Marketing Research Essentials

In Marketing Research Essentials, 9th Edition, authors Carl McDaniel and Roger Gates share their industry experience to teach students how to make critical business decisions through the study of market research. Designed for marketing research courses, the authors' practical, applications-based approach features Real Data, Real People, and Real Research, to prepare students to conduct and use market research for future careers in business. Co-author Roger Gates, President of DSS Research, infuses the text with a practitioner perspective, helping students learn how to use marketing research through a practical presentation of theory and practice.

Preface xi

1 The Role of Marketing Research in Management Decision Making 1

Nature of Marketing 2

Marketing Research and Decision Making 3

Summary 11

Key Terms 12

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 12

Real-Life Research • 1.1 13

2 Problem Definition, Exploratory Research, and the Research Process 14

Critical Importance of Correctly Defining the Problem 15

Research Objectives as Hypotheses 20

Marketing Research Process 20

Managing the Research Process 25

The Marketing Research Proposal 26

What Motivates Decision Makers to Use Research Information? 28

Summary 29

Key Terms 30

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 30

Real-Life Research • 2.1 31

Appendix 2 A: A Marketing Research Proposal 36

Background 37

Objectives 37

Study Design 37

Areas of Questioning 37

Data Analysis 38

Personnel Involved 38

Specifications/Assumptions 38

Services 38

Cost 39

Timing 39

3 Secondary Data and Big Data Analytics 40

Nature of Secondary Data 41

Internal Databases 44

Big Data Analytics 45

Geographic Information Systems 52

Decision Support Systems 53

Summary 54

Key Terms 55

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 55

Real-Life Research • 3.1 56

4 Qualitative Research 58

Nature of Qualitative Research 59

Focus Groups 61

Other Qualitative Methodologies 71

Future of Qualitative Research 80

Summary 80

Key Terms 81

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 81

Real-Life Research • 4.1 82

5 Traditional Survey Research 83

Popularity of Survey Research 84

Types of Errors in Survey Research 84

Types of Surveys 88

Determination of the Survey Method 95

Summary 98

Key Terms 99

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 99

Real-Life Research • 5.1 100

6 Online Marketing Research—The Growth of Mobile and Social Media Research 102

The Online World 103

Using the Internet for Secondary Data 103

Online Qualitative Research 106

Online Survey Research 111

Commercial Online Panels 116

Mobile Internet Research—The Future Is Now 118

Social Media Marketing Research 120

Summary 122

Key Terms 123

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 123

Real-Life Research • 6.1 124

7 Primary Data Collection: Observation 125

Nature of Observation Research 126

Human Observation 129

Machine Observation 136

Tracking 142

Observation Research and Virtual Shopping 145

Summary 146

Key Terms 147

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 147

Real-Life Research • 7.1 148

8 Primary Data Collection: Experimentation and Test Markets 151

What Is an Experiment? 152

Demonstrating Causation 152

Experimental Setting 153

Experimental Validity 154

Experimental Notation 154

Extraneous Variables 155

Experimental Design, Treatment, and Effects 158

Limitations of Experimental Research 159

Selected Experimental Designs 160

Test Markets 163

Summary 171

Key Terms 172

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 173

Real-Life Research • 8.1 174

9 The Concept of Measurement 175

Measurement Process 176

Step One: Identify the Concept of Interest 177

Step Two: Develop a Construct 177

Step Three: Define the Concept Constitutively 177

Step Four: Define the Concept Operationally 177

Step Five: Develop a Measurement Scale 179

Step Six: Evaluate the Reliability and Validity of the Measurement 181

Scaling Defined 188

Attitude Measurement Scales 188

Considerations in Selecting a Scale 201

Summary 202

Key Terms 204

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 204

Real-Life Research • 9.1 205

10 Questionnaire Design 210

Role of a Questionnaire 211

Criteria for a Good Questionnaire 211

Does It Solicit Information in an Unbiased Manner: Questionnaire Design Process 214

Impact of the Internet on Questionnaire Development 232

Adapting to Mobile Device Questionnaires 235

Costs, Profitability, and Questionnaires 238

Summary 239

Key Terms 240

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 240

Real-Life Research • 10.1 241

11 Basic Sampling Issues 242

Concept of Sampling 243

Developing a Sampling Plan 244

Sampling and Nonsampling Errors 252

Probability Sampling Methods 252

Nonprobability Sampling Methods 258

Internet Sampling 260

Summary 261

Key Terms 262

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 262

Real-Life Research • 11.1 263

12 Sample Size Determination 265

Determining Sample Size for Probability Samples 266

Normal Distribution 267

Population and Sample Distributions 269

Sampling Distribution of the Mean 269

Determining Sample Size 275

Statistical Power 280

Summary 281

Key Terms 282

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 282

Real-Life Research • 12.1 283

SPSS Jump Start for Chi-Square Text 285

13 Data Processing and Fundamental Data Analysis 288

Overview of the Data Analysis Procedure 289

Step One: Validation and Editing 289

Step Two: Coding 294

Step Three: Data 298

Step Four: Logical Cleaning of Data 299

Step Five: Tabulation and Statistical Analysis 300

Graphic Representations of Data 304

Descriptive Statistics 306

Evaluating Differences and Changes 309

Statistical Significance 310

Hypothesis Testing 312

P Values and Significance Testing 317

Summary 318

Key Terms 319

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 320

Real-Life Research • 13.1 322

SPSS Exercises for Chapter 13 324

14 More Powerful Statistical Methods 330

Statistical Software 332

Correlation Analysis 333

Regression Analysis 334

Cluster Analysis 342

Factor Analysis 343

Conjoint Analysis 347

Big Data and Hadoop 351

Predictive Analytics 353

Summary 355

Key Terms 355

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 356

Real-Life Research • 14.1 356

SPSS Exercises for Chapter 14 359

15 Communicating the Research Results 362

The Research Report 363

Organizing the Report 363

Interpreting the Findings 364

The Presentation 366

Making a Presentation 366

Marketing Research Supplier Management 372

Communication 373

The Key Role of the Project Manager 373

Managing the Research Process 374

Managing a Marketing Research Department 379

Summary 385

Key Terms 386

Questions for Review and Critical Thinking 386

Real-Life Research • 15.1 387

Appendix One 389

Endnotes 397

Index 413

Working the Net (Online)

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