Surveys are commonly used in research. We often use them to understand why our customers use or products or services, how they use or products and services and who actually buys ours products or services.
There are different types of error associated with survey research. These are:
- Sampling error (random sampling error, systematic error, frame error, population specification error, selection error,
- Measurement error(surrogate error, interviewer error, measurement instrument bias, non-response bias and response bias.
Type of surveys.
(a) Door to door. Used to be a popular method however, in recent times it has decline becuase:
- Changes in availability
- Deteriorating co-operation rates
- Unsafe neighbourhoods
- Lacks of hands on control of interviewers
- Interviewer tolerance
- Cheating or fudging of answers
- Slow and expensive process
(b) Shopping centre interviews
(c) Executive interviews
(d) Telephone interviews
(e) Computer assisted telephone interviews
(f) Direct computer interview
(g) Self administered interviews
(h) postal surveys
There are a number of factors that determine which choice of survey method will be chosen. These are:
- The sampling precision required
- Budget available
- The need to expose the respondent to various stimuli
- The validity and reliability of the data is often decided by the survey method used.
- The need for the respondent to perform specialised tasks
- The length of the questions may constrain the survey method used.
In this session the focus was on observation. Ideally, observation should not be used in isolation. The following are the methods of observation used in research.
- Natural/contrived situations
- Open/disguished
- Structured/unstructured
- Human/machine
- Direct/indirect
There are a number of advantages of observation.
- Allows you to get a feel for how the respondent actually behaves
- If the respondent fails to respond, the researcher can still observe their behaviour
- Some forms of data are gathered more quickly by observing
Disadvantages
- Can't question the behaviour
- Observation research can be timely and costly
- Behaviour display today may not be a reliable indicator for future behaviour
For this session we how to use market research for market segmentation. There are a number of bases that can be used to segment a market. These include:
- Demographic
- Geographic
- Geodemographic
- Psychographic
- Behavioural
- Benefit
- Occasions of use
Once a segment has been selected it is necessary to focus on the size and growth of the market, the attractiveness of the segment and company objectives and resources.
Once a market has been segmented then the company can target their customers. When a company is choosing a target market strategy it is necessary to conduct research on the company's resources such as manpower, capital, capabilities and skills and also the degree of product variability.
Once the target strategy has been selected it is then necessary to focus on how the company wants to position their product or service. There are a number of ways that a company can position their product/service. These are:
- The features of the product or service
- Usage category
- Benefits of the product or service
- Specific usage occassions
- Against competition
For this session we focused on some of the key providers of marketing information. Some of the key providers in Ireland are:
All of the above companies belong to the Organisation of Irish Market Research Companies
Classification of research studies-studies can be classified into the following two area: Ad hoc or continuous.
Ad hoc research is research carried out on a once off basis. Whereas continuous research is carried out weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Continous research can be broken into: omnibus, panel or long-term surveys.
Next week we will look at market segmentation
