defining the market research problem and developing an approach

Chapter 2

Defining the market research problem is the most important step in a research project. It is a difficult step, because frequently manage and it has not determined the actual problem or has only a vogue nation about it. The researchers role is to help management identify and isolate the problem.

The tasks involved in formulating the marketing research problem include discussions with management, including the key decision-makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and qualitative research. These tasks should lead to an understanding of the environmental context of the problem. The environmental context of the problem should be analyzed and certain essential factors evaluated. These factors include past information and forecasts about the industry and the firm, objectives of the DM, buyer behavior, resources and constraints of the firm, the legal and economic environment, and marketing and technological skills of the firm.

Analysis of the environmental context should assist in the identification of the management decision problem, what should be translated into a marketing research problem. The management decision problem asks what the DM needs to do, whereas the marketing research problem ass what information is needed and how it can be obtained effectively and efficiently. The researcher should avoid defining the marketing research problem either too broadly or too narrowly. An appropriate way of defined the market research problem is to make a broad statement of the problem and then identify its specific components.

Developing an approach to the problem is the second step in the marketing research process. The components of an approach consists of objective/theoretical framework, analytical models, research questions, hypotheses, and specification of information needed. It is necessary that the approach developed be based on objective or empirical evidence and be grounded in theory. The relevant variables and their interrelationships may be neatly summarized via an analytical model. The most common kinds of model structures are verbal, graphical, and mathematical. The research questions are refined statements of the specific components of the problem that asked what specific information is required with respect to the problem components. Research questions may be further refined into hypotheses. Finally, given the problem definition, research questions, and hypotheses, the information needed should be specified.

When defining the problem in international marketing research, the researcher must isolate and examined the impact of the self reference criterion (SRC), or the unconscious reference to one's own cultural values. Likewise, when developing an approach, the differences in the environment prevailing in the domestic market and the foreign markets should be carefully considered. Several ethical issues that have an impact on the client and the researcher can arise at this stage but can be resolved by adhering to the seven C's. The Internet and computers can be useful in the process of defining the problem in developing an approach.

The seven C's
communication
cooperation
confidence
candor
closeness
continuity
creativity

Problem definition -- a broad statement of the general problem and identification of the specific components of the marketing research problem
problem audit -- a comprehensive examination of a marketing problem to understand its origin and nature
DM -- abbreviation for decision-maker
secondary data -- data collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand
primary data -- data originated by the researcher specifically to address the research problem
qualitative research -- an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples intended to provide insight and understanding of the problem setting
environmental context of the problem -- consists of the factors that have an impact on the definition of the marketing research problem, including pass information and forecasts, resources and constraints of the firm, objectives of the decision maker, buyer behavior, legal environment, economic environment, and the marketing and technological skills of the firm
objectives -- goals of the organization and of the decision-maker must be considered in order to conduct successful marketing research
buyer behavior -- a body of knowledge that tries to understand and predict consumers reactions based on an individual's specific characteristics
legal environment -- regulatory policies and norms within the organizations must operate
economic environment -- the economic environment consists of income, prices, savings, credit, and general economic conditions
management decision problem -- the problem confronting the decision-maker. It asks what the decision maker needs to do
marketing research problem -- a problem that entails determining what information is needed and how it can be obtained in the most feasible way
broad statement -- the initial statement of the marketing research problem that provides an appropriate perspective on the problem
specific components -- the second part of the marketing research problem definition. The specific components focus on the key aspects of the problem and provide clear guidelines on how to proceed further
theory -- a conceptual scheme based on foundational statements, that are assumed to be true
objective evidence -- on biased evidence that is supported by empirical findings
analytical model -- an explicit specification of a set of variables and their interrelationships designed to represent some real system or process in whole or in part
verbal models -- analytical models that provide a written representation of the relationships between variables
graphical models -- analytical models that provide a visual picture of the relationships between variables
mathematical models -- analytical models that explicitly describe the relationships between variables, usually an equation form
research questions -- research questions are refined statements of the specific components of the problem
hypothesis -- an unproven statement or proposition about a factor or phenomenon that is of interest to the researcher
self reference criterion -- the unconscious reference to ones own cultural values