conclusive research in marketing

Characteristics

Large representative sample

Data analysis is quantitative

Research process is unstructured and flexible

Small, non-representative sample

Primary data analysis is qualitative

Show

Conclusive research design usually involves the application of quantitative methods of data collection and data analysis. Moreover, conclusive studies tend to be deductive in nature and research objectives in these types of studies are achieved via testing hypotheses.

The table below illustrates the main differences between conclusive and exploratory research design:

 Main differences between conclusive and exploratory research design

It has to be noted that “conclusive research is more likely to use statistical tests, advanced analytical techniques, and larger sample sizes, compared with exploratory studies. Conclusive research is more likely to use quantitative, rather than qualitative techniques”[1]. Conclusive research is helpful in providing a reliable or representative picture of the population through the application of valid research instrument.

Conclusive research design can be divided into two categories: descriptive research and causal research.

Descriptive research is used to describe some functions or characteristics of phenomenon and can be further divided into the following groups:

• Case study;
• Case series study;
• Cross-sectional study;
• Longitudinal study;
• Retrospective study.

Causal research, on the other hand, is used to research cause and affect relationships. Two popular research methods for causal studies are experimental and quasi-experimental studies.

My e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business Studies: a step by step assistance contains discussions of theory and application of research designs. The e-book also explains all stages of the research process starting from the selection of the research area to writing personal reflection. Important elements of dissertations such as research philosophy, research approach, methods of data collection, data analysis and sampling are explained in this e-book in simple words.

John Dudovskiy

[1] Nargundkar, R. (2008) “Marketing Research: Text and Cases”, Tata McGraw-Hill Educational, p.39

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Module 6: Marketing Information and Research

The marketing research process, learning objectives.

• Identify the steps of conducting a marketing research project

A Standard Approach to Research Inquiries

Marketing research is a useful and necessary tool for helping marketers and an organization’s executive leadership make wise decisions. Carrying out marketing research can involve highly specialized skills that go deeper than the information outlined in this module. However, it is important for any marketer to be familiar with the basic procedures and techniques of marketing research.

It is very likely that at some point a marketing professional will need to supervise an internal marketing research activity or to work with an outside marketing research firm to conduct a research project. Managers who understand the research function can do a better job of framing the problem and critically appraising the proposals made by research specialists. They are also in a better position to evaluate their findings and recommendations.

Periodically marketers themselves need to find solutions to marketing problems without the assistance of marketing research specialists inside or outside the company. If you are familiar with the basic procedures of marketing research, you can supervise and even conduct a reasonably satisfactory search for the information needed.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

The first step for any marketing research activity is to clearly identify and define the problem you are trying to solve. You start by stating the marketing or business problem you need to address and for which you need additional information to figure out a solution. Next, articulate the objectives for the research: What do you want to understand by the time the research project is completed? What specific information, guidance, or recommendations need to come out of the research in order to make it a worthwhile investment of the organization’s time and money?

It’s important to share the problem definition and research objectives with other team members to get their input and further refine your understanding of the problem and what is needed to solve it. At times, the problem you really need to solve is not the same problem that appears on the surface. Collaborating with other stakeholders helps refine your understanding of the problem, focus your thinking, and prioritize what you hope to learn from the research. Prioritizing your objectives is particularly helpful if you don’t have the time or resources to investigate everything you want.

To flesh out your understanding of the problem, it’s useful to begin brainstorming actual research questions you want to explore. What are the questions you need to answer in order to get to the research outcomes? What is the missing information that marketing research will help you find? The goal at this stage is to generate a set of preliminary, big-picture questions that will frame your research inquiry. You will revisit these research questions later in the process, but when you’re getting started, this exercise helps clarify the scope of the project, whom you need to talk to, what information may already be available, and where to look for the information you don’t yet have.

Applied Example: Marketing Research for Bookends

To illustrate the marketing research process, let’s return to Uncle Dan and his ailing bookstore, Bookends. You need a lot of information if you’re going to help Dan turn things around, so marketing research is a good idea. You begin by identifying the problem and then work to set down your research objectives and initial research questions:

Step 2: Develop a Research Plan

Once you have a problem definition, research objectives, and a preliminary set of research questions, the next step is to develop a research plan. Essential to this plan is identifying precisely what information you need to answer your questions and achieve your objectives. Do you need to understand customer opinions about something? Are you looking for a clearer picture of customer needs and related behaviors? Do you need sales, spending, or revenue data? Do you need information about competitors’ products, or insight about what will make prospective customers notice you? When do need the information, and what’s the time frame for getting it? What budget and resources are available?

Once you have clarified what kind of information you need and the timing and budget for your project, you can develop the research design. This details how you plan to collect and analyze the information you’re after. Some types of information are readily available through  secondary research and secondary data sources. Secondary research analyzes information that has already been collected for another purpose by a third party, such as a government agency, an industry association, or another company. Other types of information need to from talking directly to customers about your research questions. This is known as primary research , which collects primary data captured expressly for your research inquiry.   Marketing research projects may include secondary research, primary research, or both.

Depending on your objectives and budget, sometimes a small-scale project will be enough to get the insight and direction you need. At other times, in order to reach the level of certainty or detail required, you may need larger-scale research involving participation from hundreds or even thousands of individual consumers. The research plan lays out the information your project will capture—both primary and secondary data—and describes what you will do with it to get the answers you need. (Note: You’ll learn more about data collection methods and when to use them later in this module.)

Your data collection plan goes hand in hand with your analysis plan. Different types of analysis yield different types of results. The analysis plan should match the type of data you are collecting, as well as the outcomes your project is seeking and the resources at your disposal. Simpler research designs tend to require simpler analysis techniques. More complex research designs can yield powerful results, such as understanding causality and trade-offs in customer perceptions. However, these more sophisticated designs can require more time and money to execute effectively, both in terms of data collection and analytical expertise.

The research plan also specifies who will conduct the research activities, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting on results. At times a singlehanded marketing manager or research specialist runs the entire research project. At other times, a company may contract with a marketing research analyst or consulting firm to conduct the research. In this situation, the marketing manager provides supervisory oversight to ensure the research delivers on expectations.

Finally, the research plan indicates who will interpret the research findings and how the findings will be reported. This part of the research plan should consider the internal audience(s) for the research and what reporting format will be most helpful. Often, senior executives are primary stakeholders, and they’re anxious for marketing research to inform and validate their choices. When this is the case, getting their buy-in on the research plan is recommended to make sure that they are comfortable with the approach and receptive to the potential findings.

Applied Example: A Bookends Research Plan

You talk over the results of your problem identification work with Dan. He thinks you’re on the right track and wants to know what’s next. You explain that the next step is to put together a detailed plan for getting answers to the research questions.

Dan is enthusiastic, but he’s also short on money. You realize that such a financial constraint will limit what’s possible, but with Dan’s help you can do something worthwhile. Below is the research plan you sketch out:

Step 3: Conduct the Research

Conducting research can be a fun and exciting part of the marketing research process. After struggling with the gaps in your knowledge of market dynamics—which led you to embark on a marketing research project in the first place—now things are about to change. Conducting research begins to generate information that helps answer your urgent marketing questions.

Typically data collection begins by reviewing any existing research and data that provide some information or insight about the problem. As a rule, this is secondary research. Prior research projects, internal data analyses, industry reports, customer-satisfaction survey results, and other information sources may be worthwhile to review. Even though these resources may not answer your research questions fully, they may further illuminate the problem you are trying to solve. Secondary research and data sources are nearly always cheaper than capturing new information on your own. Your marketing research project should benefit from prior work wherever possible.

After getting everything you can from secondary research, it’s time to shift attention to primary research, if this is part of your research plan. Primary research involves asking questions and then listening to and/or observing the behavior of the target audience you are studying. In order to generate reliable, accurate results, it is important to use proper scientific methods for primary research data collection and analysis. This includes identifying the right individuals and number of people to talk to, using carefully worded surveys or interview scripts, and capturing data accurately.

Without proper techniques, you may inadvertently get bad data or discover bias in the responses that distorts the results and points you in the wrong direction. The module on Marketing Research Techniques discusses these issues in further detail, since the procedures for getting reliable data vary by research method.

Applied Example: Getting the Data on Bookends

Dan is on board with the research plan, and he’s excited to dig into the project. You start with secondary data, getting a dump of Dan’s sales data from the past two years, along with related information: customer name, zip code, frequency of purchase, gender, date of purchase, and discounts/promotions (if any).

You visit the U.S. Census Bureau Web site to download demographic data about your metro area. The data show all zip codes in the area, along with population size, gender breakdown, age ranges, income, and education levels.

The next part of the project is customer-survey data. You work with Dan to put together a short survey about customer attitudes toward Bookends, how often and why they come, where else they spend money on books and entertainment, and why they go other places besides Bookends. Dan comes up with the great idea of offering a 5 percent discount coupon to anyone who completes the survey. Although it eats into his profits, this scheme gets more people to complete the survey and buy books, so it’s worth it.

For a couple of days, you and Dan take turns doing “man on the street” interviews (you interview the guy in the red hat, for instance). You find people who say they’ve never been to Bookends and ask them a few questions about why they haven’t visited the store, where else they buy books and other entertainment, and what might get them interested in visiting Bookends sometime. This is all a lot of work, but for a zero-budget project, it’s coming together pretty well.

Step 4: Analyze and Report Findings

Analyzing the data obtained in a market survey involves transforming the primary and/or secondary data into useful information and insights that answer the research questions. This information is condensed into a format to be used by managers—usually a presentation or detailed report.

Analysis starts with formatting, cleaning, and editing the data to make sure that it’s suitable for whatever analytical techniques are being used. Next, data are tabulated to show what’s happening: What do customers actually think? What’s happening with purchasing or other behaviors? How do revenue figures actually add up? Whatever the research questions, the analysis takes source data and applies analytical techniques to provide a clearer picture of what’s going on. This process may involve simple or sophisticated techniques, depending on the research outcomes required. Common analytical techniques include regression analysis to determine correlations between factors; conjoint analysis to determine trade-offs and priorities; predictive modeling to anticipate patterns and causality; and analysis of unstructured data such as Internet search terms or social media posts to provide context and meaning around what people say and do.

Good analysis is important because the interpretation of research data—the “so what?” factor—depends on it. The analysis combs through data to paint a picture of what’s going on. The interpretation goes further to explain what the research data mean and make recommendations about what managers need to know and do based on the research results. For example, what is the short list of key findings and takeaways that managers should remember from the research? What are the market segments you’ve identified, and which ones should you target?  What are the primary reasons your customers choose your competitor’s product over yours, and what does this mean for future improvements to your product?

Individuals with a good working knowledge of the business should be involved in interpreting the data because they are in the best position to identify significant insights and make recommendations from the research findings. Marketing research reports incorporate both analysis and interpretation of data to address the project objectives.

The final report for a marketing research project may be in written form or slide-presentation format, depending on organizational culture and management preferences. Often a slide presentation is the preferred format for initially sharing research results with internal stakeholders. Particularly for large, complex projects, a written report may be a better format for discussing detailed findings and nuances in the data, which managers can study and reference in the future.

Applied Example: Analysis and Insights for Bookends

Getting the data was a bit of a hassle, but now you’ve got it, and you’re excited to see what it reveals. Your statistician cousin, Marina, turns out to be a whiz with both the sales data and the census data. She identified several demographic profiles in the metro area that looked a lot like lifestyle segments. Then she mapped Bookends’ sales data into those segments to show who is and isn’t visiting Bookends. After matching customer-survey data to the sales data, she broke down the segments further based on their spending levels and reasons they visit Bookends.

Gradually a clearer picture of Bookends’ customers is beginning to emerge: who they are, why they come, why they don’t come, and what role Bookends plays in their lives. Right away, a couple of higher-priority segments—based on their spending levels, proximity, and loyalty to Bookends—stand out. You and your uncle are definitely seeing some possibilities for making the bookstore a more prominent part of their lives. You capture these insights as “recommendations to be considered” while you evaluate the right marketing mix for each of the new segments you’d like to focus on.

Step 5: Take Action

Once the report is complete, the presentation is delivered, and the recommendations are made, the marketing research project is over, right? Wrong.

What comes next is arguably the most important step of all: taking action based on your research results.

If your project has done a good job interpreting the findings and translating them into recommendations for the marketing team and other areas of the business, this step may seem relatively straightforward. When the research results validate a path the organization is already on, the “take action” step can galvanize the team to move further and faster in that same direction.

Things are not so simple when the research results indicate a new direction or a significant shift is advisable. In these cases, it’s worthwhile to spend time helping managers understand the research, explain why it is wise to shift course, and explain how the business will benefit from the new path. As with any important business decision, managers must think deeply about the new approach and carefully map strategies, tactics, and available resources to plan effectively. By making the results available and accessible to managers and their execution teams, the marketing research project can serve as an ongoing guide and touchstone to help the organization plan, execute, and adjust course as it works toward desired goals and outcomes.

It is worth mentioning that many marketing research projects are never translated into management action. Sometimes this is because the report is too technical and difficult to understand. In other cases, the research conclusions fail to provide useful insights or solutions to the problem, or the report writer fails to offer specific suggestions for translating the research findings into management strategy. These pitfalls can be avoided by paying due attention to the research objectives throughout the project and allocating sufficient time and resources to do a good job interpreting research results for those who will need to act on them.

Applied Example: Bookends’ New Customer Campaign

Your research findings and recommendations identified three segments for Bookends to focus on. Based on the demographics, lifestyle, and spending patterns found during your marketing research, you’re able to name them: 1) Bored Empty-Nesters, 2) Busy Families, and 3) Hipster Wannabes. Dan has a decent-sized clientele across all three groups, and they are pretty good spenders when they come in. But until now he hasn’t done much to purposely attract any of them.

With newly identified segments in focus, you and Dan begin brainstorming about a marketing mix to target each group. What types of books and other products would appeal to each one? What activities or events would bring them into the store? Are there promotions or particular messages that would induce them to buy at Bookends instead of Amazon or another bookseller? How will Dan reach and communicate with each group? And what can you do to bring more new customers into the store within these target groups?

Even though Bookends is a real-life project with serious consequences for your uncle Dan, it’s also a fun laboratory where you can test out some of the principles you’re learning in your marketing class. You’re figuring out quickly what it’s like to be a marketer.

Well done, rookie!

Check Your Understanding

Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in this outcome. This short quiz does  not  count toward your grade in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times.

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (1) study the previous section further or (2) move on to the next section.

• Revision and Adaptation. Authored by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Chapter 3: Marketing Research: An Aid to Decision Making, from Introducing Marketing. Authored by : John Burnett. Provided by : Global Text. Located at : http://solr.bccampus.ca:8001/bcc/file/ddbe3343-9796-4801-a0cb-7af7b02e3191/1/Core%20Concepts%20of%20Marketing.pdf . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Urban life (Version 2.0). Authored by : Ian D. Keating. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-arlett/19313315520/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

• Market Research

6 types of marketing research

• March 2, 2023

Marketing research, also known as market research, involves finding out information that determines if a new product, service, or approach is viable for a business. Different types of marketing research can be conducted in-house or through a third-party outlet, and there are various methods available to gather and acquire feedback from your target market.

Marketing research is imperative for businesses of all sizes and industries. It supplies a fact-based foundation, one that helps a company to make wise decisions with any future decisions. Without this research, there is a much greater chance a business makes poor decisions, and these can lead to significant, even terminal, damage.

You know marketing research is important. However, which process is the best fit for your company? There are different types of marketing research, each with its pros and cons, and they can benefit in distinct ways.

This blog post will take a closer look at the six main types of marketing research. With the details below, you can decide on which type – or types – are best for your upcoming project, whether this is developing a new product or starting up a business.

Exploratory Research

When attempting to solve a problem that has not been clearly defined before, a company should utilize exploratory research. This involves gaining a greater understanding of the problem, although it is unlikely to supply conclusive results. What it does, however, is identify issues, and each of these can be an area of focus with future research efforts.

Researching a problem that has minimal existing information may seem difficult. Yet, various methods are available to conduct an effective exploratory research campaign, and these assist with revealing new insights and data that offer a level of resolution to the problem.

Advantages of exploratory research.

Some advantages include:

• It gives you the ability to take a challenging problem – one that has yet to be studied in any depth – and narrow it down. You can uncover valuable information that was not previously available.
• Along with being cost-effective, exploratory research is both flexible and open-ended. There are no limitations in terms of how you proceed with this method.
• For future research efforts, it provides a great framework. With a body of research already built, it makes it easier to overcome new, tricky research problems you encounter.

Disadvantages of exploratory research.

Some disadvantages include:

• Conclusive results are not usually gained through exploratory research. Furthermore, because there is minimal preexisting knowledge, results can end up being subjective or even biased.
• The research is not often generalizable or valid from an external point of view.
• No existing model is in place with exploratory research, which means it can be labor-intensive to build a suitable structure for this type of research.

Example of exploratory research in use.

The owner of an ice cream parlor believes adding extra ice cream flavors will lead to more customers. The issue: there is no conclusive proof this is the case, so further information is required. With exploratory research, the owner is able to discover if this is the key to attracting more business or if a better idea is available.

Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is a strategy that involves identifying, determining, or describing the phenomenon or population in question. Rather than focus on the “why” of the subject, descriptive research is about uncovering the “what” of the subject.

Simply put, of all the types of marketing research, this one helps to fill in the gaps about what a certain phenomenon is (rather than why it occurs) and how it affects different variables or anything beyond the surface information. Descriptive research helps to identify elements like the size, frequency, and location of the thing you are studying.

Advantages of descriptive research.

• Descriptive research allows you to collect and analyze facts, using these to produce an in-depth, precise understanding of the research-related issue you face.
• If you utilize observational data collection methods, you can receive answers in the natural environment of responders. This helps determine their behavior accurately and acquire high-quality feedback.
• It is versatile, quick, and cost-effective. Descriptive research can be utilized for a large range of purposes, and the sample size is typically large.

Disadvantages of descriptive research.

• Statistical techniques or tools cannot be used to verify problems with descriptive research.
• With an observer present, this can affect the nature of answers from respondents. They could pretend, for instance, that their responses are not entirely accurate – particularly if any questions revolve around intimate subjects.
• Repeating the descriptive research process can be tricky because of its observational nature.

Example of descriptive research in use.

An apparel design company wants to measure data trends for its latest line of clothing. The company uses descriptive research to look at two different age groups: 18-24 and 25-34. The research reveals the older age group, in general, did not take to this line of clothing. It also offers insight into what clothing they liked and disliked, giving the apparel company knowledge about what trends to follow in the future.

Causal Research

Also referred to as explanatory research, causal research is a tactic used to evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship that exists between two different situations. Cause-and-effect can be affected by a wide assortment of factors, so causal research incorporates experiments to gather statistical evidence about the relationship, if any, between the two.

Following this initial part, causal research will often take a closer look at the data to understand the development of the relationship and how it works. Furthermore, a researcher afterward could modify the circumstances of one situation, analyzing how this impacts the other situation.

Advantages of causal research.

• You are able to optimize processes and resolve issues within your business strategies. This is because causal research allows you to learn about each aspect and all nuances of your system.
• Causal research opens the door to more objective results. Outside influences are reduced as participants or subjects are usually selected by random sampling tactics.
• A repeatable, dependable process is possible with causal research, making it useful in multiple contexts.

Disadvantages of causal research.

• Within data, it can be difficult to extract the cause-and-effect relationships. This is certainly the case with complex systems and understanding how a particular variable can affect a different one.
• Due to the difficulty of controlling all variables, it is a challenge to measure the outcome when a variable is altered. Findings with causal research can then produce errors.
• It is a time-consuming process. To be able to identify and positively change relationships, multiple experiments are often required.

Example of causal research in use.

An online retailer runs an advertising campaign in one state for three months. In this same time period, the retailer experiences a 10% sales revenue increase. To see if the advertising campaign was the root cause of this increase, the exact same campaign is used in other randomly selected states. With causal research, they compare sales data for each region, analyzing if a fruitful cause-and-effect relationship has occurred between advertising and sales with the test campaign .

Predictive Research

As the name suggests, predictive research is built around trying to forecast outcomes, effects, costs, and consequences to understand how various business elements could appear in the future. Both current and historical data are combined with statistical analysis techniques, allowing researchers to predict how future actions could affect a business.

Advantages of predictive research.

• Predictive research helps to reduce risk with business decisions. You are able to analyze potential future scenarios, helping you to assess outcomes that are most likely.
• It makes it possible to optimize different aspects of a company. By analyzing data, you can spot trends and identify new opportunities.
• You can use predictive research to enhance efficiency across operations. It is possible to be proactive in making improvements, taking the appropriate steps when necessary.

Disadvantages of predictive research.

• It is still only a prediction. There is no guarantee the research will result in reality. As a result, you still have to proceed with a level of caution after using predictive research.
• The validity of a predictive research model can change over time. As certain factors become less or more important, this can impact the model and its effectiveness.
• The data used dictates how good the model is for predictive research. If trends do not change over time, for instance, there is little to go off when predicting changes for the future.

Example of predictive research in use.

A business can decide to analyze the performance of its sales team. They can take the sales for the past months and use these statistics to predict how many sales will be made in the next six months. If this number is not to a necessary standard, the business could decide to make changes, like adding a new sales member, changing their process, and so on.

Conclusive Research

A company will use conclusive research to gather information, analyze it, and use this to make decisions and reach conclusions. If a business is dealing with a certain issue, it can use conclusive research to provide them with guidance to solve this issue. This is one of the more popular types of marketing research because of the clear goal.

Advantages of conclusive research.

• It supplies a business with accurate data. This is helped by conclusive research being able to facilitate large sample sizes of data.
• Conclusive research can be beneficial when attempting to identify causality between two variables.

Disadvantages of conclusive research.

• With conclusive research, there is the possibility of response bias. This can ultimately skew the results that are gathered.
• Conclusive research is not helpful when trying to identify the causes behind a specific event, motivation, or behavior.

Example of conclusive research in use.

To prove a hypothesis about their target audience, a business sends out surveys – complete with closed-ended questions – to their customers. The information gathered with these survey responses gives them the guidance that will either prove or disprove their hypothesis.

Primary vs. Secondary Research

Primary research is one of the types of marketing research that involves the use of self-conducted research methods to learn more about a certain subject. These methods include interviews, surveys, observations, and focus groups, and they are utilized to collect data that has never been collected previously.

Secondary research, on the other hand, makes use of data that already exists. This research includes everything from studying analytics to using GapScout to pick out valuable information from reviews and social media.

Advantages of primary and secondary research:

Primary research advantages include:

• The data you gather through primary research is unique. It is not available for public consumption, and nobody else – including your competition – has access to this data.
• Primary research campaigns give you the most up-to-date information. This is not data from years ago. It is as current as it possibly can get following the conclusion of a campaign.
• Data collection can be done with speed and efficiency. This is the situation if the likes of opinion polls and on-page surveys are used.

Secondary advantages include research:

• You get instant access to a lot of different data sources. This can be used to provide your business with a lot of valuable insights and answer possible questions.
• Secondary research saves both time and resources. The data is already there for you to extract and use.
• It is possible to reanalyze old data, comparing it with any new data that has been collected, to uncover new points of view, understandings, and conclusions.

Disadvantages of primary and secondary research:

Primary research disadvantages include:

• Primary research can be a time-consuming process. This is the case when conducting the likes of experiments and face-to-face interviews. Research can take months or even years.
• It can be costly to run primary research campaigns.
• Data gathered can be biased depending on who the data was collected from and how the data was collected.

Secondary research disadvantages include:

• The data you collect could be out-of-date. The more out-of-date the data, the less effective it is for your research efforts.
• Secondary research might not be specific to your requirements. The data is not designed precisely around your business and its needs.
• There is no control over secondary research data. The quality may not be to standard, or it could be biased.

Examples of primary and secondary research in use.

A company decides to create a new product. Before going into production, they decide to run a focus group for product development. With this focus group, the company can gain feedback from potential customers, including information about the features they like, dislike, and those they would recommend.

With secondary research, a company wants to find out more about its competitors, including what pain points customers have with their products. The company uses GapScout to analyze customer reviews. By doing this, they can discover negative themes that are shared about these products. The company can then use this information when developing their own product range.

Wrapping up the types of marketing research.

There are numerous different types of marketing research available. It is important you select the right research type for your business, although this is dependent on your objective or question.

By investing in marketing research, this helps your business to make informed – and ultimately more worthwhile – decisions. Not only will you save money and time, but it also makes your business a more productive, profitable one.

You may also like:

• Marketing Research in 5 easy steps
• Market research vs. Marketing Research: What’s the Difference?

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What Is Descriptive Marketing Research?

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What Is Meant by Job Forecasting?

Examples of cognitive strategies, process analysis vs. data analysis.

• Work Measurement Methods
• What Happens If an Organization Doesn't Conduct a Job Analysis?

Conclusive research is a structured data collection technique that provides detailed, factual information that's useful in decision-making. Descriptive marketing research is a form of conclusive research used to describe both the composition of a group in such terms as income, gender, age and education and the characteristics of group members in regards to both current and future behavior. Examples of a group include a collection of customers, sales people, organizations or market segments. Surveys, case studies, job analyses, document analyses, and correlational studies are each a form of descriptive marketing research.

A survey gathers information from a sample to construct quantitative statistics that describe the size and attributes of a larger population. For example, descriptive statistics can be used to calculate the percentage of a population that supports the policies of a particular president. To conduct a survey, the researcher questions a sample of respondents from within a population. The survey or questionnaire may be a document to be completed by the person who is surveyed, an online questionnaire, a telephone interview or a face-to-face interview.

A case study draws conclusions from data collected regarding real-life events for decision-support purposes. For example, a case study may focus on a particular group behavior, a business process or a school's performance. To conduct a case study, detailed information regarding a participant or group is collected and summarized. This information is not intended to generate conclusions about a larger population, but rather to describe the event, individual or group that's the subject of the study.

Job Analysis

A job analysis describes and classifies jobs. For example, a job analysis may provide detailed information regarding the major tasks of a tax accountant, the environment in which he works and the physical, emotional and cognitive capacities required for an individual to be successful in the role. Whereas job analyses are used by corporations in hiring, training and evaluating employees, governments rely on the job descriptions to monitor workforce activity. In turn, psychologists focus on job characteristics to analyze issues of workplace behavior.

Documentary Analysis

Document analysis requires the collection and review of documents that are specific to a particular group in terms of the characteristics of the individual group members or their behavior. For example, government statistics provide information regarding the income, gender, age and education of the U. S. population. Document analysis requires that documents be selected according to predefined criteria that reflect the issues regarding which a researcher seeks evidence. Written agreements, website data, meeting agendas, reports and other publications can be used for this purpose.

Correlational Study

Correlational studies allow a researcher to identify an association between two variables as well as the degree to which the association holds true across multiple populations. For example, a study may focus on a man's age and his expenditures on sports equipment. A positive correlation suggests that a man will spend more on sports equipment as he grows older whereas a negative correlation suggests that he spends less with age.

• "A Concise Guide to Market Research: The Process, Data, and Methods Using IBM SPSS Statistics"; Sarstedt et al. ; 2011
• "Marketing Research: Methodological Foundations": Churchill et al.
• "Essentials of Marketing Research"; Zikmund et al.; 2007
• "Survey methodology"; Groves, et al.; 2009
• "International Marketing Research"; Craig, et al.; 2005

Billie Nordmeyer works as a consultant advising small businesses and Fortune 500 companies on performance improvement initiatives, as well as SAP software selection and implementation. During her career, she has published business and technology-based articles and texts. Nordmeyer holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting, a Master of Arts in international management and a Master of Business Administration in finance.

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How to Get Started with Marketing and Design Your Career in 5 Steps

Understanding Exploratory Research in Marketing Whenever we start something new, the first step is always the hardest. It is so new to you that you are always afraid you might miss out on something and fail. Imagine when you embark on a journey to find solutions, the first step is the hardest. Several questions run through your mind- What to ask? How to ask? Whom to ask? If it's so hard, how marketers take their first step in finding the answers to the complex market problems? Let's find out.

You as marketers must have at one point or other answered a question by saying, "I will conduct a market research and find out". It's so cliché yet the fundamental question is still the same; how do we start market research? What questions to ask? Whom to ask? Which Channels to use? So, I introduce you to your new marketing research best friend- Lo and behold the Exploratory Research in Marketing!

This is a single solution to all your (marketing) problems (again a cliché).

So, less talking and more actions I will start the introduction, and I am quite hopeful, by the end of the article you’ll be a master at solving problems.

What is Exploratory Research in Marketing?

I am not wrong when I say that this research method is all about exploring as the name suggests. But what exactly it is exploring?

It provides a marketer with a deep understanding of the 'problem' at hand. The problem the marketer is trying to find a solution to. Along with it some other variables which might help a marketer in reaching a solution. This is the loose definition of exploratory research in marketing.

Formally, Exploratory research is a type of Research Design which has the prime objective of providing insights into and comprehension of the Problem Situation confronting the researcher.

I know, I have thrown so many complicated terms on your face but don't worry, I will walk you through each one in detail, and I promise by the end of the article you will be an expert yourselves.

Research Design

Don't be fooled by the high and mighty usage of this in our definition; this term is pretty much self-explanatory. Research design is nothing but the design of your research. A blueprint for conducting your research.

When researching you will definitely need a Research design because having a blueprint ensures you are not missing out on anything. It will help you to ensure that the marketing project is conducted efficiently and effectively.

Generally speaking, a Research Design has the following components:

• Define the Information needed
• Design the exploratory, descriptive and/or causal phases of the research
• Specify the measurement and scaling procedures
• Construct and pre-test a questionnaire (interviewing form) or some other appropriate form for data collection
• Specify the sampling process and sample size
• Develop a plan of data analysis

Let's talk in detail about the different phases of the research. These phases determine the kind of research, which will be undertaken.

Classification of Research Design

As we have seen earlier, the research design is either Exploratory or Conclusive in nature. By Exploratory I mean, we are more focused on determining our problem at hand. By conclusive, we test a hypothesis after defining our problem and concluding whether it's right or not.

Let's understand this by taking an example. A company named Rubans is a clothing company manufacturing Cashmere sweaters. They are planning to have a new product line catering to their younger consumers in the age bracket of 25-35 years of age.

The company is entirely clueless about what kind of product will be liked by these consumers, so they decide to conduct marketing research. They will first determine the factors affecting the purchase by this target group. They set and perform internal secondary research.

The findings varied; these consumers wanted a product with the following characteristics- Sustainable, Environment-Friendly, Trendy, Higher- quality, etc. This is an exploratory research example.

After the findings, the company decides to focus on one or two characteristics to ensure that product is well received. They conduct another survey asking the respondents to rank which characteristics will positively affect their purchase decision. This is a conclusive research example.

I will be wrong if I don't go over briefly Descriptive and Causal research in marketing.

So, your descriptive research in marketing as the name suggests is done to define something. This something here is usually market characteristics or functions.

On the other hand, Causal research in marketing is used to obtain evidence of cause-and-effect relationships. This helps establish which variables are independent and dependent and allows marketers provide justifications to their assumptions.

Using Exploratory Research in Marketing

By now, you must have got a fair idea of what is exploratory research in marketing. It's time I tell you about the more interesting facet of the research, where we use exploratory research in marketing.

If you have any of the below purposes, you can go for exploratory research design:

• Unsure about the problem or want to define the problem more precisely
• Identify alternate courses of action
• Develop hypotheses
• Isolate certain variables and their relationships for further examination
• Gain insights for developing an approach to solving the problem
• Establish priorities for further research

So, Exploratory Research in Marketing is your best friend when you are in doubt or basically when you are taking your first steps in researching.

Also Read:  5 Secondary Market Research Tools and Techniques

Conducting Exploratory Research in Marketing

As the nature of your best friend is fluid and flexible, so it is your best friend in research-exploratory research, is characterized by flexibility and versatility with respect to exploratory research methods. It rarely involves your structured questionnaires, large samples, and probability sampling plans.

Source: bbc.com

Zara is one of the most successful clothing company which benefits a great deal from the exploratory research in marketing. They ask their experienced researchers to talk to people and gain insights on new product designs or requirements. This helped Zara gain the market share at least costs and making it one of the most profitable companies.

Read More about Zara here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/04/23/zaras-difference-pull-people-in-not-push-product-out/?sh=4083544123cb

Exploratory research is not only confined to a single approach, but there are various exploratory research methods, and one can significantly benefit from these:

• Survey of Experts:  Interviews with marketing experts helps to gain insights and provides exploratory research. Unstructured personal interviews, without a formal questionnaire, is used to conduct the survey of Experts. The experts can be found both inside or outside the firm.
• Pilot Surveys: These surveys tend to be less structured than large-scale surveys. They generally contain more open-ended questions, and the sample size is much smaller.
• Case Studies: It involves an intensive examination of the few selected cases of the phenomenon of interest. The cases could be your customers, stores, firms, or various sources such as markets, websites and so on.
• Secondary data is analyzed quantitatively: A lot of research is based on secondary data generated from external or internal sources. This data is then quantitatively analyzed for various hypothesis to gain insights into the research problem.
• Qualitative Research: It is an unstructured method of research based on small sample size and utilizes techniques like focus groups (group interviews), word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and depth-interviews (one on one interview that probe the respondent's thoughts in detail).

Also Read:  How to do insightful Secondary Market Research?

Relationships Among Exploratory, Descriptive, and Causal Research

When you will be researching and will be out there, you will realize that these research methods are not absolute. You might have to use two or more of these research designs to have valuable insight.

It's time I tell you about how to conduct your Market Research effectively by employing these different research methods. Whenever you are researching, keep this general guideline in your mind:

• When you know little about the problem, it is better to start with exploratory research. It will define your problem more precisely, along with an alternative course of actions. It also helps in defining the research questions, hypothesis and identify key variables.
• In most cases, exploratory research in marketing is followed by descriptive and/or causal research. This is because descriptive research in marketing will help you statistically test your hypothesis, and causal research in marketing will help establish the critical variables cause and effect.
• Not all problems begin with exploratory research as in case of a customer satisfaction survey; you might need to conduct exploratory research every quarter.
• Generally, exploratory is the first step in research. Still, sometimes exploratory research is conducted after the descriptive or causal research to determine the statistical findings from these surveys.

These relationships among the research methods establish that research methods should not be isolated from one another.

I have tried to explain the exploratory research in marketing and conduct it yourself to answer some of the most challenging questions. We learnt that:

• Exploratory research is a type of Research design that has the prime objective of providing insights into and comprehending the problem situation confronting the researcher.
• Research design is nothing but the design of your research, a blueprint for conducting your research.
• Exploratory research in marketing is employed when you know little about the problem. It defines your problem more precisely along with an alternative course of actions. It also helps in defining the research questions, hypothesis and identify key variables.
• Exploratory research is also done in conjugation with other research methods like Descriptive and Casual research. These methods can't be isolated from each other, and when used together, a marketer can yield better results.

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Investors heavily search datadog, inc. (ddog): here is what you need to know.

Datadog (DDOG) has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the key factors that could influence the stock's performance in the near future.

Shares of this data analytics and cloud monitoring company have returned -12.5% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -3.2% change. The Zacks Internet - Software industry, to which Datadog belongs, has lost 0.3% over this period. Now the key question is: Where could the stock be headed in the near term?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Revisions to Earnings Estimates

Rather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.

We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

Datadog is expected to post earnings of $0.36 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -20%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.

For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.55 points to a change of +17.4% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has changed +2.7%.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.80 indicates a change of +16.1% from what Datadog is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +0.2%.

Having a strong externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, offers a more conclusive picture of a stock's price direction in the near term, since it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. Due to the size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, Datadog is rated Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Projected revenue growth.

While earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.

For Datadog, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $662.24 million indicates a year-over-year change of +21%. For the current and next fiscal years, $2.62 billion and $3.18 billion estimates indicate +23.3% and +21% changes, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise History

Datadog reported revenues of $645.28 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +26.7%. EPS of $0.43 for the same period compares with $0.36 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $622.74 million, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +3.62%. The EPS surprise was +22.86%.

The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The company topped consensus revenue estimates each time over this period.

No investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.

While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S) and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.

The Zacks Value Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which pays close attention to both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics to grade stocks from A to F (an An is better than a B; a B is better than a C; and so on), is pretty helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

Datadog is graded F on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Bottom Line

The facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Datadog. However, its Zacks Rank #2 does suggest that it may outperform the broader market in the near term.

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