Exam 4: Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights

Akira Takano, a marketing manager, is about to test the hypothesis that the sale of a particular product will increase exponentially if there is a $5 drop in the selling price of the product. Akira is involved in ________ research.

Customer information is often buried deep in separate databases and records of different company departments. To overcome such problems, many companies are now turning to ________ to manage detailed information about individual customers.

Personal interviews can be used to collect large amounts of information at a low cost per respondent.

With the recent explosion of information technologies, companies are finding it difficult to generate marketing information in great quantities.

Why is it important for managers to define the problem and establish research objectives?

The term big data refers to the ________ generated by today's sophisticated information generation, collection, storage, and analysis technologies.

________ refers to gathering primary data by selecting matched groups of subjects, giving them different treatments, controlling related factors, and checking for differences in group responses.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following question(s). Jason West, owner of A1 Cleaning, started his enterprise in 2001. Jason's primary focus had been on office cleaning for large corporations. But in recent months, Jason has seen a decline in demand for his office cleaning services. Surprisingly, the competitive environment appeared relatively stable with no new competitors. However, Jason knew that office cleaning was a high-frequency service that is usually performed daily; therefore, competitors must have been doing something to attract his customers. Building a competitive advantage seemed to be the only option to offset competition. But as Jason pondered over his dilemma, he realized that prior to building his competitive advantage he needed to better understand how customers assessed service quality and what they look for in a superior cleaning service. Jason developed a research plan. First, he gathered information about his competitors, primarily through pamphlets and Web sites, as well as through a few phone calls in order to find out exactly what the competitors offered in their cleaning packages. In addition, Jason obtained from the Chamber of Commerce an updated list of local corporations. He planned on sending written questionnaires to them. Though the list of corporations contained 141 local company names, Jason chose to survey 75 of them. To better understand customer service expectations between both small and large corporations, Jason divided his surveys into two categories. The survey questions were designed to extract specific data from respondents with regard to service quality expectations in correlation to service frequency and price. Jason awaited the results. Though his primary focus had been on large corporations, he was flexible and would aim his efforts differently if needed. -In this scenario, which of the following is representative of competitive marketing intelligence?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following question(s). Jason West, owner of A1 Cleaning, started his enterprise in 2001. Jason's primary focus had been on office cleaning for large corporations. But in recent months, Jason has seen a decline in demand for his office cleaning services. Surprisingly, the competitive environment appeared relatively stable with no new competitors. However, Jason knew that office cleaning was a high-frequency service that is usually performed daily; therefore, competitors must have been doing something to attract his customers. Building a competitive advantage seemed to be the only option to offset competition. But as Jason pondered over his dilemma, he realized that prior to building his competitive advantage he needed to better understand how customers assessed service quality and what they look for in a superior cleaning service. Jason developed a research plan. First, he gathered information about his competitors, primarily through pamphlets and Web sites, as well as through a few phone calls in order to find out exactly what the competitors offered in their cleaning packages. In addition, Jason obtained from the Chamber of Commerce an updated list of local corporations. He planned on sending written questionnaires to them. Though the list of corporations contained 141 local company names, Jason chose to survey 75 of them. To better understand customer service expectations between both small and large corporations, Jason divided his surveys into two categories. The survey questions were designed to extract specific data from respondents with regard to service quality expectations in correlation to service frequency and price. Jason awaited the results. Though his primary focus had been on large corporations, he was flexible and would aim his efforts differently if needed. -In this scenario, which of the following is an example of primary data?

Which of the following is an example of an open-ended question?

________ consists of inviting 6 to 10 people to meet with a trained moderator to talk about a product, service, or organization.

A company sent a trained observer to watch and interact with consumers in their natural environments in order to gain deeper insights on consumer needs. This is an example of ________.

A(n) ________ is a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole.

The goal of ________ research is to describe things, such as the market potential for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product.

Which of the following is true about survey research?

Small businesses and not-for-profit organizations can collect a significant amount of information at very little cost by researching online. They can also use observation and informal surveys effectively.

Which of the following statements is true regarding competitive marketing intelligence?

Briefly explain the functions of a customer insights team.

A weakness of market research is that it cannot help marketers measure the effectiveness of pricing changes or promotion activities.

Internal information is almost always sufficient for making marketing decisions.