Marketing Research is the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing situation.

Steps in a Marketing Research Project

1. Problem Definition
2. Development of an Approach to the Problem
3. Research Design Formulation
4. Field Work or Data Collection
5. Data Preparation and Analysis
6. Report Preparation and Presentation
7. Follow up

• Secondary vs. primary
• Qualitative vs. quantitative
• Internal vs. external

• Expert opinion
• Qualitative research
• Small-scale studies with convenience or judgment samples

• Market entry
• Market segmentation
• Positioning decisions
• Marketing tactics
• Product development
• Level of standardization
• Branding
• Pricing
• Distribution
• Promotion
• Performance rating
• Profitability and sales trends
• Benchmarking against competitors and market trends
• Etc.

1. Information for initial market entry
2. Information for local market expansion
3. Information for global rationalization

• Business climate
• Political indicators
• Financial indicators
• Legal indicators
• Market size and growth potential
• Demographic characteristics
• Geographic factors
• Economic factors
• Technological and educational factors
• Sociocultural factors
• Economic and market infrastructure
• Integrative networks
• Basic resources
• Product market data
• Product sales and market data
• Use of complementary or substitute products
• Competitive market structure

Sample Indicators of Market Potential

Type of indicators	Sample Indicators
Demographic Characteristics	Population size Average annual population growth Urbanization Percent population Population density Age structure of the population Life expectancy Infant mortality
Geography Factors	Size Topographical characteristics Climatic conditions Annual rainfall and snowfall
Economic Factors	GNP per capita Income distribution Annual growth rate of GNP Growth rate of agricultural products Growth rate of manufacturing Growth rate of services Energy consumption Steel consumption
Technological and Educational Factors	Scientific, technological skills Existing production technology Existing consumption technology Adult illiteracy PC ownership Number of PhD in science Secondary and tertiary education
Sociocultural Factors	Dominant values Lifestyle patterns Number of ethnic groups Number of languages Population per physician Dominant religion

Sample Infrastructure Indicators

Type of Indicator	Sample Indicator
Integrative networks	Availability of communication networks Railroad network Road network Air freight Number of retail outlets per capita Concentration of retail ownership TV and radio ownership Magazine and newspaper circulation Number of telephones per capita Number of cars per capita
Basic Resources	Gas consumption Energy consumption Electricity cost Monthly wage costs Work skills of labor Management skills Management training Capital availability Interest rates Rents

Sample Product-specific Indicators

Type of Indicator	Sample Indicator
Product sales and usage	Sales volume of product Ownership of product Annual growth in sales volume Unit sales of product Frequency of purchase Average purchase size
Use of complementary or substitute products	Sales volume and growth rates Existence and size of user industries Ownership of complementary products Size of second-hand market
Competition	Number of firms Presence of key competitors Growth rate of competing firms Market share of top three firms

Issues at the local market level

• Preliminary data collection
• Lack of market research infrastructure
• Data equivalence and comparability
• Category equivalence
• Calibration equivalence
• Translation equivalence
• Sampling equivalence
• Data collection equivalence
• Data interpretation and researcher’s cultural bias

• Consolidation of information collected on country-by-country basis
• Development of a global information system
• To scan the global environment
• To monitor and track market trends and customer demand
• To identify new market opportunities
• Components of a global information system:
• Macroenvironmental data
• Product market data
• Company sales and product market performance