That's what Tide marketers learned, even though Tide and laundry aren't the most important things with customers. It can make a difference in something they really care about - the drugs that touch their lives.
Research Approaches
Kelly Peña, also known as the "baby whisperer". rummaged through a 12-year-old boy's locker drawer one recent afternoon. The beauty of ethnography," says the researcher, is that it "allows companies to focus on the unarticulated desires of their customers." For example, focus groups told the Best Western hotel chain that men are the ones who decide when to stop for the night and where to stay.
By recording consumers in the shower, plumbing fixture maker Moen discovered safety risks consumers weren't aware of — such as the habit some women have of shaving their legs while holding a unit's temperature control. It's all part of an exercise designed to help marketers understand the physical challenges facing older shoppers, who will represent 20 percent of the U.S. total. . If the cities are similar and if all other marketing efforts for the sandwich are the same, then differences in sales in the two cities can be related to the price charged.
Contact Methods
In addition to observational research, focus group interviews have become one of the most important qualitative marketing research tools for gaining new insights into consumers' thoughts and feelings. Although focus groups are still widely used, many researchers are tinkering with focus group design. For example, some companies prefer “immersion groups”: small groups of consumers who interact directly and informally with product designers without a focus group moderator present.
New Focus Group Environments: To create a more welcoming environment in which women can open up and share personal stories of shaving and moisturizing, Schick sponsored Slow Sip. For example, online research firm Channel M2 “puts the human touch back into online research” by gathering focus group participants in people-friendly “virtual interview rooms.”18. Researchers can "sit in" on the focus group from anywhere, watching and listening to each respondent.
Sampling Plan
This can be as simple as scanning customer reviews and comments on the company's brand site or shopping sites like Amazon.com or BestBuy.com. Listening online can involve something as simple as scanning customer reviews on the company's brand site or on popular shopping sites like Amazon.com or Best Buy.com. Amazon.com alone contains detailed customer reviews on everything it sells, and its customers rely heavily on these reviews when making purchases.
A shopper at the retail website FigLeaves.com takes a close look at a silky pair of women's slippers. Analysis of FigLeaves.com website behavior data—from mouse clicks to search queries—shows that certain types of female shoppers are likely at certain times of the week. So, for example, if you put a cell phone in your Amazon.com shopping cart but don't buy it, you might expect to see some ads for that very phone the next time you visit your favorite ESPN site to catch up on the latest sports scores.
Research Instruments
He expects the carmaker to adjust the exterior based on the EEG reports, which monitor activity in all parts of the brain. Recent EEG tests have shown that, compared to shiny packets with pictures of potato chips, matte beige bags containing potatoes and other healthy ingredients cause less activity in a part of the brain associated with feelings of guilt. Data collection may be conducted by the company's marketing research staff or by third party companies.
Rather, the researcher should present important findings and insights that are useful in key decisions facing management. The best research means little if the manager blindly accepts misinterpretations from the researcher. In many cases, findings can be interpreted in different ways, and discussions between researchers and managers will help to indicate the best interpretations.
Analyzing and Using Marketing Information (pp 119–121)
Grocery chain Kroger is working with data mining firm Dunnhumby, which it owns with successful London-based retailer Tesco, to dig deep into data obtained from customer loyalty cards. It uses the customer insights gained for everything from targeting coupons to finding and stocking its stores:28. Marketing information has no value until it is used to gain customer insights and make better marketing decisions.
So the marketing information system must make the information readily available to managers and others who need it. For example, a sales manager is having problems with a major customer. Grocery chain Kroger is working with a data mining company. It uses the customer insights gained for everything from targeting coupons to locating and stocking the stores.
Other Marketing Information Considerations (pp 121–126)
However, many of the marketing research techniques discussed in this chapter can also be used by smaller organizations in a less formal manner and at little or no cost. Managers should think carefully about the objectives of the study, formulate questions in advance, recognize the biases introduced by smaller samples and less skilled researchers, and conduct the study systematically.34. Due to the scarcity of good secondary data, international researchers often have to collect their primary data themselves.
Researchers in Mexico cannot rely on data collection by telephone, Internet, and mail; most data is collected door-to-door and is concentrated in the three or four largest cities. For example, while the United States has 74 Internet users per 100 people, Mexico has only 21 Internet users per 100 people. For example, questionnaires must be prepared in one language and then translated into the languages of each country surveyed.
HOW MANY COUNTRIES DOES IT TAKE TO BE THE
For example, Nielsen (the world's largest marketing research firm) has offices in more than 100 countries, from Schaumburg, Illinois to Hong Kong to Nicosia, Cyprus.35 However, most research firms operate in only a relative handful of countries. For example, mixed gender focus groups are taboo in many Muslim countries, as is the taboo of recording female-only focus groups. Despite these problems, as global marketing grows, global companies have no choice but to conduct such international marketing research.
While the costs and difficulties associated with international research may be high, the costs of not doing so – in terms of missed opportunities and mistakes – can be even higher. Once recognized, many of the problems associated with international market research can be overcome or avoided. Two major public policy and ethics issues in market research are invasions of consumer privacy and misuse of research results.
Intrusions on Consumer Privacy
For example, one Danish executive noted: “Look at this by asking another translator to translate into English what you've translated from English. More than 75 percent agreed with the statement, "The Internet is not well regulated and naive users can be easily taken advantage of." And 66 percent of Americans don't want marketers to track their online behavior and tailor ads to their interests. So it is not surprising that they are now less than willing to disclose personal information on websites.38.
For example, he says, researchers must make their names and addresses available to participants. It also prohibits companies from representing activities such as database collection or sales and promotional presentations as research.39. For example, Amazon.com customers don't mind if the company builds a database of the products they buy as a way to provide future product recommendations.
Misuse of Research Findings
MIS then develops information from internal databases, marketing intelligence activities, and marketing research. Internal databases provide information on the company's own operations and departments. The first step in the marketing research process involves defining the problem and determining the research objectives, which can be exploratory, descriptive, or causal research. Discuss the real value of marketing research and marketing information and how that value is achieved.
Critics have raised concerns about the usefulness and ethics of this type of marketing research. If you ask any member of Harrah's Total Rewards program, they will tell you without hesitation that it is the latter. Harrah's customers, like Joseph, aren't the only ones praising the company's customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities.
GATHERING DATA
Joseph, a 30-year-old New Yorker, recently went on a weekend trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he hoped to stay at one of his favorite Harrah's resorts and enjoy some games and fun. But after swiping his Harrah's Total Rewards card to play the tables, the pit boss came and directed him to the front desk. With the Total Rewards program at the center of its business and marketing strategies, Harrah's Entertainment has the ability to collect data, convert that data into customer insights, and use those insights to serve up a customer experience like no one else.
The mechanics of the program go something like this: Total Rewards members earn points based on the amount they spend at Harrah's locations. Through numerous acquisitions over the past decade, Harrah's has grown to more than 50 properties under several brands across the United States, including Harrah's, Caesars, Bally's, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo and Showboat. In addition, Harrah's regularly surveys samples of its customers to gain even more detail.
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Total Rewards members swipe their card every time they spend a dime at one of these properties: checking into 1 of 40,000 hotel rooms, playing 1 of 60,000 slot machines, dining at 1 of 390 restaurants, receiving a gift at 1 of 240. retail shops or playing golf at 1 of 7 golf courses.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
HITTING TWENTY-ONE
Since the creation of Total Rewards, Harrah's has seen its share of customers' average annual gaming budget increase by 20 percent, and revenue from customers who gamble at Harrah's rather than their "home casino" has increased by 18 percent. Although Harrah's and the entire gaming industry were hit hard by the Great Recession, things are bouncing back. Through its acquisitions and the success of its Total Rewards program, Harrah's is the largest in its industry with over $10 billion in revenue last year.
Loveman calls Total Rewards "the lifeblood of our business" and says "it touches, one way or another, 85 percent of our revenue." He says Harrah's "customer loyalty strategy [and] relationship marketing. It's part of the buyer's own self-expression and lifestyle—part of who each person is. At the other extreme, however, are the Mac zealots—the so-called MacHeads or Macolytes.
