Text 6. The Steps of Market Research

Marketing research involves a four-step process. At the first step the manager and researcher carefully define the problem and set the research objectives. Defining the problem and research objectives is often the hardest step in the research process. The manager may know that something is wrong, without knowing the specific causes. For example, managers of a discount retail store chain in a hurry decided that poor advertising caused falling sales, so they ordered research to test the company's advertising. It puzzled the managers when the research showed that current advertising was reaching the right people with the right message. It turned out that the chain stores were not delivering what the advertising promised. Careful problem definition would have avoided the costs and delay of doing advertising research.

After the problem has been defined carefully, the manager and researcher must set the research objectives. A marketing research project might have one of three types of objective. The objective of exploratory research is to gather prelimi­nary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses. The objective of descriptive research is to describe things such as the market poten­tial for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product. The objective of causal research is to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships. For example, would a 2 per cent cut in aircraft prices increase sales sufficiently to compensate the lost margin? Managers often start with exploratory research and later follow with descriptive or causal research.

The second step consists of developing research plan for collecting data from primary and secondary sources. Primary data collection involves choosing a research approach (observation, survey, experiment); choosing a contact method (mail, telephone, personal); designing sampling plan (whom to survey, how many to survey and how to choose them); and developing research instruments (questionnaire).

The third step comprises implementing the marketing research plan by collecting, processing and analyzing the information.

The fourth step consists of interpreting and reporting the findings. Further information analysis helps marketing managers to apply the infor­mation, and provides advanced statistical methods and models to develop more accurate findings from the information.

 

Exercise 49. Answer the questions.

1. What is the first step of marketing research? 2. What are the types of research objectives? 3. What does the second step consist of? 4. What does the third step comprise? 5. What is the fourth step of marketing research?

 

Exercise 50. Give Ukrainian equivalents.

To define the problem, falling sales, to puzzle, to reach the right people with the right message, cause-and-effect relationships, 2 per cent cut in price, to survey.

 

Exercise 5 1 . Give English equivalents.

Визначати цілі дослідження, погана реклама, уникати витрат, пошукове дослідження, збільшити продаж, план вибіркового дослідження, збирати дані, засіб дослідження, виконання плану маркетингового дослідження, інтерпретація та звіт результатів.

 

Exercise 52. Match the marketing terms to their definitions.

1. A detailed plan describing how a product or service will be marketed	a) 4 Ps
2. A company which distributes manufacturers’ products to retailers and other distributors. Usually, they do not sell to the end-users directly	b) market research
3. A group of consumers who share a similar buying behavior	c) target market
4. The percentage of the total market held by a given company.	d) market segment
5. The point at which the volume of revenues equals the company’s total expenses.	e) wholesaler
6. The group to which a company intends to sell.	f) break-even point
7. Product, price, placement, and promotion These four points must be considered by every marketing professional.	g) market share
8. The process of learning about what products and services people want and what price they're willing to pay.	h) marketing plan

Exercise 5 3 . Translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. Маркетингове дослідження включає в себе визначення завдання, постановку цілей, розробку плану, виконання плану, інтерпретацію та звіт результатів. 2. Точне визначення завдання допомогло б уникнути витрат та затримки у проведенні рекламного дослідження. 3. Збір первинних даних включає в себе вибір методу дослідження, засобу зв’язку, розробку плану вибіркового дослідження та розробку інструментів дослідження. 4. Метою експериментального дослідження є перевірка припущення щодо причинно-наслідкових зв’язків. 5. Ціллю пошукового дослідження є збір попередньої інформації, що допоможе визначити завдання та припущення.

Exercise 54. Learn the following words and word combinations.

picky	- вимогливий
leg-room	- простір для ніг; місце для ніг
elbow-room	- простір для ліктів; місце для ліктів
designated lounge	- спеціалізований зал
seating arrangements	- розміщення пасажирських крісел
heavy demand	- високий попит

Exercise 55. Read, translate and give the gist of text 7.

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