Comparing the Different Types of Marketing Research on Consumer Behaviour - Report Example

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING RESEARCH ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction: 3 The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities: 3 Online surveys in marketing research: pros and cons 5 Relationships between Providers and Users of Market Research: The Dynamics of Trust Within and Between Organizations 6 Conclusion 7 Reference List 9 Introduction: Market research has been termed as the process of gathering information about the customer base and the relevant target markets (Bryman and Bell, 2011). Freshwater (2007) observed that the utilization and importance of market research depends on the methods used for framing the data analysis process. Market research is used to assess the present situation and estimate the upcoming trends in the concerned market based on changes in the consumer behaviour. However, Morgan (2007) mentioned that the effectiveness of a market research not only depends on the ability to collect relevant data but also to interpret them appropriately. Research systems such as netnography and descriptive research methods contradict highly in this regard. Also the ethical concerns in the data collection and analysis processes involved in the research methods influence the treatment of data (Baines, Fill and Page, 2012). This report will analyse netnography, descriptive and exploratory research methods in relation to consumer behaviour. The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities: The contemporary market scenario reflects that customers are increasingly inclined towards the use of information and communications technology in performing their operational tasks. This can be observed by monitoring the increased use of online resources and growing acceptance among the customers towards the internet development. The research being analysed in this segment was developed with netnography methodology which has been created by emerging ethnography and internet. Because of this, the traits of netnography are similar to ethnography in many instances, such as both are naturalistic and descriptive in nature and can be implemented as a multi-methodology tool (Gummerson, 2010). The basic theme of netnography is that customers are using the online sources for information collection and thus their behaviour is influenced by internet. On the other hand, Bryman and Bell (2011) argued that online behaviour of the customers does not define them completely; rather, it is just one aspect of the customer trait when they put in a different scenario. The data collection process in netnography can be performed in two ways, namely taking secondary data from the stored databases or the data developed from the observation of the researcher (Ilieva, Baron and Healey, 2002). The primary criticism thus related to netnography is the authenticity of the data being used for the research. Huxham and Vangen (2008) mentioned that the sources of online data can be effectively traced back, but the process of generation of the data is not valid. Toloie-Eshlaghy et al. (2011) also added that in netnography the researcher uses the data of the respondents without their informed consent which is not ethical in accordance to the code of research practices. Kozinets (2002) observed that most of the time the data collection process of netnography is conducted through grounded theory which supports the ethnographic studies. On the other hand, Morgan (2007) mentioned that netnographic data is generated from updated sources which ensure the validity of the research outcome if the analysis process can be performed appropriately. Gulati (2009) also stated that in netnography, the nature of the data being used is not collected through the traditional methods of focus groups, surveys or interviews; rather, the data collection process is based on intuition and confidence of the researcher. The netnographic research process may have criticisms for using inappropriate data but the process of gathering data from online database ensures that the interpretation and analysis process will generate result that can be compared with the contemporary scenario of the consumer behaviour. Online surveys in marketing research: pros and cons Descriptive methodology is one of the most common and influential methods of research used by organisations for assessing the customer related queries. The descriptive research is used for evaluating the characteristics of a sample group of population or to analyse the influence of a phenomena in the business segment (Toloie-Eshlaghy et al. 2011). Huxham and Vangen (2008) criticised that descriptive research process cannot be used for assessing the factors which creates the specified scenario and also develop the merging of the business aspects. However, descriptive research is trusted because of its ability to quantify the research outcome and also justify the results and the conclusions drawn in a research (Baines, Fill and Page, 2012). In the concerned research, it was observed that the researchers have focused on evaluating the importance of online data sources and their association with the changes in customer behaviour. The researchers have also implemented electronic data collection processes such as email and postal methods for conducting the survey in the study. Morgan (2007) mentioned that the data collection process have been simplified because of the use of online mediums such as e-mail surveys. This allows the researches to include more variety in the sample population of the research and enhance the evaluation of the study. The researchers are thus enabled to analyse the responses and figure out the differences in the pattern of responses of the participants from various regions of the world. Gummerson (2010) noted that although online data collection techniques can help in gathering a larger and varied range of data, but the use of descriptive research method will prevent the researcher from assessing the qualitative aspects of the responses and hence the validity and authenticity of the data cannot be measured. Toloie-Eshlaghy et al. (2011) mentioned that consumers are now increasingly adapting to the technological changes taking place in their life styles and hence it is easier for them to understand the online processes and techniques used for designing a study rather than the traditional methods. The consumers can understand and easily recognise the sources of the data and measure their validity from their personal experience. Huxham and Vangen (2008) considered that descriptive research method is incomplete because the background analysis of a particular phenomena and the process of development of the answers of the responses are not considered within the data processes. This particular study has used online sources for data collection and has collected the data from a varied range of geographical regions. However, the limitations of the descriptive research process in identifying qualitative variables such as the cultural and the demographic influence on the responses will reduce the quality in the interoperation of the study. Relationships between Providers and Users of Market Research: The Dynamics of Trust Within and Between Organizations In the words of Huxham and Vangen (2008), for clarifying the outcomes of a research, explanatory research method is used. The research being analysed in this segment has been performed with the help of exploratory research also known as a causal research technique. The primary advantage of using a qualitative method is that it helps in reducing the limitations of the study by analysing the background researches of a study and helps in understanding the reaction of different variables on the research subject (Gummerson, 2010). The use of casual research technique helps the researchers in identifying the influence of the changes in the independent variable of the study on the dependent variables. According to Moorman, Zaltman and Deshpande (1992), casual researches are framed by focusing on the cause and effect relationships. Huxham and Vangen (2008) mentioned that although casual researches help in developing an in-depth analysis of the research variables, they fail to measure the influence in an accurate manner as can be done with descriptive research process. The challenges faced while developing an exploratory research is to align the experimental or statistical factors related to the qualitative evaluations within the study. According to Morgan (2007), consumer behaviour and the factors influencing them are mainly emotional or psychological in nature, such as the personal preferences of the customers, the changes in their needs in relation to market changes or most importantly the brand perception of a company. All these factors are qualitative in nature and can be explained appropriately by relating the relevant models, concepts and theories with them. However, the process of measurement implemented for this technique can be performed in different manner and hence it is not possible to obtain a uniform result in context of numerical or quantitative evaluations (Moorman, Zaltman and Deshpande, 1992). The concerned research has focused on evacuating the relationships between the personal trusts and its influence on the decisions of the customers. The researchers also cross examined the responses gathered which allowed them to evaluate the perception of the consumers in deciding on the quality of the desired products and services. Considering the nature of research to be purely qualitative in nature, the implementation of the exploratory research process can be justified. Conclusion The report focused on the importance of various types of research methods that can be utilised in the development of studies based on the consumer behaviour. Three primary forms of research studies that was analysed in the report included netnography, descriptive and exploratory research processes. It was observed that netnography was one of the most updated forms of data collection which considered online sources. However, the aspect of taking data without the consent of the owners is an unethical process involved in the research method. On the other hand, descriptive and exploratory research processes are contradictory and mainly differs in data interpretation process. Descriptive research design is mainly used to measure the influence of the variables in quantitative prospects, whereas, the exploratory research concentrate on evaluating the relationships and the influence of the variables on each other by focusing on qualitative aspects. Reference List Baines, P., Fill, C. and Page, K., 2012. Essentials of marketing. Oxford University Press. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2011. Business Research Methodology. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Freshwater, D., 2007. Reading mixed methods research: contexts for criticism. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), pp. 134-46. Gulati, P. M., 2009. Research Management: Fundamental & Applied Research. Page 45. Global India Publications Pvt. Ltd. Gummerson, E., 2010. Qualitative methods in management research. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. Huxham, C. and Vangen, S., 2008. Researching organizational practice through action research: Case studies and design choices. Organizational Research Methods, 6, pp. 383-404. Ilieva, J., Baron, S., and Healey, N. M., 2002. Online surveys in marketing research: Pros and cons. International Journal of Market Research 44(3), pp. 361-376. Kozinets, R. V., 2002. The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of marketing research, 39(1), pp. 61-72. Moorman, C., Zaltman, G. and Deshpande, R., 1992. Relationships between providers and users of market research: The dynamics of trust. Journal of marketing research, 29(3), pp. 314-328. Morgan, D. L., 2007. Paradigms lost and pragmatism regained: methodological implications of combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), pp. 48-76. Toloie-Eshlaghy, A., Chitsaz, S., Karimian, L. and Charkhchi, R. 2011. A Classification of Qualitative Research Methods. Research Journal of International Studies, 20, pp.106-152. Read More