Marketing
Research
Seminar

2002 Version

Nota Bene: We must appreciate the need for flexibility.  Acts of God, varied arrival times of guests, as well as unexpected health, weather and power conditions will all potentially affect the exact schedule of this seminar.  Furthermore, due to copyright restrictions, materials referenced are available for purchase, and are not included on this site.

Purpose of this Seminar

The tasks of introducing new products or modifying existing products regularly challenge decision-makers in a firm.  To this end, the main purpose of this seminar is to provide an overview of marketing research issues so that decision makers can avoid costly mistakes by "getting it right the first time."  Through lectures, discussions, short cases and exercises, you will benefit in twelve ways, because you will learn how to:

  • identify what a customer really wants
  • critically assess the value of information
  • develop the foundation for an error minimization strategy
  • recognize that simple observations are not simple
  • appreciate the problems of making accurate measurements
  • incorporate validity and reliability into every study
  • understand the conditions for establishing causality
  • determine the appropriateness of various experimental designs
  • comply with judicial standards when developing questionnaires
  • obtain a representative simple random sample
  • conduct qualitative data gathering techniques such as focus groups
  • use SPSS to facilitate data analysis

Typical Research Topics

Doing is the key to learning.  Here are some projects that have enhanced prior students understanding of marketing research; perhaps they will inspire you:

    1. How does retail location affect patronage?  Christaller (1935) developed "central place theory," showing that distance and type of product offered affect patronage.  Huff (1962, 1964) refined this concept in his "revealed preference" approach, showing that preference depends on square footage of the retail store and distance from the population served.  Essential background information can be found in Craig, et. al. (1984) Journal of Retailing, volume 60.


    2. What determines the size of a tip at a restaurant?  The psychology literature provides good guidance.  Review the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Psychological Reports.  Is it cash or credit?  Is it alcohol?  Is it atmosphere?  Does it matter whether it is a business or social setting?  What about the server's attitude?  Server's gender?  Server's physical appearance?  Time of day or day of week?  Type of restaurant?


    3. Do men have different shopping habits from women?  Paco Underhill, the author of the book Why We Buy:  the science of shopping, writes that "women get a buzz from shopping."  Do men? Also, review American Demographics magazine and the Journal of Retailing.


    4. Do students or faculty drive better (newer, more expensive, cleaner) cars?  Select various parking lots at surrounding schools; observe registration stickers for year and make; subjectively assess quality of vehicle; determine dollar value through edmunds.com or kelleybluebook.com.  Consider:  commuters v. live on campus; private v. public school; graduate v. undergraduate students.


    5. Does subliminal advertising work?  This is a controversial topic:  some research supports the notion, some research refutes it. See Hawkins (1970) "The Effects of Subliminal Stimulation on Drive Level and Brand Preference" in Journal of Marketing, vol 7, pp 322-326, and Crisp (1987) "Persuasive Advertising, Autonomy, and the Creation of Desire" in the Journal of Business Ethics, vol 6, pp 413-418.


    6. Atmospherics:  what is the role of aroma, temperature, and store color on sales?  Review Castellucci (1985) "The Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell" in Principles of Neural Science, published by Elsvier, and an article by Donovan and Rossitier (1982) titled "Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach" in the Journal of Retailing, vol 58, pp 34-57.


    7. Can higher prices curb cigarette smoking?  This is the problem of a legal product that produces useful tax revenues.  For insight, see the New England Journal of Medicine, 2000, vol 343 pp 1772-7.


    8. What makes a good banner ad on web pages?  Review Bruner and Kumar (2000), Journal of Advertising Research, vol 57, pp 77-91.


    9. Will "distance" learning overtake "traditional" learning? Review "Deterrents to Participation in Web-Based Continuing Education" in The American Journal of Distance Education, vol 14, no 1, and www.usdla.org.


Considering both form and content, your paper and presentation should communicate to the uninformed (i.e., the instructor and your peers) as to why your topic is interesting and important.  From the literature, show what others have found. Through empirical research, indicate and emphasize what you found, and what it means, either in support or in refutation of previous studies.  Examine the limitations of your findings and suggest an add-on project of "where we go from here," if additional resources were available.

Further, you must submit two complete copies of all papers.  On each copy, on the cover page, the following declaration must be completed: 

"I certify that all of the research and all of the writing in this paper is my own work, and that all of the debts to the work of others is credited in citations."

_____________________________________
signaturedate

Papers that do not include this declaration will not be evaluated.

Here are basic guidelines for the project:

    1. Choose ONE focused topic


    2. Review the popular and academic literature and summarize what is known


    3. Develop one empirical approach to advance our knowledge of the topic, specifying:
        1. Type of design
        2. Independent and dependent variables, including measuring devices (e.g., pre-tested questionnaire)
        3. Hypotheses
        4. Error containment rationalization including a benefit/cost analysis
        5. Sampling procedures used
        6. Implementation strategy including a budget and time line

    4. Collect 150 data points to satisfy your research design. Also include a copy of the rectangular data file in your final report


    5. Analyze your data and develop a managerial report to be delivered in a 20 minute presentation and as a term paper not to exceed 40 pages


    6. Suggest "where we go from here," if additional resources were available


References to Consider

General Textbooks

Aaker, David, V. Kumar and George Day (2001), Marketing Research, 7th edition, John Wiley & Sons.

Churchill, Gilbert A., Jr. (1995), Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations, 6th edition, The Dryden Press.

Dillon, William R., Thomas J. Madden, and Neil H. Firtle (1993), Essentials of Marketing Research, Richard D. Irwin, Inc.

Green, Paul E., Donald S. Tull, and Gerald Albaum (1988), Research for Marketing Decisions, 5th edition, Prentice Hall.

Lehmann, Donald R. Sunil Gupta, and Joel H. Steckel (1998), Marketing Research, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc.

Research Design

Alreck, Pamela L., and Robert B. Settle (1995), The Survey Research Handbook, Irwin.

Assael, Henry, and John Keon (1982), "Non-Sampling vs. Sampling Errors in Survey Research," Journal of Marketing, 46, 114-123.

Campbell, Donald T., and Julian T. Stanley (1963), Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research, Rand McNally.

Greenbaum, Thomas L. (1993), The Handbook for Focus Group Research, Lexington Books.

Kerlinger, Fred N. (1986), Foundations of Behavioral Research, 3rd edition, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, ISBN: 03-085462-8.

Stewart, David, and Michael A. Kamins (1993), Secondary Research: Information, Sources and Methods, Applied Social Research Methods, Volume 4, Sage Publications.

Sudman, Seymour, and Bradburn, N. (1982), Asking Questions, Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Sudman, Seymour (1976), Applied Sampling, Academic Press.

Winer, B. J. (1962), Statistical Principles in Experimental Design, Mc-Graw Hill.

Measurement

Bearden, William O., Richard Netemeyer, and Mary F. Mobley (1993), Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multi-Item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research, Sage Publications.

Bohrnstedt, G.W. (1970), "Reliability and Validity Assessment in Attitude Measurement", Chapter 3 in Attitude Measurement, ed. G.F. Summers, Rand McNally.

Bruner II, Gordon C. and Paul J. Hensel (1992), Marketing Scales Handbook, AMA.

Campbell, D.T., and Fiske, D.W. (1959), "Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix", Psychological Bulletin, 56, pp 81-105.

Thurstone, L. L. (1927), "The Law of Comparative Judgement", Psychological Review, 34, pp. 273-286.

Torgerson, W.S. (1958), Theory and Method of Scaling, Wiley & Sons.

Analysis

Dillon, W.R, and M. Goldstein (1984), Multivariate Analysis: Methods and Applications, Wiley & Sons.

Green, Samuel B., Neil J. Salkind, and Theresa M. Akey (2000), Using SPSS for Windows, Prentice-Hall, ISBN: 0-13-0208409-X.

Morrison, D.G. (1969), "On the Interpretation of Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Marketing Research, pp 156-163.

Siegel, Sidney (1956), Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Mc-Graw-Hill, ISBN: 07-057348-4.

Stewart, David W. (1981), "The Application and Misapplication of Factor Analysis in Marketing Research," Journal of Marketing Research, 18, pp 51-62.

Tabachnik, Barbara G., and Fidell, L.S. (1983), Using Multivariate Statistics, Harper & Row, Inc.

Walpole, Ronald E., and Raymond H. Myers (1978), Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, 2nd edition, Macmillan, ISBN: 0-02-424110-5.

Contents

    1. Introduction to Marketing Research


    2. The Value of Information


    3. Measurement and Scaling


    4. Reliability and Validity


    5. Understanding and Minimizing Sampling & Nonsampling Errors


    6. Drawing Inferences from "Simple" Observations & Using Secondary Data


    7. Overview of Statistics Often Used by Marketing Research Practitioners


    8. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) & Data Analysis Assignment


    9. Causality and Experimentation


    10. Design of Survey Instruments


    11. Sampling Methods


    12. Qualitative Research (Focus Groups)


    13. An Example of a Complete Research Project


    14. Statistical Tables


    15. Group Presentations