Learning takeaway of Chapter 8&9

 

Chapter 8:

The Significance of Marketing Research

Marketing research plays a role in reducing the risk of failure by helping to understand consumer needs and desires and supporting decision-making based on that understanding. Appropriate research can increase the likelihood that products and services will meet customer expectations.

Five Marketing Research Processes

1.        Problem Definition (Setting Research Goals and Identifying Tentative Action Plans)

2.        Developing a Research Plan (determining constraints, necessary data, and collection methods)

3.        Collecting Information (internal and external secondary data, primary data, and utilization of IT and data mining)

4.        Developing Findings (analyzing data and reporting results)

5.        Implementing and Evaluating Marketing Actions (executing strategies and providing feedback on results)

 

Utilizing Secondary and Primary Data

-Secondary data: Existing data, such as internal information (sales, customer feedback), government statistics, and industry reports.

-Primary data: Data newly collected for the project. This includes observation and questionnaire surveys.

 

Diversity of information collection methods

There are various methods, such as observation (mystery shoppers, brain wave measurement), questionnaires (face-to-face, telephone, online), panel surveys, and experiments (measuring the impact of price changes). Data collection from social media has also been gaining attention in recent years.

 

The role of data analysis and data mining

Data analysis: The process of examining data based on clear questions and converting it into useful information.

Data mining: A technique for identifying hidden patterns and correlations in large amounts of data, which can be directly linked to marketing actions.

 

Three approaches to sales forecasting

1.        Subjective judgment (direct forecasting, lost horse forecasting)

2.        Surveys of experts (opinions of sales representatives and consumers)

3.        Statistical methods (linear trend extrapolation, etc., extending patterns from past data)

 

For Chapter 9:

The Significance and Application of Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is the process of grouping potential customers who share common needs and respond in similar ways. This enables companies to approach customers efficiently and aim to increase sales and profits.

 

Five Steps of Market Segmentation and Targeting

1.        Segmenting customers based on characteristics

2.        Grouping related product lines

3.        Creating a market-product grid and estimating market size

4.        Select target market segments

5.        Approach using the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution)

 

Segmentation criteria for consumer and organizational markets

Consumer markets: geographic, demographic, psychological, behavioral

Organizational markets: geographic, demographic, behavioral (psychological criteria are excluded)

 

Utilize the market-product grid and formulate strategies

Use the market-product grid to visually analyze which product groups to sell to which market segments and efficiently allocate marketing resources.

 

Product positioning techniques

To visualize the positioning of products in the minds of consumers, place competing products and your own products on a two-dimensional perception map and use it for strategies to introduce new products or reposition existing products.