Assignment:
The Power of Marketing Information
Objectives
Identify different ways in which market research findings are used
Describe market research methodology
Discussion Overview
This discussion forum explores the types of marketing research that you have been exposed to, asks you to consider your reaction to that research, and prompts you to consider what the marketing professional who commissioned the research hoped to accomplish.
Deliverables
Your participation in the discussion forum including:
Step 1 - Make your initial post by the due date
Step 2 - Reply to at least two other students' initial posts
Review this document for information about discussion expectations and for the philosophy behind discussion assignments. Review the syllabus for etiquette expectations.
Replies are visible after your initial post is completed (Step 1).
Step 1 - Your Initial Post. Identify an instance in which you participated in market research.
Your example could be a survey that you were invited to respond to, an interview that you were asked to participate in, a focus group to which you were invited, an on-line survey that you volunteered to take, etc.
Choose one of these instances an make it the focus of your post. It should meet the definition of marketing research and be consistent with material in the course.
Describe the market research activity.
What were you asked to do? For whom? Provide sufficient detail about the activity so that the reader can understand both the context and activity.
Describe your reaction when you were invited to participate in the research effort, and discuss why you reacted that way.
For instance, were you honored or annoyed? Why?
If you volunteered to participate, rather than invited to participate, state why and what you were hoping to achieve.
Surmise and discuss the research objective, research methodology, and application of results.
Objective - What do you think that the marketer hoped to accomplish with this research? In other words, why do you think that research was being done?
Methodology - What type of research methodology was used? (qualitative or quantitative). What type of analysis could be done based on the style of the research (qualitative, quantitative, etc) and why.
Application - Describe how having the knowledge gleaned from the research you participated in might impact the marketer's job and decisions. In other words, how do you anticipate the research being used or applied?
HINT: For this last bullet point, use the specifics from the research you participated in, then put yourself in the place of the marketer. How will having the research findings help the marketer do his/her job more effectively?
Step 2 - Read and respond to other students' posts.
As you read and consider other students' experiences, imagine that you are part of the marketing team doing the research described. You need the derived information to be accurate and useful so that it helps you make better marketing decisions and/or better understand customers.
What kinds of things might you do to lessen the 'annoyance' factor?
Comment on ideas that you have for increasing the response rate.
Based on what your classmate commented on in his/her post, do you think that the survey was able to achieve its objective?