Influence of Research on Marketing Strategy and Performance of Organizations - Term Paper Example

Introduction Marketing Research has become a very integral part of business especially for companies looking to launch a product or services. Companies whether big or small perform a research as it validates the findings. It helps to evaluate the potential and identifies area which will help in development. Marketing Research is thus “the systematic and objective analysis of information related to the product so that important decision can be taken which is related to marketing”. (Yoon 2008; Jain 2008) Conducting a research helps in marketing strategy. It helps to inculcate the changes the research shows thereby changing the policies and actions to be taken. Literature Review A research conducted demonstrates that “research influences the marketing strategy directly or indirectly through cost leadership, product differentiation or customer orientation while launching a new product”. (Frambach 2003; Prabhu 2003; Verhallen 2003) This study demonstrates that research helps to identify areas which will help to identify the core value the product can be attributed to. A research conducted shows that “with decreasing customer base organisations to ensure that customers stay back and at the same time new customer become a part research needs to be carried out”. (Considine 1995) This will help to identify areas which needs to we worked on. It will also help to evaluate areas where the organisation is lacking and will help to grow. Another research shows that “when research is carried out it helps product manager to achieve better coordination within the department and the implementation of marketing strategy becomes better “. (Bristow 1994; Frankwick 1994) This helps to develop marketing strategies which takes care of the production unit as well. Influence of Research on Marketing Strategy The marketing strategy gets affected by the research carried out. Organisations that conduct a research look into various factors and integrating those factors brings about a change in the marketing strategy. This brings about a change in marketing strategy because “it looks into what people think and thereby design products accordingly”. (Bureau of Labour Statistics 2010) This helps to find the customer requirements and develop product accordingly. For example, it is seen that “child proof enclosure on children medicine” (Bureau of Labour Statistics 2010) was developed due to research. Similarly ready to eat foods like different soups and meat products were developed due to the requirements of the customer. This helped to identify the market and brought about a change in the way marketing was carried out. A research carried shows that “research helps to overcome the limitations of the marketing strategy used as it helps to find out areas which need to be worked at and this along with research provides an agenda and gives a path to follow”. (Wind 1983; Robertson 1983) this helps to bring about a change in the marketing strategy and focus on areas which will give maximum benefit. Research has also shaped the way small units perform. It has brought about a change in the functioning of those. Conducting the research has changed the basic framework with which they work. It has relatively changed the way work was carried out. It had brought in new ideas and shaped the way decision was taken. For example, “when Jacuzzi brothers launched a whirlpool bath to treat people with arthritis failed as there were very few people who had that symptom”. (Bureau of Labour Statistics 2010) the company then conducted a research and based on that they marketed it as a luxury item. This brought about a change in the marketing strategy and the product became a success. Marketing research influences the marketing strategy as it creates a prototype. This highlights all the benefits and the problems that will be faced. This brings about a change in the way things are conducted and shapes the marketing research. It is also seen that organisations that conduct research benefits in comparison with the others. Performance of organisation conducting research via ones not conducting research Marketing research helps to improve performance compared to firms who haven’t conducted a research. A research conducted shows that “the performance of the firm which does research enhances as it provides insights into the impact of marketing, research and development and operation as compared to others who don’t conduct such a research”. (Krasnikov 2008; Jayachandran 2008) Organisations that have conducted a research are able to differentiate themselves. For example, “the research carried out by Apple’s iPad showed its acceptability among 73% respondents which enabled the company to launch the product” (Bureau of Labour Statistics 2010) which was not feasible otherwise. This made it easy for the company to come with the product as risk was reduced. Organisations that carry research are also able to know the inherent qualities a certain product offers and also the demerits associated with it. It helps them identify areas to work on. Organisation that don’t conduct research follows others and are not a trend setter as they don’t keep in pace with the changes that have been accounted. This result in loosing vital business and it affects the overall growth potential. Advantages Organisations that conduct research get the following advantage compared to the ones who don’t conduct a research Sound business polices are made as it “already considers the risk business will face which can be directed to reduce risk and maximise dividend”. (Day 2005) This gives organisation a direction and ensure that the efforts are directed and maximise the organisation It improves communication as companies who have conducted a research “understand the wants of the customers and by communicating with them help to build relations”. (Day 2005) This when compared with organisations that don’t perform a research gets the things wrong and doesn’t match the customers’ wants. Organisation conducting researches are “able to identify the opportunities the market present and take steps in that direction”. (Day 2005) This gives them a first mover advantage and other replicates them. It also ensures that the potential is tested and ensures that growth is allowed. It also helps organisation who have conducted a research “to set it as a benchmark and compare the actual results”. (Day, 2005) Organisations who haven’t done so lack this and their judgement is based on their view which might render their actual results worthless. Conclusion Marketing research has broadened the way marketing is carried out as it brings coordination among various factors and helps to identify the areas that needs to be worked on. It is important that business units consider it as a vital ingredient as it will help to save time and money. It will also help to identify the opportunities that the company has and will therefore improve the decision making and the marketing strategy been used. Introduction Quantitative and qualitative research both form vital for an organisation. Organisation carries out both researches depending on the circumstances. “Qualitative research is understanding the human behaviour and looking for reasons which will help to find why a certain things happen”. (Luntz 2010) Quantitative research on the other hand looks into “statistical information and draws findings based on those”. (Luntz 2010) Thus quantitative research deals with the exploratory side to find conclusion whereas qualitative research deals with the conclusive side to see what the underlying variables are. Despite this quantitative research is more used as it helps to find out certain results depending on the pattern of input. Literature Review A research conducted shows that “companies are turning to market intelligence which has stressed the focus on quantitative research as it helps to find out the final results based on statistic and using them organisations can benefit greatly”. (Wee 2001) This is seen as a great help to companies. This is making companies to carry out more research as the finals results can be validated and companies after this look for qualitative research to find out the reasons for such a thing to happen. A research conducted shows that “in a developing market like Nigeria companies use both the qualitative and quantitative research especially in the manufacturing sector as it helps to highlights various important areas the company needs to work on”. (Mustapha 2009; Ku 2009; Goh 2009) This highlights the importance both the research carries and for successful implementation and growth a company looks towards having a mix of it. Another study highlights that “quantitative research when compared to qualitative research is loosing relevance especially when it comes to focus groups as it helps to find the underlying human behaviour and the ways it affects the outcome of any decision making”. (Frank, 2008) this is forcing many companies to look towards qualitative research but at the same time preserving quantitative research because it helps to interpret results easily and decision are faster. Another research shows that “development in qualitative research is making companies look towards combining both the qualitative and quantitative research so that the set theory and logic behind every decision is rationale”. (Mahoney 2010) This will help organisations to understand better the feasibility of a new option and by knowing the reasons as to why certain fundamentals work and others don’t will help them to achieve better results. Characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research The difference in the inherent qualities forces organisation to use it. Quantitative research focuses on “objectivity and is therefore more efficient”. (Inscite Research 2009) Since, it looks into statistics and outcomes so the results are better and matches to the desired ones. This research also helps to find suppose trend in the clothes industry but it doesn’t define the reasons for it. Qualitative researches on the other hand are “subjective and rich as it helps to presents the reason for every behaviour”. (Inscite Research 2009) This research helps to give opinions and are time consuming. Since, subjectivity is involved results might vary and is not possible to generalise it. A study also suggests that “companies are looking more towards qualitative research as the research is flexible, interactive and can be modified as per the requirements”. (Brand 2003) this is making companies understand the characteristics and based on that decide which result to use. Data Collection Method Quantitative research looks into data “which is structured and in a form of a questionnaire so that large respondents can be interviewed and based on those statistics important decision being taken”. (Inscite Research 2009) This is forcing organisation to look into ways so that the data collection becomes handy. Qualitative research on the other hand looks for data “which is unstructured and need a small sample size so that the reasons for behaviour can be attributed”. (Inscite Research 2009) Organisations look forward to alternatives which will help them understand the cause so that steps can be taken to improve those. Importance of Qualitative Research Companies still consider qualitative research very important as it helps to identify areas which are of prime importance to the organisations. Quantitative research helps to find out the feasibility and since results are based on data it is sounder. It helps to compare with the others in the industry as it involves looking into statistics so “comparing identical business becomes possible and based on those some valuable findings can be generated”. (Reason 2001; Rowan 2001) This makes it possible to use it widely Reliability is high as compared to qualitative research because “findings can be validated and the same can be replicated”. (Reason 2001; Rowan 2001) This makes it easy to use it under different situation and the findings help in decision. Important decision can be taken as “findings can be compressed to a few results which are of importance and interpretation based on them becomes easy” (Reason 2001; Rowan 2001) when compared to qualitative research. This makes it easy to use the findings It looks into small petty issue for which data has been gathered and this can be interpreted to understand factors which were left before so that decisions are sounder. Conclusion Qualitative and Quantitative research both have their importance as they deal with different issues. Organisation that uses both benefits the most as they compliment each other the best. Organisations are looking forward to using both the methods either together or in isolation so that different variables can be understood. Despite, the growth and development organisations are still looking forward to ensure that the technique be determined according to the situation so that the results achieved are better. Thus, we still see that quantitative research is more widely used and has its importance but with the development it is seen organisations slowly looking towards using a mix of both. Recommendations Organisations should look forward to use both the quantitative and qualitative methods of primary research as both of them has there advantage. It also helps the management team as certain quantitative areas can be verified and accessed better by using qualitative methods like interviews. A qualitative method will also ensure that quantitative methods are used as in case study where we see a mix of both. Thus, organisations need to look both the quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure maximum efficiency. 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