiences and sell products), and marketing research companies (to make
money as a business).
-Why did marketing research begin to experience real growth after WWII? - -Marketing research
grew after WWII because it was during this period that competition for
customers greatly increased.
-What is the job of a marketing researcher? - -A marketing researcher's job varies, and could
range from simple analysis of questionnaire responses to the management of an entire research
department.
-What are the necessary skills for employment in a entry-level marketing research position? Do
the skills change as one changes job levels? - -It is necessary to have good analytical, conceptual,
communication, and human-relations skills to gain a job in marketing research. An applicant
should also be comfortable working with numbers and with statistical techniques; it is necessary
to maintain these skills one excels up job levels
-What skills are necessary at the higher levels? - -Good management skills are necessary in the
higher positions of marketing research. To be
successful, one must be proactive rather than reactive, with the goal of helping managers make
better
marketing decisions.
-Why is it important to study marketing research? - -The text lists three reasons to study
marketing research: (1) Some students pursue it as a career; (2) almost everyone is a consumer of
marketing research in one way or another; and (3) managers must understand the process and
potential outcomes of conducting research.
, -What is the research process? - -. The research process provides information needed for decision
making. It includes four stages:
problem definition, data capture, data analysis, and information reporting.
-What are the various forms of data capture? - -Data may be captured by retrieving processed
data from internal databases or from external sources, or it may be collected as primary data (i.e.,
retrieving unprocessed data from internal sources).
-What is the most important error in research? Explain. - -The most important error in research is
total error; any research process will have some kind or error or another. The goal is to minimize
total error in the research process, not just any particular type.
-What are the main differences between the utility, justice, and rights approaches to ethical
reasoning? - -The utility approach focuses on society as the unit of analysis, and it stresses the
consequences of an act on all of those directly or indirectly affected by it. If the benefits of the
act to society
exceed its costs, the act is considered ethical; if the net benefits are negative, the act is unethical.
The justice approach considers the degree to which costs and benefits are fairly distributed based
on societal consensus. The rights approach focuses on the individual as the unit of analysis and
specifically on the rights to which every individual is entitled.
-Why is it important to consider marketing research ethics? - -It is important to consider ethics in
order to avoid causing harm of any kind (e.g., economic,
physical, or mental) to an individual or a group.
-What does it mean when we say that problems and opportunities are two sides of the same coin?
- -This saying means that both situations require good information about the marketing
environment before managers can make important decisions. Today's opportunity is tomorrow's
problem if a
company fails to take advantage of the opportunity while its competitors do. Similarly, a
company that successfully deals with a problem before its competitors has created an
opportunity to move ahead in the industry.
-What are the sources of marketing problems or opportunities? Are different sources typically
associated with different research objectives? Explain. - -The sources of marketing
problems/opportunities are unplanned changes in the marketing environment and planned
changes in the marketing environment.
-What is "normal thinking"? Why is it a problem when defining the marketing
problem/opportunity? - -"Normal thinking" is when a problem/opportunity is looked at in a
routine way. It can be
detrimental because it can get in the way of understanding the true nature of the problem.
-What is the basic nature of a decision problem? - -The basic nature of a decision problem is to
be able to state the problem facing the decision
maker for which the research is intended to provide answers.