Market Research: A Comprehensive Guide to Elaborating and Presenting Reports
Lesson 8: Introduction to the Elaboration of the Report
No matter how competently a research project has been conducted, if the results are not presented well, the project is a failure. The results of market research must be effectively communicated to management. Presenting the results of a market research study to management generally involves a formal written report as well as an oral presentation. The report and presentation are extremely important.
In market research, two main objectives must be considered: The objectives of the research problem and the usefulness of the research.
The Final Report is the last step in the research process. It is a written document that has the purpose of making something known: presenting facts and data obtained and elaborated, their analysis and interpretation, indicating the procedures used and arriving at certain conclusions and recommendations.
The importance of the report and presentation: It is the only tangible result of the work done. The presentation and drafting of the report should be such that it allows for decision-making on the basis of the report. The presentation should be oral and written, aiming for a good evaluation even in the oral presentation. The degree of satisfaction of the client, as well as the possibility of new contracts, will be greatly influenced by the evaluation of the report and its presentation.
8.2 Types of Reports
Technical Reports: A document that describes the process, progress, and results of the study at both technical or scientific levels. It is directed to the Market Research department. The language used is technical, so the researcher refers to terms such as confidence intervals, sampling error, validity, etc., without the need for clarification or explanation.
Divulgative/Management Reports: This report is aimed at the CEO, Top Management, and other decision-makers who will be responsible for making the decisions. It offers clear and simplified analysis rather than techniques used, considering that the client doesn’t have technical knowledge of how the study is carried out. Graphs and diagrams shall be used in a way that facilitates understanding.
Executive Summary Reports: Should be brief, concise, and easy to understand. A more streamlined and simple version of the Informative (divulgative) reports (1 or 2 pages). Normally, market
research reports are not read in their entirety by managers. For this reason, this report-summary is created and will include the objectives of the study, the results obtained, the conclusions reached, and the recommendations made by the experts.
8.3 Report Organization
Formal Aspects: Front page: Title of the project, Client, Company hired to carry out the research. Legal aspects: Delivery and completion document, Application contract. Index: Document contents, Graph index, Table index, Figure index. Management Report: Study objectives, Main results, Conclusions, Recommendations. Fundamental Information of the Report: Introduction and background, Methodology, Results, Limitations, Conclusions, Recommendations. Annex: Questionnaire, Statistical annexes, Work memory.
Although each investigation is different from the others and each researcher chooses to organize the report as he or she sees fit according to the characteristics of the client, there are some general lines of content to consider when preparing the report.
8.4 Report Preparation
Considerations: Rules for graphs. Decide how you will prepare the oral presentation of the results. Know your audience. Keep it short and simple. First impressions last. Rules for Text Writing: Marketing research reports are tailored to specific audiences and purposes. Consider both in all phases of the research process, including planning the report. Before writing, answer some questions: What message do you want to communicate? What is your purpose? Who is the audience? If there are multiple audiences, who is your primary and secondary audience? Questions About Your Audience: What does your audience know? What does your audience need to know? Are there cultural differences you need to consider? What biases or preconceived notions of the audience might serve as barriers to your message? What strategies can you use to overcome these negative attitudes? Do demographic and lifestyle variables of your audience affect their perspective of your research? What are your audience’s interests, values, and concerns? Organizing the Text: Introduction and background. Methodology. Results. Limitations. Conclusions. Recommendations. Avoiding Plagiarism: If you use secondary information, document your sources. Plagiarism refers to representing the work of others as your own. Citing the work of others allows you to avoid charges of plagiarism and adds credibility to your message. All sources, including information found online, should be accurately referenced.
Using Tables and Graphs: Easy-to-understand tables and graphics will greatly enhance the readability of the written research report. All tables and figures should contain: A title that conveys the content of the table or figure, corresponding to the list of tables and the list of figures, Identification number corresponding to the list of tables and the list of figures, Appropriate column labels and row labels for tables, and figure legends defining specific elements in the figure. Types of Graphs: The choice of one type or another depends on the information to be represented. Examples include Maps and geographical representations, Pie charts, Line charts, Histograms, and Flow charts.
Topic 3: TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION, PREVIOUSLY, YOU NEED INFORMATION If the researcher gets the right information, he/she would be able to: ‣ Know how to determine the solution ‣ Predict and anticipate to establish and obtain the goals. ‣ Control the plan of action according to the business plan. It is necessary to know the available information and the different sources, so it is very important to have : ‣ Accurate information. ‣ Actual information. ‣ Disaggregated (classified and categorized) data to have more specific information (age, nationality, profession…).
INFORMATION FLAWS WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS: PROBLEMS AND BLOCKAGES 1. The information can be dispersed and very complicated to obtain. 2. Sometimes the information is hidden, false or distorted. 3. We are not sure if the information is reliable. 4. When we obtain the information it is already late. Usually this is due to a bad information flow design.
STEPS IN THE SEARCH OF INFORMATION 1. Step 1: Determine information needs 2. Step 2: Identify sources and collect the information 3. Step 3: Analysis and storage of information 4. Step 4: Information dissemination 5. Step 5: Information control
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS) Market research is part of a formal chain that provides information to the marketing Managers. This network is called marketing information system (MIS) “Is a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation, and control”
PHILIP KOTLER The role of the MIS is to determine decision makers’ information needs, acquire the needed
information, and distribute that information to the decision makers in a form and at a time when they can use it for decision making.
COMPONENTS OF A MIS 1. INTERNAL REPORTS SYSTEM: a Good internal report system can offer very valuable information 2. MARKETING INTELLIGENT SYSTEM: a set of procedures and sources used by Managers to obtain everyday information about developments 3. MARKETING DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS): collected data analysed with tools helping decision making 4. MARKETING RESEARCH SYSTEM: Specific studies. NOT continuous
THE MIS’S FUNCTION 1. Management of the RELEVANT information for administrative or management purposes. 2. For designing research 3. For control after a decision has been made 1. Markets are wider and more difficult to understand. 2. Companies’ portfolios have increased the number of items included. 3. Business environment analysis is increasingly complex. 4. Sources of information are dispersed. 5. Classic market researches are no longer enough. 6. Information distorts as word of mouth spreads
DESIGN OF A MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM To establish a MIS we must distinguish between the information flows and the human resources involved in the process. 1. Information flows: a MIS is fed by three information flows: – Marketing intelligence flow: demographics; legal political, sociocultural and technological environments, suppliers, distributors, clients and competitors. – Internal information flow: e.G. Specific features of clients and suppliers. – Marketing communication flow: information about products, image, promotions, sales force. 2. Human resources of a MIS: – Decision committee: they design the MIS. – Research committee: information objectives definition. – Information analysis center: gather and process the information
BEFORE OBTAINING INFORMATION; DEFINE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES TO CONNECT INFORMATION WITH THE GOALS Common goals in market research are: ● Who is buying? ● What are sales elements and dynamics? Product range and demands ● Where do you sell? ● When? Seasonal or year‐round sales. ● Why? Company values in products, advertising, retail experience… ● How? Distribution, promotions, post‐sale services, cross‐sell & up‐sell…
Topic 9: PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH.
According to Philip Kotler (1974) market intelligence is understood as “the systematic design, collection, analysis and presentation of information and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company”.
This is directly related to their strategic management in decision-making and involves – through tools and methodology – understanding the market – local and global – in order to obtain or calibrate a competitive factor that can be defended and projected over time.
Market intelligence encompasses three actions to be carried out by the company: business intelligence, which refers to information on the business itself, competitive intelligence, which refers to information on the competition, its companies, products, positioning, capabilities, and involves identifying the company and its products with respect to the market; and finally, market research, which focuses on consumer information.
Market intelligence through international research will help the company to: ● Recognise its current positioning ● Identify future actions (benchmarking strategies can be used).
MAIN REASONS FOR DOING INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ● Analyzing competition and future market trends ● Global expansion in profitable markets ● Reducing potential uncertainties ● Uncovering potential risks
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS ● Understand political, demographic, economic, legal and socio-cultural environments. ● Make sure you’re compliant ● Optimize spending and margins
PLANNING AN INTERNATIONAL MARKET RESEARCH.
1. Recognizing and assessing internal capabilities for expansion into international markets 2. Defining research for the achievement of planned business goals 3. Specify the objectives of the research, taking into account Demographic trends, competitive landscape, market size, potential for growth, possible barriers to entry 4. Design the methodology and identify the sources of information. 5. Execute: Obtain the information 6. Analyse and present your findings and recomendatios
INTERNAL INFORMATION SOURCES Internal information sources are available inside of the company. The companies could be able to obtain and exploit the information for their own means and resources. ● Primary internal sources are generated by the company, by their own management and inside the company. ● Secondary internal sources are available for the company, but this information is not necessarily generated in the company. Advantages of Internal secondary info: – Cost and time savings compared to primary data Disadvantages of Internal secondary info: – Data relevance and adjusting the info
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY Primary Data: ● Specific information related with a particular research. ● New and original. ● High cost. Examples: Interviews (telephone or face-to-face), Surveys (online or mail), Questionnaires (online or mail), Focus groups, visits to competitors’ locations Secondary Data: ● Information that has been processed previously for other purpose. ● It is not necessarily new information. ● Cost and time efficient. Examples: Sales reports, database records and reports from previous market research
EXTERNAL INFORMATION SOURCES External information sources are available outside of the company. Their cost is higher than internal information sources. ● Primary external sources: this information is not generated inside of the company. This information was not available in the market. ● Secondary external sources: this information is not generated inside the company. Previously, this information was available in the market. (E.g. Sales reports, Customer databases, past primary Research)
PROS AND CONS OF EXTERNAL INFORMATION Advantages of external info: It may give very relevant data vital to the decision-making process Disadvantages of external info: More expensive, so it’s recommended to do a check and see if it’s worth the cost PRIMARY VS SECONDARY Primary Data: ● Data originated for research with a specific purpose of addressing the marketing research problem. Examples: Market research Secondary Data: ● Data collected for some purpose other than the current problem. Examples: Government sources, associations, media outlets, books, universitie
Topic 10: PRESENTATION OF MARKET INTELLIGENCE TOOLS. The implementation of Market Intelligence in the organisational strategy of companies leads to an efficient use of technological capabilities, physical resources and human capital, integrating all areas or departments that make up the organisation in a process of optimising information for better decision making.
CRM -CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Is defined as the company’s ability to manage all interactions with its customers, from production, invoicing, financial, commercial, promotional and/or marketing related to them, as well as all those that produce added value, and that help to adapt to customer needs and use this information to maintain a better, more profitable and lasting relationship with them over time, as well as to achieve a unique image of itself and of the channels and processes of interaction with the customer.
In short, CRM controls all the functions of an organisation that are necessary to interact with the customer through the use of technology to organise, automate and synchronise business processes. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is management software that companies use to manage core business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk and compliance management, and supply chain operations. Market intelligence tools or systems are usually software that allow, through an interface with other software such as CRM, that users (marketing managers, marketing managers, marketing directors,…) can interact and manage data in a simple way allowing its analysis, and thus controlling all the functions of an organisation necessary to interact with the customer through the use of technology to organise, automate and synchronise business processes. The main market intelligence systems are ● Pardot ● Marketo ● HubSpot
Pardot is a marketing automation solution that enables marketers to identify prospective customers that are most likely to convert.
Marketo (Adobe) is a B2B and B2C management tool which allows to manage different inbound marketing methodologies. Through a single software you can manage from PR campaigns, email marketing, mobile campaigns and much more, and track them with their respective analysis. HubSpot is an AI-powered customer platform with all the software, integrations, and resources you need to connect your marketing, sales, and customer service