What is Marketing Research - Term Paper Example

Table of Contents 1.Executive Summary 2 2.Introduction 3 3.Company Overview 4 4.Strategic Context of Market Research 4 4.1.Management Decision Problems 6 4.2.Market Research Problems 7 5.Collection of Research Data 7 5.1.Primary Data 7 5.2.Secondary Data 8 6.Data Analysis 8 7.Components of Market Research 9 7.1.Interpersonal Skills 9 7.2.Teamwork 9 7.3.Problem Solving Skills 10 8.Conclusion 10 References 12 Bibliography 14 1. Executive Summary Market research is a highly lucrative domain wherein almost all marketing professionals dream of working. This area is characterised by uncertainties, challenges, and countless opportunities. Nearly all organisations spend a significant portion of their revenues to carry out market researches in order to gain valuable knowledge about the market, and their competitors. It is worth mentioning that the market is always at the nucleus of countless activities that take place, on a continuous basis, in all the components of the environment external to business organisations, and hence the flow of information to and from the market is significantly high. However, organisations have their specific requirements in terms of the type(s) as well as volumes of information, and therefore the objectives of market research vary from one organisation to another. Information garnered through market research is generally utilised to formulate marketing strategies and hence, market researcher have to be highly cautious about the quality of data that they gather. Based on this premise, the current research has tried to probe into the strategic context of market research from the viewpoint of an Australian health care organisation. Evaluation of problems pertaining to decision making by management, and to market research; techniques for the collection as well as analysis of primary and secondary research data; and skills required by market researchers have also been incorporated in this report. Finally, the concluding remarks have been provided with the aim of summarising the knowledge that has been gained through this research. 2. Introduction Marketing research has been defined by Philip Kotler (n.d.) as “the systematic design, collecting, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific situation facing the company” (Blankenship, Breen & Dutka, 1998, “What is Marketing Research?”). However, the definition provided by the American Marketing Association (AMA) says that this particular domain “links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understandings of marketing as a process”; furthermore, AMA has also asserted that “marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues; designs the method for collecting information; manages and implements the data collection process; analyses the results; and communicates the findings and their implications” (Blankenship, Breen & Dutka, 1998, “What is Marketing Research?”). In the light of these definitions, the current research will probe into Healthscope Limited – a leading Australian health care organisation with the aim of finding customers’ service quality perceptions. The strategic context of market research will be discussed along with the problems associated with it, and these will be compared with management decision problems. Subsequently, data collection methods and data analysis will be explored in the context of primary and secondary data. Hereafter, three important elements of market research, viz. interpersonal skills, teamwork, and problem solving skills will also be talked about. Finally, the concluding remarks will be provided. 3. Company Overview Healthscope Limited (Healthscope), located in Melbourne, had been founded in 1985 and “is a leading private health care provider within Australia that uniquely operates in every State and Territory, as well as in Asia” (Healthscope Limited, 2009, “Welcome to Healthscope”). The company has successfully penetrated across the length and breadth of Australia through its chain of 44 privately-held hospitals. It is a noteworthy fact that Healthscope ranks second among the private hospital providers in Australia. The major business divisions of this company, apart from hospitals, include medical centres, pathology, and diagnostic imaging. The pathology business of Healthscope is remarkably well-developed and it is further specialised into (1) human pathology, (2) advanced pathology, (3) veterinary pathology, (4) commercial pathology, and (5) functional pathology. The company attributes its success to the fact that it meets the requirements of every community that it serves by “providing the highest possible standard of care and creating the opportunity for staff to work in a professional and productive environment” (Healthscope Limited, 2009, “Profile”). 4. Strategic Context of Market Research According to Swayne et al. (2006), the marketing activities associated with services (e.g. health care) differ from those that are associated with products. Moreover, it is necessary to distinguish between ‘service’ and ‘services’. It has been observed that although rival organisations often offer identical services, the service provided by them is different (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”). Figure 1: Goods-Services Continuum for Health Care (Source: Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”) The figure appended above illustrates the position of hospitals on the goods-services continuum for health care. It may be mentioned in this context that there are numerous dissimilarities that give rise to unique predicaments for health care organisations. Intangibility: Owing to the facts that consumers cannot sample the services prior to the actual purchase and that the services cannot be effectively evaluated even after ‘consumption’, health care may be presumed to be “the most intangible service” (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”). Variability: The disparity between the expectations nurtured by consumers and the actual delivery “may be greater for the health care product because of the uniqueness of individual diagnosis and response to medications and treatment” (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”). Perishability: It is a known fact that most of the health care products are highly perishable by virtue of their organic compositions, and hence, their demand is not much predictable. Although organisations in this sector generally take initiatives to enhance control usage, numerous contingencies make the task quite difficult. Inseparability: Swayne et al. (2006) have opined that “distinguishing the decision maker from the consumer may be more involved for the health care product” (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”), in recognition of the fact that the patients (consumers) may at times fail to abide by the advice given by the physicians. Furthermore, production as well as consumption takes place simultaneously. Being services providers, health care firms are necessitated to understand as well as adopt sustainable marketing practices in order to endure the astounding levels of competition that characterise the present business scenario. In this context, Swayne et al. (2006) have observed that “health care boards of directors and CEOs are calling for hard empirical evidence that proposed marketing expenditures will yield greater profitability” (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2006, “Service Strategy versus Services Strategies”). Therefore, it is becoming increasingly evident that efficient market research will provide these organisations with the necessary strategic foundation on which competent marketing plans may be successfully designed. 4.1. Management Decision Problems “Management decision makers”, as opined by Hair et al. (2006) “tend to be decision-oriented, intuitive thinkers who want information to confirm their decisions” (Hair, Jr., Bush & Ortinau, 2006, “A Closer Look at Research”). Furthermore, they are generally results-oriented and hence they do not have any liking for surprises. Owing to these characteristics, these individuals are likely to discard the information that surprises them. Predominantly, they are concerned about market performance and they continually look for information that provides certainty. Despite being characteristically proactive, they “often allow problems to force them into reactive decision-making modes” (Hair, Jr., Bush & Ortinau, 2006, “A Closer Look at Research”). 4.2. Market Research Problems It has been rightly said that “the marketing research problem is information oriented” (Lamb, Hair, Jr., & McDaniel, “Steps in a Marketing Research Project”); furthermore, Hair et al. (2006) have asserted that marketing researchers, unlike administrators, “tend to be scientific, technical, analytical thinkers who love to explore new phenomena; accept prolonged investigations to ensure completeness; focus on information about past behaviours...; and are not cost conscious about additional information” (Hair, Jr., Bush & Ortinau, 2006, “A Closer Look at Research”). In spite of being results-oriented, marketing researchers love surprises, and they also show a liking for abstractions. It goes without saying that marketing researchers and management decision makers often experience clash of interests because of the differences in their outlook. These conflicts, in turn, prove to be detrimental for the successful execution of market research activities that are extremely vital for the sustainability of any organisation. 5. Collection of Research Data 5.1. Primary Data Collection of primary data entails the employment of “surveys, focus groups, observational methods and other techniques for the stated purpose of obtaining information on a specific topic” (Thomas, 2007, “Primary versus Secondary Data”). Primary research should necessarily be employed under circumstances wherein relevant information cannot be gleaned from secondary data sources. In order to assess customers’ perceptions in terms of service quality provided by health care organisations, a market researcher may carry out a number of interviews, or perform pilot studies “in which consumer perception of the proposed service is measured” (Thomas, 2007, “Primary versus Secondary Data”). 5.2. Secondary Data Secondary data are “collected for some other purpose (such as routine administrative records) but used for some other research application” (Thomas, “Glossary”). Furthermore, there are numerous commercial organisations that provide helpful sources of secondary data; they can offer both historical and forecasted census analyses to health care organisation (Berkowitz, 2006, “Research Design”). 6. Data Analysis It is pretty much evident from the preceding sections that analysis of research data forms a core competency of professionals associated with the lucrative and yet challenging domain of market research. Precisely, there are three statistical procedures that are widely used for the purpose of “data analyses performed in day-to-day commercial market research” (McQuarrie, 2006, “Data Analysis”). In general, researchers create a MS-Excel spreadsheet that contains figures matching with respondents’ answers, and then export the data to specific statistical analysis tools such as SPSS and/or SAS. McQuarrie has asserted that “within the statistical package, raw data can be recorded, transformed, aggregated, or disaggregated at will, and virtually any statistical analysis can be performed by pulling down a menu and selecting a few options” (McQuarrie, 2006, “Data Analysis”). Finally, the results are tabulated and given the form of narratives to facilitate easy interpretation. 7. Components of Market Research 7.1. Interpersonal Skills Buchbinder and Thompson (2010) have asserted that interpersonal skills consist of the skills that facilitate managers’ communication and in turn helps them in working efficiently with other members of an organisation; furthermore, it is a noteworthy fact that these skills, when possessed by market researchers (and particularly, interviewers), enhance their “ability to ask the questions in a direct and clear manner so the subject understands to what she or he is responding” (Hair, Jr., Bush & Ortinau, 2006, “Skills Required for Conducting In-Depth Interviews”). It is most likely that researcher having these skills along with interpretive expertise will employ open-ended questions for probing into the initial responses of their subjects (interviewees). In addition, they may also make use of techniques that are explicitly observational so that the behavioural traits of the subjects can be analysed efficiently. These activities are immensely crucial for aligning the interviews with the research objective because the success of any market research depends on the availability of relevant as well as correct data. 7.2. Teamwork Interpersonal relationships are necessary in the context of any organisation. From the perspective of an organisation operating in the health care sector, it is rather indispensable that managers should share healthy relationships among themselves; furthermore each of the managers must also share a steady rapport with the marketing department “so that conflict can be avoided and teamwork can be established” (Hillestad & Berkowitz, 2004, “Preface”). Marketing research personnel should form a vital component of cross-functional teams so that customers’ requirements may be comprehended in an efficient manner. Teamwork also plays an important role in customer relationship management (CRM) as it facilitates the process of relationship building between customers. 7.3. Problem Solving Skills It goes without saying that market researchers should necessarily possess these skills. However, it may so happen that the researchers may acquire these skills gradually through on-the-job training (OJT). Although it has been mentioned that these individuals should preferably be intelligent as well as creative, and should have skills pertaining to interpersonal communications, critical-thinking, etc., a lack of proficiency in the area of problem solving is regarded as a major handicap because market research initiatives are aimed at finding sustainable solution(s) to the problem(s) that organisations perceive to be potentially threatening to their growth and profitability. 8. Conclusion Market research is one of the most vital activities that every organisation needs to undertake in varying frequencies in order to garner valuable knowledge about the market dynamics. It is this knowledge that provides managements with the strategic base on which marketing decisions are made and plans are formulated. However, the success of market research initiatives depend to a large extent on the market researchers who are characteristically different from management decision makers in terms of perspective as well as approach, and it is necessary for managements to create a synergistic environment wherein the former can strike a chord of harmony with other organisational members and work as teams. The process of market research involves problem identification, data collection and data analysis. It has been observed that one data (primary and secondary) have been collected, they are subjected to analysis by using various tools such as MS-Excel, SPSS and SAS, and finally the results are tabularized. Subsequently, the findings are summarised in the form of easily comprehensible narratives. It has also been observed that market researchers should possess interpersonal as well as problem solving skills, and they should be able to work in teams in order to ensure the success of research initiatives. References 1. Berkowitz, N. E. Essentials of Health Care Marketing. 2nd ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2006. 2. Blankenship, B. A., Breen, E. G. & Dutka, F. A. State of the Art Marketing Research. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Professional. 1998. 3. Buchbinder, B. S. & Thompson, M. J. Career Opportunities in Health Care Management: Perspectives from the Field. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2010. 4. Hair, Jr., F. J., Bush, P. R. & Ortinau, J. D. Marketing Research: Within A Changing Information Environment. 3rd ed. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2006. 5. Healthscope Limited. Welcome to Healthscope. 2009. Healthscope. August 5, 2010 . 6. Healthscope Limited. Profile. 2009. Company. Healthscope. August 5, 2010 . 7. Hillestad, G. S. & Berkowitz, N. E. Health Care Market Strategy: From Planning To Action. 3rd ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2004. 8. Lamb, W. C., Hair, Jr., F. J. & McDaniel, C. Essentials of Marketing. 6th ed. Cengage Learning. 2006. 9. McQuarrie, F. E. The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners. 2nd ed. SAGE. 2006. 10. Swayne, E. L., Duncan, J. W. & Ginter, M. P. Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations. 5th ed. Wiley-Blackwell. 2006. 11. Thomas, K. R. Health Services Marketing: A Practitioner's Guide. Springer. 2007. 12. Thomas, K. R. Health Services Planning. 2nd ed. Springer. 2003. Bibliography 1. Burns, A. C. & Bush, R. F. Marketing Research. Pearson Education. 2010. 2. Green, S. B. & Salkind, N. J. Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh. 5th ed. Pearson Education. 2008. Read More