Answer – Introduction to Marketing Research

Four-step marketing research process diagram

Marketing Research vs Market Research

Kotler and Armstrong (2018) distinguish marketing research, the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing problem, from the narrower idea of simply asking existing customers what they think of a new market. Marketing research is much broader, and follows a defined four-step process: defining the problem and research objectives, developing the research plan, implementing the plan by collecting and analysing data, and interpreting and reporting the findings.

Applying the Process

Worked example

Define the problem: is there sufficient demand for an e-mountain-bike among riders outside Colorado who have never bought a Colorado Ricardo bike?

Research plan: combine secondary data (industry reports on e-bike growth rates) with new primary research – an online survey distributed through outdoor-sports forums and partner bike shops in neighbouring states, not just the existing mailing list.

Implementation: collect responses from a sample that genuinely represents non-customers, and run a small number of in-depth interviews with independent bike shop owners in the target states.

Interpretation and reporting: compare stated purchase intent and price sensitivity from this new sample against what existing Colorado Ricardo owners say, and report the gap to Ricardo before the launch decision is finalised.

Key point

Kotler and Armstrong (2018) warn that a company must actually go out and run a study when an existing information source cannot answer the specific question at hand. Surveying only the existing mailing list would only measure demand from people who already trust the brand – it says nothing about the much larger group of potential customers the e-mountain-bike is actually meant to reach.

Sound research findings feed directly into the Segmentation and Positioning decisions covered elsewhere in this course.