What Is Successful Marketing Research - Essay Example

Marketing Research Objectives and Marketing Theory Introduction: To understand the phenomenon of ‘marketing research objectives’ it is necessary to first be aware of the concept of marketing and what it is? According to Silk (2006) marketing is an action which creates and exchanges value between an organization and a customer. If this is to be believed then marketing is definitely in line to play a pivotal role in aligning an organization’s decision making process (Silk, 2006). In order to make its marketing successful an organization needs to have thorough knowledge about the involved customers, competitors and allies running for the same area of expertise (Silk, 2006). The simplest definition of marketing is however, the process of influencing consumer behaviour in a number of ways into purchasing a product according to a marketer’s agenda. The ways used to influence consumer behaviour vary but the commonality amongst all of them is to convey to the audience that the product is an object of necessity. Nowadays, communication of this sort is done between a marketer and its consumers through mediums such as advertising through the radio, print and the vibrant electronic media (Pride & Ferrell, 2011). Having had a general idea about the concept of marketing, in order to orchestrate it, marketers all around the world need to carry out some planning through researching to guide themselves and this is called marketing research. What is Successful marketing research? The American marketing association defines marketing research as being the means of creating a link between the consumer, customer, as well as public to the marketer with information which would enable him to identify marketing opportunities as well as issues, and lead towards making them more efficient and productive in every way (Malhotra, 2008). If this is so then it is understandable that in order to proceed towards conducting a marketing research a set of research objectives would be needed to make sure the effort is headed in the right direction (McDaniel & Gates, 1998); (Berkowitz, 2011)? The research objectives would and can be directly tailored according to the goal expected to be achieved through the process of the marketing research (McDaniel & Gates, 1998). If the aim of the marketing research by a marketer was to determine whether his food and drinks company for example should introduce a new ‘energy drink’, the research objectives of that specific marketing research campaign could be; Research Objectives: A detailed inspection of the various competitor ‘energy drinks’ currently being offered in the potential target areas of the food and drinks company. Use surveys and others research instruments to gather data in order to identify the potential market willing to consume energy drinks in the targeted areas of the food and drinks company. Identify the market share of the competitors in the target areas? Identify the differences between the tastes of the various drinks being offered by the competitors and compare them with their respective consumption levels. This would give clues to the consumer’s tastes and preferences. Identify the pricing of the products offered by the competitors and gauge feasibility of entering the market with the desired product. Identify the essential features required to maintain the product’s demand the whole year round and increase its life. Identify the popular marketing techniques needed to most effectively influence the consumer behaviour in the company’s favour? While the probable research objectives required to be followed in this scenario have been explained to us in order to make the marketing research satisfying, it should be noted that there are certain issues which need to be taken into account when setting relevant research objectives. If we take the previous example of the food and drinks company hoping to introduce a new ‘energy drink’ into the market, the following issues need to be considered while designing its objectives; Potential Issues being faced by the research objectives: Issues with respect to competition from rival firms; What are the various competitor ‘energy drinks’ currently being consumed in the potential target areas of the food and drinks company? The previous answer would also enable the company to decide whether there is a potential market which would be willing to consume energy drinks in the targeted areas of the food and drinks company? The potential market/ clientele could vary to and from, age differentiation where either the market would consist of adults only or specifically youth, or gendered differentiation whereby either males or females would be the target? Once the potential market is identified then specific techniques to target them alone can be employed to maximise sales. The most damaging issue which can be caused in this situation is of incorrect identification of the market/clientele which can lead to declines in sales. Is there room for our company according to the current market share of the competitors in the target areas? What are the differences between the tastes of the various drinks being offered by the competitors? This is a very important point since incorrect identification of the consumer’s tastes and preferences could again go against the company’s success and degenerate sales. Does the product possess enough essentials features required to maintain the product’s demand in every season? Pricing of the product; Is the pricing of the products offered by the competitors beatable? Is the intended price in accordance to the feasibility of the product’s production? Is the intended price going to receive a positive response? Differentiation in Marketing techniques; Are the intended marketing techniques capable to effectively make the product pro- consumer? Are the marketing techniques to be used penetrative enough to reach to its desired clientele? Are the popular and contemporary forms of communication to be utilized to spread awareness of the product? Are the marketing techniques considered highlighting the features in the best way? Conclusion: Thus it can be said that in order to make a marketing research a success, an accurate identification of the research objectives is a definite prerequisite (Kaden, Linda & Levinson, 2009). However it should be noted that there are certain issues which need to be taken into account when setting relevant research objectives and solving such issues can serve to make our research a definite success. REFERENCES Silk, A.J., 2006. What Is Marketing?, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Malhotra, N.K., 2008. Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 5/E. Pearson Education India. Kaden, R.J., Linda, G. & Levinson, J.C., 2009. More Guerrilla Marketing Research: Asking the Right People, the Right Questions, the Right Way and Effectively Using the Answers to Make More Money, London; Philadelphia: Kogan Page Limited. pg: 340 McDaniel, C.D. & Gates, R.H., 1998. Marketing Research Essentials, Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College Pub. pg: 28. Berkowitz, E.N., 2011. Essentials of Health Care Marketing, Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Pride, W.M. & Ferrell, O.C., 2011. Foundations of Marketing, Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning. Read More