Industrial Marketing Research—Techniques

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the differences between proactive and reactive market research techniques during the development of new market offerings. The study focused on the financial and innovative performance of traditional market research techniques, such as focus groups and in‐depth interviews, in comparison to more co‐creation‐oriented techniques that are designed to capture customers' value‐in‐use.Design/methodology/approachThe study was a two‐stage process. Study I, an empirical investigation of 195 development projects in European companies, examined how these companies use different market research techniques and how this relates to the profit margins of new products and services. Study II designed an experiment with 50 users of a consumer good and evaluated the contribution of different market research techniques, based on the degree of originality and customer value.FindingsSignificant differences were found, in terms of both content and originality, between the technique based on customer co‐creation and the two traditional market research techniques (Study II). These findings can help to explain why the relationship between the use of market research techniques and profit margin (Study I) is stronger for co‐creation techniques than it is for traditional market research techniques.Originality/valueDespite empirical evidence that the application of market research techniques based on co‐creation can lead to original ideas, there is a lack of valid studies regarding how co‐creation techniques perform in relation to more traditional methods of collaboration with customers.

This chapter seeks to impart understanding of Netnography as a new qualitative, interpretive research methodology that uses Internet-optimized ethnographic research techniques to study the online communities. As a method, Netnography is faster, simpler, and less expensive than ethnography, and more naturalistic and unobtrusive than focus groups or interviews. It provides information on the symbolism, meanings, and consumption patterns of online consumer groups. As a marketing research technique, Netnography uses the information publicly available in online forums to identify and understand the needs and decision influences of relevant online consumer groups. Compared to traditional and market-oriented ethnography, Netnography is far less time consuming and elaborate. Owing to the relevance of studying sensitive research topics, in particular when access to informants is difficult, Netnography can be applied in an analysis of cross-consumer online communication.

This teaching innovation involves the hands-on use of video recording and production technology to facilitate learning observational marketing research methods and techniques. While observation as a research method is growing in popularity in business and marketing, videography is becoming one of the most highly utilized ways to collect and analyze observational data. This allows consumer behavior to be captured in real life and time contexts. Additionally, because video technology enables such things as repeated playback and slow motion, videography facilitates detailed, insight rich analysis. With the widespread availability and affordability of video recording technology it is now possible to incorporate technology-based research techniques and projects into the course curriculum. In order to demonstrate how student learning can be facilitated using videography, this project draws on the concept of the “transition zone” as described in Paco Underhill's (2000) Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping to teach students cutting-edge observational market research methods that are becoming essential to those in industry.

A new -- and largely hidden -- profession has emerged during the past three decades. Drawing on the techniques of modern social science, psychology, and market research, its practitioners seek to remake the way we pursue justice in the United States. Trial consultants help lawyers to pick - some would say, stack -- juries predisposed to render the right verdict. And consultants apply sophisticated research methods to predict how jurors are likely to respond to arguments, witnesses, and evidence. Based on the results of the research, they craft case strategies, help to prepare witnesses, and test and retest arguments -- all before a single word is uttered in open court. For fees that sometimes approach six, or even seven, figures, the new jury experts offer attorneys and their clients what they most desire -- a way to remove uncertainty.What are we to make of this new industry? Do the techniques work? Is this, as some critics have argued, a new form of high-tech jury-rigging, not much more acceptable than cruder forms of jury tampering? Or do the methods of jury consultants amount to little more than an extension of what attorneys have always done? One thing is clear. The profession is growing steadily. Jury consultants have already made their mark in big-money civil cases. And they have played key roles in prominent criminal trials. After hearing jurors acquit in the O. J. Simpson case, the first person thanked by defense attorney Johnnie Cochran was his jury expert. The burgeoning of the trial consulting industry seems destined to continue. During the past few years, firms have started to offer low-cost consultations, sometimes conducting research for as little as $2000 per case. For better or worse, the wares of the trial consultant are now within the reach of many who previously deemed them too expensive. When a new roams the halls of our legal system, aspiring to change America's road to justice, we had all best pay attention. This book will reveal the tricks of the trade and explore the many ways in which trial consultants have infiltrated the courtroom. The authors -- a social psychologist and an attorney -- present cases where consultants arguably have been responsible for huge jury awards and controversial criminal verdicts. However, it is not their purpose to launch an all-out attack on this growing industry. Instead, they aim to pull back the curtains, allowing a fair and balanced assessment of a new phenomenon in American justice.To achieve this objective, the authors must address issues that lie at the very heart of the American jury system. Are juries fickle? Are they easily swayed? Are jurors influenced -- as many have charged -- by their age, gender, race, ethnicity, occupation, intellect, personality, or politics? Here, the authors sort through the work of many jury researchers, arriving at conclusions that are balanced and credible. They conclude with sensible and far-reaching proposals for change.

Capital market research in taxation: Do it in China!

Market research techniques in publishing

In this study, Chamber of shipping annually reports has been examined that how much forecasting techniques were used in and whether shipping companies/intuitions practice them during the investment process and company internal decisions. Literature on forecasting techniques were reviewed. Turkish Chamber of Shipping Reports (CSR) 2013 has evaluated in terms of using the techniques. It was seen that only “average method” is used in the reports. After gathering this result four big shipping companies’ (Maersk, Msc, Uasc, Cma-cmg) manager, who are somehow or directly responsible for companies forecasting and market research issues, were interviewed The interviews were held by managers created some questions that should be asked to Chamber of Shipping in İstanbul. As a last step, we held an interview with Capt. Ahmet Tagmaç in İstanbul, who is coordinator of the report team and additionally prepared the economical evaluation chapter for the CSR and were talked about report preparation process, aims of reports, resource determination criterias and expectation of the shipping sector from the CSR. The last step of the study is to compare Turkish Chamber of Shipping report with another shipping report which was prepared in 2012 by DNV (Det Norske Veritas) which has a projection of shipping sector to 2020. We came a conclusion that when CSR was examined in respect of data quality, reliability and quantity the reports so much enough. It also has been confirmed during the interview with managers. Interviewees also highlighted the capability of the reports. However, when forecasting and market research techniques is considered, the reports are not enough. The lack of methods is interpreted by the Capt. Tagmaç that Chamber’s aim is not to make forecasts or research of any kind but to inform the sector.

Software developers typically make critical design decisions without understanding how the market will value the final product in terms of the price that customers are willing to pay. Market research techniques that rely on simulated purchase situations, laboratory experiments, and actual purchase behavior are often dismissed as too expensive, too time consuming, or too impractical. What is needed is a quick and cost-effective method for assessing customers' price expectations that can be utilized at key points in the software development process where design are at stake. Price sensitivity measurement (PSM) research provides product developers with the capability to quickly assess the range of acceptable prices, indifference points, and optimum pricing points for any given software configuration.

Conservation inequality and the charismatic cat: Felis felicis

This study identified factors that influence dentists’ decisions regarding less invasive caries removal techniques such as stepwise removal (SW) and selective removal (SE) using a marketing research technique, conjoint analysis. A survey was sent to 1,434 dentists practicing in Iowa. Dentists were randomly assigned to receive a questionnaire to rate the likelihood they would use either SW/SE in hypothetical clinical scenarios. The scenarios were carefully created by conjoint design and included three relevant attributes: depth of lesion, hardness of carious dentin, and patient age. Descriptive and conjoint analyses were performed to assess trade-offs between these attributes, using SPSS. The study revealed that depth of lesion was the most important factor in the dentists’ decisions (49 importance value) when choosing a SW to treat a deep carious lesion, followed by hardness of carious dentin and patient age (21 importance value). For the SE group, depth of the lesion was also the predominant factor when selecting a treatment. The study also identified that a high proportion of dentists (24.9%) indicated they would never consider using SW or SE under any circumstances. Our survey showed that depth of lesion was the most important reason to select a less invasive caries removal method. The high proportion of dentists indicating they would never consider selective caries removal (SE) techniques suggests that these less invasive options are underutilized.

Researchers have investigated whether customers would be willing to pay more for mass customised products and also whether they would wait to receive them. But surprisingly, these two issues have not been examined simultaneously. We describe a study where we use conjoint analysis, a market research technique, to examine the customer trade-off between price, delivery waiting time and type of customisation in the walking stick market in Australia. Our approach should be relatively easily repeatable in other mass customisation markets.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the reliability of a mystery client (MC) as a service evaluation technique taking into consideration personal differences of the MC agents.Design/methodology/approachThe ratings from 144 MCs from 355 evaluations of computer and electronic stores were cross analyzed with eight psychographic and demographic profile variables.FindingsMCs who were highly involved in the product category were more critical of service responsiveness with respect to product demonstrations and listening to customer requirements. On the other hand, MCs with stronger faith in intuition were more inclined to rate services higher on empathy with respect to employees making a conscientious effort to understand customers’ needs.Practical implicationsDepending on the service marketing goals, managers learn to define which aspects of MC profile they should consider or avoid during the recruitment as well as becoming more critical when they analyze the evaluation reports to avoid an interpretation bias.Originality/valueThe usefulness of the MC tool relies on its reliability and credibility as a marketing research technique. It was identified that the MC personality traits are more likely associated with marketing service evaluation variability.

The entrepreneurs responsible for establishing university spinoffs are incessantly looking for new ways to leverage existing technology or create an entirely new product or service market. The creation of disruptive innovative solutions has assumed a key role in enhancing the role of university spinoffs in the global marketplace. This study aims to characterize and explore the phenomenon of disruptive innovation in university spinoffs and identify how university spinoffs recognize and evaluate low-end and new-market disruptive technologies. The findings reveal that university spin-offs have essentially privileged new-market disruptive technologies. Participation in trade fairs, conferences and journals have been the main methods adopted by these organizations to identify disruptive technologies, while the evaluation of the potential of these disruptive technologies is essentially based on the experience and scientific knowledge of the founders of the university spin-offs. Furthermore, the size and number of years of activity of university spinoffs are two factors that allow us to understand the greater proximity of the younger and smaller spinoffs with universities and research centers, whereas the larger organizations prioritize mainly market analysis and product research techniques.

This chapter deals with some of the more advanced applications of market research techniques. These are rather a mixed bag but represent an area in which significant developments are taking place, namely the behavioural methods, linked in some cases with quantitative methods, which are normally only thought of in terms of hard information rather than opinions.

This paper addresses the issue of how brands can help managers navigate the complex process of creative judgment in order to successfully identify and develop original and valuable ideas. It investigates the problems facing companies in their attempt to generate and recognise creativity, arguing that too often companies rely on traditional market research techniques that limit depth and richness of knowledge, prevent intuitive decision making and encourage safe incremental change and seller-centric behaviour. The authors suggest that much traditional customer research dampens creativity, because it is essentially backward-looking. It makes the assumption that customers have the ability and imagination to envision the future, to know what they will desire tomorrow and to be able to articulate that desire. The argument is that the answer to successful judgment is a high level of situational intelligence: the shared knowledge and cultural milieu that encourage managers to focus on and connect with stakeholders, which in turn facilitates more intuitive and creative decision making. The authors assert that the brand provides an essential construct of this concept. This paper sets out to illustrate, via theoretical analysis and practical examples, how the brand can contribute to situational intelligence and in doing so can increase the level of an organisation's ability to innovate and create value. Not only does the paper argue against traditional business practices that inhibit creative behaviour and the ability or willingness of managers to make creative judgments, it also advocates a process of creative brand free-flow. This is highlighted by research into a number of globally innovative companies that rely on their brand values to help them break down traditional corporate barriers and help guide, focus and facilitate creativity. This paper is valuable in that it illustrates how a shift in managerial and corporate thinking can lead to higher levels of significant innovation and value creation.